“I’m good. I wanted to check if you were going to Jacob’s retirement party.”
Shittttttt.
“Um, I’m not sure. It’s in a month, right? I might be in Korea.”
“Un-huh.” My sister seems unimpressed.
“You know I work too but Mom’s been planning this for months now.”
“Would it be tacky just to book them a cruise and be done with it? I mean, is my sparkling personality really going to be missed?”
“God, you’re such an ass.”
As I pull out plates from the cabinet there’s a knock at the door. Hmm, I might be able to win brownie points with Fartface, she always liked Alana, claiming I was dating out of my league. A fact I was and still am well aware of.
I open the door and I swear to God my heart flutters. Alana has her hair down, but it seems like it had been in a ponytail all day, so it has a uniformed wavey look. She smiles and I’m about to lean in for a kiss and then flash the phone in front of her face.
“Say hi to my sister.” Alana glances at me and then the phone.
“Hi Fiona.” Then steps to the side and silently appraises my apartment.
“UM… do you know who that is?” My sister’s voice screeches.
“Yeah, it’s Kinsley. You remember her, right?”
My sister drags her hand down her face. “Do you know who Kinsley grew up to be?” Alana is standing in my living room with one raised eyebrow. Then I look back to my sister.
“Alana King. Why?”
“Because when you fuck this up again, I’m on Team Alana. Since I don’t think you deserve a second chance and… you know what, this will be way more fun if you do a little work. Big Brother, what do I do for a living?”
“You are a system analyst for Grasshopper. Beyond the title, I have no clue what you do with your time.”
Alana pokes around at my mantle. I mouth over to her, ‘who are you, why is my sister being weird?’
She gives me a sideways smile and says, “She's right, you should do a little work.”
“Go ahead and search Grasshopper and Alana King on the interwebs,” my sister responds.
So I do…
“What the actual fuck? Alana, you own Grasshopper?”
“You asked if you would have heard of one of the companies I own. We were dating when I started it.” Well shit, now all the money makes a ton more sense.
I swallow as the gears start clicking together. “And my sister works for you.”
“I interviewed and hired her,” Alana says and leans on the breakfast bar. “Your mother spawned geniuses, and your sister is excellent at what she does. She’s going to work for me for a few years, cut her teeth and then go work for another big company and triple her current salary.” I blink a few times at her then look at my sister.
“Did you recognize her during the interview?” I ask in disbelief, “Because I’ve been searching for her for years.”
“Of course I recognized her, and I knew you wanted to reconnect. But I sure as shit wasn’t about to tell you where she was. As I stated, you don’t deserve a second chance.” I’m about to respond with something snarky, but I think she’s right, and I’ve been treading on thin ice.
“Well thanks for the vote of confidence. Love ya.” I hang up and toss the phone on my counter. “You hired my sister?”
“Yep.” She points to the steaks and veggies, “Smells good.”
“My sister? And you never thought of reaching out?”
