Richard woke up disoriented. He wasn't in his room, on his bed or in his clothes. It took him a minute to remember his situation. Looking around, he searches for his phone and belongings, only to realise that he had left them in his pants pocket. Not only that, the woman who had helped him the night before still had possession of his identification card.

He passed his hands on his face and sighed. What was he going to do? He rose from the surprisingly comfortable bed and left the room. Remembering the way to the kitchen, Rubert came upon someone sitting at the kitchen counter, "Good morning."

Sarah looked up at the voice and saw the man Jacquelyn had forewarned her about. She hadn't explained why she had decided to help a complete stranger at twelve in the morning and Sarah didn't care to ask. What her sister did was none of her concern. "Morning Rubert,"

"Uh, the woman last night," He paused.

Sarah got up from her seat. She had school to get to. "She left your wallet on the table over there," she pointed to the table on the other side of the kitchen, "And your phone is charging over there." Richard turned to see the outlet she had pointed to near the refrigerator.

He went to his phone first, unplugged it and checked for notifications. Surprisingly, he had no missed calls or no notifications. "Uh, where is she?" He turned back to see Sarah looking him over. "Uh, hey?"

She looked up to his stormy eyes, "I have no clue. Probably to the grocery."

"How do you not know where she's gone?"

Sarah rolled her eyes, "It's not really my business." and grabbed her purse from the counter and walked to the door. "She'll be back in about five minutes."

"You're leaving a stranger in your house?" That family was definitely a strange one.

"Jacquelyn still has your ID. Damage and or steal anything and we will sue." She said, before closing the front door, shutting any of his remarks.

Her response had caught Rubert off guard. They trusted him too easily, or at least, trusted that their house would remain in the same order they had left it. He remembered the slight threat the girl had given. Maybe they didn't trust him as much as he thought. He was still rooted to his spot near the fridge when he heard a hiss.

Turning around, he came to face the same cat that seemed to loathe his entire existence. It cocked it's head to the left as if it was studying him, then left. Rubert stared at it's retreating figure, perplexed.

The door opened then, and in came in, well, he still wasn't sure of her name. And it was probably time he had. "What's your name?"

She looked up at him, "Good morning to you." she responded, ignoring his questionentirely. "How did you sleep?" She crossed over to the kitchen and placed her grocery bags on the counter.

Richard paused momentarily. How could he forget his manners? "Okay, I'm sorry. Let me try this again. Good morning." He stuck his hand out at her. "My name is Richard. You are?"

She looked at his gesture before laughing briefly out loud. "I'm Jacquelyn." She shook his hand. "I'm surprised my sister didn't tell you."

"I think she did." Richard had yet to release her hand. "I must've not been paying attention. Jacquelyn is a very old fashioned name."

She nodded, "So I'm told. I consider myself an old fashioned person in some instances so I guess it makes sense."

Her statement interested Richard. "Why would you consider yourself old fashioned?" It had been years since he met someone who considered themselves such. It was almost an insult if you were called that.

His company turned around, finally releasing herself from his grip, "Well, I believe that you must dress the way you want to be addressed, although, you are free to do as you may. I believe that your parents and the environment are your best teachers. Also, tea fixes everything." She turned around to show him the different boxes of tea she had bought. "Are you willing to help me but these away?"

"Uh." Richard paused, slightly shocked at the shear size of tea. "Sure." He grabbed one of the bags on the counter and removed it's contents. "You said that you should dress the way you want to be addressed. Do you believe that those who chose to dress a bit loosely, should be treated differently?"

Jacquelyn turned to face Richard. And stared. She stared until he felt her gaze so intensely that he had no chose but to turn her gaze. "Where did I say they should be treated differently? We should treat everyone with respect and understanding. My point is, you won't show up to an interview in street clothes because you'd want to be taken seriously. The same way you won't show up to a club in a three-piece suit. It's simple common sense that seems to be lacking for most people these days. You can't dress however you want and expect people to treat you the exact way you expect them to treat you. That's not how the world works."

Richard seemed to be speechless quite often on this morning as he gaped wordlessly at the individual beside him. She turned her attention back to the groceries. "Are there any more questions based on my being?"

