Saturday, 23 February 13:30 GMT, present day
"Look who Crookshanks dragged in," Payton joked about her mother-in-law's old cat, as she opened the patio door. Heath and Hans stepped onto the patio deck. Junior laughed at the joke as Phillip stood up to shake both of the brothers' hands.
"Have you guys eaten," Junior asked his brothers as he, too, shook their hands.
"Yeah," Hans said. "We thought we'd drop by to hang out."
"Alright, Phil," Heath said as he nodded at his sister's old friend.
"Yeah," Phil nodded back at them. "I'm good, thanks."
Junior brought over four open beer bottles and handed them around. "Cheers," he said. They all clinked their bottlenecks before taking seats on the patio furniture.
"How's your leg, Phil?" Heath asked.
"It's getting better, so says my physical therapist," Phil shrugged.
They all chuckled. "I'm sure it'll take some time," Hans said.
"I've never been injured this badly before," Phillip noted.
"Well, hang in there," Heath said.
They all took a drink of their beers. "It's a nice day today," Junior said as they all looked out at the enchanted backyard. Outside, it was snowing and overcast.
"So, heard it was your birthday the other day," Hans said as he clinked bottles with the athlete.
Phil nodded. "Yeah," Phil said as he took a swig of his beer. "It was on Thursday."
"Did you party all night?" Heath asked.
The group laughed. "It was a nice night," Phillip said. "I hung out with Aston."
"Did you guys do the clubbing scene?" Junior asked. "Practiced some pick-up lines?"
Phillip smiled as he thought of the quiet Thursday night. "We just hung out at home. He brought over a tasting menu from his new L.A. pub that's going to open in another two weeks."
The boys nodded their heads as they looked at each other. They drank in silence as they watched the snow hit the protective shield that covered the backyard.
o-o-o
Thursday, 21 February 19:30 GMT, present day
He turned off the pot of Sapporo Ichiban beef flavored ramen noodles as he turned toward the living room. A smile crept over his lips.
"Dude, what are you doing here," Phil said as he shook hands with his old schoolmate as he walked out of the fireplace.
"Are you kidding me?" Aston said as he handed him the small sheet cake. "Everyone should celebrate birthdays with friends, mate."
Phillip laughed as he led him to the kitchen. Aston unloaded the contents of his cart onto the kitchen island. There were kalua pork sliders on Baguio's Bakery soft dinner rolls, fresh ahi poke, kalbi style beef short ribs, grilled pork belly, chicken long rice, steamed white rice, and a bowl of Nalo greens in a tossed salad.
"What is this?" Aston asked as he looked into the pot of cooked saimin as Phillip pulled two green bottles from the refrigerator.
Phillip laughed as he handed Aston an opened bottle of Heineken. "Dinner."
"Well, that's bachelor life for you, huh," Aston said as he placed the cover on the pot.
"So, what's all this?" Phillip asked as he pulled two dinner plates from the cabinets above the sink.
"Pub808's tasting menu," Aston said as accepted one of the plates.
The pair piled their plates up with food and ate in silence for a few minutes. Philip took a sip of his beer.
"So, you and your dad all set to open up soon?" Phillip asked as he took a bite of a kalbi short rib.
"Yeah," Aston said nodding. He took a sip of his beer. "Dad's all raring to go, already. The bakery and café side has some new food items that Dad wants to try."
"That's cool," Phillip said as he ate some of his pork belly. "This food is good. Do you think the L.A. crowd will take to it?"
"I'm sure they will be open to anything," Aston said as he ate a couple of cubes of the ahi poke. "Besides, there will be television screens and live music on Friday evenings and Saturday evenings to entertain themselves as they enjoy the food."
Phillip laughed. "To Pub808," Phil said as he raised his bottle. Aston clinked the bottleneck with his own bottle and then took a swig.
"Ahh," Aston said. They both laughed. "So what did you do all day?"
"Nothing much," Phil said. "Woke up at 6 am, got some bike time in and then just watched television the rest of the time while returning birthday texts."
