Ellie

“Just come home Bug, we all miss you.” My sister begs over the phone like she’s done for the past couple of years.

“I don’t know Jasmine. I think it might be weird. I don’t want to do that to you and Ford, especially with the baby on the way.”

“I thought we went over this. My home is your home.”

“But your home isn’t a home, it’s an estate in Atlanta.”

She laughs. “It’s just a big house.”

“With servants!”

She groans into the phone. “They aren’t servants, El. They’re staff that are paid and treated very well I might add.”

“I don’t know. I feel like I’ll be intruding.”

I’m sitting in my empty dorm searching for a cheap apartment that I can rent month to month until I figure things out when my computer dings letting me know I’ve got a new email. I click over to pull it up, and I see my sister has sent me a plane ticket.

“It’s non-refundable, so you have to come.”

“How did you know I was looking at it?”

“You stopped talking, plus you’re my baby sister, I know you.”

She only thinks she knows me. She’d be appalled if she knew what I was thinking of doing for work. I don’t remember our dad, he took off when Jasmine was five, and I was a baby. Mom did the best she could, but when I was fifteen, she hightailed it out of our crappy apartment in her latest boyfriend’s truck and never looked back. She’d send money every couple of months, but it was never enough to make ends meet.

Instead of taking her college scholarship out of state, Jasmine worked and went to school online. When things got really tough, she ended up going with a matchmaker service to find a husband. She wasn’t looking for love, she was hoping for a wedding on paper to help get us out of the financial bind we were in. Ford took one look at my sister, and that was it for him though. No one could blame him, my sister is gorgeous. Not only that, she’s so giving and self-sacrificing.

“Georgia and Hanford would love to see you again Ellie. They ask about you all the time, and it’s been years since the wedding.”

I twirl my hair around my finger, it’s not like I have anything better to do now that the semester is up. My sister still doesn’t know that I graduated from college early. I didn’t want to tell her because she would have insisted on coming out for the ceremony. I couldn’t do that to her. Ford and her have had the hardest time trying to get pregnant, and now that they finally are, her pregnancy has been deemed high risk. I’m not letting her get her crazy pregnant ass on an airplane to fly halfway across the country. Nope. I’ll just tell her this weekend at some point.

“I guess I’m going to Atlanta for Christmas.”

“Yes!” She cheers making me giggle. “You have no idea how much this means to me El. I’ve missed you so much. I can’t wait until school is over and you can come home for good.” She starts crying and my heart hurts. We were always close growing up only having each other to depend on. Since she got married though she’s had Ford and his parents. I didn’t know where I fit in after that. When I graduated high school, I took the full ride I got from a university out in Colorado, thousands of miles away and left her to start her new life as the wife to a very successful businessman. We still talk often but I can tell the distance has put a strain on our relationship.

“Well, I have a ton to do if I’m going to be ready and at the airport Wednesday morning.”

“Call me if you need anything El, you hear me?”

“Okay mom, see you in a few days. Love you, sis.”

“Love you too, bug.”

I hang up before I start tearing up too. The truth is I really need this trip. I’m feeling more alone now than ever. Most people on campus have already left for the holidays. Technically I’m not even supposed to be here since I’ve already graduated, but my roommate is a sweetheart and told me to stay until the new year if I needed it. I look around my dorm room and don’t know how I’m going to get this all packed up and moved out of here in time. That’s what I get for procrastinating. I guess I can just put what I have in storage and then get it out when I figure out what I’m doing.

Ford is a great guy for my sister. He’s a little bit on the quiet side, but they complement each other very well. He takes care of her and part of that is also taking care of me, even though he doesn’t have to do that. Every month he puts five grand into a checking account he opened in my name. At first, I tried not to use it because I knew I would end up paying him back every dollar I spent of his money and I didn’t want to be in a mountain of debt when I graduated.

A couple weeks into college Jasmine and Ford came for a visit. They were both unhappy with my very unfinished dorm room and sparse living situation. So much so that they took me shopping and totally hooked me up. It was weird to have someone spend so much money on me, but at the same time, it was kind of comforting too. Before the weekend was up, Ford asked me to use the allowance to make my life easier. He said his job was to make my sister happy and part of that was making sure I was taken care of. Over the years Ford and I have gotten a lot closer, and I see him as a big brother now.

Over the next couple of days, I pack up the last three years of my life and put in a storage unit. All of my things fit into the smallest unit they had available, and it makes me sad that at twenty, I have so little that I can call my own. Hopefully, soon I’ll be able to find a job using my accounting degree. It’s not something that I’m excited about, but I thought it was something that would make me a decent living and I’d never have to depend on anyone to take care of me. I would never have to be put into a situation where I was doing something I was uncomfortable doing.

Yet, there are no accounting firms that are hiring around here. I’ve been looking for months, and the pickings are slim. Jasmine keeps telling me I can go and work for Stone Enterprises once I graduate, but I already feel awkward for everything they have done for me. I gave in and started looking for jobs that would pay me a decent salary, one that I could survive on in the city. I was able to save a lot of what Ford has given me throughout the years, but I don’t want to touch it unless it’s absolutely necessary.

I saw an ad on one of the job sites, a few days before Jasmine called, one that I could do from home and it offered a decent weekly paycheck. It was perfect until a minute into the interview they dropped the bomb that this was for a phone-sex operator position. Good thing this was an interview over the phone. I was speechless. I pulled up the ad again on my computer while Lana, my interviewer, tittered away giving me the lowdown on what this position would be like. I read the announcement more carefully this time and found the highly suggestive phrases that should have popped out at me when I first saw the ad. Was I this person, was I this desperate? Looks like I have some decisions to make.

I pack two large suitcases full of my most favorite things and all my clothes, not that I had many to start with. Ever since I was a kid, we shopped at consignment shops for our clothes. I might be able to afford nice things, with my brother in laws money, but I still live like I have no money. Of course, my sister always takes me shopping when she visits, and that makes up most of my wardrobe. Maybe I’ll stay a little longer and help Jasmine out until the baby gets here. At least that way I can show them both how much I appreciate their help. When I arrive at the airport, I feel as though my journey has come to an end. Why does it feel like I’ll never be back in Colorado?