By this time, the foyer was alive with activity. I tried to remain calm and unemotional as several people wished me good morning. I faked it the best I could, but once I hit the parking lot the tears came as well as a strong urge to throw a rock at his pristine, white Infiniti. I refrained from acting on that particular violent thought. Instead, I took off in my car like a bat out of Hades.
I headed for my sister Amanda’s home. I hoped her kiddos were already off to school. I loved my nieces, Courtney and Samantha, but I needed their mommy this morning. She was only five years older than I was, but she had been mothering me since I was little, especially after our own mother walked out on our family when I was only six. Occasionally Joan, our mother, would contact us, but for the most part, we didn’t have any kind of a relationship with her. It was sad, but we had dealt with it for so long, we just considered it our life. We’d never expected anything from her. Besides, our dad was the greatest, and he made sure we turned out all right.
In fact, I think we turned out better than all right, especially Amanda. She was the best mom and wife. My brother-in-law and dentist, Zane Culver, hit the jackpot. Honestly, he was great too, but no one held a candle to Manda Panda, as I endearingly called her.
As I pulled into the drive of her perfect suburban home, I realized I had several missed calls on my phone. First, it was Boss, then Delfia, and a number I didn’t recognize, but I did recognize the area code as being from Colorado. I could only guess who that was. It didn’t matter; the only person I wanted to talk to shared my genes. It showed too. As we got older, we had frequently been asked if we were twins. I wished we were twins, the identical kind, because Amanda was gorgeous inside and out.
I turned off my phone and threw it in my satchel. It felt weird to me. My phone was like an extra appendage, and I wasn’t used to being off on a weekday. If I thought about it, it was kind of freeing in a way. Too bad I liked to eat, pay my bills, and be a responsible adult. At least I had a good amount in savings. I had never touched the life insurance money I received from Dad’s passing. I was saving it for a house one day. Amanda frequently bugged me about buying instead of renting,but to me, buying a house now was saying I was planning to be single forever. Like a schoolgirl, I imagined house hunting with my husband and strolling through each home talking about which rooms our children would have. And honestly, I didn’t want to live in a big house all by myself; it would only remind me more of how lonely I was sometimes.
I walked up to the front porch and retrieved my key. “Manda Panda, are you home?” I yelled out as soon as I opened her door.
“Come on back, Kelli Jelly,” I heard her yell from the kitchen.
I rolled my eyes. Maybe someday we would come up with new nicknames. I slipped off my heels and walked back to the kitchen to find my sister, Betty Crocker, baking away. It smelled like homemade bread. Perfect, I needed a carb coma.
My floured, apron-clad sister spun around as soon as I entered. She took one good look at me. “Who died now?” she teased.
Suddenly, the full weight of my on-the-spot decision really hit me. I burst into tears.
“Oh my, did someone really die?” She wrapped her arms around me.
“No, only my career.”
She stepped back. “What do you mean, honey? Gary would never fire you.”
“He didn’t,” I stuttered through sobs. Then I told her the entire ridiculous story. She had never met Ian, but she knew what he had meant to me and how devastated I was when he broke up with me.
“Well, that’s quite the story. And you’re sure he knew you worked there?”
“Positive.”
“Hmm.” She tapped a finger against her lip.
“What does that mean?”
“I find it interesting, that’s all. Is he married?”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“You don’t find it weird that your ex-boyfriend suddenly shows up after how many years and becomes your boss?”
“You don’t know Ian; this has nothing to do with me. It’s purely business for him. He’s an opportunist.”
“I bet he is,” she responded.
“Seriously, sis, you don’t know what you’re talking about.”
She shrugged her shoulders and led me to her kitchen table where we both sat down.
“So, are you really going to let this guy take what you’ve worked so hard for?”
I laid my head down on her table and moaned. “What else can I do? I can’t possibly work for him. I used to make-out with him. And let’s not forget I told the guy I loved him, and he said that was a complication and never talked to me again, until today.”
“Was he a good kisser?”
I lifted up my head slowly. “What kind of question is that? And what does it have to do with this situation?”
“It’s all in the kiss, right?” She gave me a toothy grin.