"Busy day, huh," Aston nodded.
Phillip laughed, "Yeah, I guess."
"Did, uh," Aston looked at his old friend, "Drew text?"
"Uh, no," Phillip said as he shrugged. "I haven't gotten a text from her yet."
"I'm sure she's busy on hospital rotation," Aston said as he finished his slider.
Phillip nodded as he, too, slurped up the thick transparent noodles from the chicken long rice to keep from having to answer any direct questions relating to the Half-blood Squib. The pair continued to eat.
"To turning another year older," Aston said as he raised his bottle.
"Another year wiser," Phillip smiled as he, too, raised his bottle.
o-o-o
Thursday, 21 February 23:59 GMT, present day
Phil thought he heard some knocking; 'but that made no sense,' he thought to himself. He was on the second floor. He shook himself awake as he sat up in bed. He looked at his watch. It read a minute to midnight. He heard the tapping at his window.
'Okay, this is either nothing or some psycho scaling a wall to get to me,' he thought as he made his way out of bed. 'It couldn't possibly be Aston playing a prank on him, right?'
He blew out a breath as he gingerly held the edge of the curtain. 'Don't be a fraidy cat, Phil,' he thought to himself as he quickly pulled the curtain open.
He looked out into the darkness. He saw nothing. He pulled open the window to get a better look.
"Holy shit," Phillip said as he stepped back, tripping over himself as the large black bird swooped into the dark room. The bird canted his head at the fallen athlete. The jet black owl looked down at the package attached to his legs. He undid the tie and then nodded at Phil before he flew away.
"What the fuck," Phil said as he took a deep breath. He blinked several times trying to get used to the low light. He reared back away from the package and slowly stood up. He quickly went to the light switch and light flooded the room.
He approached the brown paper wrapped package hesitantly. He looked at the markings on the package. "Happy birthday, Phil!" he read aloud. He blew out a breath as he recognized the handwriting. He walked to his bed and took a seat.
He turned the package in his hands, trying to figure out what the parcel held. He opened it, preserving the writing on the package. He ran his finger over the leather bound book and read the title engraved into the cover.
He put the book down for a moment and looked at the plain birthday card in his hand. He opened it and looked at the short note. He smiled to himself.
"Happy birthday, Phil," he read the handwritten note in blue ink. "Hope you had an amazing day. Love, Drew. P.S. I thought you'd get a kick out of the manuscript. Grandpa Lucius said it was a memento of one of our ancestors."
Phillip took in a deep breath as he opened the spine of the leather-bound book. He smiled as he ran his finger over the title page. He quickly flipped through the tattered pages, amazed at the family heirloom. He stood up and placed the book and the card onto the nightstand right next to the framed college photograph.
He looked at the clock on his phone. It read 12:10, one day after his birthday. He smiled as he lay back down on his bed. He turned his lamp off. He yawned as he looked up to the ceiling. He closed his eyes as he pictured the brunette, grey-eyed doctor. 'It was a very good birthday,' he thought to himself as he fell asleep.
o-o-o
Saturday, 23 February 14:00 GMT, present day
"It was a nice quiet birthday," Phil said to Drew's brothers.
"Cool," Junior nodded.
"Drew actually sent me an early publication of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet," Phillip said, tanking the rest of his beer.
The Malfoy boys nodded. Junior grabbed another four beers and handed them to the boys.
"So," Hans began. "Did you get a chance to talk to Drew yet?"
"Um, no," Phillip said. "I texted her a thank you, though. Which reminds me, could you tell her, 'thanks,' for me when you see her tomorrow at brunch?"
"She's on her two-day rotation," Heath shrugged as Phillip nodded.
"Well, happy belated birthday, Phil," Junior said.
"Cheers to that mate," Hans said as his brothers nodded in agreement.
"Cheers," Phillip said as they all took a gulp of their beers. Phillip took in an unnoticeable breath as he thought about their older sister.