Ghost in this house

[chelleuncurled]

May 10, 2012
Michelle hasn't seen Jack since the bar. She's gotten updated status reports from Chris - a cold way to think about a friend's well being, but it's easier to treat this as an investigation.
Her attempts at tracking information back to the source have hit one dead end after another. According to the evidence, a little birdie told

Comments

[action_antihero]

It's not hard for Jack to find the house, even though he's never been there before. When Michelle had called, asking for help boxing up Tony's things, he hadn't known what to say for a moment. He's the last person he would have thought she'd want to share that painful task. But he hadn't been able to say no.

Parking his new SUV in the driveway, he walks up to the house--a typical two-story suburban house like you'd see in any nice neighbourhood around L.A. It was the kind of place where people could easily raise a family; where you'd expect to open the garage and see bikes and a little red wagon, with a swingset in the backyard.

That was probably what Tony and Michelle were planning when they bought the place, after all.

A knot forming in his stomach, Jack knocks on the door, and a moment later the door swings open. "Hey, Michelle."

[chelleuncurled]

Michelle opens the door, noticing that he looks better, less broken, but he seems wary and the weight he's lost is still evident. "Hi. Thank you for coming."

Her hair's up in a pony tail and she looks healthier than she feels.

"Chris gave you directions?"

[action_antihero]

"Yeah, and I've been in this area of the city a few times," he says, walking inside and stepping out of his shoes. "How are you doing?"

[chelleuncurled]

She looks down at his shoes and her lips curve into a half-smile. Someone trained him well and one of her mom's biggest pet peeves had to do with people wearing shoes all through the house. Tony used to keep forgetting. Her smile fades.

"You might want to keep those on," she comments and glances up. "Today isn't bad." She knows he won't believe she's okay and she's learned to view her life day by day instead of focusing on the overall.