One
“Come on, Becca, let’s get going or we're going to be late.” Adria rolled her eyes.
“I’m coming. Help me load all this stuff into the trunk.” Becca stood conveniently at the back of Adria’s energy-efficient car with five suitcases around her, just for herself.
Begrudgingly, Adria moved to the back of the car and helped stuffallof her twin sister’s suitcases in the trunk with her two suitcases. “Did you really need to bring all this stuff? You act like we're moving back to the cabin. While I could definitely do that,youwould lose your mind with all the peace and distance from shopping.” She stared at her sister.
Becca smiled, holding the straw to her travel cup with her perfectly manicured fingers. “It’s the holidays. What if some handsome guy comes along and I need something gorgeous to wear when he kisses me under the mistletoe?”
Adria looked at her nails, free of polish unlike Becca’s ruby red nails, and frowned. “We're supposed to be going to spend time together by visiting the cabin one last time before we sell it, and enjoyingourholiday, not finding men.”
Without waiting for her sister and determined to get into the car and move, Adria moved to get in and buckle up. She knew it was going to take her sister a good five minutes before she was situated in the vehicle.
A minute later, Becca opened the passenger side door. “I can’t believe I already have mud on my new shoes. This is so not good! Do you have any tissues in there?”
“Get in the car.”
“I am, but seriously, I can’t let these five-hundred-dollar shoes get ruined. They are so cute.”
Adria rolled her eyes a second time, glanced down at her sister's shoes which barely had a speck of mud on their ruby red color and wondered where she’d gone wrong. Their eyes met and she smiled. “You know, I don’t even know how we are sisters. Twins no less. We look somewhat alike, but personality-wise, we are so different.”
She looked down at her own sneakers and thought of their mother, missing her very much. She was wise, she was peaceful, she was calm, she was spontaneous laughter, she was everything and now that she’d been gone a few years, it was time to get rid of the cabin.
Her eyes returned to Becca’s face where the red lipstick that almost matched her shoes was smile-worthy. “You know you're in your forties, right? You look like a clown, sister.”
Becca pulled a silly face and climbed in, searching the glove box and console for a stray tissue. “How do you travel like this? You’ve got dog biscuits and cat treats in here but not one silly napkin.”
She wasn’t even buckled in and her head was pressed against the front dash as she studied her shoes. If ever there was a moment Adria wanted to strangle her twin, it was now. “Okay, look, in two seconds I’m moving this vehicle, so sit back and get buckled in or I’m not responsible for your messed up hair, sore muscles, broken shoes, or anything else that might happen like a bumped head, not that the last one matters anyway.”
Adria smiled when her sister started parroting her. “Yeah, yeah. Fine.” She sat back with a groan. “I guess I’ll have to replace these when I get back.”
“First of all…” Adria pulled out of her sister's driveway and headed for the interstate, irritated that she was still dealing with shoes. “Never mind, just be quiet about the shoes before I throw them out the window.”
There was silence for a long time, except for the clicking and clacking of little bags being opened and closed along with a few other things in her messy vehicle.
“Don’t you ever clean this vehicle? I’m telling you, if I have one shred of dog or cat hair on me, you’re dead, sis.”
Adria laughed, she could hear the frustration in her sister's voice and knew for a fact there was plenty of dog hair, probably all over her clothing as she said those words. “Listen, I work for an animal rescue as a Facilities Manager and Member of the Board. It's my duty to devote my life to animals, not to mention, I have three dogs and two cats, which is so old news.”
With the loud slamming of a makeup case closing, she knew Becca had snapped. “I know this, sister. I love you and you’refamily, but seriously, you could have thought of me too.”
“I do. I’m sorry.” Adria smiled despite herself knowing she was only partially sorry. She loved making her very high-maintenance sister whom she adored squirm and fuss. “I just like to ruffle your feathers and loosen you up a bit. You're so uptight, sometimes it’s exhausting. Don’t you know how to have fun anymore?”
“Yes, an umbrella drink beside a pool with suntan lotion on, or going to an exclusive restaurant.”
Adria left it at that, done being irritated by her sister and poking at her, she focused on the road. Becca seemed to be thoughtful for a time so Adria kept her mouth shut knowing it was best. Eventually, her sister who was two minutes younger would have something to say that would ruin the peace.
Adria turned on the radio and the sound of soothing jazz calmed her anxiety because she didn't have her animals. She’d debated bringing Sadie, her black rescue dog, but thought better of it knowing how upset the other two dogs would be, not to mention her cats who loved to travel. So she took special care to find a great boarding kennel for her pets while she was gone.
So many things ran through her mind as they had many miles to cover. She thought of their mother who’d always been the sunlight in their lives. After she’d taken ill and refused to come to live with either her or Becca, it had been hard, made worse by her illness taking a sudden and devastating turn days after her diagnosis and she passed.
She fought the tears she still felt in her heart, knowing that would never stop.
“You're thinking about her, aren’t you?” Becca interjected herself into Adria’s thoughts.
“Her, you mean our mother?” Irritated, Adria reached for the bag of crackers she had stashed in the console.
“Yes. Sorry for the wrong choice of words. I miss her too. Sometimes I don’t think I’ll ever get over her passing, it happened so fast.”
