Double Trouble

Chapter Fifteen

The sun was starting to set over the park/forest preserve. I sat in the passenger side of Jason's car, with him in the driver's seat. We were both sitting quietly, the elephant in the room almost unbearable. We were both waiting for Clara to join Marcus at the picnic table he was sitting at. We had made the plan; all left was to execute it.

In all honesty, it was fairly simple. After we talked to Marcus and got more details about the story, all the wind had died out in my sails. I wanted to clear this up with my sister. As pissed off as I was about Jason and Marcus, the way I felt about Clara was a whole different level of rage. The talk of revenge was good, but I wanted to understand. Why would she do that to me? Why do this to her own sister?

Jason nudged me and pointed towards the table. Clara had just approached Marcus, and I was shocked. It wasn't the sister I was used to seeing. This Clara was gorgeous. She looked as if she got her inspiration from some dark dominatrix. She had taken off her glasses and blown out her hair. She was wearing dark makeup done expertly and had a confident look in her eyes. In all honestly, she looked like me. Of course, we're sisters, but I had never seen her like this. I could now see what Marcus had meant. She was sexy and closer to how I dressed than anything she would have normally done. She wore thigh-high black boots, tight black skinny jeans, and a gray crop top.

I watched her sit down on the opposite side of Marcus, and they began talking. He clearly was making small talk because Clara hadn't reacted yet. She was actually running her fingers up and down his arm and around his neck and chin. She seemed very comfortable with herself at that moment.

It hurt to watch that, to see my sister that comfortable with the man I loved. You could tell that they had done this dance before and had intimate knowledge of each other. If I hadn't believed Marcus before, watching them together in this moment solidified it for me.

I looked away, feeling the tears prick the corner of my eyes. I jumped slightly as I felt Jason's hand grab my own and pull it into his lap. He looked at me, not with pity but understanding, and started rubbing the back of my hand with his thumb in gentle circles. I smiled at him and wiped my eyes using my free hand. After I composed myself, Jason said, "Are you ready to do this?" I nodded, and he said, "I'm not going to tell you not to do it; I'm not going to say it's ok; we can try again. Unfortunately, you have to face this head-on if you want to move on from it; I can promise you from dealing with it this long on my own that, it just eats away at you until you can't take it anymore. I had an escape by wanting to save you from her and Marcus, but you are infinitely braver than me. It won't be easy in the least, but it can't go on like this. And I promise I will stand by you every minute until you no longer need me."

I looked over at him and looked him in the eyes. He was staring at me with all seriousness and understanding in his gaze, but not one drop of hesitating. I had to remember that he had been dealing with this far longer and all alone at that. Yes, I felt the blow of this because it was my sister, but he was also dealing with his own issues.

My phone buzzed, and it was a text message from Marcus telling us to hurry up. I showed Jason, and he rolled his eyes, and I heard him say under his breath, "bitch ass." I giggled and said, "Come on." We both got out of the car, and Jason grabbed my hand again. The way the bench was set up, Clara's back was toward us, and thankfully Marcus was smart enough not to look up as we walked toward him. When we were behind them, I said, "Hey, sis, you cute. New look?" Clara damn near fell off the bench as she heard my voice, and I walked around the table to sit next to Marcus, Jason sitting next to me.

Clara looked at the three of us sitting across from us, me in the middle, protected by them, and started laughing. It wasn't just a regular laugh, this was borderline hysterics, and you'd think she'd heard the best joke of her entire life the way she was laughing. Both Marcus and Jason rolled their eyes, but I sat there patiently waiting for her to finish. I wasn't going to let her intimidate me.