rid oneself of a letter requires a more visceral act, such as ripping it up or burning it.
I set the letter on my coffee table and considered the pros and cons of opening it and reading it rather than simply destroying it. I wondered if I would ever be able to forgive my sister for her betrayal. I wasn’t sure if I missed Hannah, but there were many times when I missed our relationship. I missed having a sister.
Hannah and I couldn’t have been more different. She was two years younger than me, but in a lot of ways, she was much less mature. She was irresponsible and lazy. Too often, she relied on being attractive and charismatic to get what she wanted. I was the ‘smart’ one and she was the ‘cute’ one.
While I was a straight A student, who worked hard and earned scholarships to college, she barely made it through high school, mainly because she enjoyed boys and parties too much. She never even considered college as an option. After she finished high school, she hopped between low wage jobs and rarely kept a job more than a few months. Now at 23 years old, Hannah’s resume included working at various retail outlets, fast food restaurants and large call centers. By the time I was 23, I had already earned a Master’s degree in counseling and was working as a mental health therapist.
I looked over at the letter. I was mildly curious about its contents, but my curiosity was not quite piqued enough to open it yet.
After I finally finished eating, I lay down on my couch and shut my eyes for a few minutes in hopes of temporarily blocking out the reality of my mixed up life. As if the drama with Daniel and Eddie wasn’t enough, now I had to deal with my slutty sister.
All I wanted to do was sleep. I had almost cleared my mind enough to fall into a somewhat peaceful slumber when I heard a knock on the door.
Shit.
I thought for sure this time it would be Eddie even though he was the last person, possibly on the entire planet, who I wanted to see.
When I opened the door, I was surprised to see Daniel standing there.
“What are you doing here?” popped out of my mouth before I realized that it probably sounded rude.
“I’m sorry to bother you,” he said, now looking uncomfortable. “Did I wake you up?”
“I just closed my eyes for a few minutes. Would you like to come in?”
I opened the door a bit wider so he could enter. As he stood at threshold, he glanced around. “Looks just like our place only a mirror image.”
“Please, have a seat,” I said as I walked over to the couch and sat down. He followed and sat next to me. “Can I get you something to drink?”
“What do you have?” he asked.
“Water, juice, beer, wine…”
“Want to have some wine with me?” he asked, as he gave me a half smile.
“That actually sounds good,” I replied.
I went into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of white wine I had chilling in the refrigerator. I liked to keep a bottle of wine ready just in case a man ever stopped by and I’d be able to pull it out like they do in the movies. Of course, this is the first time it ever happened, but at least I was prepared.
I popped the cork then poured two glasses.
“I hope you like white,” I said as walked over to him and handed him a glass.
“I like anything with alcohol,” he admitted.
When I sat back down next to him, he lifted his glass as if to toast. “To the many fun times I hope to have with my beautiful neighbor.”
I clinked my glass to his. “Cheers,” I said, and we both took a sip. “It’s Moscato. Do you like it?” I asked.
“It’s sweeter than I’m used to. I go more for the dry white. But I’m sure it will grow on me.” He took another sip as if to prove his point.
“It’s okay if you don’t like it,” I said.
The hint of a smile crossed his face. “There’s something I like even better and it’s just as sweet.”
He took the wine glass from my hand and placed both of them on the coffee table. Then he leaned close to me and placed a soft kiss on my lips. “Yes, just as sweet as I remember.”
When he leaned in for another kiss, he parted my