He found his words then, "Uh-" but paused briefly to think them over,  "What about dates?"

"What about them?"

"Should the man pay for everything?"

She paused, debating on her answer, "If he wants to. It's courteous for the woman to ask though."

"Considering that you went into such details for my last question, I almost expected you to do the same again."

She walked away then, in the direction of the refrigerator, "Would you like me to?" 

Richard shrugged, "I wouldn't mind. You seem to interest me."

"I'll take that as a compliment." She closed the door shut and gathered all the bags that had been used to hold the groceries. "Would you like breakfast?"

He nodded, "Yeah, thanks. Do you have coffee?"

Her left brow rose, "You saw me take out a mountain of tea and proclaimed that it solves everything. Do you really think I have coffee?"

He shrugged, "I guess not. Tea it is. Any suggestions."

Jacquelyn grinned. "I do but I'll have you taste it instead of telling you. Do you want pancakes?"

"Sure." Richard looked down at his attire, Jacquelyn followed his gaze. "Are my clothes dry?"

She gestured towards him. She walked down a hallway towards a door, which Richard assumed, led to her back yard. 

He was correct, as it opened up to a decent sized greenery. He saw his clothes hanging on a clothing line. She really doesn't have a dryer. He thought. He watched her take his clothes off the line and tossed it in his direction. "I assume you remember where the bathroom is?" He nodded and followed her back into the house.

After showering, he changed back into his own clothes and left what he had worn the night before in the laundry basket. 

He returned to the kitchen to smell pancakes. There was Jacquelyn, standing behind the stove, flipping pancakes. "Hi." He felt juvenile only using that word but what else was he to say at that point?

She turned around to place a stack of pancakes on the counter. "Sit, take as much as you want. I'm almost done. " She placed one last pancake on the stack before turning off the stove and placing the pan in the sink along with the bowl she used to mix the batter. 

She then turned to the kettle which was now producing  a shrill whistle. She placed a tea bag in the water and left it momentarily. "You didn't take any." That was not a question, but a statement. Richard was in the same place she had left him.

"Uh sorry." She seemed so peaceful and at home, which would make sense since she was home. It was just a fluidity he only say with his mom. "Uh, are you married? I see you're wearing a ring." She looked down at her wedding finger.

"Nope. My dad gave it to me a few years back. I have a strange attachment to it. I'll remove it whenever the psychopath who thinks it's a good idea to marry me, does." She gave a smile. "And you asked me something earlier, remember?" 

Richard nodded, remembering their previous question, "I asked you to go into details." 

Jacquelyn turned her attention to the kettle she had left to sit. Grabbing two tea cups she poured the hot liquid into them and added sugar. 

"What, no milk?"

She gave an almost disgusted look, "I'm sorry if you take your tea like that but I find it unappealing."

He shook his head, "Was just a joke."

She smiled and sat across from him. She took a plate and began taking stacking pancakes. "Well, yes, I think he should pay for the date. At least for the first one." She handed him the plate. "After all, assuming that he was the one who asked her, then he already had intentions of spending money. He asked for a bit of her time to entertain her so I'm assuming that he had something planned. After the first date, they can either alternate or the woman can pay for her share. I don't think dates are for seeing who can spend more money, it's about getting to know each other so if once in a while the woman decides she wants to pay, it's probably because she actually into that person. Or she just doesn't want him to pay."

Richard was silent, musing over his thoughts.

"You seem very silent this morning." Jacquelyn noted.

He poured syrup over her stack. "You make me think." He chewed slowly.

They ate in silence.

Jacquelyn was the first to finish and she got up to wash the dishes.

"Can I help?"

"There's no need Richard."

He got up from his seat then and went over to the sick next to her, "No, really I, want to help."

She sighed, "Alright, you can rinse them."

He agreed. They worked in silence until they were finished then she turned to him. "So," she started, "let's go to the mechanic. It's only a five minutes walk." He nodded. "Why are you so silent?"

Richard scratched his head and looked down at the brown eyes examining him, "I'm not too sure."

She shrugged. "Okay, let's go."

__________________________________
Hey. I'm late by a couple hours but here you go.

Inspirational song of the day: ILLiJah- On My Way.

Yours Truly,
Jay J.