Chapter 1
For most people, Los Angeles was synonymous with Hollywood.
For Mira it was the place she had always called home, whenever she had returned over the last few years. This, as she would openly admit, had been as rarely as possible. At first “they” had decided to keep “everything” away from her and had put her into a boarding school – in Switzerland, no less. And then Mira had been way too busy during her studies to even attempt the long flight back for a short visit. By now it was kind of hard to say whether this elegant address in the Hollywood hills actually still felt like home.
She had no desire to find that out. Just the thought of the house alone made her stomach turn and created pains deep inside of her that she had managed to suppress for so many years now. Her heart raced, despite the fact that she was still at Los Angeles International Airport and still had to travel around twenty miles to her parents’ house. Her fingers played nervously with the necklace she had bought on her backpacking travels through Europe a few years ago. The seller had claimed that the pendant would protect her from “evil looks” and even though the necklace had swallowed up a big chunk of her budget, Mira had bought it. Since then, she had never taken it off, not even in the shower or when she went swimming.
She had handled her return to Los Angeles with an absurd amount of secrecy, which almost seemed manic. She hadn’t even told her sister her flight number or the time she would arrive and, to make this stint even more extreme, Mira had booked a hotel room from London. Once she had checked into the Hyborn, it would be easier for her to give into her sister’s pressure. She absolutely adored her sister, but Mira was adamant about not losing any control over her own life, which had cost her so dearly. Moving into her old room or even just one of the guest rooms in that big old house would literally mean that she would be giving all of the responsibility over to Suzanne.
A woman bumped into Mira and didn’t even turn around to apologize. Instead she just kept running to wherever she was going. This was yet another thing that she would have to get used to again. The Brits were so incredibly polite that they would potentially apologize to someone for being in the way after that someone had run them over. She wondered if she could ever possibly get used to the urgency that literally everyone in L.A. seemed to cultivate so effortlessly, and which she felt was rude and pushy. Mira took her time as she casually strolled to the luggage claim in terminal 2, despite being well aware of the disapproving looks she was getting from everyone, including a man who walked past her swearing loudly about “ff-ing lazy tourists”. Mira didn’t care about that. She alone decided how fast she wanted to move, and she had decided that she didn’t want to return home too fast.
Unfortunately, her sister seemed to have planned to foil that idea. Mira felt Suzanne’s gaze on her, before she saw her to her right. There she was, next to the luggage returning belt packed with suitcases and surrounded by people trying to grab their stuff. Yet she seemed completely unperturbed by the chaos surrounding her. She almost looked too cool, with her coffee in one hand and her super slim and presumably highly functional mobile phone in the other. Without having to interrupt her conversation on the phone, her eyes lit up with a warm welcoming look and Mira immediately forgave her for ruining her plans. She greeted her with a sly smile and then kept an eye out for her suitcase. Of course, it was the second last piece of luggage to roll out onto the moving belt, which allowed Suzanne plenty of time to finish her phone conversation. Meanwhile, Mira politely declined an offer of help from one sunburned muscleman and dragged her suitcase off the moving belt by herself, which earned her an overly surprised yet appreciative look from the muscleman. Two quick moves with one hand and Mira pulled her suitcase onto its wheels behind her, as the two women walked towards the exit. Suzanne seemingly had to yell something that sounded like “I said I will call you back later!” before she joined her sister with loudly clattering high heels, which even managed to surpass the already high noise level of the airport.
“Are you planning on leaving me here?” Suzanne swung her oversized handbag over her other shoulder and hooked her arm into her sister’s. What on earth was she carrying around that she needed such a huge handbag? Suzanne stopped for a second, but Mira simply took her arm out of her sister’s hold and kept walking, vigorously. Where was that taxi stand again? She realized that she had been walking without any clear direction, so she stopped and looked around for some signs, as Suzanne’s small figure appeared in front of her. “Welcome home, sweetie,” she said and hugged Mira tightly. It took her a split second to react, but when she heard her sister say that word, she finally warmed up and hugged her back tightly. She really had missed Suzanne in all these years.
“That we will see,” Mira replied, and her words were aimed at the “home” part, but Suzanne kept talking.
“We are all so happy that you are back. Russell and mom and I.” Mira snorted loud enough, so Suzanne could hear it.
