Smiley Tie - 5

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Pauline shrugged one shoulder and stood up, which Anton assumed stood for a yes.

"Okay, then. I'm going to go take a peek out the door and see if things have settled down. You three stay here at the closet until I wave for you to follow me. When I do, you stay close behind me in single file and be very, very quiet till you're outside again. Deal?"

"Deal," said Herman and Joseph together. Pauline nodded.

They made it down to the kitchen without mishap, and Anton was relieved to find it empty. They had their shoes on in seconds.

"Thanks for making my evening, you three. I promise I will remember it fondly. I expect you to do the same."

"We will, Mr. Anton," Herman said. "Until next time."

He stuck his hand out like a gentleman and Anton shook it. Joseph followed suit. Then Pauline tried, but he couldn't just shake her hand. He hugged her quickly and whispered, "everything is okay," and then stood up, opened the door and waved until they rounded the corner of the house and were gone.

Safe.

"There you are," said Gertie from the doorway.

"So what was the fall-out Gertie. No pun intended really."

"I think the diplomat in your father went into overdrive and smoothed everything over. But there's more to come, I can assure you."

"Did you say anything about the kids?"

"It hardly seemed fair to have them involved. I mean, if we had said no from the beginning like we should have, none of the rest of it would have happened."

"Of course, if we'd known what was going to happen, we'd have said no, wouldn't we?"

"That's the point, Anton. No to start with would have eliminated any possibility of the disaster. I didn't think it was a good idea, but I'm not your mother."

"See that's the whole problem. For starters it should have been okay for me to bring them in and let them watch for a few moments. It did no one any harm and it made their evening. Or at least it made Pauline's. The boys were mildly enchanted at best. Anyway, don't you think that in my own house I should be able to invite three polite, well-behaved children in any time I wanted, especially if it was just a few moments?"

"And for finishers?"

"For finishers, it's a coward's way out to play it safe all the time. When you eliminate all risk, then you eliminate all the adventure in life."

"Well, honey, your adventure is just beginning, I think. I'm supposed to tell you, the next time I see you--which is now--that your father will meet you at the office first thing in the morning and in the meantime, you're supposed to find yourself a place to stay tonight, not under his roof."

"He's throwing me out?"

"It appears that way at the moment."
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Tune in tomorrow for the next episode of Smiley Tie.

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