Page 42 of The System

“Come on. I’ll get it started and open a bottle of wine.”

“I’m driving.”

“One glass.”

“Half?” Kieran suggested.

“Deal.”

Carina closed her computer, and they made their way back downstairs.

“You have a beautiful home,” Kieran told her when they got to the open kitchen that overlooked the living and dining rooms.

“Thank you. It’s always a work in progress.”

“I remember that,” Kieran said, sitting down on a stool at the island while Carina pulled out the frozen pizza.

“Pepperoni okay?”

Kieran nodded.

“Your house was always a work in progress, too?”

“Aren’t all homes?” Kieran asked.

“Yeah, I suppose.”

Then, she heard it. Carina closed her eyes, sighed, and opened them again. The front door opened just as she turned the oven on to preheat, and it closed and locked a second later. Carina shook her head because this was about to get very interesting.

“I am so sorry. If you want to run, now would be the time,” she said to Kieran.

“What?”

“Carina, you’re home?”

Kieran then nodded in understanding at the sound of Tinley’s voice and whispered, “Should I go?”

“Only if you want to escape.”

“Oh, hi,” Tinley said as she walked into the kitchen and saw Kieran sitting at the island. “Sorry, I didn’t know you had company.”

“Tinley, this is Kieran. Kieran, this is Tinley,” Carina reluctantly introduced.

“Nice to meet you,” Kieran said with a little wave.

“Kiera?” Tinley said.

“No, Kieran. With an N at the end.”

“Kieran. That’s an interesting name.”

“Yeah, Tinley seems pretty standard,” Kieran replied sarcastically.

Carina laughed under her breath and said, “Tinley, we were just making ourselves a pizza, and we’re going to watch a movie in here, okay?”

“Oh, I was going to watch something here because the TV in my room is so small.”

“The TV in the guest room is of average size for a room that big,” Carina argued.

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