Meet Your Match

1

 "Anthony, who do I have to kiss?"

I always asked my brother the important questions. Although we weren't related by blood, the bond was felt as deeply as it could go with siblings who saw each other through the ups and downs of childhood.

"That question seems incomplete." The soothing voice emitting from my phone was simply not the same as it would've been at my side. His picture stared out at me, his bright smile and dark skin the same as Ma Rubi's.

Fortunately for him, Anthony happened to have a life. And a job he actually liked.

Unlike some of us.

"Who do I have to kiss to be taken away from this nightmare?" Obviously I couldn't kill my way out—I'd be the first suspect. "Do you know any knights about to run off into a sunset? Maybe one whose horse is named after me?"

"If someone names their horse Halston, that horse is throwing them off."

"Risking one's life for another can be a very romantic gesture," I sniped. He laughed, probably at the idea that anyone would risk their life for such a brat. "When are you coming back to make fun of me in person?"

An appraiser of art and antiques, Anthony often had to travel to his clients rather than the other way around. Right now he was in Rome to confirm a painting's value for a Canadian buyer.

"Flight's tomorrow. Want me to stop by?"

"And deal with this?" A sigh left me. "No."

"That bad?"

"The worst thing about it is that she's not even trying to be awful, she's just..."

"Being herself," he finished helpfully.

"And who can't support that these days?" My roommate refused to understand why the things she said might be considered mean, or why the things she did were infuriating. "Yesterday she threw her underwear off as soon as she was in the door and it landed on my face. I couldn't shut her up because it was actually me screaming my lungs out."

"What the fuck? You've gotta get outta there, Halle." His mortified tone made everything so much worse, and a lone tear struggled down my twitching cheek.

"I can't, at least not yet." Each time I found something within thirty miles, it would fall through. "If I could just have—I'd just like a break, you know?"

"So find a way. I know I live in a shoebox right now, but I'm working on it. Until I save up and figure things out, you know the moms would want you home..."

"No, no. They're too happy...I don't wanna mess with that." I was not going to be the thundercloud over their sunny heads.

Besides, the moms sold our old house and got a much cozier one that no longer qualified as a nest big enough for my butt to not bring chaos with it.

"Okay, we're talking about this when I get home. Mr. Siegel looks like he made his decision—I gotta go. Keep my sister well."

"Keep my brother safe," I answered softly, the old parting words as much of a balm as ever.

Pocketing my phone, I peered down from the balcony and leaned forward on my forearms to consider diving into the garbage truck below.

My only pair of sunglasses slipped off my nose to make the dive in my place.

"Ahhhhh!"

Dramatic opera music rose from an open window as I dropped to my knees, reaching an arm through the bars of the railing.