Kaira/Shivin (OS SERIES)

KAIRA- THE NEW NEIGHBOUR (OS-2)

"Wake up, little sister!" said an annoying, condescending voice that could've roused a corpse. "It's after seven and you're officially late."

"Ugh! Damn it, Gayu. It's Saturday," groaned naira singhania as she held a pillow over her head to block out the morning sun.

"I don't care. I've got work. You've got errands. So long as you're living in your generous, loving sister's condo, you're going to stick to a schedule."

naira closed her eyes and buried her face in the arm of the couch, which also happened to be her de-facto bed. She tried willing her hard-ass older sister out of existence, but it was no use. She offered no mercy, pulling the blanket off her and ripping the pillow out of her grip. It was mornings like this where she hated that she'd inherited her mother's looks while her gayu got Dad's strength.

Hit with a faceful of sun and an older sister's penetrating gaze, naira groaned as she pulled herself up from the couch. Wearing a dirty T-shirt, old sweat pants, and the same underwear she'd worn to work for the past three days, she felt about as rested as a hung-over hobo. In some respects, it was a fitting metaphor for her life at this point.

"You must really hate me, gayu," naira said as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. "I know I suck as a sister, having to crash at your place after fucking my life up in ways that are entirely my fault."

"Enough with the guilt trip, naira . You know I don't hate you," gayu replied, rolling her eyes at her, "but even you have to admit you need a kick in the ass these days. It's bad enough you dropped out of college to hook up with that high school crush of yours. But between staying with the guy after he cheated on you and letting him burn through your college fund on that failed video game company of his, you've got no high ground to stand on."

"For your information, it was a software company," Sarah muttered, as though that much it hurt any less.

"Doesn't matter what it was. The point is now you're waiting tables, your credit is shit, and you wasted mom and dad's charity when you tried to get a payday loan on their car."

"Which I apologized for a million times, by the way," said naira .

"Too late for that. Mom and Dad gave you leeway and it burned them. I've worked hard and exercised infinitely better judgment than you so I'll give you none. You want my help getting your life back together, this is the price you pay."

naira felt inclined to cuss her sister out until next Christmas, but that only would've made her more smug and she couldn't have that. She'd done enough to screw herself over these past few years.

Avoiding eye-contact with gayu, naira pulled herself up from the couch and did her best to wake up. She tried fixing her messy hair and wrinkled clothes, but at this point in her life, she could only do so much to feel presentable. Having once been the hottest girl in school who had every opportunity given to her, all her bad decisions just made her feel ugly, by default.

As naira did what she could to look somewhat less pathetic, gayu retrieved her purse and keys from the kitchen table. She was already dressed in her overpriced pantsuit, ready to pull some overtime at the law firm she'd been working at for the past five years. Between her makeup and more professional demeanor, it was painfully obvious which one of them had made the better life choices.

"I've left a list of errands on the fridge next to the wine where I know you'll see it," gayu said as she checked herself in the mirror near the door. "I need you to go to the DMV to pick up the license plate for my new Mazda, swing by the farmer's market to pick up supplies for the firm's annual meeting, coordinate with the building manager open house in the unit across the hall, and take care of that big stack of laundry that's still sitting in my bedroom."