"Cecilia, if you keep this up, I'll walk to the office! I don't treat you like a child unless you act like one. When are you going to realize that not everything is a crisis, and the world doesn't revolve around you?"
"At least I'm not sobbing over some guy I just met! My God, you didn't even know him three days and you jumped right into bed with him!"
"I'm not the one who's had my tits and ass fixed so the guys I date won't know how old I am! What's next, Cissy? A nose job? Why don't you date that plastic surgeon again?"
Cissy fell silent and Mara saw a tear run down her sister's cheek. She knew she'd said too much, but the jibe about Cole stung.
"That's harsh, Mara. Cruel and harsh. I didn't think you had that much spite in you."
"Cissy, this has been hard on all of us. Why do you have to make it your personal sacrifice or heartbreak? You were the same way when Dad died. It was as if no one else in the family lost anyone. We all had to weep for poor little Cissy. We all love Mom, so why is this your personal crisis again? Why must we all bend down and kiss your feet?"
"And why must we all be Miss Perfect like Mara? Perfect Mara never makes mistakes. Perfect Mara never dates men to get something from them. Perfect Mara has a career, she has a fancy apartment, and a fancy car, and what have I got?"
"A good job, a nice place and a reliable car. So what? I've worked for everything I've got!
"That's unfair."
"What's unfair is you deciding to jump my case now, about something you've apparently resented for years. I've never thrown anything in your face. I've always tried to accept whatever guy you happened to be dating, hoping that maybe you'd find a really nice man, and settle down. What you do and why you do it, that's your business, Cissy. I just think you have your priorities skewed."
"Oh, I should be just like you putting my career first? Have you ever had a steady man for more than a month?"
"I never wanted one before. I didn't have time."
"And now you do?"
"Now I'm willing to make time. Cole's special."
"And you determined this after knowing him what, a day? Oh, let's not forget the night of wild orgies! I'm sure you got to know all about him then."
Mara chose not to address her night with Cole. It wasn't any of Cissy's business. Having her bring it up cheapened something beautiful, making her even angrier.
"What is with you, Cissy? Why do you resent me so much? What have I ever done to you?"
"Done to me? In the eleventh grade, I had Mr. Summers for English. You had him the year before in the ninth. All year long, he called me Mara. And Mrs. Jessup used to say to me, Why can't you be more like your sister? Mara is an A student!"
"Mrs. Jessup was like a hundred years old, and practically senile! She wasn't even our teacher, she lived across the street."
"But she belittled me, because of you!"
"You want to know what she said to me? Cecilia's the pretty one, she told me at every conceivable opportunity. You'll never be as pretty as your sister. She's the one with personality plus! How do you suppose that made me feel? But I let it go and moved on. Your problem is, you can't move on. You latch onto a hurt, and just keep letting it hurt you. That old woman's been dead for twenty years!"
"You don't understand, Mara. All my life I've lived in your shadow. You always got everything you wanted. You had Mom and Dad and the rest of the family all wrapped around your finger! Now Mom's sick, and does she care about the rest of us being there? No! She wants to see precious Mara and talk about your vacation!"
"She knows the people I met. I was just sending their regards. I was being polite."
"And that Auria woman made a dress just for you? She never made one just for me!"
"Mom's brought you and Olivia dresses the same as me, every year. How do you know Auria didn't have one waiting for you, too? I just got there before Mom did."
Cissy couldn't dispute the truth. She wanted to, she was dying to find a hole in the argument, but couldn't. They pulled up to Mara's office. Mara gave her sister a hug and thanked her for the ride. She didn't mention their argument again, but suspected that Cissy would call the boys and give her own version of it. Let her. That would have bothered her a week ago, now it didn't seem important at all.
Walking into the office was like going into a different world. Fisk Brothers, Simpson and Kirsch was the most prestigious architectural firm in the city. Established in 1894, they catered to Old Money clients, but were branching out to historical restorations, due largely to Mara.
Olivia had been telling Mara for ages that Jack Simpson was riding her skirts to fame and fortune, and it was true. He was trying to be the poster boy for historical landmarks, but the press had latched onto Mara and kept bringing her to the forefront. Clients bragged about Mara Cross, not Jack Simpson. It wasn't until she met Cole that she realized she could make her own way in the world, without the security or stress of Fisk Brothers, Simpson and Kirsch. She'd made up her mind, if Jack gave her a hard time, she'd walk and there was nothing he could do about it.
Phoebe met her as she walked to her office. "I've got it all laid out from most urgent to least. It could have waited until you came home. It doesn't have to be now."
©2021 Dellani Oakes
No comments:
Post a Comment