Tags:
Romance,
Contemporary,
Saga,
Adult,
series,
Short-Story,
alpha male,
Erotic,
Collections,
Billionaire,
serial,
BBW,
Provocative,
Deceased Sister,
Work Promotion,
Office Party,
Mysterious Stranger
hadn't gotten this promotion then I'd probably be gone already but I want to get used to my new job first and the new office.”
“I suppose it's like an adventure in and of itself,” he said, smiling.
“And what about you? What are you doing to live life?”
“Oh, you know, I potter about here and there. It would be nice if you visited a little more often,” he said, and Scarlett had wondered how long it would be before the guilt trip started.
“Leave her alone, Steve. She's got better things to do than to hang out with some old coots like us,” Janice said. The apron she was wearing was stained and her gray eyes were tired.
“Do you need any help, Mom?” Scarlett asked.
“No, in fact it's almost ready, so why don't the two of you come and sit yourselves down?”
Chapter 2
Scarlett took her seat at the round table in the dining room that was connected to the kitchen. The smell of the food was strong and her stomach rumbled as her mother brought lots of dishes to the table. There were colorful vegetables, golden-brown potatoes, and succulent meat that oozed temptation. And there was an empty space. Lisa would never join them again, and her absence was still felt dearly. Although they tried to speak normally, the weight of the past was always present, and there was no escaping the harsh reality that her sister had died.
“This looks lovely,” Steve said, clapping his hands together.
“Yeah, Mom. You've outdone yourself as always,” Scarlett said, knowing that her mother had made far too much food, as usual. They sat down, and although they weren't religious, they held hands. It was only at Thanksgiving and Christmas that they did these sorts of things, but it had become something of a family tradition. They held hands and closed their eyes, and their mother spoke.
“Thank you for the feast before us and keeping us together and healthy,” she said. It was short and sweet. Scarlett wondered why she bothered at all. Afterwards, there was a moment's silence as they remembered Lisa, and this was the part of Thanksgiving that Scarlett hated the most, because it opened the wounds and a bitter pain swelled in her soul. She wanted to remember the way Lisa laughed and the stupid little things she did, or the way she always mixed together everything on her plate.
' It all goes down the same way! ' she used to say. But whenever Scarlett thought of those things she quickly became overwhelmed with the night that Lisa died. Scarlett was at home when it happened—when she got the call—but when they arrived at the hospital it was already too late. She hadn't even had the chance to say goodbye and it had been so long that Scarlett couldn't remember what their last conversation had been about, although it was probably something inconsequential. But all Scarlett could think about were the last moments of her sister's life. For all their life they had been so close that people assumed that they were twins, and their bond went so deep that it was almost like having a phantom limb. She felt what Lisa felt and vice versa, but when the accident happened, Scarlett didn't feel anything. She hated that Lisa had to be alone and wondered what had been going through her mind in the split-second before she lost consciousness. Did her whole life flash before her eyes or was she only aware of the twisting metal and searing heat that blazed around her?
The doctors said that it all happened so quickly that she wouldn't have suffered, but Scarlett didn't believe that. She only wished that she could have been there and let Lisa know that she wasn't alone.
It had been such a shock to the whole family when it happened. You always heard about these things happening, but never imagined that it would happen to yourself and how it would be like in the days afterwards. Even when Scarlett saw Lisa lying helpless in the hospital bed, she couldn't quite comprehend what was happening. Death wasn't like what it was in the movies. For months
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