SF Chapter 13: The Bicycle Thief
Few days after, Daniel went over to his sister's house.
"So Jake and Alan are living with you and Charlie now?" Claire asked while pedaling her bike.
Daniel, riding alongside her, nodded. "Yep, but Jake will only stay on weekends. We could try to integrate the family again." He suggested.
They weren't close not only because their own family issues, but also because Claire had never liked Judith, for obvious reasons.
"So what's up with you coming today?" his sister changed the subject, giving him a suspicious look.
Daniel mocked, "Sis, you can't go a week without seeing me."
"Nope," she promptly denied.
"Yes."
"Nope."
"Yes."
"Yes," Phil agreed as well, pedaling next to his wife.
"Phil," Claire snapped, then pointed out another anomaly. "And you basically never ride bikes with us… or ever."
"Everyone has to start somewhere," her brother argued.
Just then, a beautiful blonde woman who was jogging interrupted them. "Hi, Claire."
"Hi," Claire replied. Noticing that the woman had stopped and was waiting, she stopped pedaling.
"Um… this is my husband, Phil," Claire introduced him.
"Hello, my name is Dani," Daniel rode closer and extending his hand. The woman shook it.
"And this is my brother, Daniel, who is seventeen," Claire added, pulling him by the neck and emphasizing his age.
"And that's my son, Luke, right there." She pointed to the child on the pink bike.
"This is…" Claire paused.
The woman helped her out. "Desiree."
"Desiree, right. Sorry," Claire continued, a little embarrassed. "Desiree just moved in down the block." She gestured with her hand toward the next street.
"Fun. Where?" Phil asked with interest.
"314," Desiree answered.
Phil commented, "Oh, the two-bedroom cottage with the indoor-outdoor family room," describing the house. "Very good."
"How did you-" Desiree looked at him strangely.
But he kept going. "Bet you're loving that steam shower."
"Phil, that's creepy," Claire scolded him.
"Oh, sorry. I'm a real estate agent," he explained. "Um, we caravanned that house. Great…" he paused, trying to think of something normal, "…deck."
"Thanks. But I'm only there until my divorce is final," Desiree revealed.
Phil looked shocked. "Now, who is coconuts enough to divorce you?" he asked, since Desiree had a figure very similar to Gloria's.
"We've got to go," Claire chimed in, "but we'll see you around."
"Well, we'll have to have you over sometime," Phil suggested, and Desiree agreed.
"I'd love that."
She said goodbye and went back to jogging.
"She's awesome," Phil muttered.
"No, no," Daniel corrected his brother-in-law, "she is aweeesome!" He said in high-pitched voice.
Claire cut them off quickly. "No, we are never having her over."
"Charlie probably will. I'm already texting him all the information. That's what a Bro does!"
"I heard she already slept with two dads from the school," Claire added, snorting.
"He's already agreeing, Claire." Daniel pointed out. "But with this new information…" he paused, and smirked, "Charlie will be here at any moment."
Claire rolled her eyes. She knew her cousin too well... and didn't see him getting any better during the time they hadn't seen each other.
She gave a judgmental scoff, "you two are way too similar..."
Daniel made a few nasal snorts. "Of course we are. We are super bros!" He then pulled her into a hug. "Just like you're my super sis!"
"Get off me, Dani," she shoved away her clingy brother.
[Phil commentary]
Phil was sitting at the kitchen counter of his house. "Do I feel jealous of Claire and Daniel's relationship?"
He glanced around and confessed, "Yes! Yes, I do."
"I also want to be his super bro!" Phil admitted. "I mean, we do magic tricks together, we dance together... we even did some planks together!" He chuckled.
"But we're still not there yet."
[Commentary ends]
"Wow, you're becoming like Mitch, but he's still funnier," Daniel grinned.
Claire tried, but she couldn't hold back a small laugh. She sometimes did that with her middle brother (hug), just to annoy him.
Then her brother clarified about Desiree, "And for your information, I don't like them that much older. Rule number five: not someone twice your age."
He teased, "Desiree looks about your age, sis," earning a slap on the arm from his sister.
"Heyy, I was talking about around 35," he defended himself. "You got my intentions with her completely wrong, and about me being here..." he was saying when a voice interrupted him.
"Dani?"
"Oh, hi, Brenda," Daniel waved as he stepped closer to the young, beautiful blonde who had called him. "What a coincidence," he added.
"Yeah," Brenda smiled brightly. "I didn't know you also biked around here," she said, curious.
"Of course I..." he was about to say, when he noticed another blonde woman head very close to him.
"This is my sister, Claire," Dani pointed at the blonde who was tilting her head and making a face.
"She's a little clingy to me," he remarked, pushing her head away from him.
"All coincidences," his sister whispered mockingly.
But then, a real coincidence actually happened.
A black car pulled up beside them and honked. "Nice bike, Sally," Jay laughed, noticing what his grandson was riding.
"Dad!" Claire scolded him.
"Oh, come on. He looks like Little Bo Peep on that thing," Jay pointed at Luke's pink bike.
"Actually, not for long," Phil jumped in. "He's getting a new bike this afternoon."
"I am?" Luke asked, surprised.
His mother was too. "He is?"
[Phil commentary]
Phil was still in the counter. "My son has been riding his sister's old bike because Claire wanted to teach him a lesson about responsibility."
"But sometimes a man's gotta put his foot down and do what a man's gotta do."
"And if the old lady doesn't like it..." he paused and yelled, "Honey?"
Seeing no reaction, he looked straight ahead. "...That's too damn bad."
"Phil!!" A shout from a familiar voice was heard, nearly giving Phil a heart attack.
"Oh, sorry," Daniel said, also looking ahead. "I was just testing about this new recorder I bought."
[Commentary ends]
Jay ignored them and turned to his son, who was flirting with a girl. "Hey, son."
"Hi, Dad," Daniel said, gesturing toward the girl. "This is Brenda Feldman. We took some nice photos at her booth, where she works," he added with a light smirk.
She playfully nudged him.
"Oh, hi," Jay waved, then remembered. "Of course you did." He recalled that she was the girl Manny had once delivered a love letter to.
[Jay commentary]
Jay, sitting on the couch in the Brentwood mansion, commented, "My youngest, Daniel, is like that. He says he likes someone - and he does - but very few people he would ever put above his own desires or feelings."
He shrugged lightly before adding, "As he once said: 'I won't give up something I want just because someone else is going to feel bad', 'It's going to hurt. But that's not my responsibility, and the problem isn't mine', 'I don't live with the handbrake pulled just so someone else can feel better.'"
"He doesn't provoke, he doesn't humiliate, he doesn't show off - but he also doesn't really give a damn if Manny ends up frustrated."
"Like: she likes me, I like her, what does a kiddo has anything to do with it?" Jay finished exasperating. Not against his son's idea, but wishing he were a little bit more considerate.
[Commentary ends]
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Pics:
Brenda Feldman - Modern Family
Desiree - Modern Family
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