Summertime: Lazy days, hot nights, barbecues, and pool side drinking. It also meant that her brother would finally be coming home again. She hadn't seen him in almost a year and wondered how much he had changed while he was gone. She knew she had changed a lot. Gone were the braces, ugly glasses and adolescent acne. Instead she had perfectly straight teeth, contact lenses and clear skin. She had also lost weight and found that under her fat she had possessed the body and curvy hips of a woman. She stood now with her hands fisted on those curvy hips as she scowled at the screen that announced "arrivals" and saw that her brothers flight was delayed yet AGAIN. Twenty more minutes passed before the screen said "now arriving". She made her way to waiting are just outside of the security check point and began scanning the passengers that began streaming through the tunnel.
His mom said his little sister had lost weight while he was gone, but he wasn't worried. He knew he would be able to spot the little pest anywhere. His eyes darted around the crowd of people he saw on the other side of the security checkpoint. There was a woman holding a small boy and the boy was shouting "Daddy, I see Daddy!" and clapping with joy. He saw the attractive honey-blond in a pretty summer dress waving frantically and grinning like a loon. He thought who ever she was waving at was surely a lucky bastard. Scanning he still didn't see the pest. He started to frown and was fumbling for his cell phone when the summer dress began hurling toward him. He was about to check over his shoulder when she launched herself into him and wrapped her arms around his neck and began hugging him tightly.
"Oh my god, you look so great John!" She squealed as she hugged him. The voice shocked him back to reality.
"Holy shit, Pest?"
She laughed as she stepped back and took another look at him. The time he had spent away had changed him some. The smile on her lips faded when she saw the look on his face. His mouth hung open and his eyes were still wide with shock.
"You... ummm... wow," was all the more he could say. He saw the look on her face and immediately felt like a jack ass. She was always the sensitive one and he could see the tears shimmering in her eyes. "Mom said you lost weight, but look at you! You look incredible, Melissa."
The sweet apology made everything better and her eyes went from sad to excited all over again. She pulled him along to the baggage carousel so they could collect his luggage and was babbling the whole time they walked. She filled him in on the gossip and news that he had missed the past year. He spotted his suitcases and pulled them off the carousel. She took the handle of the smaller one while he took the larger two. The summer heat hit him full in the face as they stepped outside and he was sweating almost instantly. By the time they had reached the car he was wiping a stream of sweat from his forehead.
She got in the car first and popped the trunk for him so he could stow his suitcases. She also blasted the air conditioning on high. He reached into one of his suitcases before shutting the trunk and grabbed a tank top to change into. He glanced around first, and after verifying that nobody was watching undid the weapon harness strapped there. He set it on the suitcase and covered it with the suit coat. He was just lifting his undershirt over his head when she popped her head out of the car to find out what was taking so long. His long, muscular arms rippled when he pulled the shirt off and his chest glistened with a sheen of sweat.
She swallowed the harsh words she was about to speak and just stood there staring at him. It appeared that her brother had been working out as well. Her eyes went from his well formed pecs down to his flat stomach. . She remembered last summer he had been skinny and almost gangly. Now he was far from gangly. His flat boyish stomach had been replaced with six pack abs and she could see a thin trail of hair peeking over the waistband of his jeans. She was nearly ready to drool when he coughed politely and snapped her back to reality. She blushed when she remembered that this wasn't just any guy, this was her brother!
He saw the way his sister had been staring at him and hoped that funny look on her face was just from the stifling heat in the parking garage. He quickly put on the ribbed tank top, closed the trunk, and turned to get into the passenger side of the car. He sat down in the car with some rather disturbing thoughts of his own beginning to swirl around in his head. He had remembered his initial thoughts when he had first seen her, before he knew it was is his sister. She had been a late bloomer, but damn had she blossomed. The ride back to their parents house was blissfully quick and the earlier moment of awkwardness seemed to have passed.
For the rest of the afternoon neither one had a chance to reflect on their earlier thoughts. Their parents had invited half of the neighborhood over for a barbecue and there was a steady stream of people coming and going. After the barbecue his parents announced there would be poolside margaritas and people changed out of shorts and sundresses and into swimming suits. Melissa shooed her mom and dad out the door with their guests and told them she would clean up some before swimming.