Love Letter

Lynne:

If Ian had not made it clear earlier that he was trying to flirt with me – he made it perfectly clear by the end of the night.

After telling me it was our destiny to meet one another, he said goodnight, and he and his sister exited out the kitchen doors.

Luke sits down after he leaves and tries talking to me, but my mind keeps wandering to the word destiny. I had never had anyone tell me that it was their destiny to meet me. I am swimming around the idea of what or who Ian was. Was he just a player who liked the chase? He seemed to have a small ego, but it was easy every time I talked to him. It was more normal than speaking to Luke. I keep shaking the random thoughts out of my mind since I do not need to be thinking about that. I didn't even know anything about Ian except that he had a sister. Since each time we talked, he asked questions that were all about me. He was either trying to act interested, or he was really interested in me.

Hopefully, I would not have to see him again so I could quit thinking about him altogether. The last person I even thought about like this a little bit was Luke, but that ship had sailed. I know he would have liked it if I had kept it docked, but sometimes you have to set things free.

A few minutes after Ian leaves, I say goodnight to everyone, blaming my tiredness on the travel home and slipping upstairs.

I curse when I get to my room and realize my bags were still downstairs in the entryway. I text Fred asking if he could bring them up later, not wanting to go back downstairs for second helpings at goodbyes to everyone. My door creaks open a few minutes later, and I expect to see Fred with my bags but see my oldest sister Lisa.

I walk to her, throwing my arms around her. A guy from the hallway steps in, watching my sister and I embrace. Guy would not explain him, but man would. He looked almost as old as Victor did.

Lisa looks at him and goes, "This is Ricardo," while smiling up at him. My sister was 6'1, so this meant Ricardo was a giant. An older giant... 

"Hi," I say, assuming that this man is one of Lisa's many flings.

He would be forgotten about in a few weeks, knowing my sis.

Oh man, our family psychiatrists bring it back to daddy issues. I'm sure saying she would need to come to see him every week instead of every other week. Lisa was long gone before the family had started the therapy sessions up. She was one of the lucky ones who did not get to have her brain picked apart by Luke's dad.

I want to ask her how old Ricardo is, but I hold my tongue, not wanting to ruin Ricardo's few weeks of fame. Lisa dated a lot, and there were a lot of guys who came through our doors from high school to now. This was the oldest man I had seen her with yet.

I had seen plenty of younger guys too.

The few times she stayed with me in New York, she had a few different lackeys stay with my roommate and me. Actually thinking about it, she never came just by herself to stay with me. She always had a male counterpart when she arrived. I would always be annoyed since she would show up that day or night with no warning expecting me to be OK with a complete stranger and her staying in my apartment.

My roommate Blair always threw a fit the next day after my sister had left. "That man whore touched my blanket," she would quip out. I shrugged, unaffected by anything my sisters did anymore.

Lisa usually picked guys with big bank accounts (but I'm not judging my sister at all), which meant I did not need to worry about them stealing anything from my apartment. Even though there was not much to steal.

I always wonder why she did not have her beaus get her a hotel room when she came to New York. The second time she came, her boyfriend asked why they couldn't get a hotel room instead of sleeping on our pull-out couch in the living room. "Because she is my baby sister," Lisa said and added, "we are staying, that is all." I don't know if it was so she could feel like a better older sister since she had checked in on me or what.

Kelly stopped in more since she had a few business meetings that she would do in the city. 

"We just flew in from France, but I wanted to say hello before we went to bed. We are exhausted," she says, throwing her hand up to her forehead. Kelly is walking in while they are slipping down to their room. 

I sit down on the bed, and Kelly flops down next to me "so you met Ricardo?" she says Ricardo's name with an accent, and while her eyebrows go up – she is judging Lisa.

"Has mom met him yet?" I ask, wondering how that would go over.

"Kind of," she says. "He was working with Victor on some stuff over here, and then Kelly ended up meeting up with him when she was visiting France. It was actually Victor who had set up a dinner for them. I didn't think he thought it would turn out like this." I know that she blames Victor for Lisa's poor taste in men. 

"So," I ask..., and Kelly knows I am asking if mom knows they are dating.

"No, she doesn't know that they are together. I think she will need some more medication to handle this. I gave Victor a heads up, so this will be interesting to see how it goes." She hugs me and takes off next door; she grew up in my neighboring room. Fred and Zach bring my bags up half an hour later, and I thank them profusely.

I unpack my stuff and get ready for bed, slipping my novel out of my purse and settling in to read before I fall asleep.

For the most part, we all turned out pretty well.

Since leaving, I had been fighting home, but it was comforting to see all my siblings.

Keith was the only one I did not get to say goodnight before leaving with his family to his cabin nearby. This was the first holiday he had spent with his family there. His oldest son was already six years old. He had built it thinking they would spend the holidays there but plans always change.