“Yes,” said Gina to her friend Mariah. “I’d love to come over for a sleepover. Just let me check with my dad, first. OK? I’ll call you right back.”
Gina hung up her cell phone and wandered down the hall to her father’s study. He was hunched over his desk, engrossed in paperwork. He muttered to himself as he worked.
“Hey, Dad?” Gina called from the doorway.
“Huh?” her father grunted briefly before going back to muttering. He scratched something onto a pad of paper with his pencil then angrily crossed it out. “That’s not what I was coming up with yesterday!” he mumbled.
“Dad? Uh, Mariah is having a slumber party tonight. Is it ok if I go?”
“Yes,” he said distractedly. “Sure. Fine. Whatever.”
“Great. Thanks!”
Gina left and called Mariah back. “He said yes. I’ll be right over!”
As she headed for the front door, her father finally realized what he’d said and sat up straight in his chair. “Hey!” he called. “Wait, Gina! You’re supposed to be grounded!”
But she was already gone.
His wife entered the study. “Never mind, dear,” she told him. “Let her go. We could all use a bit of a break, don’t you think?”
He picked up the hint she dropped and smiled. “Hm. I suppose so. Yes.”
This post is part of the Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt, “yes”:
Jeanne Owens, author 