Chapter 2
Six weeks later, Kelsey stood in the middle of the living room of her new townhouse staring at the numerous boxes that surrounded her. The movers had done their part and now it was up to
her to get everything unpacked and organized. She was beginning to question, yet again, her decision to leave Chicago when the doorbell rang.
Opening the door, she was surprised to find her new colleagues standing outside on her front porch. They were all wearing jeans and sweatshirts, even Toby.
"What's this?" she asked.
"Moving party!" announced Josh.
Kelsey opened the door wider and invited everyone in.
"You didn't think we'd let you unpack by yourself?" C.J. inquired.
"And don't worry about feeding us, the pizza will be delivered in a couple hours," added Sam.
"Well, I'm sure I've got enough soda and beer to last us for awhile," replied Kelsey.
"Great! Then, let's get started!" Josh declared.
"I just want to say thank you.”
"I’d wait until after you’ve seen us work before you do that," remarked Toby, smiling.
Kelsey asked Toby to set up her computer in the office. Sam and Josh volunteered to hook up the stereo, television, and VCR. C.J. and Donna offered to unpack the kitchen.
"This is a really great place," commented Donna as the three women were working in the kitchen.
"Thanks. A realtor friend of Leo's helped me find it," Kelsey explained.
"Are you renting?" asked C.J.
"For now. I've got an option to buy it in six months. This way once you and Leo realize that hiring me was a mistake, I don't have to worry about selling it," she joked.
"That's not going to happen," C.J. assured her.
"So, where does this go?" asked Donna while holding up a large stockpot.
"My chili pot goes where it can be easily accessed."
"Chili?!" both women asked in unison.
"Yes. Why?"
"It's just that the President has made us sample his chili," C. J. replied.
"On more than one occasion," Donna added.
"Well, maybe the President and I will have a chili cook off and decide whose is the best," remarked Kelsey.
An hour later, Kelsey left C.J. and Donna in the kitchen to go and check on the guys. Sam and Josh seemed to know what they were doing in the living room so she headed towards the
office.
Pausing in the doorway, she stifled a laugh when she looked into the room. Toby was sitting at her computer, playing solitaire.
"Working hard there, I see," she commented and laughed when Toby startled at her voice.
"I was just making sure the program was working," he explained. His cheeks were turning slightly red from embarrassment.
"Well, now that you've got my computer up and running, why don't you go and see if you can lend Josh and Sam a hand?" replied Kelsey.
"Sure."
Kelsey and Toby walked into the living room and started laughing.
Josh was trying desperately to disentangle himself from the speaker wire that was wrapped around him. Sam was trying to help his friend and neither one of them was being successful.
Toby called out for C.J. and Donna to come and witness the show.
"Does anyone have a camera?" C.J. asked, laughing.
"You wouldn't dare!" hissed Josh.
"Oh, wouldn't we?" Donna remarked. "Just think of this as payback for all those dates I've missed because you made me work late!"
Kelsey rushed into the office and came back out with a disposable camera in her hands.
"Smile boys!"
After Kelsey took the photo, they all helped Josh and Sam get untangled from the wires.
"I figured you guys would have everything hooked up by now," commented C.J.
"We would have, if Sam here knew how to plug in a speaker wire," Josh replied.
"Me?! How about you Mister Radio Shack?! You can't even get the CD player to work," Sam declared.
Toby walked over to the stereo and looked at how it was set up. It took him only a moment to realize where Josh and Sam had gone wrong.
"Excuse me, but did either of you geniuses bother to plug the CD player into the power strip?"
Josh and Sam glared at each other.
"That's what I thought."
He bent down and plugged the cord into the power strip. Next he pushed the power button on the player and watched with delight as the panel lit up.
"It never ceases to amaze me that we're the people the President depends on to run this country."
"Thank you so much, Toby," Kelsey said.
"Oh sure, he plugs in one cord and gets all the credit," complained Sam.
"Thank you Josh and Sam," she added.
"Now, why don't we put Kelsey's extensive CD collection to good use and play some music while we work?" suggested Donna.
"I agree. Josh, play some music," C.J. added.
"As soon as I can find the CDs," he said.
"Try the boxes marked 'CDs'," Toby offered, pointing to several boxes stacked near the stereo.
Josh and Sam both reached for a box and opened them up.
"Wow!" Josh exclaimed. "This is quite a collection."
