Where We Belong

Unfinished Business

When Gillian gets home, she turns the oven on low, slides in the apple pie, and goes into her bedroom to change into something more comfortable. Shortly after she is done, there is a knock at her door. She opens it to find Harper with a huge smile on her face and the rest of the six-pack that they had earlier in one hand and the tray of cinnamon rolls they had forgotten about in the other. Gillian moves to the side so that Harper could enter.

"I wasn't sure if you had anything to drink here so I brought the beers over just in cases. And I brought these in case you were feeling really crazy and wanted two desserts." She says as Gillian takes the beer and cinnamon rolls from her so that she can remove her jacket.

"Hmm. I actually don't drink much at home so I don't think I have anything besides water and orange juice. But, I don't think that IPAs go very well with apple pie or cinnamon rolls." Gillian smiles.

"Well, we can have dessert first and then we can watch a movie and have beer?" Harper says with a grin on her face as she takes the beer back from Gillian.

Gillian chuckles. "Ah, a woman with a plan. That's sounds fine to me."

Harper walks over to the kitchen and puts the beer in the refrigerator. Then, she walks back into dining area which is by the front door and looks around at Gillian's apartment. The space is not very big but it looks very homey. The first thing that Harper notices is that Gillian has a vintage record player in her living room along with a pretty impressive collection of vinyl records and CDs on a shelf beside it. She walks over and looks through a few of them pulling out an original 60's jazz record that still looks like it is in mint condition. "Whoa..."

"I'm sort of a traditionalist when it comes to music." Gillian says from behind Harper.

Harper turns and smiles at her. "Yeah, so I've noticed. And it is very cool. I mean, I thought you were pretty cool before but this is really, really cool."

Gillian rolls her eyes.

"You know, I've noticed you do that a lot around me." Harper says laughing.

"Well, you say a lot of things that warrant that reaction." Gillian says.

"No, I don't. YOU just don't know how to take a compliment." Harper is smiling at Gillian again waiting for her to say something when she notices that Gillian might be blushing.

Gillian looks down at her feet for a moment and reaches her hand up to tuck some hair behind her ear, another definite nervous habit of hers. Then she replies, "I suppose that I should just thank you, then?" She says as she looks up again and returns Harper's smile.

"Why, you're welcome." Harper says smugly. She continues walking around the room when a few pictures on Gillian's bookshelf catches her eye. One picture is of a younger Gillian, probably eleven or twelve, with who looks to be her parents. Then there is one of Gillian and Rebecca from when they were in school, both of them in cheerleading uniforms. The last one is from Rebecca and Dominic's wedding and Gillian is off to the side as she is obviously one of Rebecca's bridesmaids. This makes Harper smile. It has to be a crime to look so much more beautiful than the bride in a wedding photo, she thinks to herself before turning back towards where Gillian is standing and watching her. "Your apartment is very nice. It seems very cozy."

Gillian shrugs. "Well, as you know, I don't spend much time here. I spend the most time in my bedroom, sleeping." She laughs. "Are you ready for some pie?"

Harper's eyes widen in excitement. "Oh, yes. I'm always ready for pie."

Gillian walks into the kitchen, puts on an oven mitt, and pulls the pie out of the oven. "I hope that you like yours warm because that's how I usually eat it."