Carly
“Do you want something to drink?” I ask Emma when she sits down on my couch.
“Just water,” she says. I nod and walks to the kitchen. I fill two glasses with water from the pitcher in the fridge. I walk back to the living room with both glasses. Emma sits on the edge of the couch, looking like she would rather be anywhere but here. I sigh and pass her glass to her before sitting down on the arm chair to the side.
I invited her over to talk. She won’t reach out to me, so I must do it. Usually, Emma is so quick to sort things out between us. That she hasn’t tried yet, worries me.
“What did you want to talk about?” Emma asks.
I blink at her. “I was hoping we can fix whatever went wrong between us.”
Emma just looks at me, her face unreadable.
“Come on, Em. We never fight for this long. Why are you so angry?”
Emma sips the cold water before shaking her head.
“You can’t tell people that I’m jealous of you and expect me not to get angry. Especially if it’s your boss, the same guy you’re fucking.”
I sigh. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I was a bitch.”
Emma nods. I don’t completely mean what I is saying – Emma was the bitch that night, not me, but we all must bend a little, right?
“Besides, you’re throwing your life away, Carly. What do you think will happen if something like this comes out? It can ruin your career. Sleeping with your boss…”
I shake my head. “If you’re worried, say so. You’re my sister and we do that for each other. But I’m an adult, I can make my own choices. And I told you before – I don’t intend to be a secretary for long.”
Emma narrows her eyes at me. “This is exactly what I mean,” she says. “You’re not even willing to listen. You dream, and you dream! But it’s always the same thing, over and over again. God, you never listen!”
“That’s because I don’t have to,” I snap. “Not only am I older than you, but I don’t have to do what you say to me, anyway. You’re not mom.
Emma shrugs. “No, but at least I’m not throwing my life away.”
I put my glass on the coffee table. I don’t drink any of the water.
“That’s a matter of opinion and I resent you saying that.” I glare at Emma and she glares back at me. “I called you to fix things between us and you’re just going right back onto that track. Why don’t you try, too?”
“Are you still sleeping with him?” Emma asks.
I frown. “You’re going to be a bitch about this unless I stop screwing him?”
“So, you are,” she says.
I roll my eyes. “I regret telling you that. I can’t believe this is becoming such a big thing! We’ve always told each other everything. Did I come down hard on you when you were sleeping with Ron?” I ask.
“That’s different,” she says.
“How?”
“We’re in a long-term relationship. We don’t sleep together until six months in, and most of all, he’s not my boss.”
I groan. “What happened to us?” I ask.
Emma shrugs. “I don’t know,” she says in a soft voice.
I have my theories. She’s settling down and she’s dating – something neither of us said we’d do after our dad left. And now, I’m living the life, partying and sleeping around, and she’s stuck being an adult. I’m sure it’s jealousy, but I’m not going to say that to her, again. Once already caused her not to speak to me for a few days.
“Look,” I say. “I wanted to ask you something.”
Emma looks at me, curious.
“Someone gave the investors at Raven Publishers an anonymous tip that Kevin and I are sleeping together. Was it you?”
Emma’s jaw drops. “You’re asking if I betrayed you?”
“It sounds worse when you say it like that,” I say. “But yes, I am.”
Emma looks shocked for a moment before it translates into anger.
“Do you think I’d do that to you?”
I shrug. “I’m just asking,” I say. “You’re the only person I told so I need to follow up because it’s a matter of losing my job or Kevin losing the company.”
Emma is angry, now. “You think I’d do that to you?” she asks again. This time, her voice is raised. “I knew we aren’t in a good place, Carly, but to think that I will do that to you?”
She groans as if it hurts.
“I just have to check, Em,” I say. “I said I would ask.”
She glares at me. “This is why I’m so against all the shit that you do. It changes you.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You’re fighting against everything that happened with mom so much you can’t even be yourself. You think that if you stay as wild and reckless as you are, you won’t get hurt, but you’re wrong. You’re hurting yourself.”
I shake my head. This has gone in a completely different direction.
“That’s not fair,” I say. “Just because I don’t deal with things the way you do, and I haven’t found love and I want to settle down doesn’t mean I’m wrong.”
We glare at each other for what feels like forever. Finally, Emma blows out a breath and looks down.
“You’re right,” she says. “I’m sorry.”
I’m surprised by her apology. It comes so quickly.
“I don’t want to fight with you,” I say. “Can’t we just forget about all of this and be friends again?”
Emma nods. “I’d like that.”
I get up and walk to her, hugging her. She lets out her breath in a shudder.
“Are you seeing Ron tonight?” I ask.
Emma shakes her head. “He’s away at some conference again. I’m just alone tonight.”
“We’ll go out, then,” I say. “Just to hang out, catch up, be together again.”
Emma hesitates.
“Come on,” I say. “It will be fun.”
Finally, she agrees and I smile. She gets in her car to go home, get some clothes and come back to me to get ready together.
