Nana has been sitting quietly sipping on her can of diet green tea ginger ale, but at this point decides to jump into the conversation.
“The real issue here is that if you leave that job, somebody else is going to snatch up that man.”
“Sure will.”
“Wait … what?”
Carla and I look at Monica and Nana like they’ve lost their minds.
“Snatch him up? How about if I leave my job, then maybe someone will finallysnatch me upand make an honest woman out of me. I could never date anyone working for that tyrant. No one would put up with my erratic late night schedule. Always being at his beck and call. I’m twenty-four years old, and I’ve never had a real relationship.”
“You haven’t met the right person because you already work for him.”
“Nana, you are so off base. There is nothing between Coop and me. He’s like the big brother that I never wanted. There is nothing between us. Zero. Zilch. Nada.”
Nana lifts her eyes up slowly from behind her can of soda. “Touchy. Touchy.”
Monica giggles. “Can I just say that I think thattyrantis too strong of a word to use to describe that wonderful man you work for?”
“You don’t know him.”
“Well now that you’ve brought it up, you’re right we don’t. You won’t let us get to know him. You’ve been keeping us away from him for three years with all of your excuses. It’s embarrassing when our friends ask us what Cooper Barnes is like, and we’re forced to tell them that we’ve never met the man. Are we your ugly stepsisters or something? Are you embarrassed by us, Cinderella?” Monica asks with her hands firmly planted on her hips.
Monica and Carla are indeed my older stepsisters, but they’re far from ugly, and they could never embarrass me. In fact, these two are awesome women, my best friends, and probably the best thing to ever happen to me since the accident.
Chapter Six
URSULA
Memories of the accident come to me in flashes at random times and in cold sweats. It was a rainy late night in March, and I was only six years old. I remember it was March because the city was still cleaning up after the big St. Patrick’s Day parade, and there was green confetti everywhere. I thought it was so pretty.
According to the stories I’ve heard over the years, my mother was driving a little too fast and the driver of the car that hit us may have had a few too many beers. Although I have frequent nightmares about that night, I don’t remember details. I don’t remember enough.
All I know for sure is what I was told. That someone hit us and then we rolled over about three times causing a five-car collision behind us, and ending upside down on the side of FDR drive. I’m not sure exactly how, but I made it out alive albeit bruised and battered. My mother didn’t make it out at all.
My stepmother, Evelyn, was a friend of the family who respectfully supported us through that difficult time, and then about two years after the accident, married my father, and the five of us have been a happy family ever since.
Sure, there were some bumps along the road, but there isn’t one day that I’m not grateful that God put them in my life right when I so desperately needed family. Even Nana is good to me. She’s Monica and Carla’s biological grandmother but treats me exactly the same, if not even a little better at times.
Carla and Monica took their roles as my big sisters seriously. As a tradition, every year they would give me a bag of Swedish Fish candy on my first day of school with a handwritten note. Even senior year, they continued to fight my battles; they gave a wedgie to this one boy who was bullying me. They’ve always frightened my boyfriends; that’s why I’ve never had a half decent one, and they could always make me laugh. No biological sister could have treated me any better. I adore them.
“You really should be thanking me. I’ve saved you a huge amount of disappointment. This fantasy you’ve created around who you think Coop is would have been completely obliterated.”
“I don’t care what you say, Urs. That man didn’t win this year’s Influencer Athlete Award for nothing. You heard what all of those people said about him. He’s a phenomenal player, he does so much for the community, and he’s well respected. There’s no way that he can be as bad as you say. You might want to take a moment and think about all of that before making the final decision to quit the best job you’ll ever have.”
I’m disappointed that they aren’t excited for me, but I don’t bother challenging my sister’s warped opinion of my boss anymore. It’s my fault. I make him look good. I’ve made what I do look easy. I have calculated and executed Coop’s every want and wish for the last three years.
I know how to squash drama, how to massage the media’s coverage of him, how to ignore his egotistical comments and how to make him the perfect protein smoothie. I’m sure to most people it looks like I have a dream job but being an assistant to one of the most self-loving, highly opinionated players in the league is not for the faint of heart. You need thick skin. Elephant skin. Rhinoceros skin.
“Think about it this way. I’ve saved enough money that I can literally take off a year and help you with the baby while I figure out what my next move is.”
Carla’s eyes enlarge. Now, that’s an idea that she can get excited about.
“And on the weekends when Dexter is home with Carla and the baby, I can hang with you, Monica. We can order tequila shots all night and get twisted out of our minds if you want. Why? Because I won’t have to worry about being sober twenty-four hours a day just in casehecalls me for something. Don’t you get it? I’m free now.”
I twirl around like a ballerina.
An awkward ballerina holding a bowling ball.
