Sep
Zephyr dropped to her knees as tears began to stream down her face. After the roller coaster that was the last few weeks of her life, seeing her twin was like coming across a lush rainforest in the middle of the Sahara.
Tempest joined her on the floor and wrapped her in a bearhug. “Really,” he said fondly, “someone would think you’d missed me.”
Zephyr’s reply, mangled to the point of being unintelligable by her sobs, was probably an affirmation that she had indeed missed Tempest. Tempest ruffled her hair. “Come on, enough with the waterworks. Your eyes will get all bloodshot and your nose will be all stuffed up if you don’t stop.”
Someone cleared their throat from behind them, and Zephyr jumped in surprise. “I hate to interrupt,” the older gentleman said, “but if you two want the plane to take off, I need you both in your seats.”
Tempest stood, helping a still-crying Zephyr to her feet. “I warned you, didn’t I?” Tempest told the gentleman, grinning.
“You did indeed. Do you need help getting her into a seat?”
“Nah,” Tempest replied. “She’ll be fine. I’ll have her calm in a minute.”
The gentleman nodded and headed for the cockpit. Tempest took Zephyr’s hand and tugged her to her seat. “Sit.”
“Not a dog,” Zephyr mummbled, sniffling, as she obliged and sat down.
“I know,” Tempest said, wiping Zephyr’s tears from her face as she buckled her seatbelt.
“Thought you were busy.”
“Use full sentances, Zee. To answer your question, I talked to Mo a couple weeks ago and he suggested it might be a very good idea if we ended the shoot early.”
“Why? I mean, I really missed you and I’m glad to see you, but I know your work is important to you.”
“Well, you see,” Tempest said, his expression amused, “I have this twin sister who got dumped, had her self-esteem trampled on, and was making herself sick at an awful job. Well, at least, she was until she quit.”
It took a moment or two for Zephyr to properly process what Tempest had just said. When it hit her, the irritation was palpable. “That jerk! He lied to me!”
Temptest grinned. “Mo didn’t tell me.”
Zephyr rubbed at her face wearily. “Then how did you find out?”
“It’s a secret. Oh, look, here we go.” Tempest pointed out the window as the plane picked up speed and lifted off the runway.
Zephyr stared out the window. When the plane had leveled, she glanced over at Tempest before fixing her gaze out the window. “I’m sorry.”
“Sorry? For what?”
Zephyr sighed and looked at Tempest, who was obviously confused. “I’m sorry if I’ve disappointed you.”
Tempest rolled his eyes. “I would have been disappointed if you’d stayed. That job made you miserable. Quit worrying so much, you know I’d rather handle the bills until you find something you really want to do. Hell, I wish you’d just let me pay them all the time.”
Zephyr bristled, but didn’t respond. Tempest had found his niche early, becoming an award-winning photographer before he had even entered high school. While Zephyr was of course proud of her twin, she was also a little envious of his independence.
Tempest smacked Zephyr playfully on the back of the head. “Stop it. You’re thinking depressing thoughts again.”
“I don’t like you having to take care of everything,” Zephyr said as she leaned against Tempest. “I want to stand on my own two feet.”
“You will. I have no doubt of that. In the meantime, relax a little and be excited about celebrating Mo’s birthday.”
“Mm. Did you get him anything?”
“Not yet. I didn’t have time. What about you?”
“I gave up after the fifth store Dani dragged me to and just got him some weird t-shirts like I always do. I’ll cook dinner and bake a cake for his birthday, and that should make it even.”
“Is Dani the one who was at your house the last time I called?”
“Yeah. I still have a feeling that’s going to bite me in the ass later.”
Tempest raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”
“Do you remember how sweet and beautiful and sane Lyric seemed when I started dating her?”
“Well, yeah.”
“And do you remember how psychotic and twisted she turned out to be?”
Tempest closed his eyes. “Please tell me we aren’t dealing with another Lyric.”
“I don’t know yet. I do know she showed up at our condo in the middle of the night last night, but I didn’t answer the door so I have no idea what that was all about. On the other hand, she’s also fun to be around, she’s got similar interests, and she’s not pushing for things I’m not ready for yet. I don’t know if I’m wary because of how things have gone the past few weeks, or if I’m really sensing shades of Lyric in her.”
“I’ll admit to being a little concerned,” Tempest said, “if only because you’ve never been the type to just hop into bed with someone. I’m sure you went about it safely, but…”
Zephyr gave Tempest a wry smile. “I’m not exactly sure I’m exactly happy about the timing, either, but it’s already happened so there’s no point in worrying about it. If she ends up turning into a psychotic bitch, I’ll deal with it then.”
“Well, I’ve got your back, just like I always have.”
“I know.” Zephyr smiled a real smile as she relaxed against her seat. “Same goes for me, you know.”
Tempest reached out and took Zephyr’s hand. “I missed you.”
“Yeah,” Zephyr said. “I missed you, too.”
“Now, about my sweatshirt…”
Zephyr snorted a laugh. “Finders keepers, twin.”
“That doesn’t apply if you find it in my closet.”
“I’ve got a deck of cards in my bag that says it does.”
Tempest gave Zephyr an incredulous look. “You’re going to make me play poker with you so I can win a sweatshirt that I already own?”
“Damn straight,” Zephyr said, grinning widely. “What are you going to do about it?”
Tempest laughed. “You’re shameless.”
“Chicken?” Zephyr asked as she pulled the deck of playing cards out of her messenger bag.
“Of you? Hardly. Bring it on, twin.”