"No kidding?! You've got early Springsteen, jazz, showtunes, classical, oldies, eighties stuff, and even some vintage Sinatra," Sam remarked as he looked over the titles.
"Sinatra?!" they all exclaimed.
"Yeah. My mom raised me on his music," explained Kelsey.
"Then, by all means, we don't want to disappoint your mother by not playing the man," Toby said.
Josh took his cue and put several discs into the player. Soon the house was filled with the opening strains of "Saturday Night".
C.J. and Donna returned to the kitchen to finish with the unpacking while Josh and Sam decided to tackle the boxes of books that were taking up a significant portion of the living room.
Toby offered to return to the office to unpack the books that were in there.
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Another hour passed and work was progressing nicely. The kitchen had been put in order along with the 1/2 bath on the first floor. Donna was working on the guest bath on the second floor.
While C.J. was working on the master bath. Toby had actually unpacked the books in the office and organized them alphabetically on the two bookcases. Josh and Sam were still unpacking
the books in the living room when the doorbell rang.
"Pizza!" everyone shouted.
Kelsey opened the front door and let out a laugh that got the attention of the others. They quickly joined her in the doorway and began to laugh. Leo stood outside, on the front porch,
holding three pizza boxes in his hands.
"Leo, if we knew you needed money this badly, we would have taken up a collection at the office," Josh remarked.
Leo glared at Josh. "Very funny. If you must know, the President sent me over to make sure the place was still standing."
"Well, no thanks to Sam and Josh," joked Toby.
"So, are you going to invite me in or do I have to stay out here and eat this pizza myself?" Leo asked.
"Come on in, Leo," Kelsey said opening the door wider for him.
Josh and Sam took the pizza boxes from their boss and headed toward the living room. In the meantime, C.J. grabbed some paper plates and towels. Donna took some cans of beer and soda
out of the fridge and passed out drinks to everyone.
"Leo, I want to thank you again for recommending your friend to me," said Kelsey.
"No problem. I'm glad Helen worked out well. This is some place she found you," Leo remarked.
"Hey, Leo, how come you never recommended this realtor friend to any of us?" asked Sam.
"You can't even figure out how to hook up a CD player and you wonder why Leo never introduced you to any of his friends?" Toby teased.
They sat around the coffee table, eating pizza and talking for quite a while.
"So, Kelsey, what's the story with all the books?" Josh inquired.
"Yeah. I mean, you've got more books than Toby," Sam added.
Toby threw his napkin at Sam in response.
"Well, I've always loved to read and so has my mom. The books down here are the rare editions, art books and ones that are special to me. Then there are the books in the office for work and
such. And of course, the romance novels go in the bedroom," she explained.
"Romance novels?!" Donna asked. "Which authors do you have?"
"Danielle Steele, Nora Roberts, Barbara Delinsky…"
"Ooh, I really like her writing," C.J. interrupted.
Toby rolled his eyes. "Don't tell me you read those things too, C.J.?"
"Only for their entertainment value," she replied.
"Sure, you do," remarked Josh.
"Have you ever read those things?" he asked the men in the group. "Grant took Karen into his sinewy arms as she clutched his strong chest. He pulled her into a kiss that made them both feel
lucky to be alive."
Josh dissolved into laughter.
"Right, Josh. Like Danielle Steele has made millions of dollars writing something like that," Donna retorted.
"As much as I would like to sit here and discuss the intellectual value of romance novels, there are still several boxes that need to be unpacked or moved into other rooms," Toby interrupted.
"Spoil sport!" Sam declared.
After cleaning up the remnants of dinner, the group started working again. Leo decided to stick around and give a hand. He and Toby went upstairs to help Kelsey move some furniture around
in one of the bedrooms.
"So, when does your mom arrive?" Leo asked.
"Another week. She's finishing up a few things and then she'll fly out," she explained.
"Have you found another doctor for her?"
"Mrs. Bartlet gave me the names of three doctors, all of whom are highly regarded in the field. We have appointments to meet with them once mom gets settled."
"May I ask what type of cancer your mother has?" inquired Toby.
"She has stage 3 bone cancer," Kelsey replied. "It's progressing into her organs and the doctors don't hold out much hope for her to last the next six months."
"I'm sorry," said Toby sincerely.
"Thank you. But, mom doesn't want to be coddled or fussed over. She's intent on living life on her own terms no matter what."
"Sounds like your mom is one tough lady," Toby commented.
"Just wait until you meet her. She makes Mrs. Landingham look like a pussycat," remarked Leo.