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Quirking my mouth to the side, I grumbled, “I can’t believe you never told me you were dating a celebrity.”
Her shoulders were less rigid when she answered and I knew she was happy that I had chosen not to press her any further. “Would it have mattered?”
“Well, I suppose not, especially if you were only together for a split second,” I agreed.
The waiter came by to fill her wine glass, but E declined. She had smartly taken the bus downtown so I made her drive us in my car to the restaurant and she would be taking us home as well. It was obvious that I was the giving sister in this situation.
“Anyway,” she dismissed, tossing her sleek black hair over her shoulder, “there is something I wanted to talk to you about.”
She adopted what I liked to call her ‘mom voice’. Should I plug my ears with breadsticks now before it was too late?
“Yes, Mrs. Cleaver?” I mocked.
She glared at me incredulously.
“I wanted to ask how your work is going.” The way she said it told me that this was her opening line, not the actual question she was intending.
We lived together. She knew that I hadn’t booked a client in the past few months.
“Why don’t you just come out and ask what you’re fishing for,” I suggested, pointing at her accusingly with my fork. But I quickly turned it around toward my mouth, not wanting my piece of steak to cool too much.
E sighed, unamused that I wasn’t willing to play along. “Fine,” she conceded. “I know you’ve been out of work for a while, and I wanted to let you know that I got you a gig.”
Oh. That was not what I was expecting.
“You got me a job?” I repeated. I honestly didn’t know how to react. Should I be excited that I could have money coming in, or offended that she overstepped?
“It’s a photography gig,” she stated, using it as an olive branch, knowing I’d most likely lean toward only irritation with her.
“You realize I’m an adult, right? And I can find work on my own?” My cheeks heated. I decided that I was in fact offended.
Dabbing her mouth with her napkin, she gave me an admonishing stare. “Luce, come on. If you’re an adult then I don’t need to bring up the fact that you were late on two of the bills last month.” My hands went to my lap, fiddling with a thread that was frayed on the hem of my shorts. When she continued, her voice had taken a softer tone. “Look, Luce, I don’t want to see you fall behind in life, and I told Mom and Dad that I would look after you. You need work and I saw an opportunity.”
I hated that what she was saying held logic. I couldn’t control the ebb and flow of weddings and elopements, and though I had roughly figured a budget in my head, like this morning, I knew I was running out of options. I just would’ve liked to find something on my own. And I would, if what she found for me was stupid or uber lame.
“What kind of gig is it?” My curiosity had gotten the better of me.One point for E.
“It’s really cool actually,” she began before I cut her off.
“Need I remind you that you and I have differing ideas on the definition of ‘cool’?” When we were growing up and developing crushes, I was completely gone for Leonardo DiCaprio, where E would’ve given her left foot to say hi to Joaquin Phoenix.
Miffed, she raised her brows, questioning if she could continue. I pursed my lips at her, my universal sign to go on.
“You’ll be traveling for two months,” she chose to open with, knowing I loved new places. “There is a six-city circuit for the upcoming VelCon and they needed an additional photographer for the photo ops.”
“What the fuck is VelCon? Is this another one of those nerd things you did today?”
Really?
“Yes, if you insist on calling it that. It’s like today’s con, but this one travels to different cities and like I said, there would be six that you’d be going to, traveling with the crew and taking pics of the actors and staying in five-star hotels.” I perked up at that. “It could be a hell of a lot worse…”
I resumed eating my steak, scooping garlic mashed potatoes with it. “Can I think about it?” I bluffed. Even though I knew I was going to agree, I wanted her to squirm for a minute.
“Right. You know you’re going to say yes.” She pinned me with another ‘mom’ look and smugly replied, “Plus, I already said you’d accepted.”
“Jesus, E, wanna wipe my ass while you’re at it?” I threw at her. “I’m not the helpless child I once was.”
“You’ll thank me later, trust me.” She twisted in her seat, looking for the waiter.
