Page 5 of Written in the Stars
SERENITY
“Hello? Lissa, are you in here?” I call out, trying to find my sister in the dark store. Why the hell she doesn’t keep at least a night light up front beats me. It’s so dark, I’d be afraid to be here alone. But then again, Glimerton is as safe as they come.
“Ren, is that you? I’m back here!” she calls.
She isn’t expecting me; I haven’t called her to give her a heads-up. I’m sure this is quite a surprise to her, and honestly, it’s a surprise for me, too. I didn’t even grab some things and make an overnight bag. I wasn’t thinking when I started driving toward Glimerton. But I couldn’t call her and tell her over the phone what had just happened. I wasn’t ready. The drive over had been horrible enough with thoughts of Walter slamming into his secretary repeatedly that I just couldn’t form the words to speak if I wanted to.
“Ren? What are you doing here?” When Lissa sees me, it’s as if she’s just seen a ghost. I shrug and give her a nervous smile.
“I mean, not that I’m not happy to see you, but…” She walks over to me from behind the counter where she was putting some displays away and then continues speaking. “Is everything okay? Are you alright? This isn’t like you to just show up unannounced.” She looks past me toward the door. “Where’s Walter? Is she having a hard time finding parking?”
All I can do is shake my head, and at the mention of his name, the waterworks begin yet again, and I am in tears once more. The promise I made to myself earlier about being strong and moving on is proving to be difficult.
“Oh, no! What happened?”
Lissa grabs me and holds me for what felt like hours. “Shhh, it’s okay. It’s okay, sis,” she tries comforting me.
Minutes later, as I pull away from her embrace, she speaks once more. “Hey, talk to me. Tell me what’s going on, Serenity. Please, just talk to me. You’re starting to freak me out a bit.”
Once I compose myself and wipe my eyes with the same Kleenex I’ve been holding on to for a good couple of minutes, I know I have to let her know something. My big sister isn’t typically a worrywart, but I can see why she is starting to worry now. She wasn’t expecting me to come see her, in tears, no less. I live two hours away. Anytime I’d come see her, I would always call first. Maybe I should have texted her. Maybe then she wouldn’t have freaked out. But I doubt it. The tears would have started regardless, making her freak out nonetheless.
I look her in the eyes. “Remember how you caught Michael five years ago with his best friend’s sister in your bed?”
Her stare turns pale as the memories obviously hit her after so long. “Yeah?”
“Well, I decided to be sweet and bring Walter some homemade lasagna at work since he’s been working late every single Friday night recently to surprise him. But fate had a different thing in mind. Instead of me surprising him, he surprised me as I walked in on him fucking Dora, his new secretary.”
She gasps, her eyes widening. “No! You’re kidding!”
I shake my head. “I wish I was, but it was right there, before my eyes. I thought it might be nice to eat together for once on a Friday night. But nope. Walt had other plans, and he’d been doing them every Friday night when I thought he was working late.”
“That asshole, two-timing jerk! I’m so sorry, sis. And right before your wedding, too. You must be devastated,” she says, trying to console me, still holding on to me.
“It definitely was not the way I saw my future. I thought I’d be busy with last-minute wedding preparations. Instead, I’ll have to call and cancel everything we had planned. All that money, time, and planning down the drain.”
She shakes her head. “No, don’t you worry, sis. I will take care of it all in the morning. For right now, you just need to take a deep breath and know that I am here for you. Let me just finish closing up and we can get going.”
I nod and watch her put the last couple of things away. She then grabs her pocketbook and coat, then wills me to follow her out of the store.
“Do you want to ride with me? Or do you want to follow in your car?” she asks. “You can always pick it up tomorrow if you don’t feel like driving.”
I shake my head. “No, I’m fine. I’ll just follow you.” I feel so goddamn helpless. The least I can do is drive my car.
“Okay, Ren.”
After driving ten minutes south, we arrive at her house. Her beautiful ranch-style home with the white wrap-around porch is always decorated with flowers in the front, resembling a rainbow. My sister’s love for embellishing and designing never fails; hence why she was the perfect person to take over once my dad could no longer run it.
As we step inside, I feel a bit out of sorts. I don’t know what to do with myself. Lissa tells me to make myself at home, but that phrase is totally odd for me now. Home is somewhere I don’t want to be. Home is the reminder of what my life is now going to be. I haven’t been single in years. I don’t know how I’m going to adjust to the change, but so far, it isn’t going all that well.
“Aren’t you going to answer that?” she asks, referring to my cell phone. I’ve been so lost in thought that I don’t even realize it’s ringing in my hand. It’s still Walter. He’s left me several messages as well.
I just shrug, looking at her. “It’s Walt. I’m not ready to talk to him.” I cross my arms across my chest.
She nods. “I understand.” She places her purse on a counter. “Are you hungry? I could make us something really quick—”
“Sorry, Lissa. I don’t have much of an appetite. Maybe just some coffee, if you have any?”
“Girl, you know I do! I live on java.”
