When she heard his footsteps on the stairs, she fixed her glare on him as he descended.

Jade: “Nice of you to finally come out of hiding.”
Glass: “You didn’t happen to see anyone come through here, did you?”
Jade: “No, and I’m not even going to ask why anybody would. I don’t appreciate being left out of your projects.”
Glass: “What’s crawled up your butt tonight?”

Jade: “I’ve had a rotten day. It’s bad enough that I couldn’t find my car keys, then had nothing go right with anything I tried to work on today, and then found out someone ate my pudding at work. To top it all off, I just got dumped!”
Glass: “You… what? You’re not seeing anybody.”
Jade: “I meant that stupid Laine girl! I just got off the phone with her; apparently she doesn’t need to see me anymore because her life is all sunshine and roses or some nonsense.”
Glass: “Well, you know—“
Jade: “I mean how am I supposed to get rid of her now? Stone’s still fixated on her! It’s disgusting.”

Glass: “Jadey, I think your focus is on the wrong person.”
Jade: “How so?”
Glass: “Don’t you think you should be focusing all that energy on Stone instead of his skinny ex?”
Jade: “Maybe you’re right. But I still don’t like her and would love to have her out of the picture completely. And she’s such a whiner, Glass! You wouldn’t believe the things this girl would complain about. If only she hadn’t hooked up with her stupid boyfriend and decided she didn’t need me anymore… I could have given her enough bad advice for a lifetime of misery.”
Glass: “You’ll just have to come up with some other way of getting rid of her and really grabbing Stone’s attention. Think of it as an intellectual challenge for you.”

Jade: “Yeah, I suppose you’re right. So what were you up to all day?”
Glass: “Same old same old. Nothing you’d be interested in.”
Jade: “Magic stuff?”
Glass: “Yep.”
Jade: “I guess that explains the hair. I’ll pass on the details.”

Glass: “You know, I’ve been cooped up in here all day. I think I’m going to head out for awhile.”
Jade: “Going anywhere interesting?”
Glass: “I think I’m going to go catch a movie, then maybe drop in on some old friends. Want to come?”
Jade: “Thanks, but no thanks. I think I’ll just stay in and have some of that wine I’ve had chilling for a few days. I have some games I’d like to catch up on. Such thrilling lives we lead, eh?”
Glass: “More than you can imagine.”

Jade gave her brother a curious glance, but decided it may be in her best interest not to press him on his meaning.

Jade: “Well, have fun.”
Glass: “You, too. Don’t forget to eat something with that wine because I don’t want to deal with your hangovers.”

Jade stuck her tongue out as her brother turned and left the apartment.

After a few minutes, she headed back for the kitchen and retrieved a wineglass and the bottle of Gewurztraminer she’d had waiting for her in the refrigerator for the past two days. She poured a large glass, took a deep breath of the fragrant spicy aroma of the wine, and went into the living room where she settled down in front of the television with several of her games.