The Daughters of Men

Chapter 2

The next morning, Holly woke up around noon, the sunlight peering in through her window like poison seeping into her veins. Grabbing a ball of clothes and her bright yellow towel she stumbled her way to the bathroom down the hall, getting ready for the day. Taking a brisk yet steamy shower, Holly threw on some black dress pants and a Taylor Swift t-shirt with an obvious mustard stain on it before quickly making her way downstairs.

The smell of bacon and eggs hit her hard, and she nearly tripped going down the stairs, catching herself only through the act of violently grabbing down on the railing. Stepping into the dining room, she saw Jesse in the kitchen, making breakfast. "Good morning, Jesse."

"Oh, you're up!" Jesse remarked sarcastically. "Here I was thinking you'd be asleep all day. Do you work today?"

"Uh, yeah, at the coffee shop, in like, three hours," Holly answered. Then, she stretched and yawned loudly. "What's for breakfast, Uncle Jesse?"

"Bacon and eggs, just the way you like them," Jesse replied. "Black bacon the texture of charcoal and scrambled eggs with ketchup. Satan's breakfast, I call it."

Holly chuckled and yawned again. "Thanks, Jesse. I don't know about Satan, but I appreciate you giving me his breakfast."

"Anything for you. How'd you sleep?"

"I slept good," Holly lied. "Out like a light almost as soon as I laid down."

"Good, good," Jesse muttered, distractedly as he turned his attention back to the food. "You made it to the party store okay? There was something on the news this morning about some guys down the street getting attacked."

"No, no, it was an uneventful expedition," Holly mumbled through gritted teeth. "Besides, who would attack me? I'm awful scary Jesse."

Jesse laughed loudly. "Oh yes, the five-foot-two hundred-fifteen pound Holly Elizabeth Richards-Howl is too threatening to be kidnapped or beaten."

"For your information, I am five-foot-four," Holly stated accusingly. "And I may be light, but it's all muscle. I'm basically Mister Universe."

Coming out of the kitchen with a plate in each hand, Jesse put one plate down in front of Holly and another at the end of the table for him. "So, Holly. What is new in life? Any significant others or anything?"

"I mean," Holly started, throwing a piece of bacon into her mouth, "there was this one girl--"

A sound came from Jesse's throat, something like a mixture of a garbage disposal with chicken bones in it and a cat that's about to throw up. "A girl? You're a lesbian?"

Holly gave a look of surprise. "You didn't know? I'm sorry, I just assumed that everyone was aware."

"No, no, it's fine," Jesse wheezed gently. He pounded on his chest a bit. "Just took me by surprise. You're sure you're gay?"

Giving her uncle a small smile, she said, "Yeah, I'm fairly sure. I mean, I tried things with a guy once but they kinda didn't go over well because honestly--"

"Nope. I don't need to hear anything else. Anyway. Back to this girl. Who was it?"

"Her name," Holly began, "was Ryan. She works at the Meijer behind the pizza place, so I'd see here when I'd stop there after work sometimes. We got a coffee together once, but she never texted me back afterwards."

"I'm sorry, honey," Jesse genuinely replied. "What happened?"

"Eh, who knows?" Holly muttered. "Maybe it's the abs. The abs scare most people away. They're like washboards made of rocks that are made of steel that's made of gold. It's really impressive. That P90X could do wonders, if you're interested in getting shredded."