I can’t bring myself to tell her the reality of the situation. That he’s going on a date with Sandra tomorrow night. That I shouldn’t care because nothing happened between us. We didn’t sleep together, we didn’t mess around. Hello, he never even kissed me.
But I thought… Ithoughtthat we were becoming friends and that maybe he liked me. That maybe he wanted more.
No, he wants more with Sandra. I’m just the nanny, someone he was probably buttering up so I’d take good care of his kids. Or maybe he thought I was someone he could fuck on the side but not get invested.
All of this makes me feel like a bigger loser, but I don’t want to underscore the sad state of my nonexistent love life to my sister.
“How did you know Brady wasthe one?” I don’t know where the question comes from, but I feel like a boat without a rudder, and I have no clue how to maneuver these waters.
“Hmm.” A big, dopey smile lifts her lips, and her hands gravitate to her swollen tummy. “You know how in art, they say the negative space in a painting or drawing is just as important as the image itself? In fact, sometimes the negative space is an image unto itself.”
“Okaaaay.”Please connect the dots for me, Kat, because I have no clue what you mean.
“Brady is my negative space, or maybe I’m his. But the best thing about negative space is how it changes your whole perspective of the composition once you can appreciate that component. It becomes more, almost like it’s breathing and changing before your very eyes. One minute you think you’re seeing one image, and the next, it’s different. And no matter what the images show, they always fit together perfectly.”
Like those weird pics on Facebook where you can’t tell if the image is an elephant or a butterfly? I’m embarrassed to suggest it because I’m probably wrong.
I laugh awkwardly. “I’m gonna have to mull that over.” This is why she’s the smart sister.
Kat reaches over to the coffee table and hands me a piece of pie. “Mull it over with some pie. Pie always makes everything better.”
I smile and shovel in a big bite. “This is why you’re my favorite sister.”
“I’m your only sister, doofus.”
“And I love you the most.”
Ethan
The whole evening wears on me, like the brakes on a car grinding.
With Allison coming tomorrow to pick up the kids, I can’t keep them out late to chase after my pissed-off nanny. At least, I think she’s pissed off.
I cringe when I think of her response to Sandra.That’s about all I’m good for. Babysitting.
With a patience I don’t really possess, I tuck each of my children into bed, read them their bedtime stories and cuddle, the whole time wondering how I fix this.Tori probably thinks I played her all week. That I was trying to get in her pants. That I don’t really care.
The second the kids are asleep, I stride into the living room and yank the remote out of Logan’s hand. “What the hell were you doing tonight? Why would you set me up with Sandra? In front of Mila?” I don’t say the rest.In front of Tori.
“What?” He shrugs and returns his attention to the TV, which I flick off. “Mila seemed fine, and you told me you’d go out with Sandra.”
“The hell I did.”
“Bro. For real. Week before last when I asked you about Sandra, you said you’d go out on a date.”
I stare at him as I collapse on the couch, wondering if he’s spent too much time in the sun.
He snaps his finger in my face. “It was that first day Tori brought you lunch.”
A long minute passes.“Really?”
“Yes, dumbass, really.” Groaning, I run my hand over my face. My idiot brother laughs. “Why you acting like I’m making you haul horse shit instead of thanking me for setting you up with a gorgeous woman?”
“I thought you wanted me to explore this thing with Tori.”
Surprise registers on his face. “Have you fucked her?”
“Don’t talk about her like that.” Anger burns hot through my body, way hotter than it probably should.
