Elfbrat18: I know it's already Thanksgiving, and I feel a little guilty for getting this out late, but if you think about it, we're all going to be eating leftovers for a while so it's fine!
Whistler: So with that said, Happy Thanksgiving yall!
Related...Sort of...
Two weeks had passed since Joss had her first talk with Charlie and it was just three days before Thanksgiving, and their flight would be coming in today. Joss pushed the sunglasses up the bridge of her nose when the sounds of "Vertigo" came from inside her purse.
"Hello?"
"Joss?"
"Hey Charlie! What's up?" She said, recognizing the voice at once. "You guys are where? At the airport? Holy cow yall's flight got in fast! Where am I? I'm getting in my car, and I'm driving by my roommate's work to pick her up. It's alright we'll come get you, I'm not far from where she works and once I get her we'll be over there in a jiffy. Uh huh. Yeah, I'd say...40 minutes? Okay. Alright, see you then. Bye." Joss threw her purse in the passenger seat and snapped her phone shut as she started up the car and sped off down the street.
Marjee was waiting outside TGI Friday's when she could have sworn she saw a dark green SUV come sliding up, just missing the curb she was standing on. She didn't have to guess who the driver was, and as she went to open the passenger side door, it swung open almost whacking her hand.
"MARJEE! Get in, we gotta move!" Joss was frantic and loaded on caffine, which was evident by her left leg shaking violently, a nervous habit of hers.
"What's-" Before Marjee could finish the question, Joss grabbed her by the arm and jerked her into the car, barely giving Marjee time to shut the door when she took off again.
"No time. Gotta hurry. Gotta go. Must go." Joss kept mumbling to herself like a mantra.
Marjee pushed her hair out of her face. "What in the.." She began fiddling around trying to find what was poking her. It was Joss's purse. She picked it up and dropped it into the floorboard before she looked at her best friend. Joss was really shook up about something, and she had a feeling she knew what was up, but she couldn't resist the opportunity to ask.
"Girl, what's got your nerves rattled? You're driving like a bat out of hell for goodness sakes!"
Joss didn't reply until they were stopped at a redlight. She took a few deep breaths and then slowly looked over at her friend. "The plane's landed."
"Uh, yeah...planes take off and land all the time..so what's-" And then Marjee's mouth opened and closed like a fish with really wide eyes. "Oh! I get it! Oh, oh crap! Is there going to be room back there?" She turned in her seat and began clearing a space. When Joss stopped at the next stop light, Marjee unbuckled her seat belt and climbed into the back seats to make sure everyone had room to sit down.
"Whoa! What's up, big butt?" Joss finally laughed, pushing her friend further into the back seat. Upon hearing Marjee let out a suprised yelp, Joss couldn't help but grin a little more when she sped up as soon as the light turned green.
Marjee was busy digging around under the seats. "Hey Joss, how are we gonna know what they look like? You haven't seen them in years... Hey guess what? I found some posterboard and some markers. I guess our problem's settled then." She sat down and began to scribble the names down on the not shiny side of the posterboard. "Where exactly did they say they were going to be waiting?"
That's when realization hit Joss and she slammed on the brakes in the middle of the parking lot. "I don't know..."
Charlie checked his watch again. "3:25. Joss said they'd be here about 40 minutes ago. I wonder what happened."
Willy clicked his cane against the tiled floor of the airport. Mr. and Mrs. Bucket were tending to the bags. "You have to remember that it's the holiday season, Charlie," Mr. Bucket said, "Just give her some time. She'll be here soon."
"I guess you're right dad, but how will she know where to find us?"
Mrs. Bucket stopped what she was doing and looked around. "Hm," she clicked her tongue. "If I remember correctly, and if Joss is anything like she was so many years ago, she'll find a way for us to find her." Mr. Bucket turned to his wife and laughed. "Yes dear, and that's what concerns me."
Willy and Charlie watched the scene between Charlie's parents play out before them. "I wonder why your father is concerned, Charlie." Willy stated. It had become very obvious in the time that Charlie and his family had been living at the factory that Willy was having less and less trouble each day that he used parental terms in sentences. Charlie shrugged his shoulders giving Willy a look that clearly said, 'Now how in the hell am I supposed to know that?'
"Marjee, have you got the signs finished yet?"
More squeaking sounds were coming from the magic markers in the back seat. "And...done."
"Good, let me grab my purse and lock the car up and we can go."
"Wait!"
Joss was about to shut the driver's side door. "What?"
"What about me?"
"Well you're gonna come with me and help me find them, aren't you?" Joss had locked and shut the door and walked over and opened the door that Marjee was sitting by.
