Final Ticket

nine

Maddie's eyes widened as she watched Solomon stomp towards the phone. Along with anger, she could also sense a hint of sadness in his face; mostly his eyes. She wondered if he was disappointed in this turn of events -- perhaps he wanted this to be perfect?
Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard Solomon's voice, echoing through the flat as he loudly spoke into the receiver. "Paul, get your ass here and pick up Porgi before he's a stray and the Queen adds him to her corgi harem." She noted that he gave the other end no time to respond, simply saying "bye" after a few moments. Without turning to her, he pulled out a kettle from the stark white cabinent. She watched as he plugged it in, poured the water in and waited. Porgi had wriggled out of her grip as she watched Solomon, his shoulders sulking as he stood and waited.
"Are you okay?" she asked, before even thinking twice about her words. Had they been online when she asked this, he would've changed the subject. But he didn't, he simply stood there waiting for his kettle to whistle.
"Yes." Solomon's reply was flat and lifeless, as the whine of the kettle filled the air. He slowly pulled a blue mug out of the cabinent and filled it to the tip top, then brought it back to the couch where he sat down. Maddie's eyes drifted over and she examined the design, and couldn't help but smirk. Did his cup have the TARDIS on it? He never impressed her as Doctor Who fan but then again her mother hadn't either. "I quite despise when my brother is out of school. He's a stalking, self-important git."
"How much younger is he?"
"Seven years." She curled up her knees to her chest and placed her chin on them, fixing her eyes on him again as he sipped the hot, black liquid. He seemed to be calming down with every drink, leading her to worry less. "He goes to school in Wales so I only have to deal with him a couple months out of the year. Just unfortunately, he's quite the pain."
"I guess I was lucky..." Maddie muttered. "I grew up an only child."
"Indeed. I wish I had that privilege, but I still remember the day my mom sat me down on the couch and told me about what was going on. That they had a little "accident" and they were going to deal with the consequences and in nine months I'd be a big brother."
"Can you even imagine living life knowing you were an oops baby?" She tried her hardest not to laugh, but a soft chuckle escaped her lips.
"None of us ever told him," Solomon replied, finishing off what was left and placing it on the table next to him. "It's a very difficult thing to bring up; it's not like you can slip it into light conversation..." He cleared his throat. "Yes today was a fine day, oh and by the way Paul? Yeaaaahhh, you were a mistake." Maddie couldn't help but smile and giggle at him. As silence fell between them, it was quickly broken by a knock on the door. "Speak of the devil, and he shall appear."
As he shuffled over to the door, the person on the other end seemed to be growing impatient. One, two, three more knocks before Solomon peeked through the glass hole in the door and let his guest in.
"Who's this?" Maddie's eyes wandered up when she heard the unfamiliar young voice. It wasn't pleasant and deep like Solomon's was, but rather nasally and childish.
"Not your concern," came the reply of Solomon, who's voice had turned stern and cold. "Here's the case, go find your mutt."
"But he's a pure-bred Corgi!" Maddie turned around on the couch and peeked over it as they had their conversation, making sure Solomon wasn't getting angry again. She was surprised by how calm and composed he was, smirking as he sighed and opened his mouth.
"I really couldn't give a shit, Paul. Just get the fucking dog."