Thread: Reunited and it feels so good. (KingSandy and Notte)

Another long day. Then again, every day seemed to be a long ass day. Hour after hour, just staring at the screen. It didn't help that other than the click of keys, the occasional cough there was no sound in the office space. Not a single thing. Why? He had no idea. Just something flat and oppressive here, money and conformity was all there was. Maybe he was just imagining things, his old anxiety. New job, new home. . . Well not a new home so much as an old home made new. Jack had finally moved back to his old hometown. After years and years of growing up away. Away from his father, away from his sister. It had been a nasty divorce. Each parent had shared ugly truths and even worse lies in order to play up how much this divorce was needed. In the end, it was the children that felt the worst of the sundering. Separated, unable to reach the other. Jack lost more than he thought that day when Mom packed up his stuff and took him to the airport. He'd learned not to mention his older sister ever again after that. All it did was make his mother mad. And then she would cry and Jack would feel terrible. And so he grew up, an only child. It hadn't been too hard. Good grades, good looks. He wasn't very tall, only a shade under the average height. But he had fine cheekbones, a delicate chin. Broad shoulders on an otherwise slender body added an impression of size. His hair was a deep wooden color. He cut a fine figure in his suit which he had carefully ironed, even after having it dry cleaned. He'd wanted to make a good impression on the office and somehow. . . He felt like he hadn't. He stood out. His tie was too loud. His shoes too shiny or too worn. And then that atmosphere here. The young man was not about to deal with the idea that he would have to conform more. Just fill out the sheets. The stress of his first day was getting to him. It was nearing the end of the day. Jack would go home. Make some tea. Check his email. Maybe he got another email from the sister he could barely remember. The wonders of the internet, he reasoned, hoping that he would one day meet this mysterious sibling. But he was also nervous about that. . . What if she hated him? They hadn't corresponded very long, he wasn't even sure how she found him. So he tended to avoid setting meetings with her. It was unnecessary to meet right now. He had too many things going on even if he was glad to be back where he had so many good and bad memories. Five o' clock. Time to clock out. He packed his things, dated and signed out for the day and went out to his car. A short drive home. A modest little apartment. One bedroom, one bath. Furnished with hand-me-down furniture from friends and family. His bed was the only thing new, he'd splurged on it and by God he was going to keep it. It was so comfortable. The large, inexplicably bouncy couch was another source of comfort for it was the first thing Jack had bought for his college suite. Irrationally, he felt that the couch understood him on some level. Or that might have been some lingering pot-smoked memory. . . Good times. He slumped on that couch, loosened his tie and unbuttoned his shirt. It was good to be home. He was too lazy to put the kettle on, too lazy to cook. If he was still working in a lab, still in college, he could have just set the hotplate on and then left the kettle.. That would have been much easier than the stove. He ordered some pizza, thank goodness for smartphones.