INSTALLMENT 49  


 
Richardson Residence



   Both Gillian and Nina stand in shock at seeing Stephen.  The longer they stand there in 
silence, the more curious Stephen becomes.

   "This is a miracle, both of my sister's are speechless.  I'll have to record the date of
this little event since it'll never happen again." Stephen jokes, wondering to himself what
he just walked in on. "Come on, fill me in."

   "We were just discussing you and Melinda."  Gillian blurts out.  "We were both wondering
when you two were going to get together, now that you both are single." She finishes with an
emphasis on the word single.

   Stephen turns bright red, "You'll have to ask Melinda.  She's giving me the runaround 
again, due to some crisis in her family."

   Nina and Gillian stand in silence, waiting for their brother to continue.

   Stephen looks at his watch, "Anyway, I'm running late for work, but why would you feel 
the need to keep that from me?"

   Gillian thinks for a second, "Because we were planning to set you two up on a romantic
dinner to get the ball rolling.  We didn't want to get your hopes up, because we know how 
you feel about any interference in your life."

   Nina pipes in, "Gil is right, we didn't want to appear like we were interfering.  What's
going in her family?"

   Stephen walks toward the door, "It isn't my place to say, but I do think you need to give
Katie a call.  She could use a friend right now.  I'm grateful that you two care so much 
about my romantic life, but I've been reminded again, that Melinda's focus will always be 
her family."