<div class="floatleft">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/0/07/Charmed_helen_b.png)</div><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: georgia;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 18pt;">H</span><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 14pt;">ELEN</span> <span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 18pt;">B</span><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 14pt;">RIANNE</span> <span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 18pt;">M</span><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 14pt;">ITCHELL</span> <span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 7pt;"><br/>          it is in you to carry on      |      it is in you to lay down fears that hold      |     it is in you to find your way home          </span></span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: arial;"><em>suspicious about the new arrival.</em><br/><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 8pt;">   » wyatt . anduin . melinda . chris </span></span><br/><hr/><br/>Brie didn't bother paying any attention to the guest at the door, since Wyatt, Melinda,<em>and</em>Chris decided to poke their heads into the front hall to swarm onto their guest. Sometimes, Brie felt like Chris was a tad suspicious, with Melinda a touch too trusting; Wyatt was a solid balance between the two, and he was usually very good at managing tensions or disagreements between his two younger siblings. So, even after the doorbell had interrupted dinner, she continued chatting with Tray, happy to finally have a chance to catch up with him. She knew sometimes he felt guilty about avoiding the family when things got tense, or when he was thinking a lot; Brie wished she could help more, but she couldn't do anything about her own particular brand of demons at this point, let alone another person's.<br/><br/>When Wyatt walked back into the room, though, she got more than a little surprise.<br/><br/><strong><em>"Brie, there's someone here to see you.  He says he's the head carpenter for the contractor you hired for your studio.  He's in the sitting room with Chris and Melinda."</em> Wyatt lowered his voice. <em>"It's probably legit... but please be careful.  If he's trouble, even mundane trouble, just call for me.  I'll be right here."</em></strong><br/><br/>She blinked at the announcement and frowned, but said nothing as she slowly got up out of her seat, brow wrinkling in thought.<strong>"Thanks, Wyatt. I think I've got it, though."</strong>She didn't mention the oddness of this man - Anduin Fording, if she was remembering the contract correctly - showing up at the doorstep at the Manor. It wouldn't do to worry Tray, who usually looked very suspiciously at most unrelated males within her vicinity, or Wyatt, who was almost like a big brother to all of the cousins on top of his own real siblings. Besides, no point in making the night even stranger by getting all up in arms about the situation before she even talked to the man.<br/><br/>Brie wiped her lips with a napkin and stood up, giving her twin and Wyatt lighthearted winks before making her way to the sitting room, where their guest had been shown to. She greeted him with a warm smile and extended her arm gracefully to him for a handshake, despite her misgivings and suspicions.<br/><br/><strong>"It's nice to meet you in person, Mr. Fording,"</strong>she said, not voicing any of her apprehensions for now - it wouldn't hurt to let him say hello, anyway.<br/><br/>But she didn't let go of her distrust, and after she'd let him return the greet and shake her hand, Brie got right to the point. The added chill in her voice made things very apparent that her carpenter had gotten off to the wrong foot with her.<strong>"May I ask how you found me at this address, Mr. Fording? I don't use this address for any of my official paperwork for Encore."</strong><br/><br/>Anduin Fording didn't seem like a demon, but not all demons wore their profession on their sleeves, so to speak. Her listed place of residence for Unity and the new studio was still the Park Merced address, even though she'd pretty much moved out at this point and had done up all the necessary paper work for terminating her contract to rent. They hadn't asked for a forwarding address, and Brie had not gone to the trouble of providing one. Only someone who knew Brie or her family intimately would know that she was living at the studio and as of an hour ago, temporarily at the manor.<br/><br/>Most importantly, she had never lived here except informally, and only days at a time at that.<br/><br/>Brie pursed her lips as she watched their suspicious guest warily, wondering what kind of answer he had for his seemingly magical knowledge of where she would be tonight.