How Complicated Could It Be

Prologue

year 2027

"Thank you so much for doing this Alcie. You have absolutely no idea how much it means to me." My sister, Ariadne, is dropping off her 12-year-old daughter, Mae, to stay with me for a week. She needs to finalize her divorce with her husband. Of course, I didn't mind.

"Oh come on, Ari, I'm her favorite aunt. Why would I mind?"

Our names are very complicated and hard to pronounce, so we use our nicknames instead. I'm actually named Alcina, which is pronounced as al-SEE-na, which also apparently means strong-willed in Greek. My sisters name is harder to pronounce though. Her name is pronounced as air-ee-AHD-nee, which mean most holy in Greek. You can tell our parents were obsessed with Greek culture. Growing up, me and Ari really found it irritating when people pronounced or spelled our names wrong. It came to a certain point where we didn't feel the need to correct them. I guess that's why she named her daughter something simpler, like Mae.

"Hi aunt Alcie!" Mae smiled as she hugged me as tight as she can.

"Woah, kiddo! I can sense someone really missed her favorite aunt!"

I love Mae. She's like the daughter I will, most probably, never have. I'm a soon to be twenty-six-year-old journalist, who has yet to make her own name, living in a one-bedroom studio apartment, who spends her days watching romantic comedies that only make her cry in the end since she realizes how lonely her life actually is. As you can see, I'm living a pretty normal life.

"I really did aunt Alcie! You're the only one who lets me do all the stuff I want!" Mae then excitedly entered into my apartment, taking her suitcase with her.

"Listen, Alcie, Mae might ask you a lot of questions about love and all crap. She's kind of hoping she can convince me enough to stop me from getting divorced from her dad. She idolizes you, so I was hoping that maybe you can talk to her about it, you know?" Ariadne said, taking a hold of my hand.

"What's there to learn about?" I said, chuckling. "Anyway, sure yeah. I'll talk to her about it. She's probably pretty crushed about this whole divorce thing anyway."

"Thank you so much. You're the best. I'd like to catch up with you more little sis, but I kind of have to get going now. It's a four-hour drive to get back to Maryland. "

"Oh yeah, of course. Have a safe drive Ari." and as I hugged her, I whispered in her ear, "You got this okay? Remember that I'll always be here for you."

Her eyes were glassy as she looked at me, nodding her head.

"Mae, baby, I'm gonna leave you with Auntie Alcie now okay? Be good. I love you!"

"Okay mom, I love you too!" Mae shouted, probably in the kitchen searching for some snacks to munch on. I always stock snacks for her to eat in my apartment, which is probably one of the reasons why she loves staying with me.

"Hey kiddo! What's new with you?" I asked, on the other side of my bar counter table, as I watched her munch on Frosted Flakes while sitting on one of the bar stools.

"You mean aside from mom and dad getting divorced? Peachy, I guess." She said, shrugging her shoulders.

"I don't appreciate the sarcasm, but I'll take it. Want a drink?" I said, opening the fridge and grabbing some mango juice.

"Hey, aunt Alcie, can I ask you a question?" She said, still munching on the cereal.

"Shoot."

"I mean, I'm comfortable with you enough to tell you anything. And to be honest with you, sometimes I don't even consider you as my aunt. You're like a friend to me."