The first thing Dai noticed was the size of the garage; it was big enough for two Warriors. Sarah opted to exit the vehicle without her shoes on and made her way up a set of sandstone steps into the kitchen, Dai followed while Alan grabbed his suitcase and looked around. The kitchen was small, but it was big enough to move around and cook in; the counter tops were black marble, the fridge, washing machine and cooker matched them, and the cupboards were light brown. The laminate floor spread out into the living room which had a light brown dining table and chairs, black sofa and reclining chair to match and a black forty inch plasma; then continued on to a red carpeted staircase, next to that was a glass conservatory with a sparkling blue swimming pool.

“Going to get changed!” Sarah called and made her way upstairs.

“What do you think of her then?” Alan smiled. Dai didn’t have the heart to tell him what he really thought-so he just smiled and nodded. “C’mon I’ll show you to your room.” Alan led the way upstairs, pointing out the bathroom at the top, a gym a little further down on the right, Sarah’s room after that and then his room on the left; opening the door to a deep cream carpet, queen size bed with dark blue sheets, white walls and cream curtains that hid a balcony. Alan placed the suitcase on the bed and looked around. “This is usually a guest room so we can decorate it to your taste later.”

“Who decorated it in the first place?” Dai asked, opening a large polished brown wardrobe.

“I did.” Sarah said from the door now dressed in a loose black shirt with Linkin Park across it and black jeans to match. She leaned against the doorframe and smirked. “My apologies, they don’t do Power Rangers in queen size.” The smirk seemed to grow as Dai frowned. “Or is it that Yu-Gi-Oh GX thing that’s all the rage these days?”

“I’m fifteen.” Dai managed to suppress the growl. Sarah just shrugged.

“Says she who has a copy of Akika.” Alan rolled his eyes.

“Akira.” Sarah shot him a glare. “And it’s a classic.”

“Whatever.” Alan shrugged. “Do you need help unpacking Dai?”

“No thanks.” Dai smiled and the pair left him to it.

“Step away from the oven, Alan.” Dai heard Sarah warn as he rounded the bottom of the stairs. “There’s no need to poison the kid on his first night here.”

“You managed to stomach it.” Alan stated.

“After what I’d been through I can stomach anything-even your awful cooking.” She shot back.

“Let’s order take out then, there’s nothing in the freezer anyway.”

“I suppose so…” Sarah rolled her eyes and eventually noticed Dai. “Hey, how long have you been standing there?”

“Not long. What take out are we having?” Dai sat down at the dining table.

“Take your pick; we have every menu from every take out joint in a ten mile radius.” Sarah sat a few seats away with a sigh.

“Pizza Hut?” Alan held up the menu.

“It’s Pasta Hut now-but go for it. I think they still do pizzas.”

“Since when?” Alan paused in mid stride towards the cordless phone.

“I don’t know…a month ago?” Sarah shook her head and then looked to Dai. “Welcome to the house, there’s never a dull moment.” She rested her elbow on the back of the chair. “So you grew up in Spain huh? Alan was going to take me over to meet you the last time he ventured over but your mother didn’t like the idea.”

Dai’s brow rose. The last time Alan visited him was almost a year ago, how long had she been living with him? “She probably wanted us to spend some quality time together, she wouldn‘t like you ruining that.”

“You don’t like me either, do you?” Sarah’s voice dropped and she leaned forward. “Why not?” Dai looked to his father, who was busy ordering, and told her straight up that he thought she was too young for him-but in Spanish so she wouldn’t get it. She stared at him for a moment and then laughed.

“Wait, you understood that?” It was Dai’s turn to stare as she nodded.

“A-Alan taught me a little a-and the house k-keeper is Spanish!” She managed between laughs.

“What’s so funny?” Alan asked as he made his way over. Sarah took a moment to compose herself before speaking to him in what Dai thought was Cantonese then continued laughing. Alan joined in. “Sarah’s been with me for a few years.”

“So…is she family or something? A cousin?” Dai asked.

“If that’s what you want to believe.” Sarah chuckled, wiping a tear from her eye. “Oh man, that’s the funniest thing I’ve heard in a long time…”

Dai was woken by Alan the next morning, the older man was smiling and Sarah was already up.

“Sarah’s going to play football with some guys from work, we can go watch or we can go somewhere else.”

Dai thought for a moment. “I’d like to go watch.”

Alan beamed. “Great, we can grab some food afterwards.”

Dai was up, dressed and washed in five minutes and sat down at the dining table. Sarah was dressed in a pair of black shorts and a loose red shirt with matching socks; the back of her shirt had Cooper 9 on it and THD REDS on the front. Dai was confused once more but decided not to ask.

It was the THD REDS versus the THD BLUES; they used a local field and were competitive. Alan wasn’t biased and cheered for both sides from a grass banking dotted with other people, some were from the company and others was just out for a day.

“Number six in blue is Stuart, he does the financial stuff.” Alan pointed out a balding man. “Max is number twelve, Jerry is ten.” Dai nodded as he went through the blue team, trying to absorb all the names. “And in goal is.”

“Matt.” Dai answered. Matt looked comfortable in his green shirt with black shorts and the gloves, hopping from one foot to another to give himself something to do. Dai looked back to the game as Sarah headed the ball. “Why does Sarah have Cooper on her shirt?”

“That’s her nickname, she’s well known for her mercy blows in cases-Coup de grace.” Alan chuckled. “She actually prefers it to Sarah.”

“Coop’! Coop‘!” Someone called and passed her the ball. She sprinted down the field dodging one defender after another and a smirk spread across her face as she neared the goal; Matt watched her closely and dived to his left when she cracked the ball-but it brushed passed his fingers and hit the back of the net. A huge cheer erupted across the field and Dai and Alan clapped.

“Her strikes are always ruthless.” Jeff suddenly dropped beside Dai; he was dressed in a casual pair of blue jeans and a white shirt. “Cooper almost seems ironic.” He smiled at Dai. “How are you this morning Dai?”

“Fine thanks.” Dai smiled.

“I’m assuming the reds are winning? Matt is a fine keeper but Sarah can really kick.”

“She always could.” Alan winced a little.

“She seems to have something against Matt.” Dai observed as Sarah kicked the ball again; it hit the post and rebounded to hit Matt on the head. “That’s the second time that’s happened.”

Jeff chuckled. “There’s a rivalry.”

“But he fancies her…” Dai frowned.

“We know.” The older men said in unison.

“But Sarah’s seems oblivious to it.” Alan explained. “So Matt just plays along.”

“Oh.” Dai’s brow furrowed. The final whistle blew and Sarah made her way over after saying goodbye to everyone.

“Hey boss.” She grinned and Jeff nodded. “Want to join us for lunch?”

“No, I have things to do but that was a good game.” Jeff smiled, stood and left.

“Guess it’s just us.” Alan shrugged.

Alright, i know the French saying is Kou De Gra or whatever, but they do pronounce it Coup De Grace because the English can't pronounce it right.