Alicia and her family are back to the family's country house. She's crafted fond memories in that place, amongst her relatives, unlike her sister Kesia, the 'outcast'. Now, that she's started her brand new career, and that she's engaged to be marrie...
Kesia drew several pleased looks as we crossed the house's wide sitting room - no one had seen her wearing anything but yoga pants and oversized t-shirts since we had arrived.
I had forgotten how pretty my sister really was. At almost 5'7, her slender body held an effortless grace my 5'1 frame could never achieve no matter how hard I tried.
Her shoulder-length hair was glossy and freshly straightened and her lilac, flowery dress complemented her white strappy sandals to perfection.
She had decided to wear contacts and her catlike, brown eyes were on full display. It felt an inexplicable joy simmering underneath my chest, my heart filled with the warmth of pride and accomplishment.
"Who is going to be the designated driver?" I asked my older sister as we stepped out into the humid, hot evening.
"Not it!" She exclaimed almost childlike, her eyes squinting into the distance.
"I guess I'll take one for the team..." I shrugged, placing my purse across my body.
"You might not have to." She said, a wicked look flashing across her made-up face, intrigued I followed her gaze to see Ewan emerging from the garden's little pebble path.
"Evening, ladies!"He pulled out one hand out of his tan cargo shorts pocket and waved. My stomach stirred with sudden excitement.
"Evening, handsome." My sister's playful tease made his nose do a funny scrunch and for the second time that week her face lit up.
"What's the occasion?" His eyes ran up and down our sundresses, the hand he had waved at us with returning to his pocket.
"Miss perfect here invited and I never turn down a free drink so I figured it was a worthy cause to break me away from work"
"Ah. Very generous, cuz" his eyes slid from her and traveled slowly from my eyes down to my burgundy, glossy lips.
I swallowed.
He placed one foot on the very last step of the stairs that led to the front porch, but before he could take another step my sister took my hand and pulled me by the hand, down the steps to meet him. She hooked her arm through his elbow once we reached the bottom.
"There's only one problem, though..." Her insinuation was about as transparent as the 'smart' water my uncle Chad was chugging at all times in the day claiming it was better than regular bottled water. Her smile - an all-teeth goofy smile. "Riiiiiight, Alice?" Sinking her free arm's elbow in my ribs as a signal toward Ewan was approaching and he could clearly hear her.
"Oh...yes. We kinda...sorta ....need a designated driver, don't we? And a trustworthy one at that." My cheeks burned as I tried my best 'aunt Celeste's impression' and I had to sink my eyes to the wooden step he still kept his foot on.
I heard a deep sigh out of Ewan since I had veered my eyes instinctively because I felt too nervous to really look at him. A scoff followed and he said,
"That was...eerily spot-on." His chuckle was more of a second sigh than an actual laugh and he said, "C'mon, 'Little Celeste'."
When we joined him at the bottom of the steps, my sister hooked her other arm around his elbow, so she had both of us in her grasp. My heart was still drumming a little faster than usual as we marched gleefully toward my cousin's slick sky-blue car.
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