A turn of Events

[christy]

Closed to @Nate is not on fire and @A Guileless Fable

 

[christy]

((Not sure what Justin's brother's name is so I just chose a random one. I can cuange it if you want. Also, I'm assuming we both play him when necessary?))


It was early, too early for Leilani to be awake, but that's how she'd been waking the past few days, ever since she and her husband Jake came back from their honeymoon -- which of course had bern absolutely wonderful. She wished she could go back to it, and be stuck that way forever, but alas, real life catches up eventually, and Leilani had a job to go back to.


She sat up in bed, looking across at Jake's sleeping face beside her. He looked much more calm and younger while asleep, and the little ray of sunlight that edcaped through a slit in the curtains seemed to emphasise this. She smiled a little and ran a hand through his hair softly, not wanting to wake him. It wasn't time for him to get up just yet -- nor was it time for her -- but once she woke she could never go back to sleep. She stretched like a cat and rubbed the sleep from her eyes before getting out of bed and moving to the kitchen to make herself a cup of coffee.


She had heard the Jake's brother was coming to visit that day, but she forgot to ask what time so she wondered when he would actually get there. He was the only one in Jake's whole family that she hadnn't met and that was mainly because he was out of station. Jake had told her a lot about his twin and how they had been polar opposites in high school, so she was eager to meet the other Thomas brother.


((Hope that's okay @A Guileless Fable))

 

[A Guileless Fable]

Justin yawned, his glasses slung across his face in a rather obscure manner that left one of his lenses drooping slightly below one of his grey eyes. It had been a long day ever since he got on his late night 9'o clock flight right after filing a stack of documents for the lab. He had been hoping to find some peace and quiet in the trip down here, but apparently that had been a little too much to ask for. He cringed at the remembrance of his flight attendant, an elderly woman who held a perpetual scowl on her face as she rudely handed out drinks and snacks. The seats were just as bad as they smelled of old mothballs and were stiff as a board, his back aching from prolonged contact with the horrid chairs. However, even that hadn't been the worst of his troubles. The flight attendant didn't come around often which served both as a slight annoyance as well as a small grace period in which he could rest easy without the thought of an old woman staring him down in unwarranted aggravation. The seats were hard and stunk, but even they couldn't come compare to the sound of one of the crying children that belonged to a passenger. Justin jaw clenched at the sound that rang in his head that night, forcing him in and out from his sleep like a nightmare.


Clutching the wheel, he had decided it had been for the best if he had let old demon's rest. There was no need to bring up such hazardous events that would would drain him even more than the flight had done. Besides today was his first time coming home in eight years after leaving for college. Along with his brother's new found marriage, today was indeed something to be excited about. Running a stray hand across his dirty blonde hair, his nails scratching his scalp, he trudged forward. At one point during his drive he had felt himself falling asleep at the wheel and had stopped to get a grande sized black coffee from a nearby Starbucks, the caffeine forcing his mind to enter a state of focus. Justin has passed by a flower shop which wasn't too far from the house and thought it'd be nice to buy the new lovebirds some flower in congratulations.


Entering the store, he browsed the many selection of sun flowers, multi-colored roses, and plants he knew nothing of. At first this has seemed like an easy enough task. Taking into his account of his lack of botanical knowledge as well as his own tiredness, it became much more of a struggle than he had originally thought. It reached a point where he simply stared at a spider lily for nearly ten minutes before awoken by one of the staff members, a young girl covered in a green apron doning the shop's simplistic flower design. She's asked him is had needed any assistance in which he had rejected only to find himself returning for help. Justin could remember the brunette giggle at his prideful behavior before sending him off with a bouquet of red, yellow, and white roses. He'd thanked her for her aid and left, the woman bidding him a safe journey.


Back on the road, he stared at the clock, time ticking ever so slowly as he stepped a little bit harder onto the pedal. Justin had been slightly over the speed limit, maybe a good fifteen miles above it. Taking another sip of his coffee, Justin couldn't help but smile as his GPS signaled that he would be reaching his destination in a moment. Right turn. Left. Right. Straight. Right, and he was there. The house wasn't anything extravagant, but he definitely could see his brother living in it. It had a nice welcoming feel it. Putting his car into park, he exited the vehicle fixing his glasses that had ridden on his face in every way possible then the way it had been made to. Justin relaxed his muscles, rolling them in order to relieve the stiffness in them. Looking at his attire, Justin had not dressed fancily for today as he wore a simple pair of grey sneakers, dark blue jeans, and a light grey v-neck that revealed a few of his chest muscles.


Assuring himself he was now presentable, he pulled the flowers out and held them gently in his grip. With the flowers in hand and a smiling face, he made his way towards the door and gave it a few knocks before resting his hand at his side. Now that he was here, he had to wonder what Jake's wife was like. He hadn't told him anything about her besides the fact she was a beauty and he had the honor of marrying her, so much like his brother to give opinion rather than a reliable description. He hadn't even mentioned her name in his text. What love did to a man.

 

[christy]

Leilani had to admit that she eas a bit startled as she heard a knock on the door. It was pretty early in the morning for visitors, and it wasn't exactly like they were new to the neighbourhood, so it couldn't have been friendly neighbours, welcoming them with a fruit basket or something of the sort. She set her hot mug of coffee down on the countar and cast her stormy gaze to the stairway, expecting Jake to come downstairs. Maybe he was expecting someone, or maybe it was someone from work.


As soon as she thought it though, she dismisse the idea. It was a weekend, nobody would come knocking at their door for work. They never did, no matter how bad of an emergency it was. There was usually a call first.


Then her mind travelled to the other possibility. Jake's brother was visiting.


But so early? She supposed he caught the red eye or something. After all, he had a job, she didn't expect him to stay leisurely.


She was in shorts and a tank top -- attire she saw unfit for meeting her brother in law for the first time, so she ran to the nearest closet and pulled out her black knit sweater and oulled it on over the tank top. Still not satisfactory, but she couldn't just keep him waiting by the door. She contemplated calling out to Jake but decided against it. She would wake him up once she was sure that it was his brother, and if it was, maybe he would go wake Jake up himself.


She walked over to the door and pulled it open, forgetting that ner hair was currently a mess of golden waves. Upon opening the door though, she was more startled than when she heard the knock. Standing there was someone she had seen before, someone she had loved before.


A cascade of emotions ran through Leilani -- first confusion. Then recognition. Followed by even more confusion and a whole lot else.


"Justin?" She said softly, the words barely coming out as a whisper. Why was he here? How? "Wait, you... You're Jake's brother?"

 

[christy]

((Hello there @A Guileless Fable ))