The vehicle had come to a halt. The clishké of the doors unlocking, sudden and loud. The muffled noises of outsiders got closer and closer until the clooshk of the door opening lead to a rush of three blond 5-year-old boys, slamming butts into seats, the limo trembled with their synchronized landing.
They had screens up and their faces buried in moments. Griff wasn't exactly doing something different, and yet it felt ruder watching them do it. Two people in their fifties and two teens who were so lanky Kate pictured spaghetti strings followed in. But they weren't Italian, rather they were Viking spaghetti. Slavic and severe, both the boy and the girl. Their mother was a marshmallow, cute eyes, puffy cheeks and dimply chin. The father, looked like a blonde boogie man, at least until he smiled, which was sinister in its need to disarm.
"Oh! Look who it is!" The man said, thrilled.
There was a chance the entire Simmons family would be murdered.
"Gloria, it's Simmons. Oh, this is my big opportunity to introduce you to the family! This is my wife Gloria, these strapping lads are Benjamin, Matthew and Paul. And this sweet twosome are Riley and Richard. Ignore their frowns. They must have left their smiles in the house."
Those words were a combo of sweet and sharp, like finding a thorn in your ice cream. It made their heads bob up and necks stiffen.
"Hello." Said the boys in an unison, that was profoundly eerie.
The severe faced duo smiled into mother's eyes, but their gaze created a combination of things upon locking eyes with Kate. It made her blink before engaging her robot mode. Their mother stepped up, the ceiling high enough to keep them from bowing.
"Ben and Gloria. The best HT exec I've ever known!" Mother said, with a prep in her step.
She held his hand and stepped up for a twin cheek kiss for Gloria. Mother gave a miniscule head and hand twitch. As if a switch had been flipped, Kate got up to shake Ben's hand. He smiled and nodded graciously while Gloria pulled her up for the twin kisses. The lady's cheeks were fluffier to Kate's lips than marshmallows. None of the other kids joined the orgy of greetings, the Viking twins simply waving. Which mother accepted with a happy nod.
But it wasn't two vs one, mother had a 'Ms. Simmons' of her own. The foursome sat together.
The looming giant of a man, winked in a conspiratorial manner, that suggested he would make a dad joke or place Kate's pieces in a dozen bags.
"Just so you know, your mother oversells me. Being a marketer for the Happy Tug system is not exactly 'work' when it comes to being known across the galaxy." He said.
"Hey, that's too much, I can't let you talk down my superiors." Her mother said, splooging that fake joke all over their ears. It's syrupy texture made Kate want to gag.
Kate laughed out loud, and the grown ups joined in. The spaghetti twins stared at each other, at the grownups, then at her.
Kate tried not to feel radioactive.
The limo filled with small talk, apparently the five kids were an element of exactly two births. Triplets and twins.
The Simmons children? They were born, yup. They had no complications… they were a boring people.
But they were from Harvard that was something. The boy, Griff would likely be running for president. Polite laughs to be added there. But, thankfully, the door opened again.
Then entered a family threesome. They had long black hair, the parents were in all black while the girl wore a pink summer dress, it had a bouquet on her chest. It was a complicated and interconnected mix of stem and glue. It was a lot like a floral origami, huge enough to layer over the tube dress that prevented the world from seeing an alarming amount of cleavage while still offering pale milky side boob.
The parents also looked like pallbearers. Which made Mother stand out more, like with every promotion, they'd make Mother pale too.
They were the Tanaka family. The alarmingly adorable daughter was coated in pink, a pristine, shiny rosy pink, a faded scarf flowing over it. The only break lay in the thick but oddly juicy black outlining around her pink lipstick with thick lips. Kate smelled strawberries and a happy morning. And Kate knew that because the cute girl was literally under Kate's armpit. They'd gone from seeing each other to their third date in the time it took to sit down, slamming into just enough of her space that when Kate had adjusted her arm that had been left behind to make space, the girl had scooped it around her shoulder. And they were isolated too.
The adults were grouped with Kate as the barrier between them and the youth.
"Um, hey." Kate tried, her pink harasser just looked up. "Um, Sakura?"
"Ye'es." She said, thrilled at the gift of existence.
Every moment a treat handed personally to her by God. Kate couldn't imagine being so happy, Tiff too.
"How can I help you?"
Huh, Kate thought out loud.
The spaghetti Vikings were staring at… whatever Kate was trying to do. No one wanted to be the person to yell 'get off me'. She wouldn't, of course not. She would not be the troublemaker. So she'd stay molested. A phone was pulled in front of them, raised high, shots snapped between them.
"Sakura, what are you doing?" Kate asked.
"Photo, you have nice dress, it is. Unique." She said.
"I actually can't believe you."
Shocked, Sakura retreated.
"What you wearing… is collector's item." Sakura pulled out a five-inch glass screen and unfolded until it was a 10 incher. There was an entire forum just talking about Kate's dress. "It's rare item worth 5 times its retail!"
"Huh," Was the best Kate could do.
Sakura was clearly speaking her second language, because her word choice was atrocious, but it went beyond that. Sakura somehow lingered in her own words, singing and humming like she was savouring the taste, and eager to order more. But as her second, maybe, third language, it oozed out, like a sludge.
But Sakura was thrilled at her, (victory?) resting her hand on top of Kate's which had been on the couch. Meaning she'd had to reach.
Sakura's father muttered something in Japanese and a whole other free flowing and aggressive side of Sakura popped out. It made Kate want to learn Japaenese to see how it truly sounded. Mother and Kate shared a look, brow raised, mother's gaze shot to Sakura and said 'REALLY? ANOTHER ONE? AND A GIRL?' IT'S BEEN SECONDS! Now Kate had to defend how ridiculous the situation had become! But how?
The doors opened and a flood of red poured in. The limo had somehow become a geneticist's dream!
"Simmons, Tanaka and Beezly! I am spoiled for choice!" Said the male of the Red parentage.
Their hair was impossibly red, so rich and unique but so familiar, like an old smell. Then her hackles suddenly rose at the rush of bodies.
"It's the boy!"