Lost Stars

ix. interstellar

Elle didn't know how or why, but she found herself waking up early in the morning and grabbing her car keys to head to Jack's house all because of a very mysterious text she got that morning with what she could only assume was his address.  It was only now that she was given the opportunity to appreciate how liberating it was to drive in the audience of the streetlights and in the cool ambience of the empty road, instead of being overwhelmed by stress in the midst of the never ending traffic that usually filled these streets. It wasn't that she really needed to drive before the sunrise, it was just that Jack lived in the other side of town in the posh side of things, whereas she lived in the other side where the common people were.

She finally saw the common buildings slowly transition into modern and stylish houses and penthouses that surely cost more than her mother made in a year.  She leaned forward a bit to get a better view to see if she was able to distinguish which one belonged to a certain black sheep named Jack but found that all of them were as isolated as he was. Elle leaned towards her shoulder bag beside her and dug through the many used tissues and gum wrappers and finally found her phone in all of that garbage that she never had time to throw away and looked back to her most recent text.

Scanning the text over and over again, she was willing to put her bet on the possibility that she hasn't crossed his house yet and chose to go deeper in the epitome of rich and chic. But going through with her bet was definitely draining her hope as she repeated the address over and over in her head, hoping that her eyes would soon lock onto it. Time soon passed when she was already approaching the edge of the road, and she finally saw his place.

It definitely stood out among all the rest, showing off that the owner definitely put in more money compared to the rest of the very impressive houses that she has passed for the last ten minutes. The house made it seem like the word modern was its love child. It was a penthouse that was made with the contemporary combination of polished wood and metal and was also complimented by the very welcoming Windows that gave everyone an teaser of the furniture that undoubtedly fit in with the whole current theme already laid out.

And after repeating and rereading the same address over and over again for a few minutes not wanting to know like onto a stranger's house all of a sudden, she finally gathered enough courage roster out of her car and walk up the gravel staircase before raising her finger and slowly ringing the doorbell, startled by the obvious reaction that caused a chime to resonate through the house.

And with every second that passed that the door stayed close, her thoughts went wilder by the minute as they kept whispering awkward scenarios and possible outcomes of this, but they were immediately silenced when she heard someone twist the doorknob before a woman of mid forties opened the door.

"Who are you?" She asked her, clearly bewildered and in expecting any visitors. As Elle struggled to straighten her words out, she noticed how youthful she still looked despite of the few wrinkles that covered her face. Her hair was still smooth and well kept. There was no attempt to cover any of her skin below any heavy coverage foundation as her skin still had a radiant glow to it. The only trace of makeup on her face was the red lipstick that gave her a more powerful vibe that successfully intimidated Elle.

She was about to apologize for ringing her doorbell and explain that she thought that this was her friend's house, when she heard a very familiar groan from behind the woman followed by very heavy footsteps that increased with every step he took closer.

"Mom, what are you doing?" A hand reached for the door and opened it further. It was Jack wearing a simple black v neck shirt with some gray jogging pants as pajama bottoms that hung relatively low on his hips. But she regretted  letting her eyes scan him for that long, since he was showing of his cockiness the moment her eyes reached his face that provoked a rosy tint to pop in her cheeks.