Marjee seemed hesitant. "But I'm in my work clothes!"
Joss nearly whacked her friend in the head. "No one's gonna care about that! Now come on, we're late as it is!" Grabbing her arm, Joss dragged Marjee out of the car, giving her a second to grab her purse before she locked the car up. They took off in a sprint, Marjee being dragged by Joss, when Marjee suddenly stopped making Joss nearly tripped over her feet.
"Uh...Joss?"
"What!"
"We forgot the signs..."
"Dammit..."
10 minutes later...
"Okay, we've got the signs! Let's go!" Joss started running again.
"Hey...Joss?" Marjee shouted from somewhere behind.
Joss groaned. "What now?"
"Are you sure you wanna leave our purses locked in the car...?"
"Dammit..."
10 more minutes later...
"Okay. Purses. Check. Signs. Check. Let's go!" Joss started running again.
"Wait...! Joss...! Slow...down...!" Marjee was about out of breath.
"Argh! What is it now, Marjee! We're so past late it ain't funny anymore!"
Marjee looked a little upset. "What is it?" Joss asked, walking over to her.
"We left my hat..." she mumbled. Joss's jaw nearly dropped.
"Your hat? Can't we just go and get Charlie and them? I mean it's just your work hat, Marj."
"Will you LOOK at my hair!" Marjee wailed right in the middle of the parking lot. "I don't want your relative's first impression of me to be that I have hat hair and that I ain't got my hat to hide the har hair!" Joss grabbed her by the wrist.
"DAMMIT...!"
10 more minutes later...
"Purses?"
"Check. Signs?"
"Check. You got your freaking work hat?"
"It's not freaky! And check."
"Good, let's go NOW!" Joss was at the breaking point already as she and Marjee flat out ran like hell into the airport.
The airport was nothing less than what Joss had expected around the holidays. People were coming and going, grabbing and struggling with large suitcases and the like, and the sounds of fussy babies and restless children didn't make matters any better. Joss kept moving around so much it was hard for Marjee to keep up. Her best friend was a nervous wreck, and she couldn't understand why. Marjee had listened to Joss explain it to her that she was scared that Charlie wouldn't like her and Marjee just kept telling her that she was crazy. I mean, how can your little cousin hate you before he's even met you? Marjee thought to herself. "Hey," she said between breaths of air, "Joss...wait up...a..minute...or I'm gonna pop a lung..." She stopped, doubled over and tried to regain her breath.
"Yeah? What is it, Marj?" Joss asked, walking back to where her friend was standing.
Majee was finally able to breath without taking big gasps of air. "We might as well start here," she said. "I mean, we got the signs, let's just walk around and hold them up. They could be anywhere around here. We wouldn't know where to wait, and what if they walked out of here while we were waiting at the gates for them?"
"You make a good point there." Joss said, adjusting her purse on her shoulder and holding up one of the poster signs. She started calling out her aunt and uncle's names over all of the commotion, hoping that if they didn't see the signs, atleast they might hear her voice. Majree was soon to follow suit.
"Mr. and Mrs. Bucket? Mr. and Mrs. Bucket where are you?"
"Charlie did you hear something?" Willy asked, looking down at his hier. Charlie looked up at him, "Are you sure you're not just hearing things?" he asked.
Willy thought for a moment, then began looking around. "There! There, did you hear it?"
This time Charlie strained to block out all of the sounds of the people passing by. "I...You're right! I do hear it! Mom! Dad! Do you hear that?" He turned to see that his parents were also listening in to what they were hearing.
"But where is it coming from?" Mr. Bucket asked. "It's so loud in here I can barely tell it apart from everything else."
Charlie seemed a little let down by this statement, but still determined to find out what the noise was and where it was coming from. He got up on the chair that he was sitting on and started looking over all of the heads of the crowds for some idea of where his cousin and her roommate could be.
Just when he was about to give up hope, Charlie caught sight of two signs being waved about over the crowds. "Mom! Dad! Look, over there! Do you see it?"
Willy, Mr. and Mrs. Bucket followed the direction that Charlie was pointing in and did indeed see the very signs that Charlie saw. Grabbing their bags and suitcases they began their way over two the two unsuspecting people with the signs.
"Do you see them?" Joss asked.
Marjee shook her head. "Nope. Don't worry, Joss, we'll find them soon."
"And if we don't? We can't exactly describe what they look like seeing as I haven't seent my aunt or uncle in YEARS!" Joss hollered. No one seemed fazed by her outburst.
