Jason got out of bed about a half-hour after Sylvia's mother left his room, walked down the hallway, and took his shower. He finished and, when he was coming out of the bathroom, he encountered Sylvia, wearing a fluffy bathrobe and looking a little ragged, shuffling down the hall. "Morning, Sylvia," he said.
Sylvia had her head down and didn't look up at him. "Mornon, Juhsn," she mumbled as she shuffled by him and disappeared into the bathroom.
"God, she looks hung over," Jason thought as he walked back to his room. "I wonder if she and Paul have been drinking? I wonder if her mother knows?" He briefly debated discussing the subject with Karen and decided it was none of his business, then he got dressed and went downstairs.
Karen was wearing a long, loose blue denim dress one whose hem was just above her ankles and had small white buttons all the way down the front. The minute he saw her, Jason found himself speculating on how neat it would be to undo all those buttons and discover the wonders he knew were hidden under the loose garment.
"Sylvia's up," he said as he sat down in one of the chairs at the kitchen table.
"I wonder what time she got in last night," Karen said as she carried a plate with pancakes on it to the table and set it in front of him.
"Judging from the way she looks, I'd say it was pretty late," Jason replied. He thought better of mentioning his speculation that Sylvia might have a hangover.
"I think I'm going to have to have a talk with her when we get home," Karen said. "I'm not at all thrilled with the way she's been acting this week, and I'm really concerned about her relationship with Paul. I don't like that young man, not one bit. I can't see any future in her relationship with him."
"Me, either," Jason said. He remembered the way Paul leered at Sylvia's mother and felt a surge of anger. "If you ask me, he's a real jerk."
Karen smiled at him. "Why Jason, I do believe you've taken a very strong dislike to Paul," she said. "You aren't jealous, are you?"
"Jealous, hah!" Jason said. "No way! At least not of him and Sylvia. I...I just don't like the way he...he looks at you, that's all."
"Oh, I see," Karen said, smiling gently at him. "Well, my darling, to be honest with you, I don't like it much, either." She hugged herself. "He...he makes me feel...I don't know any other way to say it...dirty, I guess...when he looks at me." She smiled a little more brightly. "Of course, that's not at all how I feel when a certain other man looks at me, you know?"
The fact that she put emphasis on the word "man" wasn't lost on Jason and, in fact, made him blush. "Yeah...I...I know that," he mumbled and began eating his pancakes.
Sylvia came down a little later, drank some orange juice, ate a piece of toast, and was gone, saying she probably wouldn't be back until late again.
"I am going to have to talk to that young lady, and soon," Karen said after her daughter had gone.
"What are we going to do today?" Jason asked.
Karen frowned. "I'm afraid that today I have to do some things that aren't too thrilling," she said. "I need to dust, pick up and get this house cleaned up." She grinned at him and added, "I haven't had time to do that because someone's been distracting me."
"Hey, I'm sorry about that," Jason said, grinning back at her. "Look, I'll help you clean the place up. That way we can get done sooner, OK?"
"Oh, Jason, you don't have to help," she said. "I mean..."
"I want to help," he said. "I really do."
They started working. Jason vacuumed while Sylvia's mother dusted some of the furniture. When the vacuuming was finished, he began helping her dust. Eventually they found themselves dusting and straightening out the books in the den.
"See, this wasn't so bad, was it?" he commented. "We're almost done and it isn't even lunchtime yet."
"You're right," Karen said. "It does go a lot faster when you have someone helping you. Usually, this is an all-day job. They were standing near each other in front of the bookcase when Karen she reached out, took his face in her hands, and kissed him.
