“Glad to be back. It’s been nice,” he says.
“I want pizza, so I’m going to find Mom,” I say as I grab my phone and step out of my room. It smells like sex in there, so I don’t really want Dad hanging out in there and asking questions. They both follow me downstairs, and we find Mom in the kitchen.
“Hey Mom,” I say.
“Hey, sweetie,” she smiles. “How was your weekend?”
“It was okay,” I say. “Josh dumped me Friday.”
“Good,” Dad says. Cory laughs heartily and I shake my head at both of them.
“I’m sorry, sweetie. Ignore them,” Mom says. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I think I knew it was always going to happen. Plus, he was cheating on me.”
“Well, one day you’ll find a better man. Someone who’s deserving of you,” she says with a smile.
“Yeah… Maybe,” I say.
I’ve been working for Cory for a week now and he has fucked me on his desk every day. We always have a meeting at the end of theday to discuss daily reports, which we actually do, but it ends with him inside of me. At home, things are normal. We don’t get too close to avoid getting caught.
I am sitting in the living room, scrolling on my phone while Dad is suggesting that Cory gets his own place. Admittedly, the idea of that is painful.
“Are you even listening?” Dad asks Cory.
“Yes, Dad. I’m listening. I’m replying to an email,” he says. “Believe it or not, I can multitask.”
My phone buzzes and I see it’s a text from Cory.
Cory: Why do you look sad?
Me: I don’t like the idea of not being close to you. We’ve always been together. And now…
Cory: Don’t freak out when I say this.
“I’m going to rent an apartment in the city to be closer to work and Bella can come live with me. She gets freedom and you all get the place to yourself.”
“She has freedom here,” Dad frowns. “She’s not nearly old enough to be on her own.”
“I’m an adult, thank you,” I say. “Also, I don’t think he’s asking your permission.”
“Dad, she’s almost twenty-one and you still have her on a curfew,” Cory argues.
“It’s to keep her out of trouble,” Dad argues.
“Oh? Because she’s going to get into so much trouble with Beth when they go to Dunkin’ at three in the morning for donuts. Get real, Dad,” Cory says and Mom laughs. “She’s responsible, and she’s right. I’m not asking your permission. I’m telling you that’s what my plan is. If she wants to come live with me, she has a room there.”
“Do you already have a place?” I ask.
“Yeah. It’ll be ready next week,” he says. “I hadn’t said anything because I didn’t know when it would be ready.”
“Oh… Well, I’ll think about it. I’ll let you know when I know for sure,” I say bitterly. Cory narrows his eyes at me, so I stand up. “I’m going to bed.”
“It’s early,” Dad says, glancing at his watch. “You never go to bed this early on a Friday.”
“Yeah, well I’m just tired,” I say. No one else says anything so I turn and go to my room.
The full weight of how fucking stupid I am is hitting me and it’s crushing. For a week I’ve been stuck in fantasyland thinking that somehow this wasn’t going to end badly. Now I am realizing that I’ve let my emotions get involved and I feel betrayed by my brother for living his life. We had our fun but it’s time we both got on with our lives. One day he’s going to want a family and a wife. I can’t be his mistressandhis sister anymore.