More Than Love (NG3)

18 - Sisters

Laney had taken a partial birth parent break. She communicated with each of them, but she didn't make a move to see either. Jake wanted to see her again and Sasha had invited her to the beach. She would love to go back to the beach, especially since it was summer. Skyler wanted to meet Sasha and have a weekend at the beach. She teased how Hari could use a break from her.

There was one reason for Laney to avoid the invitation. Reed. Sasha had not mentioned a stepson, so Laney wondered what else she wasn't truthful about. Meanwhile, most of her energy was spent on her sister. It was another reason not to plan a beach weekend with Skylar.

Her older sister received her DNA results with some possible relatives listed. She emailed everyone to ask if they were related to the name they gave her for her birth mother. Dealing with a hormonal pregnant woman waiting to find a long-lost relative was like walking through a mind field.

Laney kept to herself and worked on her paintings. She had a request from a gallery to submit some more photographs of her work, but told herself not to get her hopes up. When and if she received a request to meet in person, she would get excited.

One warm evening, she was concentrating on getting the contrasting just right. She wore an old man's tank top tee and cotton shorts. Her hair had been in a bun, but she felt the pieces slowly fall out. As a result, she had paint streaks on her cheeks from brushing the hair out of her face, often with a brush still in her hand. Her music was blaring to the nineties, Spice Girls, Backstreet Boys, No Doubt. It was her guilty pleasure, and certainly not her generation's music or her parents. It must have been Jake and Sasha's. Was that why? She always assumed her birth parents were young.

It startled her when she heard a voice. Turning, Jazmyn was standing with her hands on her hips. Laney put down her brush and pressed pause on her phone.

"What?"

Jaz shook her head. "No wonder you are single. You look like this. I've been texting you for hours."

"I've been working."

"Seriously, you must stop to eat?" Laney shook her head. She hadn't. "To pee?"

"Maybe. I can't remember." She looked at her phone. "If you weren't my friend, I'd think you were a stalker. Seriously, twenty text messages."

"There is such a thing as notifications. Maybe you should turn them on, or at least look at them."

While Jaz ranted, Laney scrolled through her notifications. None were important, including her friend asking her and then begging her to go out for drinks.

Laney looked up. "Don't you have to work tomorrow?"

Jaz sighed. "No, it's Friday."

Laney felt a feeling deep in her belly. Skylar would cry on her shoulder all weekend. Laney preferred weekdays when everyone was busy working. She stood and stretched her back. Suddenly, she felt hungry and needed the bathroom. Because of the heat, she had been drinking water. The pile of empty plastic bottles at her feet was evidence.

Jaz followed her eyes. "You are a slob. You look like..." Shaking her head, she continued, "I don't even know. A freakin' mess." Jaz changed her focus to the canvas. "Wow! That is amazing!"

Laney huffed. "Do you think people told Monet or Renoir that they were a freakin' mess? Or Van Gogh?"

Jaz laughed. "Van Gogh, yes. Come on, Ms. Renoir, get in the shower. Come out with me."

"I don't want to. I want to eat and keep working."

"Come on, it's summer. We're going to sit outside and drink and hopefully meet some cute guys."