Previously, On Concrete Shelves
- Thurlow Industries has been in the process of merging with SRQ Industries for several months. However, constant re-alignments and interruptions in contract negotiations have caused significant stress for the involved parties.
- Kirsten has been carrying on a secret affair with her long time friend, Adrian Stone. While they both chose to end the affair amicably, she revealed her pregnancy and chose to pass it off as her husband, Charlie’s child.
- The trio of Megan, Jane and Lark have been close friends since all permanently moving back to Stone Creek, however, small fractures have began to form with the arrival of Lark’s cousin, Reid Maverick.
- After Kimberly Sutton, and her nephew, Peter, moved in on Sutton Corp., they closed out her brother, Patrick, altogether, leaving him to partner with his daughter, Gillian, to regain control of the company. Gillian came up with a plan to create a shell company and have Reichen Calbourne head it as a sort of trojan horse. However, her husband, Damien, has his reservations of her safety…
Playing Through the Years
October 1st, 2027
On Concrete Shelves | Revisited
014
Stone Creek, Thurlow Cottage
There’s a frosty cold front lingering in the valley — pulled eastward from the western shoreline. This crispy October morning is something James Thurlow is only familiar with from his youth; as of recent years, the frost has been kept at bay until early November. He hesitates at the doorway of his home, wondering if he should turn around to retrieve another, warmer layer but decides to risk it and heads straight for his truck instead. His usual, longer, routine to admire the sherbet colors of dawn quickly abandoned as he does so.
Today is a rather busy day at the office, and he continues to play over the speech he has planned to start off his sister, Shannon’s, weekly affirmation meeting. He knows she means well, and with her rekindled romance with Jon Stout filling the gaps in her schedule, he also knows her motivations for good are also filling gaps in her health. So he goes ahead with the meetings on a weekly basis, in hopes to continue strengthening the core values of Thurlow Industries.
The drive from his home, which sits in one of the oldest neighborhoods in Sage Gardens, to the densely populated Now Town is a pretty straightforward drive. Luckily for James, his great-grandfather bought property just off a road that has somehow become a vein that connects both districts. This gives him the option to stop off at the Lumber Mill, which these days has become almost second nature. Especially since he had gone so long without making it a habit.
Leaving his wife, Caitlyn, tucked into the warmth of their bed, James turns the ignition to his truck and begins his day.
“James,” his son-in-law, Ryan Bauer, greets as soon as the older man enters the office on the second floor of the lumber mill. “You’re starting to make this a habit.”
James smirks. “That’s the intention.”
“I hope that means your trust in us hasn’t diminished.”
Ryan is situated across the room at a computer, his morning coffee mug steaming to his right. There’s a hint at something attached to the words that James can’t exactly place, but he doesn’t want to call attention to it just yet.
Instead, he moves over to the grand window that overlooks the first floor of the warehouse. “Rest assured, I still have full trust in you. The merger just has me retreating into old habits. I still find a lot of calmness being around the lumber yard; the smell of the pines helps me process the operational side of things.”
“That’s understandable.” Ryan grasps his mug and joins James’ side. “If you did have any concerns regarding the lumber mill crew, however, I would like to assure you that everyone is still onboard with the merger. Baird and I helped translate the new contracts that Emmet sent over. Everyone seems to be holding faith.”
“As much as I like the sound of that, I still keep thinking back to the conversation I had with Baird a few weeks ago.” James says, the words feel heavier than he would like them to sound, and quickly he tries to headway. “Baird is a very passionate young man.”
Ryan nods his head. “There’s a reason why they all fall in line for him.”
Just as he becomes the topic of conversation, James can spot the younger man through the bay window. He stands proud, in a grey workwear jacket, steel-toe boots, a thick set of Wrangler jeans, and a white hard hat — shaking the hand of a machine operator.
“The success of this company has hinged on strong men and women who have that same ability.” He then turns inwards to lock eyes with Ryan, who does the same. “My only concern is that Baird understands we are all wanting the same things out of this merger.”
“I know he understands, James,” Ryan replies, and then hastily adds, “I will make sure of that if I need to.”
James takes a deep breath and then almost instantly lets it out. “We are almost at the end of the negotiations.”
“If I may ask, how is that going?”
He mulls over the question. James knows that Ryan isn’t the sort to let information slip through the cracks, so he tries to give him the cliff notes. “The initial contracts have been signed, as of last week, and Vinessa is confident the last pages of the addendum will be sorted by the beginning of the year. There were a few snags in the initial contracts, but she’s helped iron them out.”
James can see that Ryan has his eyes glued to Baird, who has made his way through the ground level of workers and is making a beeline toward the second-floor office.
“We were able to clear the contracts for everyone here at the lumber mill, if that’s what you’re trying to get at.”
Ryan snaps his eyes back to his father-in-law. He manages a small smile and opens his mouth to speak some relief.
“Ryan, the first thing I wanted to do was make sure that the blue-collar workers here would be protected, and that is what we did. I still sense hesitancy on your end.”
He shakes his head slightly. “I don’t mean to come off that way.”
Yet here we are, James thinks to himself. “Rest assured, the lumber mill has been protected. Now I am putting my best foot forward to do the same for the rest of the company.”
“So there are still some loose ends?” Ryan asks. He can hear Baird’s boots on the stairs leading up to the office. “We don’t have to discuss it now, if it’s better to change the subject.”
James nods knowingly, just as Baird appears through the doorway. The now trio begin to fall into conversation as Baird gives a status report for the coming days, including where they stand going into the weekend. He speaks with confidence that reassures James that he has put the right team in place at the ground-level of Thurlow Industries, though now, he is uneasy about where the rest of the company stands.
