her line of sight with widened-eyes, I urged her to speak. She finally opened her glossy lips. “Yes…no…I don’t know…maybe––”
“For the love of God, Brittany, ‘she used to be indecisive, now she’s not so sure’?” I quoted Mom’s motto for uncertainty. My usual sense of humor aimed toward my sibling would have gained me a small niggle of her knuckles in my ribs, before hauling me into a hug, at the very least. But she just remained standing there, ashen, trembling and soundless…everything that’s very un-Brittany-like. “You’re worrying me, Brittany.”
I watched o n as her focus dwindled from me, to the man behind me. Her sapphire eyes were welling up with every peaceful second that past and she looked…repentant? I don’t know, but I didn’t care for it. As though she couldn’t bear to look at me, she hung her head again.
“Kady baby, if Brittany isn’t well, surely it’s not fair for us to keep her here. Maybe she’d like to go home. You know what it’s like when you’re ill, you want your own bed.” I couldn’t disagree. Who doesn’t want their own bed when they’re ill? Then again, the selfish part of me wanted to keep my sister around a little while longer. We very rarely had those times anymore, and it had only been a day for God sake. Actually, no, it was less than a day I got to spend in the company of my sibling.
Her head was coaxed up with my finger under her chin. A tear fell from her eye and rolled its way unhurried down the side of her face. Cooing her in my ‘big sister’ like fashion, I brushed it away with my thumb. Seeing her ill was something I hated. I hated seeing her cry, but most of all: I hated seeing her crying because she felt so damn ill. I framed her face with my hands and swept my tongue over my drying lips.
“I’m sorry, Kady,” she mumbled on a sob.
“Hey, hey, hey, come on, come here, Britt.” Sisterly arms wrapped around each other, I held her close as she snuggled into my neck and surrendered to her tears. It was my action to mimic Mom’s pacifying strokes through her scalp that finally had her sniffles ebbing. “It’ll be okay, Britt. Do you want to go back D.C.?” I asked in her mass of green hair, that self-centered part of me still hoping that she would say ‘no’.
“No, I don’t,” she pulled away and once again, her eyes subtly drifted over my shoulder. She licked her lips, the tip of her tongue capturing a salty droplet which lay peacefully on her lip. “But I think it’s for the best if I do.”
Squashed and disappointed, I simply rolled my lips over my teeth, sighed heavily and enforced a nod. I couldn’t tie her up and command her to stay. “Okay. Let Mom and Dad know about the change of plans. We’ll take you to the airport.” After a short kneading stroke of her upper arms, my hands fell to my side with the weight I felt baring on my shoulders, the weight of disappointment. My coffee was retrieved from the unit on my right before I turned and headed to the living room.
“What about breakfast?” Liam called when I was halfway down the hall.
Feeling deflated, I simply retorted, “I’ve lost my appetite.”
By the time I dropped myself into the cushion of the leather couch, feeling the cold, protesting material seeping through my beige Capri-pants, Liam was already storming through the glass and oak door with a plate in his one hand and silverware wrapped in a napkin in the other. Finishing adjusting a coaster and setting my coffee on the table ahead of me, I peeked up.
Liam stood like a God. No, scrap that, he loomed over me like The Devil compelling you to give into temptation. Unfortunately, the temptation which I was seeking was opposing the one which I sensed.
“You will eat, Kady,” he commanded. His eyes reflected the rise of the sunlight from the window behind me before turning hard and obdurate. His freshly shaven block jaw was taut, and the spikes from the spider’s web tattoo on the left of
“For the love of God, Brittany, ‘she used to be indecisive, now she’s not so sure’?” I quoted Mom’s motto for uncertainty. My usual sense of humor aimed toward my sibling would have gained me a small niggle of her knuckles in my ribs, before hauling me into a hug, at the very least. But she just remained standing there, ashen, trembling and soundless…everything that’s very un-Brittany-like. “You’re worrying me, Brittany.”
I watched o n as her focus dwindled from me, to the man behind me. Her sapphire eyes were welling up with every peaceful second that past and she looked…repentant? I don’t know, but I didn’t care for it. As though she couldn’t bear to look at me, she hung her head again.
“Kady baby, if Brittany isn’t well, surely it’s not fair for us to keep her here. Maybe she’d like to go home. You know what it’s like when you’re ill, you want your own bed.” I couldn’t disagree. Who doesn’t want their own bed when they’re ill? Then again, the selfish part of me wanted to keep my sister around a little while longer. We very rarely had those times anymore, and it had only been a day for God sake. Actually, no, it was less than a day I got to spend in the company of my sibling.
Her head was coaxed up with my finger under her chin. A tear fell from her eye and rolled its way unhurried down the side of her face. Cooing her in my ‘big sister’ like fashion, I brushed it away with my thumb. Seeing her ill was something I hated. I hated seeing her cry, but most of all: I hated seeing her crying because she felt so damn ill. I framed her face with my hands and swept my tongue over my drying lips.
“I’m sorry, Kady,” she mumbled on a sob.
“Hey, hey, hey, come on, come here, Britt.” Sisterly arms wrapped around each other, I held her close as she snuggled into my neck and surrendered to her tears. It was my action to mimic Mom’s pacifying strokes through her scalp that finally had her sniffles ebbing. “It’ll be okay, Britt. Do you want to go back D.C.?” I asked in her mass of green hair, that self-centered part of me still hoping that she would say ‘no’.
“No, I don’t,” she pulled away and once again, her eyes subtly drifted over my shoulder. She licked her lips, the tip of her tongue capturing a salty droplet which lay peacefully on her lip. “But I think it’s for the best if I do.”
Squashed and disappointed, I simply rolled my lips over my teeth, sighed heavily and enforced a nod. I couldn’t tie her up and command her to stay. “Okay. Let Mom and Dad know about the change of plans. We’ll take you to the airport.” After a short kneading stroke of her upper arms, my hands fell to my side with the weight I felt baring on my shoulders, the weight of disappointment. My coffee was retrieved from the unit on my right before I turned and headed to the living room.
“What about breakfast?” Liam called when I was halfway down the hall.
Feeling deflated, I simply retorted, “I’ve lost my appetite.”
By the time I dropped myself into the cushion of the leather couch, feeling the cold, protesting material seeping through my beige Capri-pants, Liam was already storming through the glass and oak door with a plate in his one hand and silverware wrapped in a napkin in the other. Finishing adjusting a coaster and setting my coffee on the table ahead of me, I peeked up.
Liam stood like a God. No, scrap that, he loomed over me like The Devil compelling you to give into temptation. Unfortunately, the temptation which I was seeking was opposing the one which I sensed.
“You will eat, Kady,” he commanded. His eyes reflected the rise of the sunlight from the window behind me before turning hard and obdurate. His freshly shaven block jaw was taut, and the spikes from the spider’s web tattoo on the left of
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