“You should’ve seen him.” I use my mocking voice again: “We should all dress appropriately for the jungle, as if he expected me to show up in a skirt and heels.”
“Guess Logan is not used to having a bombshell as a member of his team.”
“Satan,” I correct her. “And bombshell, me? That’s Summer. I’m the tomboy.”
“You’re identical twins, who share 99.99 percent of your DNA.”
“Still, we couldn’t be more different. Speaking of evil twins… Sorry for monopolizing the conversation, but I needed to vent.”
“No worries.”
“So, Summer.” I go back to the topic Lana meant to discuss earlier. “Tell me everything. Did you speak with her in person?”
“Yeah, she called, asked if I wanted to grab a coffee and talk.”
“You’re a much bigger person; if I’d caught her screwing my boyfriend I’d never talk to her again, even if she’s my sister.”
“You still sound angrier than I am,” Lana notes.
“I told you, you’re the better person. Plus, you have the Sexiest Man Alive to distract you as a consequence of what Summer pulled. I don’t.”
Lana chuckles. “Ah, you have a point. Without Christian in my life, I wouldn’t be so Zen about everything. But, you’re right, Summer’s actions resulted in me being the happiest I’ve ever been, while she… Your sister isn’t in good shape, to be honest.”
Some deep, ancestral bond makes my insides twinge with worry. Summer might be the evil twin, but she’s my evil twin.
“How bad?” I ask.
“Nothing obvious on the outside, but it’s like she’s had her spirit broken. She was a ghost of her former self. Promise you’ll go see her when you come back. If I can forgive her, you should, too.”
“You forgave her?”
“As much as I know how. Our friendship won’t ever be the same as before, but I saw no point in holding a grudge forever…”
“Doesn’t the fact that she’s in a relationship with your ex bother you?”
“She and John broke up.”
“What?” I say, straightening up. This is huge. “How? When?”
“After he sold the story to the press, his sorry version of it. She cut him loose after reading the feature.”
“But that was a month ago!”
“You haven’t talked to her in that long?”
“No,” I admit, guilt gnawing at my sides. Summer and I have never had a fight that lasted months. “It’s been easier not to call her since I’ve been away.”
The new job starts tomorrow, but I’ve spent the past four weeks in Bangkok on another assignment.
“Anyway,” Lana continues. “Summer told me she was completely blindsided by the magazine piece. John didn’t tell her before going to the press, and she felt like he’d sold her dignity for ten thousand dollars. He didn’t consider for a second what the article would do to her, to her reputation… She also said she hated the way he spoke about me—revolting, to quote her.”
“Well…” I relax my back against the pillows again. “’Cause he is a disgusting piece of shit.”
“I guess.”
“My sister threw away a twenty-five-year friendship for a three-month affair. I still can’t wrap my head around it.”
“She had broken up with Robert only a few months before. Maybe the separation hit her harder than we thought.”
“How can you make justifications for her?”
Lana lets a few seconds pass before answering. “I thought seeing her at rock bottom would give me satisfaction, but it really didn’t. Honestly, I’m gutted for her, but I can’t be there to help her, I don’t have it in me, not yet. I just wish you were here. How much longer are you gone for?”
Again, guilt kicks around in my guts. “A few weeks at least, possibly more. Why do you think she reached out to you today? Why wait a month after she broke up with Johnathan?”
“She read the Vanity Fair feature about Christian and me being back together. She thought I’d be more willing to hear her out since I was so happy.”
“Which I guess you were.”
“Yup. Speaking of…” Lana pauses. “Christian just got back in.”
“I’ll let you go, then.”
“Will you be reachable in the next days?”
“Afraid not, we’re moving inland tomorrow, no service there.”
“Please call Summer today, then, before you go off the grid.”
“You’re really an angel.”
“Am not. And you’d do the same if it were me. Remember when I kissed Peter Gomez in the locker room and Summer didn’t talk to me for a week? You were there to advocate for me.”
“That was the eleventh grade.”
“It doesn’t matter. Promise you’ll call your sister.”
“Okay, I promise. Love you.”
“Love you.”
We hang up, and I remain motionless on the bed looking at my phone for the longest time.
Why am I being so stubborn? Why am I still so mad at Summer? If Lana can forgive her, I should be able to as well.
Maybe I shouldn’t ask myself to make peace with my twin all at once.
Right!
Baby steps.
I unlock my phone and tap her contact before I can change my mind.
Summer picks up after five long rings.
“Hello?”
Her voice sounds broken, as if she… “Are you crying?”
“A little,” she says. “But nothing serious. I’m just watching Notting Hill, the bit where Julia Roberts goes back to the shop and tells Hugh Grant she’s just a girl…”
My sister getting sentimental over romantic comedies? Lana was right, the situation is major.
“Where are you?” Summer asks. “The line sounds weird.”
“Thailand, near the coast. But I’m leaving for the jungle tomorrow. Thought I’d give you a call, as I won’t have service for a few weeks.”
Summer instantly calls bullshit on my story. “Lana told you to check in on me, didn’t she?”
“She did,” I admit.
“Guess you’re up to date on all the big news, then.”
“I am, and to be honest, I’m glad you’ve broken up with Johnathan. He’s a cockroach who never deserved you or Lana.”
“True. Which only makes me feel worse…” Her voice cracks again.
I swallow back all the harsh retorts that pop into my head and try to be conciliatory.
“At least now it’s over,” I say.
I’m not being the most uplifting, but… I’m trying.
“Can we… not talk about any of that, please?” Summer pleads. “Tell me about your trip. How’s the team? Mom’s worried because you’ve never worked with any of them before…”