November 2016

Shannon checked his rearview mirror for the fifth time, adjusting it slightly to the left.

"For fuck's sakes Shannon! Give it a rest! The mirror is fucking perfect!" Jared snapped from the back seat.

"Jared! Language!" his mother exclaimed.

"He's been fiddling with that thing the whole time!" Jared said. "Its fine! Stop adjusting it!"

To say tensions were high in the car would be like saying Mt. Everest was just a little hill. But Shannon wanted everything to be perfect. He hadn't seen Callie in two months and he was nervous about how his family would interact with hers. It was ridiculous, he knew. But her opinion still validated him like nothing else.

He chose not to respond to his brother's groans and instead focused on the road. It was laden with travelers making their way to or from holiday celebrations. He narrowly avoided a silver Mercedes as it merged in front of him. 

"Jesus H. Christ!" Jared exclaimed. "Why are people in California such shitty drivers?"

"You're one to talk, speed demon," Connie said. "I can count at least six times when you've been pulled over for terrible driving."

That seemed to shut him up and Shannon had to stifle a laugh. 

"How much longer until we get there?" Jared asked with a sigh. 

Shannon merged into an exit lane. "Twenty minutes unless traffic is bad off the highway."

Sure enough, twenty minutes later, they pulled up in front of Callie's family home. 

"This place is pretty big," Jared remarked, looking through the back window. "I didn't realize Callie's family had money."

Shannon snorted in laughter. "They don't. They had to squeeze seven people into this place. Trust me - they could use another couple hundred square feet."

He parked the SUV on the street and got out. Several cars were already in the driveway. They made their way up the front steps and he knocked on the door. It felt strange to be knocking on the door when he'd just gone around to the back and let himself in so often. But being with his brother and mom made him feel like he should be a little less casual. 

The door opened and Avril appeared in front of him. "Shannon!" She exclaimed while hugging him. "Its good to see you!"

"Avril, this is my mom Connie and my brother Jared," he told her, pointing to each person. "Mom, Jay, this is Callie's second-youngest sister Avril."

"Nice to meet you," Connie said, taking the teen's hand. 

"Come on in," Avril said, stepping back so they could walk in. 

"I'm just going to drop the pies off in the kitchen," Shannon said. "Make yourselves comfortable."

He walked into the kitchen and was immediately greeted by the aroma of cooking turkey and vegetables. His mouth started to water just standing there. 

"Shan! You made it!" Callie exclaimed, dropping the spoon from her hand and rushing around the island to hug him. "I didn't realize you'd be here so soon."

"Yeah, we just got here," he replied. "Need any help?" he asked. 

"No, you're a guest, you don't need to do anything," Lilia remarked as she walked by carrying a large baking dish. "Hi, by the way," she added over her shoulder. 

"Are you sure?" he asked again. 

"Positive," Callie replied. She caught sight of Jared behind him. "Oh, hey Jared. I didn't know you were coming!"

"Callie, nice to see you again," Jared answered cheerfully. 

"I invited them," Ben said as he breezed into the family room. "You must be Jared," he smiled. "And this must be your beautiful mother."

Connie blushed slightly. "Connie," she said. 

"Ben," he answered. "Is there anything I can get you? A drink? Appetizer?" 

Connie nodded. "A drink would be wonderful," she smiled. 

"Great, come out the patio. We've got a nice little bar set up out there. We'll give these guys some space," he said, offering her his arm. 

Shannon and Jared followed them out the patio. The air was brisk, but not too bad. Several chairs had been pulled around a blazing fire in the fire pit and Shannon saw Jonny and Chris Evans deep in conversation. 

"Have a seat and relax," Ben said, gesturing to the chairs. "This is my youngest daughter Jonny," he pointed to her. "And I'm sure you know Callie's boyfriend Chris," he added as he walked over to a long table set up with different drinks. 

"So far I've counted four," Jared said quietly. "Where's the fifth Morrison sister? And the crazy grandmother?" he asked. 

"Belle is probably in Paris," Shannon explained. "And I have no idea where Mamie is, but she's probably off cooking in the kitchen. She takes cooking for the family pretty seriously."

Jared nodded. "So how are you feeling with Callie and her boyfriend being here?" 

They walked over to the drink table and started pouring themselves some. 

Shannon shrugged. "I don't honestly care. She seems happy with him. Plus I've got Katya back in Seattle." He took a sip from his wine glass. 

"Yeah, why didn't you invite her, hmm?" his brother asked in a leading way. "Could it possibly be because you know that bringing another girl to your crush's house for Thanksgiving might make you seem less available to her if she ever chooses to leave her movie star boyfriend who's built like a brick shit house?" 

Shannon looked at him with boredom. "You sound like a high school girl."

"All I'm saying is this was a perfect opportunity to prove to yourself that you've moved on and don't care about her anymore," Jared said.

"And who says I'm not doing that now, even without Katya?" Shannon asked. 

Jared quirked his eyebrow at him but said nothing, bringing his wine glass to his lips again. He let his eyes scan the scene in front of him before smiling. "You should probably focus more on Callie's dad flirting with Mom anyways. You can only fuck your sister in Appalachia."

Shannon looked over and saw Ben flirting heavily with their mother. "For fuck's sake," he muttered under his breath, making his way over to the firepit. 

"Shannon! Have a seat," Connie said. "Ben was just telling me all about the work you did on his property in Long Beach."

"You've got a real winner on your hands there, Connie," Ben said, leaning back in his chair. "Shannon did a bit of everything in that place. Plumbing, electrical, carpentry - you name it. It was a shame to see him head up to Seattle."

Shannon sat next to Connie, sinking into the canvas chair slightly. "It made sense from a business perspective for me," he explained.

"Seattle is a beautiful city," Ben said. "Its an amazing coffee town."

