I got off the airplane and walked through the American terminal, looking my auntie Sophie. I had come to America to get away from my nagging parents and bad boyfriends and help her and the people she worked with.
When I saw her, she was exactly as I remembered her; dressed fashionable with shoulder-length black hair and a kind smile on her face.
"Sherrie," she threw her arms around me. "It's really good to see you again."
I hugged her back, loving hearing the English accent in an American surroundings.
"Do you want to grab a coffee or go straight back?"
"Can we go straight back, I'm exhausted," I said and it triggered a yawn.
"Sure, I think Nate is getting things ready," Sophie took one of my bags and led me outside to her car.
"So, is Nate your boyfriend?"
"Yeah, and he's also the head of Leverage Consulting and Associates. Nate is a former insurance investigator. The others all have their own skills and together they use the skills to fight injustices by the government. They help ordinary citizens but because the government don't like it, they are classed as criminals."
I nodded. I was joining their team to get myself away from home and because of what Sophie thought were my amazing persuasion skills.
Even so, I was still nervous.
She must have picked up on this because she said, "you've got nothing to worry about, really. They are all really nice and friendly."
"If I don't piss them off?"
"Well, yeah. Generally," my aunt laughed.
"So, who is there? I mean, what are their names?" I asked her.
"There is Nate, obviously. There is Eliot; Alec but everyone calls him by his last name, Hardison, and lastly, there is Parker. I think you will get on with her, she's a lot like you; she is awkward around new people."
"I'm not awkward, just . . . Shy," I shrugged.
Sophie just smiled at me and then shuffled in her bag for her phone, when it started ringing.
"Hello? . . . All of you? . . . Okay then, we will come there but it can't be for long, Nate. She wants some rest . . . No, it will be okay, I'm sure . . . I'll see you in about ten minutes."
When she closed her phone, Sophie turned to me.
"They are all going to our local pub, they thought you might like a welcome drink but I told Nate we won't be there long. That's okay, isn't it?"
"Yeah," I nodded.
In the pub, the team were waiting for Sophie and me to arrive.
"We've got everyone we need, why do we need anyone else?" Eliot said, wary of bringing someone new into the team.
"We're doing this for Sophie, and for her niece, remember. Try and be friendly," Nate said with warning eyes.
"Well, what's she like?" Parker asked.
"From what Sophie has told me, she's a bit like Parker when she first meets people."
Hardison looked at Parker and said, "oh great."
"I mean, I think, she's quiet and not much of a people person at first," Nate added
"Why is she coming to stay with Sophie? All the way from England?" Parker asked.
"That's not really my place to say," Nate answered, looking uneasy.
"But you know?" Eliot spoke up.
"Yeah, I know. And we all know she's joining the team."
Entering the pub, I saw that the whole scene wasn't much different from back home; everyone was sat in their own groups, talking away and drinking and laughing, and Sophie led me over to one group in particular, with three men and a woman.
Before introducing me to anyone, she bent over to the oldest and kissed his cheek.
"Nate, everybody, this is my niece."
The other three, that were sat round the table, turned and looked at me.
'Oh this is uncomfortable,' I thought to myself, looking from one face to another and then to Sophie.
"Does you nephew have a name?" The woman, blonde and kind of petite, asked Sophie while looking at me.
"Her name's Sherrie, like the drink."
Smiling nervously, I nodded to let them know my aunt was right.
"Sit down," Nate said, pointing to a chair next to one of the guys, coloured with black hair. He looked kind of thin too.
Once the chair was pulled out, I sat down and chewed on my thumbnail.
"Sherrie, that's Eliot," Nate pointed to the guy sat on the other side of the blonde.
I looked at him; he had shoulder length brown/blonde hair and blue eyes and, oh boy, he was hot!
Nate carried on. "That's Parker and you're sat next to Hardison."
"Hey," they three of them all said and nodded.
"Oops, sorry," Sophie smiled at me.
"I'm going to get a round in. What do you want?" Eliot asked, his voice gravely and relaxing.
"Me and Sherrie will just have a coke, we're not staying long," my aunt told him.
The chatter between them started again and I sat quietly, playing with my fingers.
When Eliot came back, I picked up the glass he'd placed in front of me and took a sip.
"So, do you have a voice or are you a mute?" Parker asked me.
"Parker!" Sophie gasped.
"I can talk," I said. "I just . . .jetlag."
"So you'll talk more tomorrow?" Hardison smiled.
"Probably," I smiled back. "So . . .do you mind if I go get some rest?" I asked Sophie.
"Absolutely," she nodded and drank the last mouthful of coke in her glass.
"I, err . . .I guess I'll see you guys tomorrow," I stood up and looked from Hardison to Parker to Eliot and lastly, to Nate.
"Good to meet you," Hardison said.
"Yeah," Parker added.
"Seeya," Eliot joined in.
Sophie took me by the arm and walking to the door, asked, "they aren't that bad, are they?"
"No. I wouldn't have guessed they are . . .who you said they are. And congratulations with Nate, he's quite yummy," I giggled to her.
She giggled back and we left through the door.
"Her accent isn't the same," Parker spoke out after I'd gone.
"I think she grew up in a different part to Sophie but they have always been close, I think," Nate said.
"You weren't joking about her being quiet," Eliot said and took a swig from his beer.
"I'm sure she'll be different when she gets to know you all,. Sophie did happen to mention she swears like a drunken sailor."
"Wait up a minute, you're telling us that she has a bad mouth on her? The girl that was sat here a minute that barely spoke?" Hardison said in disbelief.
"That's what I was told," Nate just shrugged.
The others 'mmm'-ed and 'yeah'-ed and carried on drinking their beers.
