10 years ago....
The Carlow Residence.
"Sweetie you're gonna be late!!" her mom yelled while looking outside in search of the bus.
"Coming mummmm!!" a tiny voice echoed.
Juliet was never the early type. Not that she knew much about fashion to say she was selecting clothes, or a heavy sleeper to say she over-slept. She was just SLOW. She would be awake, but it will take her a good time to get up, or even to finish up from the bathroom. "Beautiful people don't rush." she always told herself. No-one knows where she got that idea from anyway. So that was the case every day. Today, she was running late- again.
"Mom, did you see my history textbook?" Juliet asked absent-mindedly.
"No, why?"
"Cause it's in my hand..."
Her mom frowned. Juliet was playing her sarcasm card again.
"Of course it's missing mom."
The bus pulled up by the sidewalk. Edith was ready for it anyway.
"The bus is here baby."
"I'm not having history today anyway. Help me search for it. Love you mum "Juliet said as she hugged her mum. Edith reciprocated with a smile. That was her little angel. Juliet then proceeded to the bus.
"Hey if you see your sister, tell her to call me or come home... I wonder where she went again." Edith said, putting her hand on her chin.
Judith frowned. "Is she not at Verginia's again?"
"Just do it if you see her."
"Fine. bye mom!!" Juliet waved as she hopped on the bus.
'Vrrooom!' as the bus zoomed off.
Juliet's dad- 'Don Carlow' was never around. He owned a casino in Vegas- the heart of America's party life. Even though he was hardly there for his wife and 2 daughters, he didn't forget about them. He was always behind the bills, doing his fatherly work and even popping by on some holidays. For a Vegas casino owner, he was an ideal dad... And Juliet adored him.
Edith on the other hand, not so much. She claimed a man should never 'abandon' his family. Carlow of course couldn't leave his ring over at Vegas. He tried moving them to Vegas though, but Edith wouldn't raise her rubies in a 'polluted' place.
At school, Juliet did pretty well. She was that kind of student we will call 'b-rank' students. She was good at math and all the logical subjects. But history and English...... her success antidote. That didn't faze her, she decided to put her head down more. Like that day in class.
"Today we are studying from page 67. The fall of the great China wall."
There was silence, just the sound of turning pages.
That morning at St. Morris was like any other morning, except that one of the teachers carried Something new in her system and didn't know about it.
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The Dawson Residence.
"Good morning baby" Mr. Dawson muttered while hugging his wife from behind and kissing
her neck.
"Mmmmm...... Morning" she responded. She was enjoying the approach. Even though that was a work morning and they had sex the previous night, she was down for round two.
But she wouldn't accept it easily.
Liza & Charles Dawson were a slightly happy couple. Slight in the sense that they hardly saw each other. Charles was one of the top researchers at life pharmaceuticals, Liza was an English teacher- rather, the languages head of department at St. Morris middle school. They were both doing well.
Being a top dog at one of the leading medical industries in America meant two things for Charles; one, he was brilliant; two, he was a busy man. He barely even had time to see his wife. But whenever he did, he made sure he gave his 100%. As a result of his work nature, they agreed to hold off the thought of kids.
This time Charles was at home because life's building was on a lockdown. A project had gone awry, so the building had to be fumigated. He was still happy though... he got ample time with his wife. He was going to dive into every second. Like right now.
"Baby, you know I have work this morning," liza said, trying-but-failing to resist. She was almost done with making breakfast.
"Mmmm.... I know, ...." Charles responded, continuing what he was doing.
"Okay... then?"
"c'mon, we have all the time in the world... I'll take you on the bike if there will be traffic." he tried his best to mix reassurance with a romantic tone... fortunately it worked because she turned.
"Yeah?" she asked while wrapping her hand around his neck.
"Of course, what won't I do for you?" he asked as he lifted her up from her legs.
"It's been long since you took me on a spin using the bike... any way there wouldn't be traffic, I'll just be late" liza said as they made their way to their room.
_____________________________________________
Liza was adjusting her skirt when she noticed a strange mark on Charles's back. It looked like a bite mark. 'How did a bite mark appear on his back?' she couldn't help but ask herself. She decided to investigate though, using the jealous woman approach.
"Who gave you that mark Charles'?" she tried her best to sound normal as possible.
Charles looked at her and smirked... is liza suggesting anything????
"Oh this? This is from that project I told you about."
"Hmmm..." for some reason, she needed more explanation than that.
"Wowwww... don't tell me- HAHAHAHAHA!!!!" Charles laughed at his wife's imagination. It was understandable, given he was hardly at home.
"Don't worry babe, I'm still an upstanding citizen. Besides, what kind of fling will give you such a nasty mark? This is from the project." he reassured her. That did the trick and calmed her down.
"I'm sorry...why didn't you cover it up?" she asked.
"No Ps. I would have asked too. Also, I took off its covering yesterday. I'll go to the clinic to get a new one."
Now liza was curious. 'What the hell were they working on?? '
"Artificial lifeform. Beyond cloning and all that shit, this one was the real deal. A way to cheat death. Hell, even bring back the dead."
"Wowwww...... " Liza said in awe.
Charles laughed then continued, "it sure worked, just not the way we expected. Now we don't even know what consequences this one has brought. We all got checked up, but nothing came up. They said we should stay home and nurse our wounds, and report if we feel anything. Even the project budget, millions of dollars, gone. I just hope this doesn't affect us too much, "he said while hanging his head down.
She sat on the bed with him.
"I believe in you guys, as for the government investment, they would just print more money." she said then kissed his cheek. Charles smiled. He loved it when she said stuff like that.
"BTW, your temperature is not normal, and your hands are twitching like every 2 minutes. They said to report if you feel unwell right?
"I still feel tired. I'm sure that's it. I need more sleep."
"Hmm... "
After a bit more talk, liza left for work... late.