"Shannon, good to see you again," Chris said, as if he was just noticing he'd sat down next to him. "I was sad to miss you at Halloween."

"Callie told me you guys had a great time at a big party," Shannon replied, biting his tongue. Callie had raved about what a great experience it was and how many people she'd gotten to meet and network with, but he didn't want to focus on the details of a night that likely ended with her naked in Chris's bed. "That was really nice of you to take her and introduce her to all those people."

"That was a great night," Chris smiled. Shannon could swear he saw one of his teeth sparkle. "I hear you moved to Seattle, though. Must have been an awesome night up there, too."

Shannon could tell Chris was just trying to be nice. The guy didn't give two monkey's asses about his Halloween night in Seattle. "Yeah it was great." Just then Jared sat down on the the other side of Jonny. "Oh - you've met my brother, right?" he asked. "Jared, Chris. Chris, Jared."

The two men smiled politely. "Yeah, I loved your work in Dallas Buyers Club, man. It was fantastic."

Jared nodded politely and looked at Shannon over his wine glass. "Thank you. So, you and Callie, huh? How's that going?"

"Very well. Ben actually invited me for Christmas next month," Chris replied. 

Shannon clenched his fist, but said nothing. 

"Dinner's ready!" Callie called from the kitchen window. 

"That's our cue!" Ben said, standing. "We're eating in the dining room."

Shannon followed everyone into the great room. The house smelled amazing. A fire was crackling in the fireplace and the table in the dining room was laid with a beautiful spread. 

"Mamie ça a l'air fantastique!" he exclaimed as he took a seat next to Jared. 

His brother looked at him in confusion and surprise. "Either I'm drunker than I thought or you just spoke French."

Shannon shrugged. "I've picked up a few things here," he said dismissively. He heard Mamie's expression of gratitude from the kitchen.

"There's no ceremony here," Ben said as everyone got settled. "But before we start, I want to thank everyone for coming. Chris, it's been wonderful to meet you and spend time with you," he tilted his glass toward him. "And Shannon, thank you for coming all the way from Seattle and bringing your beautiful mother and talented brother with you as well. The more the merrier here." Mamie came in carrying a bowl of gravy. "But, I think we can all agree that the real hero of the day is this wonderful woman right here."

A round of applause filled the space and  Mamie brushed it off. "Eat, please. Eat. Before it gets cold," she said in broken English. 

"Oh, Jared, I know you're going the vegan route, so I made sure there were a few things for you too," Callie said. 

Jared nodded and smiled. "Thanks."

Shannon tried to ignore the way Callie kept leaning into Chris on the other side of the table. He tried to enjoy the meal, but between Callie flirting with Chris, Chris and Jared going on about a certain director they heard rumors about, Avril and Jonny bickering, and Ben flirting with his mother, he felt like his head was spinning. 

Ordinarily, this would have been a beautiful Rockwellian scene. But all he could think of was how badly he wanted to use again. Coming had been a big mistake. He would have been better off staying in Los Angeles and having Thanksgiving at Jared's with him and his coworkers. It would have been better than watching Callie with another man or seeing what his mother looked like when she flirted. Neither image was something he ever needed to see again. 

By the time dessert was served, Shannon needed a cigarette badly. He excused himself and went outside to the backyard. The playhouse in the back corner caught his attention and he hustled over to it. No one would find him in there. He pulled the plastic door open and crawled inside. Aside from a few spiders and cobwebs, it was surprisingly clean. He cracked one of the windows on the back side and lit a cigarette. After a couple drags, he felt himself relax slightly. 

He jumped when the door opened and Jonny crawled in. She froze, joint between her teeth, eyes wide. 

"I can come back," she said, her word muffled. 

"Is that a joint?" he asked, taking it from her lips. 

"You won't tell my dad, will you?" she asked. "I got it from some guys at school before the holiday break. I'm super stressed with midterms and I just just wanted to relax," she rushed out. 

"Jonny, relax," he chuckled, handing it back to her as she scooted next to him. "You're making excuses to the wrong person here." He pulled his lighter out and lit the end. "Here. Just be careful. Don't drive or anything."

She took the joint from him and relaxed slightly. "You're really cool, you know that."

"Yeah," he said, blowing another round of smoke out the window. 

"No seriously," the teenager insisted. "It just sucks that Callie can't see how much you love her."

Shannon nearly swallowed his cigarette in shock. "I - what?" he stammered. 

"I'm not blind," Jonny said. "I mean, why the hell else do you spend so much time with her and around here? I know its not because you really enjoy helping my dad with shit."

She took a long drag from the joint and Shannon got the feeling that this wasn't the first time she'd used marijuana. 

"Is it that obvious?" he asked. 

She shrugged. "I picked up on it and I'm the stupid one," she took another drag. 

Her words struck him. "You're not stupid. Why would you say that?" he asked.

"Belle's the pretty one. Callie's the talented and creative one. Lilia is the compassionate one. Avril's the smart one. That leaves me...the stupid one," she sighed. "It doesn't take intelligence to figure that one out." She tapped the side of her head with her finger before taking another drag. 

"Jonny, you're not stupid. You've got a lot of talent and you're sweet and kind and - "

"And a loser," she interrupted. 

"That's not what I was going to say," he insisted. 

"That's what a loser would say," she interjected. 

"I'm in a fucking rock band, dude. I'm hardly a loser," he scoffed, feeling insulted. 

"Well, my sister is inside with her tongue down Captain America's throat while you sit out here moping in my princess castle," she looked at him with an eyebrow raised and a bored expression. "I'd say you're a loser."

"Give me that," he said, snatching the joint from the teen's fingers and taking a drag. 

Jonny was right. He was a loser, hung up on a girl who barely knew he existed. It was time to move on.