“Oh stop,” Mira said determined. “You don’t have to pretend, sister. Your husband is as happy about my return, as he would be about a hole in his head and mom probably won’t even notice that I am here. Not even when I am standing beside her bed holding her hand.” She dodged a fighting couple that were arguing about the whereabouts of their children over the last weekend. Nothing had changed. Absolutely nothing.
“The doctors are saying that she hears and feels everything that is going on around her, even though she might not react.” Suzanne repeated the same old sentence that she had said so many times already. When Mira kept walking without saying a word, she sighed heavily. “Oh come on Mira. Just hold on for a second and talk to me. I know that you probably wanted to spend a couple of hours alone before facing your family. To acclimatize — I get it. But I really do believe that you should come back. To us. To me.”
“I have already booked myself a room at the Hyborn,” Mira replied and pulled her sister to the side. Here, right next to the airport’s exit, it wasn’t necessarily quieter than slap bang in the middle of the crowds, but at least they weren’t in anybody’s way and wouldn’t get knocked over.
“Please understand, that it is never easy for me to come back.”
“I do understand,” Suzanne assured her, before Mira could go deeper into the depths of her growing discomfort. “Plus, I have already prepared everything for your return.” She flashed her a beaming smile, as if she were a child that had gotten an A+ for her homework. Mira sometimes seriously wondered which of the two of them was actually the older sister.
“You can start as Russell’s assistant immediately, if you want. I have prepared one of the guest rooms for you. Of course, if you would prefer to move into mom’s old room instead, then all you have to do is tell me.” Her blue eyes sparkled with self-satisfaction as she pulled out her best card yet. “And if you really do need some distance from me, then you can move into Russell’s old apartment. I would only need one day to quickly make sure that everything is okay there. Sometimes, we let business friends stay there when all the good hotels are booked.”
“Suzanne,” Mira interrupted her sister’s relentless monologue. “Listen…” Both girls were the same height, but Suzanne seemed more like a dainty flower and Mira felt somewhat big next to her. She took her sister’s hands. “You know that Russell and I don’t get along very well. How on earth did you come up with the idea that I would like to work for him? And apart from that, I need some time to get used to this place again. To find my feet here in L.A. again.”
“Well, it’s not just Russell’s company,” Suzanne quickly replied, as if she hadn’t heard any of Mira’s objections. She seemed to be trembling slightly. Whether this was due to the wind that came rushing in through the constantly opening and closing glass sliding doors, or simply her being nervous, Mira did not know. “After all, mom, you, and I own the other 50% of Dumont Ltd. So, therefore, you would be working for us and actually for yourself.”
It was a comfortable solution: her sister would be happy, and Mira wouldn’t have to go and try to find an apartment and a suitable job. Right now, she had no idea which would be harder – finding somewhere to live or finding work. This way, she would be able to take her return slowly and without the real pressures of starting anew.
She wasn’t completely convinced though. The pressure was still there, it was just a very different kind. She stared longingly at the long line of taxis picking up the relentless stream of passengers and tried to think of the right words to use to tell her sister what she wanted to say, that wouldn’t hurt her feelings.
Here she was, 25 years old, having graduated Summa cum Laude from one of the most prestigious business schools in all of Europe, maybe even the entire world, and she was unable to be assertive against all of this love and care from her sister.
She had been convinced that she had long ago left that overwhelming feeling of duty and obligation towards her loved ones, behind. But some things never change. Even less so when you come back home after many years. Should she just bite her tongue and move in with her sister, so that she could be with Suzanne? What was more important – her own wellbeing or the happiness of her sister?
“How about a compromise,” Mira suggested. “I will live at the Hyborn for one week, as planned. In the meantime, you check out if Russell’s old apartment is alright and free for the upcoming weeks. If it is, then I will move in, until I find something else.”
She had wanted to say “until she found something better”, but she had caught herself at the last second. In all honesty, Mira had never seen her brother-in-law’s apartment, but she had a good idea what he used it for. Suzanne’s face was beaming again and despite the fact that Mira didn’t really like a show of emotion in public, she hugged her sister anyway. This was the second time.
“Good. That’s how we will do it. But you have to promise me something. We have to see each other at least once a day. Now, that you are finally back home, I will never let you leave again. Welcome back home, sweetie.”
Suzanne’s sweet and welcoming words were well-meant, but to Mira they sounded more like a threat.