Marjee grabbed Joss by the wrist with one hand and held her sign up with the other. "Will you just chill? We're. Going. To. Find. Them." She let her friend's wrist go and was about to start shouting again when she noticed four people heading thier way. "Joss..."
"What?" Joss turned her head to see where Marjee was pointing and nearly squealed in delight. "Aunt! Uncle!" She cried, tossing the sign at Marjee's head and running to her mother's sister and husband.
Mrs. Bucket ran forward and met Joss with a strong (and nearly bone crushing) hug. "Oh my goodness! It is you! Joss! You've grown so much since I last seen you! You look wonderful!" As soon as Joss and Mrs. Bucket parted Mr. Bucket swept his niece up in a big bear hug. "It's been a while, hasn't it Little One?" Joss had greatly missed her uncle calling her "Little One". It was a nickname given to her when she was about 8 or 9 and had continued to stick with her. It's not because of her height, she was about 5'4", it was the fact that she could eat like a horse and not gain weight. Everyone figured Joss just had a higher metabolism than anyone else in the family.
Charlie and Willy watched the scene play out before them as they stayed a few feet behind his parents. Now Charlie couldn't see what his cousin looked like because of his mother (and then his father) blocking his view, but he could see a sign flying in the air and nearly bopping another woman in the head, and he assumed that this was the roommate, Marjee.
From what Charlie could see of her, Marjee was a tall woman, but not extremely tall. She had somewhat straight brown hair with a few blond streaks in it and pulled into a ponytail. Her hazel eyes were peaking out from under a baseball cap that had the logo 'T.G.I. Friday's' across the front. (A/N: Whistler here. Forgive us if Marjee's work clothes are wrong. I was taking a wild guess heheh..;) Her clothes consisted of a denim jacket over a white T-shirt with the same logo over the left side and just below that was her nametag pinned to the fabric. She donned black pants with a little black baggy thing that was tied loosely around her waist and held a small notebook and pen.
"Hi Charlie."
That one statement took him by surprise. Was she nervous? He knew he was. He just didn't know what to expect. Well eventually his parent's had moved over and Charlie was able to get a clear view of his cousin. Joss had wavy blood red hair that fell just past her shoulders and bright green eyes that stood out. She was wearing what looked like a black leather duster over a white sweater with a large collar that hung over itself and dark blue jeans. Her black boots clicked against the tiled floor as she walked over to him and knealt down so she was face to face with him.
"Hi Joss."
Niether of them could think of what to say next. Marjee cleared her throat just loud enough so that Joss would get the hint, which she did after making a mental note to get Marjee back at a later time.
"It's good to see you Charlie. Heh, the last time I seen you it was when you were a baby."
Charlie just nodded. He wasn't sure what to say to that. Joss just knealt there, unsure of what to say next, when Charlie suddenly bounded forward and hugged her neck. Almost immediately Joss felt her eyes water.
"I'm so sorry Charlie. I'm sorry that I haven't been able to come see you," She said, the tears were starting to fall by now.
Charlie hugged her back tighter. "This is so cool. I have a cousin that I didn't even know about!" he joked, making Joss laugh a little. "But it's alright. Just meeting you now is enough to make me happy. So please stop crying Joss..."
"I know, I know..I couldn't help it. But I'm going to make it up to you Charlie, I can promise you that." Joss wiped her eyes sniffling. Standing back up, she turned to Marjee and motioned her over. "You guys, this is my roommate, Marjee."
"Hi." Marjee said, grinning widely. "Charlie, you're very lucky to have this girl here as a cousin. She's quite the chatterbox and just as nuts."
"It's nice to meet you dear," Mrs. Bucket said. Mr. Bucket smiled and nodded to her. Charlie grabbed Willy by the wrist and pulled him up beside his parents. "Joss, Marjee, this is Willy Wonka." Willy seemed hesitant at first but he still flashed a smile at the two women standing before him.
Joss, almost automatically, walked up and hugged Willy by the waist. "It's good to meet you, Willy," she said, and noting his sudden surprise added, "I know we just met and all, but the way I was raised, you treat everyone like family when you first meet them." Once she stepped away Marjee hugged him, barely giving him time to recover from the shock from the first time. "I don't believe in shaking hands with friends or family. If you're a friend of Joss's, you're a friend of mine. Same goes for family too."
Joss had to supress the giggle that threatened to leak out at Willy's expression. Charlie had mentioned that he had a friend that wasn't much of a people person, but had said that he was getting better about it. When Marjee had pulled away from the chocolatier, she said, "Welcome to Kentucky yall."
Elfbrat18: If anyone can please help us out with Mr. and Mrs. Bucket's first names that would be great!
Whistler: Hugs and cookies to all who review!