Amanda paced the floor of the large kitchen "This is not good, Michael! Having her here is a bad idea!"
"Oh stop it Amanda that's my sister you're talking about."
"Yeah your run away, travels the country, hates her family, and lives under bridges being dirty, sister! God…" she threw her hands in the air searching for the word "She is as worse as… as… if Trevor Philips was living in this house."
Michael walked towards his bottle of whisky un screwing the cap "Easy Amanda say that name three times and it will appear" he chuckled at his own joke as he poured himself a stiff drink "but seriously, you're over reacting. We will put her up for a few days, feed her some real food, maybe buy her a house-"
Amanda jumped down his throat "Buy her a house? Michael, are you insane?"
"Listen I want to take care of her, I finally can now, being her big brother I should have never let her run away from home… I should've protected her-" Michael looked down at the marble counter remembering his childhood. He shut his eyes tight.
Amanda's face frowned as she walked up behind him wrapping her arms around him "You were too busy trying to protect yourself" she rubbed his chest "You know Storm doesn't like these big mansions, why don't you go talk to her before you make these decisions."
Michael opened his eyes and moved away from the counter "yeah," He turned and put his hands on Amanda's hips "You're right" he kissed her forehead.
She smiled "I know… I always am." Michael released her as he walked towards the stairs. She called to him "Michael." He turned to her "I'm really glad the kids and I came back."
They shared a small moment together as they smiled at one another, then Michael responded "Me too."
He made his way up the stairs and knocked on the guest bedroom door. "Storm…? Can I come in?"
"Sure" he opened the door and saw her lying on the bed staring at the ceiling in sweat pants and an old baggy T-shirt; it was dirty and gross, with mysterious stains on it. It looked very familiar. Ignoring it for now he sat on the bed next to her.
"I checked the weather for tonight… its clear, no thunder storms, so you should be fine." She kept staring at the ceiling. "Are you hungry?" he got no answer "come on Storm, this as bad as trying to talk to Tracey."
She sat up and looked at him her hair was in wet stringy waves "Thank you for checking, no I'm not really hungry."
Michael looked at her "Storm, is everything okay? Are you tired of traveling? I was thinking that maybe I could buy you a nice house down the block, they have this really great-"
Storm interrupted him "No thank you, I refuse to live in this fluffy, dreamland of yours."
Michael got mad. He stood up and looked at her "Well what do you want than, Storm? I have been seeing you on and off since you were thirteen! You know how I felt watching you live with Lighting? She was only four years old when you took her with you. I watched both of my only siblings leave. I know I should've protected you better from mom's depression but I was young… and I had to deal with dad and his bottle anyway!"
Storm looked up at him from under her eyebrows "I don't care about that anymore."
"Yeah…? Then why are you here? And where is Lightening, dead in a ditch somewhere? Is that what you came to tell me?"
"No…"
"Then what... huh?"
"I just miss you. I'm sick of this life, but I don't want to stop. I don't know what I want!" a few tears rolled down her cheek, as Michael softened and put an arm around her. She fell into him.
He rubbed her back "it's okay… I understand." He felt the grim on the T-shirt, and made a disgusted face.
"I just need to be with my family for a couple of days, until I figure out what I want to do."
"No problem, you can stay here as long as you like." He hugged her, putting his head on her shoulder. He took a whiff of the shirt, and froze.
"Are you okay, Mikey?" He pushed her back his eyes wide. He saw Storm but heard Trevor's voice. "Seriously, why are you looking at me like that?"
He stepped back to the door "Yeah, I'm fine… you get some rest I'll see you at dinner." Michael raced out of the room and down the stairs to Amanda "Amanda, Amanda…!"
"Michael, what, what happen?"
Michael was gasping for breath "Tre….Tre…!"
Amanda touched his shoulder as he was doubled over out of breath "What?!"
Michael blurted it out "TREVOR PHILIPS."
Amanda stepped back "What about Trevor Philips?"
"I think my sister met him! The T-shirt she's wearing… IT'S HIS!"