He still doesn’t know how much else he can control, or even salvage, once the merger is complete.
Our Love. Our Fights. Our Friendships.
On Concrete Shelves.
Forever, They Shall Be Remembered.
Boulestridge Mountains, Sutton Cabin
Somewhere in the universe there’s a middle-aged woman starting her yearly Gilmore Girl’s marathon, and Kirsten Thurlow Sutton is standing in front of her kitchen window with a mug of steaming hot coffee clasped in her hands as she watches the frost expand over the panes of glass.
There’s a thud from somewhere above her. She knows that her husband, Charlie, is in their shower right about now, getting ready for their appointment with her gynecologist. So she makes an educated guest that her adult daughter must have stayed the night. Megan has been spending more time at their home in her childhood bedroom. This isn’t as much a judgement as it is an observation. Though, it has been nice having her around more to help out with her younger brother, Eric.
Between Caitlyn helping out with pickups, and Megan volunteering with drop offs in the mornings it has given Kirsten more time to stand around her kitchen and think about her current fucked up situation.
Kirsten fights every urge to place her hand upon her stomach at the possibility of Megan walking in on her as she does so. Having to explain how she ended up pregnant in her late 40s seemed hard enough, but the fact that the baby she is carrying has the DNA of Adrian Stone and not her husband’s makes it that more complicated.
“Kirsten,” she hears as she snaps out of the prison within her mind, “Mom.. I’ve been calling out to you.” Megan says, she stands in the doorway to the kitchen.
There’s a sticky note on the fridge that sits directly to the right of her daughter. It was something she had scribbled down three days ago when Caitlyn had stopped by to ask Kirsten to help plan out the baby shower for her brother, Emmet and his wife, Iris. For some reason her mind hyper focuses on the scribbled penmanship of the note far longer than her daughter’s face.
“Mom. Kirsten. What the hell is going on with you?” Megan asks, she furrows her brow, moving into the kitchen to join her mother. “I was looking for Eric’s basketball uniform and he said it was downstairs. Have you seen it? I forgot to wash it last night.”
You mean I forgot to wash it. “Oh, fuck. I was supposed to do a load of laundry yesterday after my shift at the diner.” Kirsten places her mug of coffee on the counter top and digs through her mind; hand to the bridge of her nose as she thinks about a solution. “There’s one in his dresser, it’s smaller and he doesn’t like the way that it rides up and shows his tummy, but just have him pack that into his bag. He will only need it for practice anyways.”
“I don’t know if he’ll go for that, they have a game this weekend so the cheerleaders will be practicing alongside them.”
“He’s not even a teenager yet.” Kirsten snips back. “He’s not interested in the cheerleaders.”
Megan sucks in air. “He is interested in a certain Valerie Stone.”
Something within Kirsten flinches.
When she was younger she had spent so much time training for triathlon after triathlon until she felt that she was good enough. Then one Summer she met Adrian Stone and her attention diverted to something new. New questions began to come to the surface. Yet, now at the sound of his last name the first emotion she has is panic. Keeping the teenage memories of the two at bay, she tries to play it off; wistfully and strategically.
“Who told you this?”
“Nobody had to say anything.” Megan moves to a cupboard and pulls out her favorite yellow mug and then begins to pour her own coffee. “When I went to drop him off a few days ago you should have seen his face light up when she met him at the steps. Boy is crushing.”
Kirsten shrugs. “I’m sure it’s nothing. Jersey, dresser, now!”
“Oh, for sure, I’ll grab it in a sec — I do want to run something by you real quickly while the menfolk are upstairs.” Megan snickers. “I’m sure you’ve been wondering why I've spent a lot more time here than at Jane’s apartment.”
“Well, I have,” Kirsten straightens out the knitted blue cardigan she is wearing, she leans forward, her hands grasping the counter between the two women. “Though, I also know the more I push with you, the less information I get out of you. So I figured you would just come to me at some point.”
Megan shoots her a look of surprise. “Very parental of you.”
“Thanks.”
“Lark and I stopped by the diner a couple weeks ago and things kind of got heated between the two of us.” Megan starts, though, this isn’t the first time she is hearing about the interaction as Aimee brought it up to her right after it happened. Still, Kirsten does her best to listen and not interrupt. “Since then she’s lowkey been ghosting me.”
“You’ve been friends with Lark for a really long time, I’m sure it’s something that the two of you can work through together.”
Megan frowns. “What if we can’t?”
“That doesn’t sound like the two of you.” Kirsten responds. The conversation isn’t entirely out of her wheelhouse, though, she also has been sleeping with her only true close friend, so it does feel as if she’s trenching on uncharted territory. “Megan, has something more happened other than this blow up? You know that you can tell me if there’s something more serious going on.”
“You know what, it’s fine mom.” Megan retracts. “You’re right! I’m sure I’ve been wrong about the situation. I’ll just try to get past everything.”
“Megan.”
The younger woman turns to her mother. “Whatever it is that is going on doesn’t matter. The two of you have been friends for a very long time and within that time frame you’ve both grown into your own. Friendships fracture, sure, but you and I both know that Lark isn’t the type of person to call it quits because of some hard shit —.”
“Mom!”
Kirsten smirks. “It’s true. I think you owe it to yourself — and to Lark, to really get to the bottom of this because if this was just a simple misunderstanding, you would be selling yourself short by not fixing the issue.”
“Thanks.” Megan simply replies. “I’m going to go grab that jersey for Eric. I can’t be late for work.”
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