Preparing for Home Port Day

Posted on Sat Aug 8th, 2026 @ 12:09pm by Cassandra Lennox & Maureen Lennox & Juliet Parrish
Edited on on Sat Aug 8th, 2026 @ 12:09pm

2,451 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Before
Location: Cassandra's Cottage
Timeline: 13th May 2012

Juliet sat in the kitchen enjoying a cup of breakfast blend tea with Maureen. She had arrived half an hour prior to help Cassandra with hair and makeup for this special day. She looked at her watch and frowned before turning to Maureen. "I know Cassandra is often out and about early to check on things around town, but she does realize that today is really important and as the mayor she does need to look her best for the ceremonies."

Maureen smiled a little and nodded. "She knows, but she was up early, as I did not even see her," Maureen said as she looked at the woman. "I think my daughter is fully aware of her duties and responsibilities, Juliet." The woman added kindly.

Juliet looked at her watch. She was about to comment further, but the soft click of a key being inserted in the door lock announced Cassandra's return.

"Would you like a camomile tea to calm your nerves?" The older woman offered as she heard the key in the lock and Cassandra walked in and stopped as she saw the pair.

"Oh, hello." She greeted, hoping neither noticed that she was wearing the same clothes as yesterday or if they did notice, they had the grace to not comment there and then.

Juliet paid no mind to Cassandra's attire. She had spent the previous day at the clinic doing inventory of the medical supplies and equipment and hadn't seen Cassandra at all the day before. She met Cassandra's gaze as she entered. "About time Cassie. Do you have any clue as too how long it takes to do a proper makeover?"

Maureen chuckled a little as she looked the woman over and noticed the cogs moving in her head as she tried to level her response. "And what is wrong with how I look now?" Cassandra wondered and looked down at herself. She was clean, tidy, and the clothes suited the environment that they now lived in.

Juliet sighed. She rose from her chair and grabbed the backpack she had brought with her and started shooing Cassandra in the direction of the stairs. It wasn’t until they reached the top of the stairs and out of earshot of Cassandra's mother that Juliet responded in a voice barely over a whisper. "You need to look stunning for the opening ceremonies. Especially since I know you have been trying to get a certain ship's executive officer, who by the way is a clueless idiot sometimes, to finally take notice of you. Trust me. Once we get done this morning, he will either notice you...or I swear I am going to have to declare the man dead."

"I have been flirting, but ... he might be gay, that is his choice. Cannot force anything." Cassandra said, pushing open the door to her bedroom. "You pick the outfit and let me wash my face as I was out in the pollen." She said wanting to brush her teeth, thankfully she had shaved her legs yesterday so there was no need to panic to do any of that.

Juliet went to the closest and started looking through the outfits hanging there. It wasn't much, but she found a pretty sundress she was sure would look very attractive on Cassandra. She glanced at Cassandra and shook her head. "My best friend at medical school was gay. Nothing about Nathan has ever set off my Gaydar. Plus, I am sure he was checking you out on their last shoreleave here. I tried to flirt with him the Friday night before they sailed out on their last voyage and he didn't even notice. He couldn't take his eyes off you and Daniel playing darts." She frowned for a moment. "I suppose it could be possible he's gay." Juliet tossed the dress on Cassandra's bed and then tapped the back of the chair in front of the vanity.

Cassandra shrugged as she disappeared into the bathroom with underwear to change into. She quickly changed into them, washed her face scd brushed her teeth. She came back out in the silk dressing gown. “Not worn that in years. I wore that to my graduation. Thankfully I’ve lost weight so it’ll fit,”

Juliet sat Cassandra down and began brushing out her friend's hair. "Okay, I am thinking we go with a little wavy with the hair. The sun will reflect nicely on your highlights and give your face a bit of a glow. What do you think?"

“It’ll go curly either way so definitely go with that.” Cassandra laughed a little. “I could use a glow,” She was tired but that was not going to change so she had to make do with it.

Juliet spent the next ten minutes brushing out Cassandra's hair. She reached into her bag and pulled out a curling iron that she plugged in and started heating. She then pulled out an array of makeup products that transformed the vanity table into a cluttered mess. "So we have a hair style. Now we need to decide on makeup. Business casual, elite business woman, glam girl or just a few touches to accent your natural look?

“What would you suggest?” Cassandra wondered looking at the array of stuff. She never wore make up out side of some tinted moisturiser and mascara so it was overwhelming to see it all. “I never took you as a lover of this kind of thing.” She admitted laughing a little.

Juliet looked at the impressive array of cosmetics and sighed. "I liked being able to put on a pretty dress and make up in college and medical school when I had the chance and trying out different looks. When I graduated and came to England to celebrate. I wanted to experience London's night life and have a grand fling before I was going to be busy with internship and residency. I wanted to have fun and...look good doing it. I was about two weeks into my vacation when things started going real bad in London. I loaded everything up in my rental car and took off for the countryside. I thought I'd be able to find refuge in one of the smaller cities. My car ended up breaking down about a mile outside Thistledrift on the coastal highway. I thought I was going to die. Your mom found me on her way back home when she went out to try and find medicine for your father. I guess she bought me back to try and save him. Thistledrift's previous doctor had been killed by a group of raiders who had blown into town and ransacked the clinic." She picked up a random tube of lipstick and twirled it in her fingers for a moment. Not much reason these days to celebrate living when the world is trying to kill you. Things have been changing around here. Despite you arriving here hurt. You were able to recover and you started teaching everyone about what was going on from your journey. You were able to show the people how to survive and work together. How to work with Europa crew. How to find people out there that helped our community grow. You're the reason Thistledrift is the way it is and continues to improve."

