who: @harrisonhayes where: midtown restaurant
Sierra Hayes had expected a quiet lunch, a rare moment of peace squeezed between the demands of her firefighting duties. Her mother had suggested the Sapphire at first, but she didn't want the possibility of running into her dad or any of his old mates in a boujee restaurant. They opted for a place in midtown, near her fire station. The undercurrents of family dynamics swirled more tumultuously than Sierra could have anticipated as she stepped into the diner, greeted by the too-familiar chime of the entrance bell.
The sight that met her was not the presence of her mother, but the all-too-familiar figure of her brother, Harrison, whom she hadn't spoken to in years. The air thickened with unspoken words and past grievances as their eyes met—both had arrived early, and both had been unaware of the other’s invitation—or that they were both there to meet their mother. "H-Harry, hi—" she greeted, her voice a careful blend of surprise and a hint of reluctance. "It's—It's been so long." It had been so long she wasn't even sure he had been living in town still.