The Blonde Bowstring: Steelgray's Story

13

Nicole rubbed her hands together, trying to fight off the nerves of the night, as she searched for her mother in the crowd. Her eyes landed on the petite woman. Sebastian was by her side because the world would end if he wasn't touching the woman.

The couple was talking to the Japanese man from before. Before she could reach them and hear their conversation, the man nodded and walked away from the smiling couple. "Hello, mom," she said and kissed her mother's cheek. Nicole then turned to Sebastian and begrudgingly let him pull her in for a hug.

"Mom, you look amazing. Sebastian, you pull off that suit like no other."

Nicole's jaw dropped and she turned around. Immediately, a hundred cameras flashed her way. As the two youngest Steelgrays stared at each other, Nicole realized just how much it hurt not to have her sister around.

"Frankie..." she whispered.

The taller blonde reached her arms out. "Nicole," she exhaled. Her head tilted and her ponytail threatened to come undone. "Oh, my god. You have no idea what it was like with you being away."

Since her face was hidden in her sister's shoulder, Nicole was free to scowl at the words.

"I-" she started, tears falling out of her eyes. It was the first time Nicole had ever seen her older sister cry. "I knew you weren't dead. Maxson told me I had to move on. That it was the only way to get better, but I never doubted it for a second."

Nicole swallowed deeply before pulling away. The two blondes held each other's forearms and stared into each other's eyes. Nicole forgot her forest-like Frankie's green eyes were. It was like looking at a pair of leaves.

"What a warm reunion."

Nicole looked over Frankie's shoulder at the short-haired man. Sr. Sanandrea hadn't changed since high school. He was very obviously a man in his thirties. Frankie, though. They were just girls when Nicole left, even though Frankie had been a sophomore in college at the time.

"Senor Sanandrea," Nicole said and shook her head. "I heard the great news. Congratulations," she said to the two of them.

"Oh, c'mon Nicole. I'm your brother-in-law. You can call me Max."

Nicole's stomach churned at that. No thanks, she wanted to say but instead nodded her head curtly.

"We have so much catching up to do," Frankie cooed, failing to acknowledge her husband since he arrived. Nicole caught onto it the second the words "what a warm reunion" left his mouth.

"Well, I think you have a lot more to say than I do," Nicole said formally. "But, of course. I'd love to talk."

"So, we uh, met at your funeral actually. This was a year after your disappearance by the way. He came up to me, I didn't feel like talking, but he was a shoulder to cry on, you know?"

It was impossible to get close to Frankie, Nicole recalled as she barely listened to her sister talk. She was always the more studious, ethical, future-focused sister. When she'd gone to Yale, things only got harder for the two of them as siblings. Nicole figured her sister didn't let anyone in that hadn't raised her, so it made sense that she initially gave Sanandrea the cold shoulder.

"You weren't just the daughter of Limitless, you know. You were his student; it was personal. It was easy to keep in touch with him after that."

Sanandrea was a lucky man. The best thing to happen to him was Nicole's 'death'. Her gorgeous sister almost always had her nose in a book or was too busy being a literal saint to concern herself with boys. Nicole wondered if Maxson knew he won the lottery.