“You’re strong,” he insists. “You’ve been through some shit that will always be with you, so have I, but we make it out the other side, mate.” He’s right. “So, tell me about this girl that’s got your boxers in a knot.”
“Fuck off.” Swinging my eyes toward his, I see him chuckle. Arsehole. “She’s perfect, Si,” I describe. “Everything about her is ace.”
There’s an expression on his face I haven’t seen before. It makes me think about him as a big brother, stern, and commanding. “Then go to her. Make sure she knows you mean business. But if you don’t want to, you have to let her go and move on.”
“I can’t move on. We’ve only been seeing each other for about a month. A few weeks at best, and yet, she’s the only thing I think about when I wake up, and the only person who plays in my fucking wet dreams at night.”
“Mate, way too much information for me. I can’t be dealing knowing you’re fantasizing about her in my guest bedroom.”
“You’ve seen worse,” I throw back, knowing my best friend has walked in on me fucking one of the college girls on our couch while we were away at school. He came home early and found her riding me into euphoria. Arsehole threw a pillow at us, scaring the girl off and leaving me with a raging stiffy.
“Yeah, that was then. Now, I don’t need to know about your activities outside of drinking a lager with me,” he counters, causing us both to laugh out loud. I needed this. Simon has always been one to help me screw my head on right, and this time it’s no different.
I’ll stay for another couple of days, give Violet some time on her own, but in the meanwhile, I’ll be canceling my contract, and they can find themselves a new bachelor because this one has just retired.
28
Violet
My sister’s apartment is modern, expensive. An immaculate two-bedroom place furnished in the highest quality. The Italian marble tiles shine so brightly I can just about see my reflection in them.
“I didn’t think you’d come all this way just to see me,” she greets with a smile, but her voice is devoid of emotion, betraying the friendliness she’s portraying.
I turn to her, leaning against the heavy granite countertop, which cuts the kitchen off from the living area. “I needed to talk to you, to sort out some of the past that has been plaguing me.”
Victoria rolls her eyes, a smile dancing on her lips. “Look, if you’re here to talk about the prom mishap, it was all in the name of fun. A practical joke. Now that we’re both adults, I thought you’d have gotten over it.”
“No, Vickie, that’s not something you get over. You insulted me my whole life. You ensured I felt like trash each time I stood beside you.” My voice cracks with emotion, and I silently chastise myself for being so broken and weak around my sister.
She pins me with a shocked stare. I don’t think she was expecting me to speak out about it. Especially now that she’s pregnant, but she doesn’t seem upset about our conversation.
“I didn’t mean to make you feel like that, Vi,” she states, settling on one of the stools at the counter. “I struggled so much. I was angry with you for so long because you had it so easy.”
“Easy?” I grit out as rage burns through my veins. “What do you mean, easy?” She stares at me for a long while, but she doesn’t answer me. I fist my hands, trying to keep calm because I’m slowly losing my cool, which I didn’t want to do.
Vicki stands again. “Stay here, I’ll show you.” She disappears down a long hallway, and I’m guessing she’s headed to a bedroom. When my sister returns, she’s carrying a book. Once she sets it down, I see it’s her photo album. This is the one place my sister kept memories from our childhood years, but it was one of those items she hid from me. I never understood why, but I guess now I’m about to learn more.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
She flicks it open to the second page. There are two photos stuck there along with a few flowers and stickers she included to spruce up the space. “This,” she replies, twisting it around. “Look through these and tell me what you see.”
I slowly move from page to page. Scanning each image, I feel the tears sting my eyes when I realize what she’s trying to show me. With every turn, there are always two photos—one of me separate from the photo of Victoria.
But there are glaring differences. In each one, my sister is dolled up, makeup, hair, even her clothes. None of them are natural. They’re all fake. Even her as a ten-year-old, where I’m playing with neighborhood kids, my sister is posing on the porch with a yellow soda and a huge smile on her face. But I know my sister. The smile isn’t real. It’s pasted on her pretty face.
“You got a childhood, Vi,” she whispers as I reach the end. The day she graduated. “I never did, because Mom and Dad wanted to parade me in those stupid beauty pageants. I was nothing more than a dress-up doll for her, and you, you were the lucky one, getting all the fun while I had to suffer through hours of primping for no reason. It’s not who I am, but that’s how people saw me.”
“So, you ended up basking in that life rather than fight Mom on it.”
“How would I have fought her? You knew what she was like,” Vickie tells me. “Nothing I could have said would’ve made her change her mind. She wanted to make me a princess, while all I ever wanted was to spend time with my sister.”
When I blink, the tears trickle down my cheeks. I sweep my gaze up to hers, finding my sister crying as well. I’ve never seen her break down, so this is entirely new territory for me.
“I hated you all my life,” I admit with raw honesty scraping my throat.
Victoria smiles sadly. “And I hated you.” I round the counter, going to my sister, and pulling her into my arms. All these years, we both had so much animosity toward each other when all we needed to do was be honest.
“I’m so sorry, Vickie.”
“Me too,” she whispers as we stand. I never looked at her. I mean truly looked to see what was under the perfect exterior. Just a broken girl wanting what I had.
It’s funny how life works. We always think others have it better than we do, but when we dig a little deeper, we find the ugly truth under a varnished exterior.
“Vi,” Vickie starts. “Are you coming to my wedding?”
“Of course.” I nod honestly before stepping back to look her in the eye. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” But now I need a new dress. Shit.
“Good, because I need a maid of honor,“ she confides with a shy smile I’ve never seen on my sister’s face. She’s always been so confident, but right now, I see my real sister.
“You sure you want little old me to be there being a pain in the ass on your big day?” I challenge playfully.
This time she laughs. “I would love it if my sister were beside me.”
“Then you’re lucky because I have it on good authority that she’ll be there.” I hug her once more because this new closeness eases my ever-present anxiety.
“And don’t worry about the dress. We’ll have a fitting. All I need to know is if you’re bringing a date.” I look at my sister, and for a moment, I wonder if Colton and I can make things work.