Just then the door blew open and there in the mist of the gust of wind stood Trevor Philips. "Daddy's home…!" Trevor smiled his insane smile as he approached the husband and wife.
"Tre..Trevor what are you doing here?" Michael turned to his wife and whispered "Get up stairs and make sure Storm doesn't come down here." Amanda nodded worried, and ran upstairs.
Trevor watched her go "Where is she running off too?"
Michael tried to come down "oh who knows… woman stuff…"
"You seem a little worried Mikey… everything okay…?" Trevor walked closer to him his hands spread apart by his hips as he cocked his head in question.
"No… no everything's fine, just surprised you're here. What's up, what brings you to Rockford Hills?"
Trevor's one eyebrow raised in suspicion but let it slide "I need your help with something-"
"I told you Trevor our partnership is over, we did the Union Depository job…our dream is finalized."
"No, no, I know, I need your help finding someone. I already called Franklin."
Michael took a big gulp of his whiskey "Oh yeah who" he didn't make eye contact.
"See that's the problem I only know her first name… she goes by Storm." Michael put his glass down a little too hard, the initial shock made him flinch. Trevor pursed his lips as he gave a suspicious glance at Michael's uneasy hand, then back to his face "I'm guessing you don't know her…?"
"No, sounds like a strange name… how are Franklin and I gonna help?"
Trevor took a swig from the bottle of Whiskey and let out a breath "Oh I don't know, I thought maybe Lester could figure it out. And then the boys could go and hunt her down."
"Hunt…? Do you have some beef with this girl or something?"
"Oh no, don't get me wrong, let's see… what's a different word for hunt. Track her down? Naw, that doesn't sound right either. Listen, I just want to find her because I really like this girl."
"You… like her?" Michael was more scared at this statement.
"Yeah she is confident, fearless, and caring all rolled into one pretty little package. And I think she likes me too, but I need to figure out why she left so quickly."
"You mean you spent the night with her?" Michaels face was drained of color.
"No, no don't be silly. She needed a place to stay and I let her crash at my place. She had these night terrors because of the thunder storm, and I comforted her that's all."
Michael sighed in relief "Well thank you."
Trevor whipped his head toward Michael suspiciously "Thank you… for what? Not sleeping with this girl? Why do you care? How would it affect you if I did?"
Michael looked for an easy out "No I was thankful for the girl that she didn't have to sleep with a dirty son-of-a-bitch like you…" he chuckled and went for another sip of whiskey.
It threw Trevor off and he went back to talking "Well, anyway I guess I can come back another time, looks like I spooked your wife."
"Yeah, yeah no problem…" Michael looked at his phone and saw a txt from Franklin.
Hey, are we still good with meeting at your place for dinner tonight? I think you are really gonna like this girl.
– Franklin.
Trevor peered over to get a glance at the txt when Michael wasn't looking. He grabbed the phone from Michael's hands. "Oh having a little dinner party without me, huh? YOU ASSHOLE! YOU WOULD DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT!"
Michael got worried Storm would hear his voice from upstairs "Shhh, Trevor my family is upstairs; I don't want you scaring them. Listen, Franklin wants me to meet this girl, she wants to be an actress and I was going to scope her out for the next movie, its business."
Trevor looked at Michael then made a stupid face "'its business'" Trevor mocked as Michael sighed and looked away at the usual behavior. "I'm having a serious problem here, and you two are planning dinner dates? Well, you wouldn't mind if I joined you, would you?"
Michael answered too quickly "YES" Trevor's expression drew curious again "I mean… yes because this is business and I don't want any fooling around. I want to eat dinner, meet the girl, and be done."
"You are awfully on edge today Michael, it's so unlike you." He circled Mike towering over him. Michael just stood straight ahead and rolled his eyes.
"Trevor just cut it out."
"No, not until I am invited to your dinner party." He started to flick Michael's ear, and annoy him further.
"Okay fine! You can stay for dinner. Come back around seven and try not to look like a slob."
"Alright" Trevor cheered "We can come up with a plan of action for finding this girl at dinner."
Michael watched him walk out the door cheerfully. He sighed and collapsed on the marble counter. Ah fuck.