“I see,” I replied. I crossed my arms over my chest. “What do you want from me?”
“I want forgiveness. I would like you to try to understand. Most of all, I want a relationship with you. I realize that I’ll have to earn that back.” She nodded her head. “I get that.”
I couldn’t say anything. On one hand, she was my sister. On the other, I could only be burned so many times.
“Vessi, I don’t mean to intrude, but she has changed for the better. All she is asking for is a chance to prove that to you. What do you say?” Jake certainly did intrude. He didn’t know Shannon like I did. I had known my sister for twenty-two years. He had known her for, like, maybe five.
“Maybe we should talk about this in private, Shannon,” I suggested, but not sure she took the hint.
“Sure, I guess,” she said, obviously clueless.
We let the subject go and finished breakfast in silence.
“I’ll wash the dishes. I’m sure you have things to do before work,” Shannon said, breaking the silence.
I was talked into working another double shift, which meant I’d be at work from two that afternoon until three in the morning. I wasn’t looking forward to it. Luckily, Myra was going to be right by my side.
“Yeah, thanks,” I said more sarcastically than I intended. “Well, I wasn’t expecting company, so I don’t have many groceries. Since I have to work the last-minute double, I won’t have time to go to the store.
“I’ll get the groceries. That’s the least I could do since we sort of dropped in on you like this.”
“Okay, thanks. Oh, Rob’s comin’ by sometime today to fix my bathroom faucet,” I said as I ran out the door. I really don’t think I had ever run out of the house as fast as I did that morning. I couldn’t stick around much longer without going off on my sister. I was really upset at her thinking she can just come back after disappearing for five years. I’ll make her pay.
It took me no time at all to reach Myra’s house. I slid open my phone and called her. “Hey, Myra, I’m pullin’ up in your driveway. Hurry the hell up.”
Less than a minute later, she hopped into my car. She was always ready when I called. It was like we had a twin connection, causing us to be a target for small town gossip.
“Hey, what’s up?” she greeted me as she tossed her purse into the back seat. She looked at me for a second, and then asked, “Did you dream about the guy again?”
“Yeah, it was more like a nightmare. Hey, how do you get rid of unwanted guests?”
Her smile turned devious. “Ghosts? Stalkers? What are we talkin’ about here?” She giggled.
Myra was a light-hearted and fun country girl who trusted way too easily. I wouldn’t trade her for the world. She was the sister I never had, or rather the sister I actually wanted.
“Hey, I don’t think you’re taking me very seriously,” I laughed.
“Who’s the visitor?”
“You’ll never guess, not in a million years.” I let out a harsh laugh under my breath.
“You’re right, I won’t. Now, who is it?” She playfully nudged my shoulder.
“Shannon and her boyfriend, Jake, were there when I got home last night.”
Myra’s eyes bugged out and her mouth dropped open. After a few seconds, she asked, “Seriously?”
“Yeah, she wants to make amends. I guess she’s been seeing a counselor, and her boyfriend has helped her through her ‘rough’ times. Blah, blah, blah,” I said, making quotation marks in the air.
“Bummer,” she replied. “Is she staying at the house?”
“I guess so. I didn’t seem to have a choice. I should’ve changed the locks.”
“You can always stay with me, ya know.”
“Thanks, I might have to take you up on that. It’s fine for now.”
“Well, the offer is always open.”
“If the subject comes up, you’re movin’ in with me next week.”
Since she didn’t have any suggestions to get rid of unwanted house guests, we randomly talked about nothing as we ran our few errands and before heading to work.
“Well, here we go; the start of another day,” I sarcastically announced as we parked behind the wooden sign that read, ‘The Night Owl.'
The sign was still the original, except with a modern upgrade. It was made from the same rustic wood with the same letters carved into it from the turn of the 19th century, but now the letters glowed at night with modern day technology. Joe painted the letters of the sign with glow-in-the-dark paint. He kept the bar as close to the early days as possible. Hence, the paint versus a lit-up sign, but it worked.
“Yeah, well, the sooner we get in, the sooner the day will end.” Leave it to Myra to see the positive. She was always ready for anything. “Let’s go.” Myra hopped out of the car with the biggest grin plastered on her face and grabbed her bag. I followed suit, minus the smile.
“Hey, gals.” Joe held the door open for us. His relaxed business attire consisted of blue jeans and a T-shirt. He never cared what we wore to work as long as it covered the bare essentials. Joe wasn’t the type to hide in the office. He worked alongside everyone. The reason most of us put up with this industry was because we loved him.
“Thanks, Joe,”
