Prologue
"Are you sure this is okay with you?" she asked for what seemed to be the hundreth time and he chuckled
"Yes, Cat, it is perfectly fine with me. I told you I wanted to meet your family, you're the one who never invites them over."
"My family is very loud and complicated Tom. But I promise you, if Steph turns into a burden I'll pack her bags and send her home right away."
They had been cleaning his flat for quite a while. It was late in the afternoon and if he were to be completely honest, he felt rather nervous about meeting his sister-in-law. He had only seen Catelyn's family through a computer screen, even though they had been engaged for six months and together for over two years. He asked for her mother's permission to marry her over Skype and had only seen her younger sister in pictures posted on Facebook. The two were complete opposites, Catelyn had light brown short hair and small hazel eyes. She was tall and lean, her skin was a light shade of caramel and she could pass for a runway model easily. Even though she worked as a nurse in one of the biggest hospitals in London. From what he could tell, Stephanie was a brunette, she had big expressive brown eyes, he hair was long and stopped at her waist, and her skin was a shade of tan that seemed to make her glow. He didn't know much about her, Cat didn't like talking about her family, what he did know is that they were half sisters and that the girl had been through some rough things. They also had an older sister, Jenna, who was married and lived somewhere in Oregon.
Stephanie's visit didn't really bother him much. He didn't have time to be bothered by it because his new movie was going to be released in a week, meaning that he probably wouldn't be home long. She was to stay over for a month or so, for reasons Catelyn avoided explaining. He wondered if he could convince Emma to show her around the town, he knew Cat wouldn't have the time or patience to play tourist guide for too long. How old was the girl anyways? He probably should have paid more attention to what his fiancé told him about her.
The premiere of Thor was a day away when she finally arrived in London. Stephanie grabbed her luggage looking around the airport completely mesmerized. She remembered when her sister moved to the city four years ago, she felt so jealous that it wasn't her moving to the other side of the world. Around that time all she ever wanted was to go to college in London and enjoy the European lifestyle. She even researched places to live, to eat and even made friends with people who would possibly live in 'her' neighborhood online. She smiled a little remembering how naive she had been as a teenager. Steph sat down at the Starbucks where she would wait for her sister. Cat was to pick her up and drive both of them to the flat she shared with her fiancé. She had seen a couple of pictures of the man, but couldn't really remember his face clearly as she was too busy with her own problems. Before she knew it, tears started to feel her eyes. Breathing deeply, she sat up and connected her iPad to the internet.
"Hello, little brat." she felt a hand on her shoulder
"Cat!" turning around, she hugged her sister and smiled almost automatically
"You really do miss me, don't you?"
"You know I do. Even though you betrayed me and decided to move to my favorite place in the world." she feigned annoyance
"Well, if you think about it, me moving here gave you the opportunity to visit your favorite city."
"Yeah, right." she looked around them "Wasn't your boo supposed to come with you?"
"He had a meeting or something. Wanna go home?" she grabbed one of her sister's bags
"Let's go!"
They drove for quite a while before reaching the flat. Throughout the drive, Stephanie could hear her sister laugh a little when she stared out of the window in awe. She didn't mind. They went up the stairs with the luggage and Cat showed her to her room. The flat was extremely clean, it had white furniture with some darker accents and it was rather large. It pleased her a lot, but somehow she couldn't bring herself to picture her older sister living there. It just wasn't her. The room she was to stay in was the closest to the bathroom, it had a queen sized bed with white bedding and a big window with an awesome view.
"So, now that you know how the whole flat is setup," Cat said as she finished giving her a tour of the flat "I'm going to get ready to go to work. I've got the graveyard shift today."
"Okay. Thank you so much for letting me stay here, Cat. I don't know what I would've done without your help."
"Don't mention it, sis."
She sat on the couch for a few minutes staring into space after her sister left. She didn't really know what to do. Watching TV didn't sound so exciting, she wanted to go places and see things. If only she even knew how to get anywhere. Her stomach growled and she laughed, deciding to go into the kitchen and prepare something that she could eat. Grabbing her iPod, she turned up her music and got to work. Jani Lane's voice set the rythm of the dance she was trying to perform. Steph knew she was the worst dancer in the whole world, but she didn't care. Shaking her hips, she threw the shrimp on the pan and started to mix it with the sauce she had made. 'Maybe I should add some hot sauce to this' she thought and turned to the food cabinet, but was forced to stop right after turning. A tall man was staring at her with his mouth slightly open. She felt her eyes grow bigger, and her cheeks burn. How long had he been there? Who the hell was this guy anyways?
