Ciara O’Conner hadn’t been home practically all year except for holidays, and even then the visits were short. She had reason for it, of course, but if you heard it from her parents she was just being a rebellious child. Was it really still viewed as rebellious at the age of twenty-two? She thought of it as wanting to live her own life, finding her own way. Besides, who would want to go home if all your family did was talk about your history, get you to work at the family restaurant, and set you up on dates with the same boy for the last- well, since she was in diapers. Every single time, no matter how much she protested. Arranged relationships were a thing of the past, how could they not see that? Thankfully over her college career they’d let it be; Ciara guessed she either wasn’t giving them a chance to mention it or they’d finally realized what century they were all living in.
The young grad rolled her tired brown eyes and turned down the music, her own frustration within causing the noise of old 70s music to become an irritation. She was almost home anyway, which she would have known by the lack of fields and suburbs even if her GPS didn’t give her the arrival time. It was a shame her parents hadn’t been able to make the drive for her ceremony, but she understood. It was a ways away, and they couldn’t take off work just to see her five seconds of fame. It wasn’t as if she were graduating to be a doctor or lawyer, anyway.
Hm…it would be late evening by the time she reached home. She wanted to stop for dinner, but her mother, Anna, had made her promise to eat dinner with them. She’d sounded excited, it made her wonder if the extended family that lived in the States were coming over. Not that there were many, but still. Her father, Liam’s parents were still living and quite involved in the family’s well-being. It would actually be kind of nice to see Grandpa Finley and Grandma Fiona, and even her father’s brother, Stanley. They may be a rough bunch of idiots, but they could be pleasant if they tried really, really hard.
The rest of her family, especially her mother’s side, was still in Ireland. While in elementary school she would visit them every summer, but it was so boring there that she had resisted once old enough to put her foot down.
Ciara yawned, tucking a lock of black wavy hair behind her ear. She was wearing the same white, knee-length lace dress she’d worn underneath the hideous green gown that was now thrown into the back of the old blue car along with boxes and boxes of belongings. Yes, now that school was officially over Ciara was coming back to New York. She didn’t want to stay, but leaving for good would mean finding a well-paying job out of state, and that was going to be near impossible with no contacts to start off with. In photography you needed to know someone, and her best bet at success would be to stick around. Oh, this would be a fun summer…
***
The house barely had any lights on, Ciara didn’t understand it. She knew it was past dinnertime, but it wasn’t that late! She’d sort of expected a greeting from someone, anyone at the door. Even her little brother Daniel was old enough at sixteen to know it was rude to not come help her unpack. With a curse of annoyance Ciara parked the car just outside the two story brick house, turning off the engine with relief. It had taken two days of driving to get there, and all she wanted to do was eat and sleep. Thankfully she’d at least changed out of those stupid heels in exchange for flip-flops. “Thanks for the help guys,” she muttered to herself as she popped open the trunk, grabbing a couple duffle bags and shuffling onto the front porch, past the wide, rusty swing, and to the front door. What a welcome home, by the looks of things they were already in bed!
The young grad rolled her tired brown eyes and turned down the music, her own frustration within causing the noise of old 70s music to become an irritation. She was almost home anyway, which she would have known by the lack of fields and suburbs even if her GPS didn’t give her the arrival time. It was a shame her parents hadn’t been able to make the drive for her ceremony, but she understood. It was a ways away, and they couldn’t take off work just to see her five seconds of fame. It wasn’t as if she were graduating to be a doctor or lawyer, anyway.
Hm…it would be late evening by the time she reached home. She wanted to stop for dinner, but her mother, Anna, had made her promise to eat dinner with them. She’d sounded excited, it made her wonder if the extended family that lived in the States were coming over. Not that there were many, but still. Her father, Liam’s parents were still living and quite involved in the family’s well-being. It would actually be kind of nice to see Grandpa Finley and Grandma Fiona, and even her father’s brother, Stanley. They may be a rough bunch of idiots, but they could be pleasant if they tried really, really hard.
The rest of her family, especially her mother’s side, was still in Ireland. While in elementary school she would visit them every summer, but it was so boring there that she had resisted once old enough to put her foot down.
Ciara yawned, tucking a lock of black wavy hair behind her ear. She was wearing the same white, knee-length lace dress she’d worn underneath the hideous green gown that was now thrown into the back of the old blue car along with boxes and boxes of belongings. Yes, now that school was officially over Ciara was coming back to New York. She didn’t want to stay, but leaving for good would mean finding a well-paying job out of state, and that was going to be near impossible with no contacts to start off with. In photography you needed to know someone, and her best bet at success would be to stick around. Oh, this would be a fun summer…
***
The house barely had any lights on, Ciara didn’t understand it. She knew it was past dinnertime, but it wasn’t that late! She’d sort of expected a greeting from someone, anyone at the door. Even her little brother Daniel was old enough at sixteen to know it was rude to not come help her unpack. With a curse of annoyance Ciara parked the car just outside the two story brick house, turning off the engine with relief. It had taken two days of driving to get there, and all she wanted to do was eat and sleep. Thankfully she’d at least changed out of those stupid heels in exchange for flip-flops. “Thanks for the help guys,” she muttered to herself as she popped open the trunk, grabbing a couple duffle bags and shuffling onto the front porch, past the wide, rusty swing, and to the front door. What a welcome home, by the looks of things they were already in bed!