The beginning

The airport was packed, and Claire was having trouble finding her plane. She hoped she had arrived early enough to find her seat without struggling with the other passengers too much. She was prepared to go back home. As nice as it was to see her family this weekend, she had to get back to work tomorrow, and didn’t want to miss the final flight out. She missed her parents and the rest of the family, but she had left Omaha years ago, when she had finally graduated high school and realized that she really needed to move onto bigger things. Sure, the people there were all friends, but she couldn’t make a name of herself in a town of less than 600 people. Moving to Mystic Falls, New York was not what she had in mind when she had begun her career and college search outside of her hometown area, but when she was completing her school research in New York, she paid attention to career options as well.

After almost six hours in the air, Claire’s plane finally landed at the Kennedy airport in Queens. Now to drive the two hours to Mystic Falls so she can climb into her queen sized bed and sleep for a few hours before she had to prepare for tomorrow’s presentation. Seeing as tomorrow would be her first interaction with this new company, she wanted to work hard to make a good impression on everyone.

Claire drove the two hours from the airport to her home. As she got to her house, she noticed a strange car sitting in front of her house. She pulled into the driveway and immediately told her smartphone to turn on all of the lights in the house before leaving the car. That’s when she noticed the figure standing on her porch approaching the door to knock. Without leaving her car, she startled her visitor, which gave her a chance to prepare herself for the worst. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves and then proceeded to climb out of the car and up to her front door. It wasn’t until she was on the porch, facing her visitor, that she recognized who it was waiting for her.

His thinning brown hair and dark brown eyes stared back at her, and from his height, looking up at her, she could see his expression on his face. He was a bit startled, but also smiling. “James, what are you doing here?” Claire asked, puzzled by how he had figured out she was coming home at this hour. Afterall, they hadn’t spoken since the last time he had shown up unannounced trying to win her back. Claire, being a tall blonde, average sized woman, towered over him, so her question could have been construed as intimidating to an onlooker. Her long blonde hair was gently blowing in the breeze around her face. James reached up to push it behind her ears and cup her face as he smiled and said, “I figured you might want someone to keep you company in this dark and lonely house while you slept after your flight.” It was hard for Claire to feel comforted by the man who didn’t seem to be exiting her life like she had planned when she divorced him seven years ago. She hadn’t had the nerve to place a restraining order on him because, for the most part, he was decent company when he was around. However, at this very moment, Claire wanted nothing to do with his ‘company’, afterall, she knew he was really there for a booty call and she was in no mood for that, she just wanted sleep. “No James, I just got home and I don’t want company, I just want to be left alone because I need actual rest, and then I have to prep for tomorrow.” Claire opened her door, turning around just before closing the door, “Go home James.” With his height of 5’6”, he had to look up at Claire when he spoke to her, as she was five inches taller than him, so she towered over him in heels, which she had begun to take off when she entered her home. So when he begged her to let him come in, she gave in because she was dead on her feet and not in the mood to fight over anything, muchless with James. “You can crash on my couch, but no funny business or you’ll be sent on your way for real this time.” Claire said, glaring at him so he would understand she meant business.