A setup

The siblings went to the same college and stayed in an apartment together a few miles away, driving in when they had to in a car that was a gift from their parents. The apartment was also mostly financed by them but also paid for in part by their sweet, generous, widowed grandmother. Gerald had two classes today, one in the morning and another in the early afternoon. Jessica only had one and it was the same afternoon philosophy class that her brother went to. It was a rather large state university with many amenities and facilities so there were plenty of things for one of them to do while the other attended classes. Usually if one didn't have class while the other did, they'd just find something to do to kill time until both of them had finished classes for the day. Jessica made her way to one of the cafeterias, bought a bottle of water and a light breakfast, and found herself a place to relax while Gerald headed to his algebra class.

Her plan was a couple hours of casual reading for most of the morning but as she reached into the bag to grab her novel, the first thing she grabbed was the Random Remote. She had initially put it in her bag intending to toss it into the nearest trash bin when she got to school but now that she had the opportunity, she wasn't sure she wanted to any more. Sure it was silly and stupid, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. And she wasn't sure how long it would last but so far it had provided some good laughs. The idea of it actually being able to make her brother fit and attractive was hilarious. Not that he was ugly or anything. I mean sure, he could take better care of himself and dress up once in a while but he was decent enough looking despite his growing pudge. It was unfortunate that he lacked confidence and was so shy though. She laid the remote on the table and idly just tapped it, thinking things she hadn't really given much thought to before. Obviously the remote couldn't be responsible directly but it did cause Jessica to realize that her brother never had a serious girlfriend. Not even a real date as far as she was aware. Which is a shame. I mean, her brother is also smart and a nice guy with an adorable smile. Decent sense of humor. Real easy to get along with and all that. If he put himself out there more often, he'd probably get a little action once in a while. He just needed a little bit of self-confidence. That's when another set of new ideas began forming.

It didn't take her long before she forgot about the plan to read, took out her smart phone, and began searching the internet for some ideas. This wasn't the kind of thing that she would have ever looked up before so it took a while to even figure out where to begin. But a search here, a look there, some clicking and wandering online and she eventually found a perfect answer. For now at least. After a bunch of browsing, checking, double-checking, and making a phone call to confirm some details, Jessica had a plan set in motion and put the Random Remote back in her bag silently wishing it actually did work. Could've made getting the plans she put together so much easier. But she put her phone away as well then pulled out her book to read for about a half an hour until Gerald came over to say hi after his class ended.

"We are going out to eat tonight. It's going to be a nice restaurant and you will dress in something nice," Jessica said in a tone that was friendly but made it clear she didn't consider this to be up for discussion.

Gerald put his bag on the far side of the table, "Okay, what brought this on?"

Jessica tried her best to hide the evil smile she felt trying to come out and summoned every bit of her terrible acting skills in an attempt to act casual. "Nothing really. I'm just bored. We go back-and-forth from home to school, occasionally go visit mom and dad or grandma on the weekends. Neither of us have made many friends since we started attending." She shrugged her shoulders and sighed with every bit of fake nonchalance she could muster. "I thought maybe trying some new food, getting a little out of our comfort zones might be good for us. I found a really nice looking restaurant and already made us a reservation. But they have a dress code. Jeans, shorts, and t-shirts aren't allowed."

Gerald sighed, "But I like my comfort zone. It's really comfortable." Reaching into his wallet and grabbing his credit card before going to grab himself a quick snack before his second class and smiling. He put a hand on his hip and in a move that he hoped was reminiscent of their mother he looked at his sister, "Will you be paying for the dinner?" Jessica nodded her head which made Gerald smile rather brightly, "Wonderful. I could really go for some prime rib. I'd never spend that kind of money for one meal but if you're footing the bill it sounds like a brilliant idea. Thanks." He bent down and gave her a quick hug. Taunting complete, he got into one of the lines to grab himself a drink and a bag of chips.

As Gerald waited in line to pay, Jessica quickly pulled out her cell and took another quick look at one of the texts she got while her brother was in class. The text she was looking at was a picture of a man and a woman, both appearing to be in their late 30's standing side-by-side. He was a slightly taller than average blonde man with a well-manicured mustache, wearing a pair of black rimmed glasses and a nice, black, three piece suit. The lady was wearing a rather scanty, red cocktail dress that complimented her red hair and green eyes perfectly. The two were standing side-by-side, holding hands, her head lightly resting on his shoulder as they both smiled warmly for the camera. Under the photo was the phrase, "BTW, this is what we look like. We'll be waiting in the restaurant by 8. Hope you and your brother can make it."