I called Anna's sister, Frankie, while I drove and told her I was coming to the city for a couple days. I knew she had a two-bedroom apartment and I asked if I could use her spare bedroom. I needed to talk to Frankie about my plans. For whatever weird reason, talking to Frankie was like talking to Anna. They looked alike and their personalities were the same. I can't even begin to explain why I felt the need to get Anna's approval, but it was the last step before I could move on. I already knew what Frankie would say. She would say that Anna would want nothing more than for me to be happy but I had to hear her say it, like it was Anna saying it. Frankie seemed to be thrilled with my call and said something about déjà vu and told me she had something important to tell me.
Frankie met me in the lobby of her fancy apartment building. She was giddy as she threw herself into my arms the moment I stepped out of the revolving door to the lobby. I held her with one arm as she threw her arms around my neck and showered me with quick pecking kisses. I moved us off to the side so others, coming and going, could pass. I set my bag down and held her with both arms. Her feet were off the floor. Passers-by smiled at us as they went by.
In the elevator, she was talking a mile-a-minute. I couldn't take my eyes off her. She looked so much like Anna. Her voice was the same and she even used the same syntax and expressions that Anna used. Genetics or environment? Who knew. She had on a pair of jeans that looked like they had been sprayed on. Her ass was just like Anna's too. Perfect. Before recent developments, my heart would be in my throat just looking at Frankie and I admit that my heart quickened.
We talked all afternoon about stuff. When we ran out of stuff to talk about, I got down to business. After Anna's wake, I had her cremated like she wanted and Frankie volunteered to hold the urn until I decided what to do with it. I asked her if she still had the urn and she looked at me like I had ten heads and said, "Of course."
"I want to spread the ashes over the lake at the park. Anna had a favorite spot that was private and we could fool-around." I smiled when I thought about a few of those times. They were way more than fooling around. Anna loved to have sex in semi-public, with a risk of getting caught. I wasn't crazy about it at first but I learned to like it too. I told Frankie about a couple of them that stuck in my mind. She was amused. She'd never thought her sister Anna was that blatant about sex. Without a word, Frankie got up and went down the hall and returned in a minute carrying the brass urn. She put it on the coffee table between us and I just stared at it. Time seemed to stop.
Frankie spoke and broke the spell. "I'd like to go with you, if that's okay?" I just nodded. I couldn't get my voice to work for a few moments. My lungs seemed like they were jammed in my throat.
Still staring at the urn on the coffee table, I got my voice back and said, "I need to do some shopping and I'd like you to help me."
Frankie cocked her head and looked at me oddly and said, "Anything particular?"
For whatever reason, I hadn't anticipated that question. I had it all worked out that we'd just go shopping and wind up in the store, and then I'd tell her the story when it would be too late for her to talk me out of it. I looked into her eyes and saw Anna's eyes. I looked away and then began examining my fingers. I gathered my resolve and said, "An engagement ring." I braced myself for her reaction. I had gotten through the hard part of just saying it.
Frankie was apparently dumb-struck. She just sat there across the coffee table gawking at me over the urn. Slowly, her lips formed a smile and then a grin. She screeched, "YES. FINALLY. OH MY GOD, JACK." She launched off her chair and threw herself into my arms and kissed my face everywhere over and over again. I had prayed for this reaction but I never thought I'd get it. She maneuvered herself so she was sitting on my thighs with her feet behind me as she clung to my neck. I was so relieved by her reaction that I gripped her hips and pulled her to me. She tenderly kissed me on the lips and whispered, "I never thought I'd see the day. You found someone. Oh my God. You have to tell me."
I told her the whole story. I told her about Donna and Priya and Ashley and most of the others. I left out Divi and her friends. I didn't want her judging me as too much of a pervert. She was so excited that I got excited too. She asked a ton of questions and I answered them all. We talked into the early morning hours.