Everyone kept saying that, but Cassandra could not see it fully. She was relieved that people kept listening, and they were able to create a foundation to build on. "I do not believe I have ever been pretty enough to understand make-up and dresses properly." She admitted.

Juliet shook her head. "You are more than pretty enough Cass. You catch the eye of a lot of the single men around here." She gave Cassandra a good natured tap on the shoulder and a wide grin. "Today we do something that grabs attention."

“I think I catch their eye through limit choice.” Cassandra laughed a little at the woman’s laughter and looked up. “Okay. I am following your lead on this.” The woman said quietly wishing she could talk about this morning with someone.

Juliet started with Cassandra's eyes, applying eyeliner and eyeshadow. She could tell that something was different about Cassandra. She seemed a bit distracted. Juliet finally stopped working on the makeup. "Are you okay? Your tensing up and it’s going to be difficult achieving the makeover results we're looking for."

"Sorry. Busy day, and my brain is distracted. I'll relax." The woman said, slowly taking in a deep breath to calm her body down. It was hard when she just kept flashing back to that morning, but at least the blush on her face could be covered by being called out for tensing.

Juliet resumed her work, but it became clear that Cassandra was not relaxing. Something was on the older woman's mind. She paused and looked at Cassandra’s reflection in the mirror. Her expression grew concerned. "Okay. Something is clearly on your mind. Did something happen last night or this morning? Because it's obvious that you're really nervous about something. Something more than public speaking for the ceremony today or getting dressed up for. You can talk to me."

"I... I have met someone, and it's playing a little on my mind." Cassandra said quietly. There were many options to keep Nathan safe, like he had stated last night; she had a few admirers. "I am a little confused because I have a fiancee somewhere out there hopefully and its confusing."

Juliet’s eyes almost popped out of her head. She looked a bit thoughtful, wondering who this mystery person could be. Her first thought was Lieutenant Daniel Carter, Europa's Navigator. Daniel had shown Cassandra a great deal of interest in the last two port calls between mission patrols. She also considered Nathan. She knew that Cassandra and Nathan often spent time working on ship and town relations and Juliet had occasionally caught Cassandra looking at the Europa's new XO when the man was on liberty in the pub or addressing concerns with the town council. She briefly considered some of the local men, but she didn't think the few eligible men in town were Cassandra’s type. "Cassandra it's been over a year since you've seen Thomas. There's no guarantee he's...." Juliet couldn't bring herself to finish the statement. "Look. What I am trying to say is that you deserve to find happiness for yourself. If not happiness, then...you deserve to have something special for yourself. You've struggled so hard and sacrificed a lot making Thistledrift a safe place for everyone here and for the crew of the Europa. We don't know what tomorrow could bring for any of us. At the very least you deserve a pleasant distraction. It's not like you're planning on getting married tomorrow. Okay?"

“I know it’s been over a year.” Cassandra said sadly. She did not know how to explain more of her feelings but it was at least something that Juliet was not judging or asking more questions. “Thank you Juliet. I know it hard to explain my feelings around it all but thank you for listening and not judging me. Do I really deserve happiness?” She wondered it felt like she did not deserve it.

Juliet rolled her eyes and took hold of Cassandra's shoulders with both hands and looked Cassandra in the eyes with conviction. "Of course you deserve it. If anyone deserves it you do. Have fun and...if he has a friend...put in a good word for me."

“Who said it was a he.” Cassandra said quietly as she looked at her friends determination. “I… I have failed a lot and I just do not feel like good things happen to people like me.” It was a dark view for what was meant to be a great day.

Juliet gave a curious raised eyebrow before bending over to hug her friend. "You have not failed. You're Mayor of Thistledrift. You won that as a write in candidate at the election because the majority believes in you. As for me thinking it's a he...I have a good idea who it is. I won't say anything to anyone because I know you like to keep things private until you're ready for people to know. Just be good to yourself for once and remember. You're not in this alone."

Cassandra nodded and hugged the woman back. “I am okay. I promised. Just a plot twist I did not expect.” She whispered softly. She had to try and be good to herself but it was hard when she did not feel worthy of it all. “Thank you.” She murmured softly.

Juliet hugged Cassandra for a moment longer. She released her friend and pointed to the private bathroom. "Go wash your face. I think we need to go for a different makeover for you. Not the 'Hey, look at me'. Just something that says 'This is me'."

Cassandra did not like being vulnerable but she had been like that since she had woken up that morning. She nodded and quickly disappeared into the bathroom and washed off the make up. It was simple to do but she rushed it coming back out knowing they had limited time. “Thank you for understanding and accepting.” She said sitting down scrubbing her face dry.

Juliet restarted applying make up after looking at Cassandra's face for a moment. She was done in less than ten minutes and had Cassandra turn in her chair to face the mirror. She had used a minimum of makeup that would slightly enhance Cassandra's natural beauty. Her final touch was to put Cassandra's hair into a simple, yet practical ponytail that kept stray hair from floating into her face. "You like?"

“I do. Much more me.” Cassandra approved as she looked herself over. “Maybe for the next big celebration we can do the make up more your way,” Cassandra teased softly as she stood up to get dressed and finish off the look.

Juliet smiled. "You get dressed. I'll let your mom know we're ready to head out to the townsquare." Juliet gestured at the make up. "I'm going to leave this. Give you an opportunity to experiment with different makeup styles."

“You do not need to. I literally have no idea other than bb cream and bronzer but thank you.” She said watching the woman leave. She glanced at the makeup and smiled at the bright pink lipstick. “Apart form this…” she said grinning as it was her tone that she had always worn before her world changed. She put that on before she took a deep breath and headed out.

 

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