Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 87538 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87538 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
She laughs. “I’m twenty. I don’t need to decompress. I’m fine.”
“You don’t need a job. I’m serious. What happens when they ask you to do another shift, and then another? Before you know it, you’ll be a full-time waitress.”
“If I promise you I won’t ever take more than one shift a week, and I’ll ditch the job if I feel it’s impacting my studies, will that stop you worrying?”
“No.” I shift awkwardly, closing the lid of the pizza box. The smell is really pungent. “It might help me stop worrying so much. But you’ve got to promise to be honest with me.”
“When have I ever not been honest?” She rolls her eyes just as she finishes the sentence, because she knows what my reply will be. “I was eight years old,” she says as if pleading for leniency. “You can’t hold that against me for the rest of my life.” Eddie snuck into my makeup bag when I was sixteen and tried out my brand-new liquid eyeliner. She dropped it all over my cream carpet, then proceeded to tell me and the housekeeper she’d seen the cat coming out of my room “looking guilty”.
“What does a guilty cat look like again?” I ask, grinning at her.
“I only wish I’d tried the eyeliner out on him.”
“Your lie might have been more convincing if you had.”
“Pet makeup,” Eddie says, narrowing her eyes and staring ahead. “You think that will ever be a thing?”
I groan. “I hope you don’t think about this kind of thing in lectures.”
She shrugs. “You say that now, but one of these days, I might hit on an idea with legs. That’s what Dad did, right?”
Before they died, I didn’t really know what my parents did. I knew it was something in finance. It was only afterwards that I discovered he’d managed funds for high-net-worth individuals, but in a way that gave them an element of control. Apparently it was revolutionary in its day.
“I guess,” I reply.
“A degree’s just a starting point. I’ve gotta keep thinking about what’s next.”
She’s right. A degree isn’t the end goal. I want Eddie happy, successful both personally and professionally. Getting to graduation is only a small step in a longer journey. My job as her big sister will never truly be done. That’s why I have to maintain a stable career. The money provides me with the tools to help Eddie and Dylan, no matter where life takes them.
“That should really go in the mug,” Eddie says.
Have I missed a couple of minutes? What is she talking about?
“Eddie doesn’t need your money.” She scribbles it down and tosses it across the floor. “Another reason to stay with your sexy single dad.”
“So just like that, I don’t need to pay for anything for you?”
She shrugs. “Worst case, I can get a loan.” She narrows her eyes. “Are you okay? You look a little…sweaty.”
“Stop with the compliments. I’m blushing.”
“You do look a little red in the face.”
I roll my eyes and ignore how she’s trying to deflect the conversation. “Owing people money is horrible. Especially if you don’t have to. Which you don’t.”
“Don’t you get it?” she asks. “I want to be independent. I want to do this on my own. And maybe I’ll get myself in the shit, but if I do, I know you’ll help me get out—not financially, but just by being there. I’m twenty years old. My uni fees are paid. I have a job. It’s important I learn to do things on my own. The circumstances were awful and I’d never wish it on you, but what our…cuncle did…well, you’ve proven that however hard life gets, you can figure it out. That makes you powerful as fuck.” She grabs my hand. “I want some of that for me, you know?”
“You want me to leave you in the shit?”
“Financially, I want to start figuring things out on my own. I’ll never go through what you did, because you didn’t have a safety net. You’ve given me that gift. But now I’m an adult. I think I should explore what I’m capable of. Frankly, I should have been applying for scholarships left and right, but I haven’t because I knew you had it covered. I should have probably had a job by now too. Things are changing now, and that means you don’t have to take the job with the Russians.”
I can’t help but smile at her. I’m so proud. Not just because she’s choosing not to take the easy route, but because she’s also managing to convince me that not making everything easy for her is actually the best thing I can do.
“Oh and by the way, I’ve spoken to Dylan. He and I are completely aligned. We’re not taking your money anymore. We’re both adults capable of making our own money. Neither of us wants you putting your life on hold just in case we need something. Not anymore.”