nyc prep continued

"A little stiff, but not too bad." Jarid replied.

"Yes, of course," she nodded. "Uhm, would you like to come in?" she asked, opening the door to allow him in.

"Let me see," she said reaching for his hand.

He offered her his hand. "It's just from disuse, not a big deal."

"I know." he said looking down, "I'm sorry I...I'm not sure how though."

lloyd hesitated for a minute, "Alright." he said stepping in looking around...it looked like his small apartment above the garage full of books.

"Here," Brooklynn led him into the living room. She sat on one of the leather chairs. "You wanted to talk to me about something?"

Paige held his hand for a minute before gently massaging it. "My dad's secretary, as much as I dislike her, gives really good massages and she's been teaching me."


Sam dried her hands and stepped towards him, "I'll help you."

He nodded, watching her hands work on his. It was a strange feeling, but he had to say that he liked it.

"Does that feel better?" she asked looking up to him, her hands still holding his.

"It does, yeah," he agreed. He looked at her, a slight smile on his lips. "Thanks."

Lloyd sat down and nodded, " I saw you leave the hospital today."

"How?" jeff asked

"He asked me to leave," Brooklynn replied. "So I did." She felt like she should hang her head in shame, but she'd done as he asked. She hadn't wanted to leave, but he wanted it.

Paige smiled back as she let go of his hand. "Sure, I'm glad it worked."


"Well we can start by getting rid of the alcohol you've been hiding in your room," Sam said.

"Don't take it too hard. He's asked everyone to leave his mother just refuses," he said looking at his hat

"I...didn't realize you knew about that."

Jarid nodded. "Yeah, it's nice to have a personal hand masseuse to take care of me," he teased a little.

"He's never spoken to me like that before, Lloyd. I... I guess I just thought that... that," she shrugged. "I guess I just didn't expect it."

"Yeah, I know." She walked back to the sink. "Its not going to be easy to stop."



Paige smirked, "don't get used to it. I'm better at back massages anyway." She looked back at the game.

"You're going to have to prove that assertion sometime," he informed her. "Ready for another round?"

"Yeah, but you're gonna have to win if you want a massage," she said smiling.

"Alright, fair enough," he nodded. "Let's do this!"

"You're not gonna win," Paige said as she started the game.

"We'll see about that," he replied, brows furrowed as he played.

"You won," Paige said in disbelief. "How did you win?"

"The power of will, I suppose," Jarid replied with a grin.

Paige laughed, "let me know when you want your massage, I guess you deserve one since you won."

"You did promise it," he nodded.

"Yeah, I did." she agreed. "You get one free massage."

"Fantastic," he grinned. "I'll let you know when I want it."

"Okay," she said. It was good to see him smiling again. "But I will win next time."

"Sure you are," he nodded, "LEt's see how that works for you, yeah?"

"Deal," Paige said as she restarted the game.

"Good," he agreed. But he was disappointed this time. She won. "Alright, so I see you haven't lost your touch."

Lloyd nodded," Yes....Yes he is...changed." he sighed, "you have to understand...yesterday after you left...the doctor...gave him some news."

Jeff nodded, "yeah i know."

"What did the doctor say?" she asked, moving forward in her seat. "He didn't tell me anything."

"Told you," Paige said grinning. "I was just warming up."


Sam looked back at him. "You want to dry the dishes?" She asked

He grinned. "Yeah, we'll see."

"miss Brooklyn...He can't walk." he said sadly

Jeff didn't want to do anything least of all dry dishes

"Okay, new bet then," Paige said. "Since you think you'll keep winning."


"Or not," Sam said as she looked away. She pulled a dish towel out and started drying the dishes she had washed.

"But I've been injured," Jarid groaned.

"What?" she breathed. "What are you talking about?" No, that wasn't possible.

"And you're getting a massage," she said. "So what do I get if I win?" She asked.

"What do you want?" he asked. "I don't know what I could possibly give you."

She thought for a minute, she came up with many things, none of them appropriate. "How about dinner?" she suggested. "That was fun."