Conversations Above the Clouds

10 • 5:26 p.m.

[5:26 p.m.]

"George!"

Lucas's head immediately shot up from the sofa when he heard Easton from outside his apartment. Apparently, his visitor had finally arrived.

He stood up and his feet silently led him to walk towards the door. Lucas didn't want to eavesdrop, but he couldn't help himself since he was intrigued to know who George was. He never noticed Easton brought anyone inside his apartment ever.

This George guy must be a special person to him.

"Thanks a lot, Easton. You made me travel for an hour to Flinnway just to get you lemon squares?! I hate you," he heard George said, who did not sound too pleased.

"Huh?" Lucas raised a brow and inched closer, pressing his ear to the door as he tried to catch a snippet of their conversation. There was something odd about the tone of George's voice.

It didn't sound like a George to him.

"I told you that you can taste a bar on the way here!"

"I did. And okay, fine. It does taste good. But you owe me money-what is that behind you?"

"Welcome, George! Here, flowers for you."

"Aww, thanks, E. You're all that and a bag of chips!"

Lucas gasped and pushed himself away from the door, stumbling backwards. He recognized the husky, feminine, voice somewhere.

Moreover, the expression was the dead giveaway, so it couldn't be just any other girl.

He hurriedly unlocked his door and swung it open, revealing Easton and Ina standing in the hallway, talking. They stopped mid-sentence as their heads snapped toward Lucas's spot.

Ina's brunette hair was down again, the one which Lucas preferred. She was in the same red jacket that she wore when she knocked his Skittles to the floor back in New York. The two large turquoise suitcases that Lucas transferred to the car hours ago were beside her.

Ina, as she held her bouquet of blue hydrangeas care of a puzzled Easton, had shock written all over her face.

"Oh my god-Curly Top?"

"Miss Skittles?" Lucas pressed, who was just as surprised as she was.

"What are you doing here?" They asked in unison. Easton narrowed his eyes, oblivious on what was going on between the two.

Lucas answered first. "I live here. You?"

Easton quickly shot Ina a questioning look. "George, what's going on? Do you know each other?"

She nodded. "Yeah, we were on the same flight awhile ago!"

Lucas quickly shook his head. He wasn't the sharpest tool in the box given the situation that was getting vaguer by the minute. "Wait, what do you mean...you're George?" He pointed a finger to Ina and stammered. He just couldn't get the words out of his mouth because he was afraid that his hunch would be right.

"Are...you...a...dude?!"

The only answer that Lucas got was a snort. She shielded her mouth that was about to burst out from giggling with the bouquet of flowers. She nudged Easton, a sign for him to clean up the air of confusion.

He apologized first then started to explain slowly. "Sorry Lucas, you got it all wrong." He draped his arm around Ina's shoulder and pointed at her.

"My little sister over here...we call her George in the family. She goes by Ina with her friends."

Ina sighed and walked towards Lucas as she placed her free hand on his shoulder. "My real name is actually Georgina," she confirmed.

Lucas held his knees as he dragged a sigh. At least his crazy theory was scratched off. It was a rash notion to assume that a masculine name cannot be gender-bent, but he couldn't blame himself to think that 'George' was an uncommon unisex name for him!

He began to trace back their conversations hours ago. Ina did mention about of his two step-siblings back in their flight-and Easton, of all people in Boston, happened to be that other stepbrother.

And he did see a likeness between Easton and Ina. They smiled and frowned the same way. They were both tall, skinny, and had brunette hair, although Ina had brown eyes and Easton had blue. Easton also had a fairer complexion. The other half of her traits was probably shared with his musician stepbrother, Sebastian.

"Shit, I'm sorry. I thought-never mind," he replied sheepishly as he turned away from Easton.

Ina held up a hand and addressed the moment. "So, wait. Are we practically next-door neighbors?"

"Hey. Mom and Dad said no boyfriends until you reach twenty," Easton interrupted as he sneered at her little sister.

Ina rolled her eyes. Lucas could sense the color of her cheeks rising up. "Shut up, Easton." She cleared her throat before speaking again. "Anyway, this is so cool. I'll just uh, unpack my stuff and maybe all three of us can go look for a dinner place outside?"

"Sure. Lucas, you in?" asked Easton.

"I'm game." And boy was he. It was a perfect time for Lucas to finally acquaint himself with his neighbor for the past month, and for him to get closer to his newest and most unexpected neighbor yet.

"Great, see you in thirty. We'll just knock at your door when we're ready, okay?" Ina's older brother then stepped out of the conversation and grabbed Ina's two suitcases, wheeling it both to their apartment.

When Easton came back to check on them, Ina subtly shooed him away and mouthed something to him to stay inside, giving her and Lucas some time alone in the hallway.

Lucas crossed his arms over his chest, smirking. "I guess we'll be staying in touch for a long time, then." He knew he said that to her before they parted ways at the airport, but he just wasn't expecting their proximity to be so close they live practically ten feet apart.

"This whole day totally deserves a song!" Ina gushed, a little too excited.

"You're on a roll there, huh?"

Ina stopped her giggles and gave him a one-shouldered shrug. "What can I say? An inspiration hit me," she replied with a wink.

The odds of bumping into a total stranger in another state and for that stranger to wind up being your neighbor would be a million to one for Lucas, but the calculations weren't necessary at the moment.

He was just happy that he was, in fact, standing beside that total stranger that turned into his airplane seatmate that turned into his next-door neighbor. The chain of relationships could even turn into something more. For the meantime, all Lucas and Ina had to do was to sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride.

After all, they would be cruising on cloud nine for a long time.