"Yeah…" Rose sits up, wiping her sweaty face. "Because you know we're gonna have to sue Jack and Poppy to get a penny of our trust fund."
"I'll handle that when the time comes," I say. Hurrying over to the kitchenette, I turn on the coffee maker and grind some beans, hoping the smell will distract them from my stifling apartment. La Colombe beans, organic, and an eye-watering fifty dollars a pound, but there's some luxuries I'm unwilling to give up.
"Coffee? A little something to get you going?" I invitingly wiggle a mug.
"What's the plan for today?" Iris yawns, reaching her hand out. "Oh, thank god. Precious life-giving caffeine."
"I hear you," I say fervently. I may have slept the sleep of a conscienceless monster, but it was still only four hours or so and I've got to get my brain back online before I head to the shelter.
"What do you think about hanging around here today?" I try to sound casual, busying myself with pulling out the milk and cereal. They're silent, and I turn around to find both sitting at the counter, clutching their coffee mugs with identical expressions of suspicion.
"Why?" Iris asks, taking a sip.
"You don't want to go home and deal with Poppy and Jack, do you?" I evade.
"Yeah, but we're running out of clean underwear," Iris says.
"You do know where the laundry room is, in the basement?" I say dryly. "I've got some change in the jar on the counter and you're welcome to borrow anything of mine."
"Yeah, if we wanted to dress like we were still in Catholic school," Iris mumbles into her coffee cup.
"Oh, that's harsh," I point my finger at her. "You don't remember what I looked like after I graduated from St. Mary's? I wore nothing but crop tops to show off my belly button piercing for my first two years at Columbia, out of spite. It's just for a couple of days." I slice a couple of oranges and arrange them on a plate. "Let's keep you out of arm's reach for a few days until things settle down."
Yeah, until Roman murders our stepfather,my conscience helpfully reminds me.
"Fine by us," Iris shrugs.
Checking my phone, I groan. "I've got to get out of here, make sure you lock up behind me, okay? If Jack or Poppy come by, do not answer the door."
"Yes, Mother." Iris rolls her eyes.
Turning back as I sling my messenger bag over my shoulder, I ask, "Can you keep yourself busy here today?"
They look at me. They look at each other with that unsettling, identical twin communication. Both offering hugely insincere grins, they chorus, "Absolutely."
This is in no way reassuring.
Despite my earlier promises to my bathroom mirror, it is in fact, not starting out to be such a good day. Larry meets me in the lobby. Today his T-shirt reads,I'm probably not listening to you.He also does not look like he thinks this is going to be a good day.
"You have a visitor," he says, folding his arms.
"Oh, god," I groan. "Who now? One of the city inspectors?"
"Worse," he says. "Your mother - excuse me -Poppy'shere. She's bouncing around your office as we speak."
"You left her in there alone?" I shove my computer bag at him before whipping open the door to find my mother pinching leaves off my orchids with her sharp, manicured nails.
"These poor things are going to wither and die on this windowsill," she says, still focused on my poor, defenseless flowers. "Much like your career."
"Good morning to you too, Poppy." I close the door, leaning against it. "To what do I owe this visit?"
Abandoning my brutalized flowers, she finally looks at me, gaze sweeping over my tank top and white summery skirt. Verdict: Unimpressed.
She's elegant in a patterned silk dress that I suspect cost more than my rent. "Your sisters aren't answering their phones," she says, dusting off one of my chairs before seating herself. "I thought before I filed a missing person's report with the police that I should check in with you."
"They're eighteen," I point out. "They deserve a break after graduating with honors."
"Are they staying with you?" Poppy says sharply. There's something about her eyes, shrewd and assessing, that I've never seen before and I realize I haven't seen her smile at me for… years, maybe.
