My Sisters Husband

Chapter 4

November
•••
Oh, gosh, why haven't I figured out how to tie a tie by now?

"I'm so sorry, babe," I said looking up at my boyfriends terribly rumpled tie. "I tried."

He looked down at his tie and laughed. He started to unravel the mess I made with it and was somehow able to smooth it out. "It just takes some practice. This is much better than the first one you did."

He was right. The first time I tried to tie a tie I managed to rip it. I looked back up at him and saw beautiful, brown tie perfectly done with absolutely no wrinkles or bumps in it. Magic.

"How the hell did you do that?" I said while turning around, gesturing for him to zip up my dress.

"Practice, practice, practice," he said. I've always admired how much patience he's always has with me. It takes a special type of man to not get pissed off when his girlfriend almost ruins his tie.

We both turned to look into the bathroom mirror and admire how well we've both cleaned up. His curly, ashy hair was combed to the side neatly, and my usually tangled mess was down in wavy, voluminous curls. We looked very formal with my tan dress and his corresponding tie. Getting ready to head down into my mothers formal Thanksgiving dinner, the doorbell rang.  I rushed to my window and looked out onto the front porch. I saw my sister and a taller guy who's face I just couldn't make out.

"I'm so nervous. I haven't spoken to her in forever. And she's got a guy with her so I don't even know how I'm going to be able to talk to her, you know how awkward I am around new people."

He placed his large, burly hands on my shoulders to stop me from pacing and gave me a big hug. "She's your sister. Everything will be fine. It's only been three and a half months since she left, she's still the same person."

His hug made me feel so much better. He's always so comforting. But that didn't change the fact that I was still incredibly nervous about seeing my sister. "A lot can change in three and a half months. What if she's not the same person?"

"Well let's go find out," he said to me while leading me down the stairs.

•••

"Jamie!" I said as soon as I saw her.

"Jo!" She screamed back.

We rushed into each other's arms and hugged like we hadn't seen each other in decades. We ran to each other so quickly I forgot to stop and look at her. I pulled out of the hug, my arms still around her, and examined her. Her hair was lighter than I remembered. Much lighter actually. Did she go blonde?

"Oh my god, James! Are you blonde??"

She laughed and flipped her hair with her perfectly manicured hand. Seeing her polished fingernails, I looked down to see her toes and I discovered that they are also polished to match her fingers. While I was looking at her feet, I noticed an anklet with a few recognizable Greek characters on it...

"Are you in a sorority?" I screamed.

"Kappa Kappa Kappa," she said to me while smiling. I never once imagined, in a million years, that my sister would be in a sorority.

We finally let go of each other and I did one final examination of her. College looked good on my sister.

"So... Do you want to meet my boyfriend?" Jamie said playfully.

"Hell yeah I do!" I yelled back. "You grab yours, I'll grab mine and you can introduce us in the back."

She nodded and we both went looking for our men.

•••

Heading towards the patio, with my arm looped around Adam's I see that Jamie is already seated in our chairs with her mystery man. She had known about Adam because we had gotten together about four months before she left, but she had not once mentioned that she was in any sort of relationship. Especially one serious enough to bring home for Thanksgiving.

We settled into our comfort, patio seats before looking up at her new man. There was something about him that was eerily familiar. The way his lips were pursed and his sandy hair reminded me of an old friend.

"Joey, this is my boyfriend, Brian."

BINGO!

"Brian?" I questioned. This could be the Brian I was thinking of but at the same time it could just as well be another, completely different Brian. My sister knew about our little relationship and she was very aware of how much we cared about each other. He was such a big part of my life then, and he totally broke my eighth grade heart after we stopped talking. Why wouldn't she tell me that she knew him let alone was dating him?

I continued, "Brian as in the Brian that used to be our neighbor but moved to Wisconsin? Is that this Brian?"

She nodded. I looked up at Brian to see how he was reacting to this but he wasn't. His gaze was set on me and nothing else. The solemnness of his face unnerved me and made me quite uncomfortable. I looked away.

"How long have you two been dating?" I asked.

No words from Brian, just gazes; so my sister decided to answer the question, "It will be one month on Wednesday."

"And you're serious enough to bring him home for the holidays?"

"Yeah." She said while reaching her hand to grab his, who's gaze was still fixed.

"And you didn't tell me?"

"I didn't think you'd mind." She responded.

She was right. Why did I mind? I didn't answer her. There was a tension as thick as leather swirling around my patio and Adam was definitely one to feel it.

"I'm Adam, Joey's boyfriend." He said, breaking the silence. "It's nice to finally meet you, I've seen you in so many pictures"

He broke his gaze and turned to Adam, "Joey and I were very close as children."

•••

We all survived a terribly awkward dinner and I sent Adam home thinking that I would be able to spend some time with my sister. Unfortunately, Brian didn't allow that. He spent a good four hours talking about his life and how great everything has been for him, leaving no room for anyone else to speak. He definitely enjoyed the limelight, he'd always been that way but I never remembered it being this bad. I excused myself and headed towards my room to get ready for bed. It was a long day to begin with but Brian's surprise appearance and creepy stare really exhausted me.

I went up to my room, changed into my pj's and started to walk to the bathroom when I heard someone else's footsteps in the hallway. I stopped just to see who it was before starting my nighttime routine. It was Brian.