Frankie suddenly got energetic and her eyes went wide. "Fuck. I had something important to tell you." She had my attention. "I've been having these weird recurring dreams lately. They're always the same and you and Anna are there. I must be there too but I never take part. Anna always has her favorite dress on. You know that low-cut, navy-blue dress with small white polka-dots? The first few times I had the dream, Anna is talking to you. I'm just there listening. Neither of you seem to know that I'm there. I can't make out what she says and I try to listen harder but she drifts away and you're reaching for her. Two nights ago, I had the same dream. Everything is the same. Anna took your hand and she says something again but it's hard to make out. Then suddenly her words were clear but she was talking directly to me. She said..." Frankie's eyes suddenly glistened with tears as she stopped in mid-sentence. Her breath caught in her throat and she struggled to continue, "She said, 'Tell Jack that I'm always with him and I'll always love him. Tell him it's time.'" We were both crying like babies and I went to her and held her tight to me as we sobbed. When we got ourselves back together again, Frankie continued, "If that wasn't strange enough, last night I didn't have the dream and then you called this morning. This is all so weird." She smiled and more tears pushed out of her eyes. I wiped them from her cheeks and kissed her on the lips. She kissed me back with passion.
I thought of Anna as I lay there in bed. The thoughts didn't make me morose like usual and I didn't try to put them out of my mind. The vision of Anna in my brain morphed into Frankie in her painted-on jeans and her incredible ass and my erection lifted the bed covers. I stroked it a few times and then held it down on my stomach and drifted off to sleep.
The next day, Frankie had to work and I drove mindlessly around the city. I checked on my house that Anna and I had lived in. It was rented so I didn't go inside. I couldn't bring myself to sell it then. I wanted to sell it now. I called the real estate agency that we had used to buy the house later that afternoon and got the ball rolling. I visited Frankie at work, just to see our old offices. A lot had changed. I had no bad feelings about it. Frankie escorted me around. It was company policy when a visitor was there. Corporate espionage was a problem that Anna and I had never concerned ourselves with. We went to dinner that night and talked about the family and how everyone was. I even asked about Frankie's mom and she grinned and without hesitation said, "She still hates you."
I grinned and said, "I'm glad that some things haven't changed." She giggled and the conversation moved on.
Frankie played hooky from work the next day and I took her to breakfast at Anna's favorite breakfast diner. With all the changes since I'd left, I was amazed that it was still there. She drove. She wore Anna's favorite dress that she had mentioned from her dream. I remembered it. I hadn't immediately noticed but she had fixed her hair like Anna always wore hers. The bronze urn was seat-belted in the backseat. We sat in Anna's and my favorite booth near the window. I grinned when I realized that I had subconsciously done the same thing at Donna's diner. Frankie saw my grin and wanted to know what I was thinking. I told her. I remembered what I always ordered when Anna and I came here and I ordered something different.
Since we were already down-town and Frankie was so excited about the ring shopping, our next stop was at the best jewelry store in the city. It was where I'd bought Anna's ring. I wondered how I'd feel when I walked in but it was fine. Amazingly, the owner from back then was still worked there and he claimed that he remembered us. He couldn't be faulted for thinking that Frankie was Anna but he had to be amazed at how well she had aged. I didn't attempt to explain at first, but then I realized that I had to when I told him I wanted to look at engagement rings and he looked quizzically at us.
I explained the situation and he was embarrassed and apologetic and expressed his sympathy and then we got down to business. Frankie and I must have looked at a hundred rings. I didn't want it to look like Anna's ring. Frankie agreed. We finally settled on a round-cut two caret diamond center stone with a ring of baguette diamonds around it and imbedded in the platinum setting. The clarity and color of the center stone was incredible. Frankie pushed it onto her finger and examined it. She grinned at me and just nodded. The owner was ecstatic and he rattle off a string of Yiddish words that I didn't understand. His wife rushed in from the back room and grabbed my face and kissed me on both cheeks and then did the same to Frankie. The husband explained that Frankie wasn't the bride and the wife blushed with embarrassment.
We left with the ring in a hinged royal-blue velvet box safely in my front pocket. Frankie drove us to the park. I gave her directions to our 'spot' and we carried the urn and a blanket through a small patch of trees about a hundred feet from the edge of the lake. I spread the blanket in the same spot Anna always did. There was no one in sight. I set the urn in the grass and laid down on the blanket. Frankie laid down beside me and spread the flowing hemline of her dress around her. We watched the clouds pass by and commented on how one or another looked like an animal. We got laughing about some of the absurd comparisons. I was quiet for a while with my hands behind my head. Frankie read my mood and she got quiet too.