Something for everybody

“We did go shopping yesterday and that had been our idea. It wasn’t just you dragging us around. More like the opposite actually” Grace reminded, something that wasn’t solely your idea.

“Yeah but I still ended up getting something for myself.” you replied, knowing that the shopping trip had only been for an hour or two out of the weekend and you had certainly gotten a lot out of it yourself in the form of 4 new random subjects, although you couldn’t explain that to Grace.

“And who is this trip actually for? I know you wanted to find out what your father was doing but I'd say that even that isn’t you being selfish. Mary, Lucy and even Sarah are gonna benefit from that information and it didn’t have to fall on you to go and investigate” Grace said, trying to make you reconsider how you were seeing the weekend.

“That doesn’t mean you guys need to…” you went to say, getting interrupted by Grace.

“Let’s just all think of something we can do together. Nothing that would exclude one of us unnecessarily” Grace added, putting a stop to you handing the day to just them.

You wanted to insist but once Grace was set on something, you knew it was unlikely that she would change her mind. Again, another silence came over the three of you while you tried to think of something to do. You tried thinking of something on your own but you did end up pulling your phone back out to look at places in the area.

In one of the rare cases you were using your phone without looking at the KDK, you went on the map and scanned the local area for anything ‘date’ worthy, even if it was gonna be the three of you instead of two.

“There’s a place that’s like a leisure park nearby? Food. Movies. Bowling?” Emma suggested, listing off the name so you could take a look as well.

“Looks good to me” you replied, looking at a few reviews and some pictures of the place before you gave your approval.

You were about to suggest not going to a movie first just in case you needed to leave quickly when your phone buzzed in your hand. The room had been quiet as Emma had been showing off the place to Grace on her phone so they both clearly heard the buzz go off, the both of them turning to you as they knew who had likely messaged you back.

You went into your messages instead of just checking the notification and you were greeted with what you expected, a reply to your message from earlier that was still there.

Max: Hi Isabelle, we were hoping to come visit again and are free until around 3pm. Just wanted to check if you and Jack were in and what time would be best for you :)

Izzy: Hey Max, no need to be vague if that was your worry, I doubt he’d even notice I was in the house, let alone using my phone. John is still asleep atm but he will likely be going out late afternoon. Around 2pm if I had to guess. That’s usually when he goes drinking again… I’d be happy if the 3 of you wanted to visit again :)

You quickly read through the text and then went over to show Emma and Grace, reading through it again with the two of them peering over at your screen.

“We have what…five, maybe six hours to kill before we head over there?” Grace said, looking over at the clock to check it was just slightly past 8am.

“So you are both fine heading over there at two then?” you asked, wanting to double check they were fine with the time.

“Yes, we're fine” Grace replied, rolling her eyes to show that you didn’t even have to ask.

Max: Yeah 2pm works for us!

You texted, getting a reply almost instantly back.

Izzy: Awesome! I’ll text you closer to the time if there any any issues or change of plans

You gave the message a quick thumbs up and went back to the conversation with Emma and Grace, the both of them now just about finished with getting ready.

“The hotel checkout is a bit later in the day but it’s probably best if we pack everything up and put it in the car. There’s no point in coming back here just for our stuff if we can easily take it with us” Grace explained, heading off to the bathroom to collect some of her belongings.

You did want to suggest leaving your bags in case you wanted a private room for the three of you to have more fun but you couldn’t think of a normal reason to keep the room as an excuse. Luckily you hadn’t taken much on this trip so it was easy for you to stuff your clothes back into your bag, taking more care with placing your exam books back in and separating your clean gym clothes from the rest just in case you needed them later.

“Feels like we made a lot more progress than we expected” you privately mentioned to Emma, passing her a few items of her clothing once you had finished with your own things.

Emma glanced at the bathroom door and even before she answered, the smile on her face told you that she wholeheartedly agreed with you.

“I’m so glad we ended up doing this and getting Mom to come along. I honestly thought we would maybe only get her to… I don’t know, fool around with you when I wasn’t there. I don’t know what it’s gonna be like when we get back home but…” Emma started to excitedly explain, stopping herself when Grace came back into the room.

“What are you two whispering about?” Grace asked casually, seeing Emma obviously end the conversation as she entered.

“Just that it’s been a good weekend and she didn’t want to jinx it” you replied, getting a jab in your side from Emma that seemed to seal the deal on Grace believing you.

“It has been…” Grace said, staring off for a moment as if her answer had surprised her before she went back to her usual self.

“Right, are you both ready?” Grace asked, pushing whatever she was thinking away for the moment.

You helped Emma hold down the top of her suitcase while she struggled to get it zipped back up but eventually, you were both ready to leave. Grace had been a bit more organised and didn’t have the same troubles but she was a bit sheepish when you had handed her her clothes that had been haphazardly discarded on the floor last night.

You took a quick look around the room and found it presentable enough to not cause any issues for housekeeping before heading towards the door, feeling slightly saddened by the fact that you wouldn’t be coming back after everything you had managed to accomplish here.

You turned around to see Emma also scanning the room and you shared a knowing look that you were thinking along the same lines. What surprised you though was that when you took a quick glimpse at Grace, she looked to be having the same thoughts as you and Emma. She hid it almost instantly once she saw you looking and with a blush on her face she was the first out the door, leading the three of you down the corridor and towards the lobby.