Gloves off

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐎𝐍𝐄

I walked into my apartment to see my roommate, Lina, on the couch sleeping with her right hand filled with popcorn and her left with her phone. I sigh deeply before I walk to my room and place my bag on my vanity chair. I walked to the hall bathroom and turned on the shower and made sure it was extra hot. I took a late shift at the bar tonight. It was currently 1:27AM and I'm just now getting home. I grabbed a towel and wash cloth and headed into the bathroom. I untucked my white button up and removed it. I also removed my black pants.

I stepped into the shower and felt the hot water hit my body. It was the first time today that I felt relaxed. Bartending a bar that's filled with either men who recently got divorced, perverted men who can't accept the fact they aren't fuckable, or frat boys who just turned 21 is exhausting. I grabbed my favorite cinnamon scented body wash and squeezed it onto my washcloth. As I continued to wash myself, I heard the door open. "Your finally home?" Lina asks in a sleepy tone. "Yea I took an extra shift tonight" I said. "I don't have to watch out for stalkers tonight, do I?" she says. "No Lina, just go to bed" I say. She then walks out as I continue to wash myself. Once I was done, I turned off the water and grabbed my towel. I don't have work tomorrow, so I'll just wash my hair then. Well technically today.

I wrap myself in the towel and walk out of the bathroom. I walk into my bedroom and get changed to an oversized t shirt. I was so tired, I didn't even bother to put on underwear. I toss my body onto my bed and get under my covers. And before I knew it, I was asleep.

I woke up the next morning at 11 AM. I rolled out of my bed and walked into the kitchen. Lina was at work, so I had the whole apartment to myself. I walked to the cereal cabinet and grabbed my favorite, frosty flakes. I then walked over and grabbed a bowl, spoon, and the milk. After fixing my cereal, I walked over to the couch and turned on the tv. As I flipped through channels, one caught my eye. It was some reality tv show that I recently started watching every now and then. As I sat and ate my cereal while watching tv, I had gotten a phone call. I groaned as I grabbed my phone and saw it was my sister calling.

Me and my sister, Nova, don't have the best relationship. I mean when we were younger, we were best friends. But around the time we got to high school, our relationship became rockier. Think of it like a cheesy high school movie. Nova was always the pretty popular girl who always got good grades and was adored by everyone. I was always considered the weird kid who got decent grades and only talked to 3 people. One of those people being my roommate. She always looked down on me and wanted me to be like her and get a career, get a rich husband, and be the ideal daughter. I would've loved that, if that was me but it isn't.

I answered the phone and don't even get a chance to speak before she speaks. "Serenity, we need to talk" she says firmly. I quietly sigh annoyed before continuing. "Me and Noah want to come over and see you, so I need to know when you're free" she says. That's another way of saying 'I want to see if you decided to change your lifestyle so I can approve of it'. "Well, I'm not free for the next two weeks since I have some shifts to take in" I say. I wasn't completely lying, but I need the extra week to prepare myself for her visit. "Hm, alright then. I'll book our flight in two weeks. And we'll only be staying for a few days since Noah has an important conference around that time" she says. "don't you have a private jet? You don't need to book a flight" I say. "Well, we need to let the pilot know ahead of time. But anyways, we'll see you soon" she says. She hangs up before I could even say goodbye.

My sister coming over was one of the top things I must mentally prepare myself for. She hates Lina, she hates my apartment, she hates my job, she basically hates everything I love. When I got my first tattoo in junior year, she freaked out more than mom and dad did. I had gotten a spine tattoo of a flower on a stem. Luckily, they never found out about my tramp stamp that I got that same year. But she disapproved of everything I did. I'm currently 27 years old and still can't gain approval from my 29 year old sister.

I put my phone down and finished my cereal and finished my show. At least she can't hate something like this.

Lina had gotten home later that night and we had started binge watching corny Christmas movies while having a beer and some candy she bought on the way home. "This story line is so basic, I'm actually bored" she says as she takes a sip of her beer. We don't drink beer, but I mean never hurts to try some every now and then.

We ended up turning off the movie and started talking since the movie was soon about to end and we already knew what was going to happen. "I'm sorry to break this to you while we're having fun, but my sister is coming in two weeks" I say. Lina nearly choked on her chocolate bar when I said that. "Serenity, you know your sister is going to criticize everything in here, including me and you" Lina says. Lina wasn't wrong. Last time Nova came, she and Lina got into a huge argument because Lina was walking around with shorts and a t shirt. Nova went as far as accusing her of trying to seduce her husband, Noah.

Noah was the opposite of Nova. He was nice, charming, and wasn't super judgmental about everything. I could talk to him about everything, even his wife. Noah understands my pain when it comes to Nova, but he always tries to say she just wants the best for me. But I know he's just saying that because that's his wife. But he brings light into everyone's lives, including mine, even if I don't see him often. He's just a breath of fresh air when he and Nova come over.

"Well, all we can do is just not take it personally" I say. "As long as she doesn't accuse me again, we'll all be good" she says. We both laughed as we continued talking and eating candy. We ended up giving up on the beers, we couldn't stand the taste.