She harboured a certain amount of envy towards Rattle, knowing that not only was he close with at least part of his family, but they were for the most part still alive and in his life. She had long ago severed her relationships with hers, and burned many bridges, and now she was as lonely as she had ever been. It didn’t help, either, moving to an entirely new city after things went a bit south in Toronto; New York was unfamiliar territory, and as much as it was one of the most populous cities in the world, it had felt entirely empty.
Until, of course, she realized he was in town.
A smile played at her ruby-red lips as she listened to him. “Maybe one day you and your sister will come to terms with things,” she shrugged, “But, its a mother’s perogative to try and make peace between her children. At least she’s trying — that’s more than I can say for mine!” Lore’s eyes wandered to look longingly out the bus window, watching as the crowded city streets passed by.
It didn’t take long for him to get to the point - why was she here? Toronto had been as much her home as Vancouver ever was, and she’d sworn up and down to him that she would never leave. And yet, here she was - of course he’d be curious. She stood up from the seat she was at and went to sit on the one just behind him, leaning over the back of the driver’s chair with her chin resting on its top. “Career change,” she began, reaching a hand over the chair to rest a few fingers gently on the crook of his neck and shoulder, tracing small circles. “And I finally got my divorce settlement, after a year of fighting for it. So I figured it was time for somewhere new.”
“I doubt it,” he began, his tone turning slightly bitter as the conversation tilted towards his sister. There was a great, yawning chasm there that stretched for miles and was impossibly deep between Rattle and his baby sister, a chasm that would probably never be bridged. “Mom can try but she’d probably have a better chance at gettin’ blood out of a stone.” Because some bonds can never be broken and some family issues can never be overcome.
“An’ really Lore, I’d absolutely love for her to stop tryin’.” He let out a weary sigh, idly scrolling through the settings menu of his RV to get it ready to park up. “Don’t think she quite realizes that she’s just gonna end up with more heartbreak at the end of it, not less.”
Watching her move in his mirror and instinctively leaning into her touch and letting those small circles she was tracing ease out some of the tension he’d built up, he let out a thoughtful hum. “So you’re a completely free woman now then?” He met her eyes in the mirror, a faint smirk tugging at his lips. “An’ you come to the city filled with millions of eligible bachelors - or bachelorettes, if that’s your thing.” There was the glint of devilment in his eyes for a split second at his teasing before he dropped his gaze back to the touch screen of the RV. “Can’t say you’re lackin’ in ambition. You even know where to start in this city, or do you already have a job lined up?”