Old Ends and New Beginnings
Nina stopped in the doorway quietly observing her old friends from school. A lot had happened since the boarding school closed down. She, Patrica, Mick, Mara, Alfie, Fabian, Jerome and Amber happened to have been the final graduating class before the school had closed. It was weird for Nina to think that they hadn't seen each other in eleven years, because they had all gone off onto different paths of life.
From the looks of it Mara and Mick, who had married right after college, were expecting their third child. Mara was still young and beautiful with her brown eyes and dark hair. She was dressed in a nice pink sweater with black dress pants. Mick wore his blond hair rather long and in his eyes, similar to how he had worn it at school. He was slightly more fit and wore khaki pants and a striped blue and white polo shirt that showed his biceps off nicely. They had settled on the couch, their hands clasped on top of Mick's knee. Mara was comfortably resting her head on his shoulder. Mick's love for his wife was apparent even before he leaned in to kiss her, neither of them aware that Nina was watching from the doorway.
Patricia was sitting at the table with Amber quietly making polite conversation. Her hair was pulled back into a bun and she wore a gray blouse. She had become a lawyer, so convinced on helping those poor kids who needed a say and yet were consistently overlooked by parents who didn't even deserve to care for them. To her left sat her boyfriend Jason quietly listening. He still had the same dark hair and intense eyes. He wore a purple sweater over a white collared shirt. He had been a teacher at the school eleven years ago as a young man, fresh out of college. He and Patricia had always cared about one another, although while they were teacher and student they never showed their affections outwardly. As she had finished college he had been there, waiting for her, and they had been together ever since.
Amber was her normal cheery self. Her long blond hair was wavy this time and she wore a hot pink blouse with frills on the front; Nina assumed that it was something she had designed. Beside Amber sat a young man with dark brown hair and brown eyes. He wore a green v-neck sweater over a white teeshirt, which was obviously something Amber had also designed. He had his arm around Amber's shoulders. Nina did not recognize him, but immediately noticed the ring on his finger. She looked at Amber again and noticed the small baby bump starting to form; she had apparently married while Nina was away in Egypt and Nina had heard nothing about it.
Alfie and Jerome, whose styles hadn't changed much since school, were in the kitchen with two women Nina had never seen before. She assumed they were their girlfriends. One was tall with wavy dark hair wearing a tight white blouse and short black skirt, and the other was tall and blond wearing a light blue blouse and black pants. They were joking with the boys and teasing them about their cooking skills, saying that maybe men had been right about one thing from the beginning. Maybe it really was only women who belong in the kitchen because the men didn't seem to know the difference between a serving spoon and a ladle. Alfie and Jerome exchanged glances and laughed. Jerome caught up the tall dark haired one he called "Maria" and kissed her on the lips. Alfie looked at the tall blond one, daring her to kiss him. She took the bait and kissed him on the nose only to get a disappointed "Gina!" She laughed at him and then planted a real kiss on his lips.
They were all there, back in Anubis house. Nina took a deep breath and stepped in through the doorway. Everyone looked up at her. She was still wearing it, the ring he had given her eight years ago. She was still wearing it, making them all aware that she was still in love with the man that she had lost in Egypt over four years ago. She was still in love with Fabian Rutter.