Silas springs into action and presses my chest against him to shield me from wandering eyes.
Daisy, my sister, stands at the door in a well-fitted yellow sundress and red espadrilles with wedge heels, with two large suitcases at her feet. Beside her is my landlord, Dick – the name suits him – who is amused at what they walked in on.
Forgetting my tank is pulled down, I attempt to step from behind Silas, but his grip tightens on my hip, keeping me where I am. He growls, my name slipping past his lips like a curse.
Despite his caveman moves, I’m grateful and shove my boobs back into my top before coming to stand beside him. Silas waists until I’m decent to put on his shirt.
“Daisy. What are you doing here?”
“Nice to see you, too, Pansy,” she says with a huge dose of attitude.
We haven’t seen each other in the five years since my mother died. A sharp pang rips through my heart when I think of that day. Ivy and Daisy picking over mom’s things like vultures, while Poppy and I wanted to be anywhere but there. Since then, Daisy and I have emailed and texted occasionally, but nothing significant. Why on earth is she here?
“Holy shit, you’re Silas Palmer!” Daisy squeals, coming fully into my place.
I snort and roll my eyes; everyone looks to me, and an embarrassed heat creeps up my neck. Silas tucks me into his side and gazes back at Daisy. Dick still stands mutely at the door, his sallow complexion flush as he stares at me as if he’s seen my birthday suit. I suppose I did give him an eyeful.
Daisy’s gaze is glued to Silas, and she hesitates for a brief second before throwing herself at him. Arms and legs are clinging to him like a monkey. An ugly feeling twists in my belly, my hands curling into fists.
Silas pries her arms off and steps away from her, sliding back to my side, arm around my waist. Daisy zeroes in on the gesture, her eyes flying to meet mine with arched brows and her mouth slightly parted.
“What are you doing here?” I ask again.
“Sheesh, since when did you become such a bitch?” Daisy snaps, plopping herself onto the couch where we just made out.
“Daisy.” Silas’s tone is a warning. This is all new to me, someone defending me without question.
Daisy clamps her mouth shut with Silas’s hard glare on her. Satisfied that she got the memo, he turns and says to Dick, “You can leave.”
My landlord’s beady eyes squint in what I’m sure he thinks are his bedroom eyes. Right at me. It’s creeping me out. Dick is easily in his late fifties with a beer gut that hangs low over his belt, and a stringy comb-over that barely covers his balding head.
“Oh, yeah,” he mumbles, his doughy jowl jiggling as he nods and pulls the key from the lock.
Silas grasps Dick’s shoulder, and from the older man’s wince, I’d say it’s hard. “And next time, unless a putrid smell or smoke is coming from under the door, you don’t come into this place uninvited. Got it?”
“I was just doing my job. She said,” he waves in Daisy’s direction, “she was worried about her sister.”
“Putrid smell or smoke. Got it?” Silas repeats. Dick screws up his face, mumbling under his breath, and leaves.
Sitting across from my sister, I try again. ”Daisy, last I heard you were in Croatia or Greece or something like that. What happened?”
Daisy coming back to the US is unusual. She swore she never would, preferring the jet-setting life.
“I missed you. Missed home.”
Raising my eyebrows skeptically, I study her. Her eyes dart between us as Daisy sinks her teeth into her bottom lip.
Taking his hand, we walk to the front door, and I lean in to whisper, “Silas, you stay here and sleep. I need to talk to my sister.”
He frowns, a gruff exhale passing his tight lips. “Nah, I’ll go home. You guys talk. But I need to see you soon.”
Daisy’s thrown a wrench into any plans of talking, knowing she’ll demand all my time. That’s what she does. If she isn’t the center of attention, then she creates a reason to be.
“We’ll figure something out.”
Cupping my face, he lowers his voice. “I’m back in the studio tomorrow, laying down a few demo tracks...”
“Hey, it’s only temporary. Go be a sexy rock star,” I tease, smacking his hard butt.
Like a twister, he whirls around, hauling me against his hard chest and nuzzling his face into my neck. His warm, wet tongue licks at my flesh.
“Damn, you taste good. I’d planned on eating all of you.”
“I can hear you!” Daisy shrieks, making gagging sounds from ten feet away.
“Then leave,” Silas fires before nipping at my neck again. I squirm in his hold, a hot ache growing between my thighs.
In one swift move, she pushes to standing with her hands on her hips and huffs. Taking three steps to the partition that separates my bed from everything else, she halts when she discovers there’s nothing beyond that.
She spins on her heel and her gaze lands on us; exasperated, she asks, “How do you live in this hovel?”
“You don’t have to stay here.” Silas is unrelenting in keeping Daisy in her place, and it’s now my turn to bury my face in his neck, stifling my laughter.
“Call me later,” he says before taking my face in his hands and planting a slow, sweet kiss on me; then he’s gone.
Daisy is transfixed, her eyes glued to where Silas just stood. “What the hell, Pansy? Why didn’t you tell me that you were sleeping with Silas fucking Palmer?”
“You say that like we share everything.” I sit back down beside her. “C’mon Daisy, why are you surprised that you don’t know anything about me?”
Knitting her brow, she crosses her arms and crinkles her nose, not pleased with my blunt truthfulness.
“It doesn’t have to be that way. Can I stay with you for a bit and we could reconnect?” She’s meek with the question, yet assessing my home as if it’s livable.
“Not that you’re not welcome…” It takes everything within me to say and mean it. She’s my sister, I do love her, but she makes it so darn hard to like her, sometimes. “How did you find me?” As I ask, the answer comes to me.
“I called Ivy, and she gave me your address.” She shrugs like there’s nothing unusual about it.
“Why me? Why not Ivy? Or a five-star luxury hotel? My life, this,” I wave my hand around my tiny but cozy apartment, “is not up to your standards.”
“I can’t... I don’t want to go to Ivy’s, and I’d rather not spend money on a hotel. Besides, as difficult as this is for you to believe, I did want to see you. It’s been five years.”
“I know.”
“Just after Mom died.” She shifts to face me fully. “And last time I heard from you... gosh, I don’t know how long ago that was? Ivy told me about your escapade and jail time.”
Her wry grin matches the glint in her eye, and she slings her arm around my shoulder.
“Yeah, don’t remind me.” I chuckle.
“The little adventurist. You always did know how to have a good time.”
We sit in silence. Daisy’s unusually quiet and restless, shifting her position every few seconds. My hand lands on hers, fiddling with an imaginary thread or lint or something on her sundress.
“Are you gonna tell me what’s going on?”
Turning her palm up, she folds her fingers over mine, and we share a look. One that only sisters can. Even if you’re not close or have your differences, there’s a level of understanding that exists between siblings that’s born of all your shared experiences. We know each other, even if we don’t like each other.
“I messed up and just need a place to lie low and figure stuff out. I don’t want to get into it now. I’m not ready to, but when I am, I’ll tell you. It’s just that, I think I may be done with modeling and I’m not sure what that means. Where do I go from here?”
“I get that. I’m at a crossroad too. I’m trying to figure out what I want to do with my life.” I brace for a nasty remark, but nothing comes. Instead, she holds my hand tighter and nods.
She is my sister, and all my life I have wanted to be close to her. To have her see me, and this may be the moment. Or it may not. I’m under no illusion that Daisy and I may never get along, but this is the first time she’s come to me. I can’t turn my back on her.