[center][h3][color=91AABA]E D W A R D[/color][/h3][/center]

[color=91AABA]"How surprising,"[/color] Edward rebuffed, his grin fading as he turned to match Bailey's gait on the way to the pool house. [color=91AABA]"Figured she would have told all of you before me. I don't exactly fit the mold of a 'first call' these days. I've got shit I got to do. You and Katherine are the golden children, remember?"[/color]

As he walked, Edward watched her face from his periphery. Something was off; she seemed a little more perturbed than she ought to be.

[color=91AABA]"You look nervous,"[/color] he said, a mere observation showing his keen eye. [color=91AABA]"Don't worry, if Dad comes back from the dead, I'll make sure he eats Katherine first; give you a chance to run back to your lab so you can research a cure."[/color]

He wondered, internally, where it all went wrong. The pool house was now in view, emerging from behind dense shrubbery that lined the acre-wide backyard of Blackstone Manor. He couldn't dredge up a memory in which he and his sisters relaxed and played and were just children. All he could remember were lessons and punishments and deep-seeded frustrations and expectations. So many expectations. The Sistine Chapel wouldn't have been enough to satisfy.

The pool house, in particular, sat parallel to a swimming pool that could've qualified for use in the Olympics bordered on one side by large glass panes that comprised the greenhouse. What was once Mother's attempt at a pastime activity in the wake of her stresses became yet another burden levied onto the help of the household. Edward imagined one of the gardeners, underpaid and overworked, tending to God-knows-what inside the improperly-ventilated vessel of greenery. He toyed with the thought of how long it had been since anyone stepped foot inside. Judging by the overgrowth of vines that snaked up the glass, it had to have been at least several weeks. He guessed it was no longer a priority, and why would it be now?

The empty backyard forced Edward back into his thoughts of an alternate reality.

[color=91AABA]"So, how's the..."[/color] Edward gestured vaguely, as if trying to conjure up words that made sense when put together. Part of him still contested with the hangover he battled on the plane coming here.

[color=91AABA]"...internship?"[/color]