We go to Aqua again. The club has a whole new meaning to me after what Scott and I did in the storage room. I try not to think about it too much – Emma is with me and we are just getting to a good place again. I’m not going to tell her about me and Scott or about having a threesome with them both. Emma is already upset about what’s going on between Kevin and me.
We have shots at the bar, getting drinks to chase them down with and move to the dancefloor. I love dancing when alcohol courses through my veins. I always feel sexier, when I drink, more comfortable in my own skin. I move to the music and it pulses through me. Emma dances next to me. I’m aware of eyes on us and when I look around, men are sneaking glances at us.
“They’re all looking at us,” I say to Emma, leaning in so that she can hear me.
Emma shakes her head. She looks a little sour. “They’re all looking at you,” she says.
I sigh. I don’t know if she’s right, I don’t really pay that much attention, but Emma is pissed off again and I don’t like her in this mood. She seems to be in this mood more often.
“Come on, Em, it’s not just me,” I say.
Emma stops dancing. “I don’t care, you know. I have Ron and that’s more than enough for me.”
I stop dancing too. “That’s not what I’m saying at all. Let’s just have fun, okay?”
Emma nods and we start dancing again, but she looks unhappy and I don’t know how to restore her mood.
“Well, aren’t these the two most beautiful women I’ve seen in the club,” someone says behind me and when I turn, Scott stands behind me, beaming. I smile – I can’t help it.
“Scott,” I say and hug him. His arms close around me and I’m aware of his body, taut and muscular and the smell of his cologne that clings to his clothes. I shiver. This smell, the feel of this body, hold very intimate memories for me, now.
“You remember my sister, Emma,” I say, turning around to include her. She offers a pinched smile.
“I do,” Scott says. “And might I add you both look spectacular.”
Emma doesn’t respond to the compliment the way I did. She doesn’t look happy.
“Where’s Kevin?” I ask. I catch Emma rolling her eyes. I can’t take it back, now.
“He’s at the bar,” Scott says. Kevin comes up behind him as he says it and I smile at him, too.
“Speak of the devil,” Scott says.
“In the flesh,” Kevin says and winks at me. “And Emma,” he adds, looking at my sister. “How nice to see you again.”
Emma doesn’t even offer Kevin a smile the way she offered Scott a bad one. She doesn’t like Kevin and her dislike is rooted in nothing other than the fact that she thinks it’s wrong that I’m sleeping with him.
“Well, don’t you just look stunning,” Kevin says, putting his hand on my lower back. “Are you here to show yourself off? Everyone’s watching.”
I shrug, blushing.
“Em and I are just spending a bit of time together, you know, checking out the talent around here.”
Kevin glances at Emma, grinning. “And? What have you seen so far?”
“Oh, nothing that catches my eye,” I say. I look Kevin up and down before glancing at Scott. He’s looking at my body, his eyes trailing down slowly, touching me in intimate places.
“Carly hasn’t seen anything because there isn’t anyone here for her,” Emma says. We all look at her.
“Em, we’re just joking around,” I say. Emma is being a real pain.
She shakes her head. “No, you’re flirting with them and I don’t care for it. I’m not going to stand here watching you make a fool out of yourself.”
She turns and leaves before I can say something. I groan, tipping my head back.
“I don’t know what’s up with her, lately,” I say to the boys.
I’m sure she is jealous. She only gets upset when I’m around men. Okay, when I’m around two particular guys. But she said a lot of things at my apartment, too.
“Come on, dance with us,” Kevin says. He pulls me closer to him, pressing himself against me. I want to, God knows, I want to. But I shake my head.
“I have to find her. I can’t leave it like this again. Besides, the last time this happened we got into all sorts of trouble.”
I look at Scott when I say it and I can see by the way he looks at me that he remembers. He pulls me closer to him and nuzzles my neck, grinding himself against me. I gasp.
“I want to see you soon, okay?” he says. “We both do.”
When he lets me go I’m out of breath and my body is on fire. If they take me somewhere to fuck me now, I will be ready.
“We’ll arrange something,” I say and my voice is breathy. I look at Kevin who has hungry eyes, too. He pulls me into a hug that is equally intimate and kisses me. It’s a quick kiss, his tongue darting into my mouth. I’m melting into my panties by the time the two of them are done with me.
“I really have to go,” I say and walk away from them without looking back. If I don’t, I’ll stay, and I must fix things with Emma before they get me to unravel again.
I search for Emma everywhere. She isn’t on the dance floor or drinking at any of the bars. I look in the ladies’ rooms as well. When I can’t find her anywhere I stand at the bar. I don’t order another drink. I want to wait until I find her. When I try to call her, she doesn’t answer her phone and she doesn’t respond to texts, either.
After an hour, I call it quits. The bitch must have left without me. I think about finding the boys again, but I’m not in the mood. I’m pissed off and tired. So, instead, I go home.