Valerie
The wonderful scent of charcoal filled my nostrils even as I leaned back on my stool, and I wiped under my eye to squint. Tomorrow, it would be September first, and a Thursday, which was poetic because September sucked and so did Thursdays. Weakly, the sun filtered down to warm my crown, and I cocked my head as I gazed at the drawing of what originally had been a swing set.
‘Originally had been’ because it ended up being . . . something else.
“Mm . . . ” Humming softly, I nodded happily at my own work. Rarely did the things I intended to draw end up that way, so I tried not to get hung up on it. The sun had been replaced by the moon, the swing set replaced with a hanging porch swing of some sort. Honestly, I liked this one better than what was in front of me, and I reached down with my free hand to grab my water bottle. Pushing the page of my easel, I took a huge swig from my bottle and glanced around the park through narrowed eyes.
My phone chimed, giving me a welcome distraction to the mundane scenes around me, and I picked it up off my bag. Carlyle and I had been texting back and forth about stupid stuff, flirting heavily, but he’d gone dark last night.
Carlyle: sorry about not reply. I got a promotion yesterday, so I got drunk.
The simple text brought a smile to my lips, and my thumbs hovered over the touch screen for a quick second.
Valerie: congrats! How can you be promoted if you’re the boss?
He started typing back immediately, the little bubble flipping at the corner of the screen, and I rolled my lips between my teeth in expectation.
Carlyle: I was just handling the stuff in the states, but I got promoted to global. We do a lot of security contracts, building renovations, shipping. A lot of government stuff that I’m not allowed to talk about.
“Ah.”
Valerie: I guess there won’t be much pillow talk, huh.
Gnawing on my bottom lip, I locked my phone when Carlyle didn’t start replying instantly again, and I flopped my head back to blow out a breath.
“Val! I got you the chicken tacos.” Glancing up, I smiled gratefully as my sister sauntered over with two cardboard boats of three tacos each. She handed me mine, sitting down smoothly on the grass, and I slid off my chair to cross my legs next to her. “I’m glad we took this day off. I really need it after that shit that went on yesterday.”
“Paul’s just an ass. Don’t get your panties in a bunch, Natasha.” Picking up my hard-shell taco, I scooped up lettuce threatening to fall out, and the smell of hot sauce curled my nose hairs. “It’s not a big deal.”
“It’s ahugedeal! That pig tried to mansplain how to build a shelf at me.” The delectable crunch of my taco drowned out my sister’s complaining, and I nodded around my mouthful. Of course, I was right there when this happened. Natasha was complaining then, too. The shelves she bought for the living room weren’t as easily assembled as was to be believed, and she huffed as she pulled her hair into a tight bun. “I’m not an idiot— I know how to connect A to B and twist a screwdriver.”
“I know.” Tomato and marinated chicken danced together on my tongue, and I hummed happily at the party in my mouth. “At least he doesn’t tell you how to do your job. Just drop it.”
“If it gets worse, I’m packing my ass up and getting a job somewhere else. This city’s big enough, so it’ll be easy.” Rolling my eyes, I swallowed my bite knowing damn well Natasha won’t quit just because Paul’s a bit chauvinistic. “But, for real, I’m glad we took this day off. It gives me time to interrogate you about this guy, Carlyle. Is that really his name?”
“Of course it is, idiot.” Flames licked up my neck, and Natasha hummed before taking a big bite of her own steak taco. “I like his name. At least it’s not Brad or Carl orPaulor something.”
“Damned right. It’s an old-fashioned name. Imagine moaningCarlyleduring sex.” Frowning when she shivered in abhorrence, I reached to pluck a strip of steak off her taco, and she scowled at me. “Hey! I’m just sayin’, it’s not a name you hear every day.”
“It’s a good thing I don’t care if you like his name or not. Anyway, that’s not the point. He’s really hot, okay—that’sthe point.” I couldn’t overestimate how delicious Carlyle was, and I took another bite of my taco as my sister leaned over the paper boat on her legs. For a moment, we were quiet, and I relished it as I let my mind wander.
Truthfully, I only knew enough about him to think he was interesting— enticing might be a better word for it, though. Every time I saw him or received a text, an excitement gripped me in a vice, and I couldn’t explain why.
“At least he’s more exciting than Trevor.” Bringing up my last boyfriend soured my tongue, and I set down my taco to rock back on my arms. Staring up at the blue, cloudless sky, I blustered a raspberry of a sigh through my lips before parting them. “Who’ da thunk it, a quiet, safe guy like him cheating? I always thought he was the kind of guy to ghost me rather than cheat.”
“Trevor was a little bitch, and you’re better off without him, Valerie.” Glancing over at my twin as she frowned around her mouthful, I couldn’t help but smile at how hard she chewed. “Only cowards cheat. Plus, he was a loser. Loser plus coward equals . . . los-oward.”
Huffing a faint laugh at that, I sat up to take up my half-eaten taco, and I scooped the contents that’d fallen out of the shell absently.
“It makes me think. You know, we talked about moving here for a long time, but breaking up with Trevor was what made me make the decision. Why did you agree, Natasha?” My sister shot me a wild look, her taco half stuffed into her mouth, and I took a bite as a contemplative silence stretched between us. I moved here because Trevor cheating on me messed me up, but she didn’t have that excuse. I moved here to get away and focus on my art, but Natasha didn’t have the ability to draw stick figures right.
“I moved here to get away from Mom, honestly. She was always hitting me up for money— more than I ever admitted to you, Valerie. I couldn’t take it anymore. That was why I suggested moving in the first place three years ago. She’d just gotten out of jail, and I wasn’t going to fall into that trap again.” My heart ached for her, and Natasha inhaled deeply through flared nostrils as she met my gaze. “The more I said ‘no,’ the worse it got. Then, right before Trevor cheated on you, she came into money. I don’t know how, and I don’t wanna know how. I just know I had to get the Hell out of there. Just because I’m six minutes older doesn’t mean I’m six minutes more mature or anything.”
“I haven’t talked to her since we moved here.” Truth be told, I hadn’t even thought about my mom since moving here. My last conversation with her was right after I found out that Trevor had cheated on me. She called, asking for money, and I told her to fuck off and hung up.
I wasn’t sure which was worse— knowing she didn’t call to talk to me about anything substantial, or being relieved she hasn’t tried again.
Before the conversation could get darker, my phone chimed insistently, and I set down my taco to pick it up.
