Sophia
I spotted him the minute I turned my car onto my street.
The guy from last night.
And I realised why I’d recognised him – he visited Josie across the street at least weekly, if not more often. I’d been living here for nearly two months now and I’d seen him working on her roof, her stairs and her yard. If she hadn’t told me she had no children, I would have assumed he was her son.
I’d never paid too much attention to him except to note he was tall, built and dangerous. The only reason I’d picked up on the dangerous part was due to the time I’d come home late one night and found him threatening a lowlife for attempting to steal my neighbour’s car. Threatening wasn’t perhaps the right word; more like, he was beating the guy up. I took no issue with his actions – if a person was willing to commit a crime, he should also be willing to suffer the consequences.
Today he had the mower out and I had to concentrate hard to keep my eyes on the road. This man and that body could singlehandedly cause traffic to halt. I did sneak a look before I pulled into my driveway, and caught an eyeful of his arms flexing as he pushed the mower.
What a way to start my night, especially after the craptastic day I’d had. Hot arm visions would help get me through the night.
I parked my car in the garage and then walked the short distance to the mailbox. My eyes were still glued to him. He, on the other hand, hadn’t noticed me. I considered crossing the street to introduce myself, but my sister, Magan, called so I grabbed my mail and headed inside while talking to her.
“How was your day?” Magan asked as I juggled my bag, the mail and unlocking the front door.
“Let’s just say, some days I hate graphic design. And some days, I hate my clients. I’m going to pour myself a glass of wine and sit in the bath for hours tonight.”
She groaned. “I swear you seem more like thirty-nine than twenty-nine, Sophia. Why don’t you go out with your friends and get smashed or something?”
“You’re only saying that because you’re seventeen. When you’re my age, I bet you grow tired of going out drinking every night.” I dumped everything in my arms on my kitchen counter and headed straight for the fridge. The wine called me.
“You’re telling me that when you were younger you used to go out every night?” she said, her voice full of disbelief.
Laughing, I said, “Some weeks, yes. And contrary to what you may think, I do go out with my friends a lot. But I need a night to myself tonight. I had too many conversations today and just need some silence.”
Silence filled our conversation for a moment before she said softly, “I wish I’d known you back then. I can imagine that you would have been really cool to hang out with.”
Sadness washed over me at her words. Magan and I had only discovered each other existed six months ago; we’d missed out on so much together. “I wish we’d known each other, too. But we’ve got the rest of our lives and we’re going to spend so much time together that you’ll get sick of me soon enough.”
“I don’t think I could ever get sick of you.” The jagged tone of her voice made my heart break for her because I knew the same heartache and disappointment she did. Our mother had a lot to answer for.
Trying to change the spirit of the conversation, I asked, “So, how’s your job hunting going?” She’d been struggling with writing her resume and I’d tried to help her with it because God knew, her foster mum didn’t care enough to help.
“Ugh.”
I frowned as I took a sip of the wine I’d just poured. “Magan, you are doing that resume, right?”
“Yes,” she said, but my sister always failed when she lied, and I heard the hesitation in her voice.
“Magan?” My voice was firm; she needed someone in her corner, pushing her, and I’d been more than happy to assume that role over the last couple of months. Surprisingly, she’d allowed me to take it on. I figured that had to do with her need to feel someone in her life cared enough to be thinking of her.
“Sophia,” she answered me in the way she often did when I quizzed her like this. And then, when I didn’t speak again, she sighed, and said, “Fine, I’m doing the damn resume. Are you happy now?”
I smiled to myself. “Yes.”
She made a noise as if she was pushing herself up off her bed. “I’m going now… to work on my resume. I’ll catch you later.”
“Okay, babe. Make sure you call me if you get stuck. I’ve written some good resumes in my lifetime.” I took my glass of wine and padded into my bedroom.
“I bet. You know, I looked at your school reports; you did well in everything. You’re like the older sister no one could ever compete with.”
“Well, the one thing I can tell you is that it doesn’t always matter how well you do in school. Life happens and plans go out the window, so just do your best and don’t stress too much, okay?”
“You’re going to make an amazing mother one day,” she said. And then – “I’m really going now. Bye.”
I dropped my phone on my bed and smiled to myself again. Having Magan in my life made my days better, and I loved talking to her. The day she’d shown up outside my office and told me I had a sister would always be etched in my memory.