At four-twenty on a Friday afternoon Sara Kingston was called into the office of the Vice President of her company and told she no longer had a job. The Vice President was not an unkind man and he tried to give her hope by telling her that the economy could improve and a valued employee like her could be called back, but Sara knew there was little chance of that.
The company was already moving toward hiring part time consultants they didn't have to compensate with benefits packages and by the time the economy improved a lot of the work she did would already have been outsourced. At thirty-three years old, Sara had become redundant.
On the way home Sara nearly had an accident because her mind was not on her driving. She ran a red light and nearly broadsided a pickup truck that had right of way. The man in the truck gave her the finger, and Sara burst into tears.
Life sucked, she thought, and there didn't seem to be any signs of it improving.
She had managed to stop her tears and wipe her eyes by the time she reached the small grocery store in her community. She stopped because she knew there was no wine in the house she shared with her sister and she needed something to steady her nerves. She was tempted to go into the liquor store for something stronger, but the last thing she needed was gossip to start about her drinking habits. Living in a small town was good and bad, but part of the bad was the gossip. Everyone knew everything about everybody else, from their financial woes to their sex life. Not that Sara had to worry about her sex life. She didn't have one.
A part of Sara's depression was the knowledge her life could have been made easier if she'd been less choosy. Another Vice President at her company would have been willing to keep her on as his personal assistant if she'd been willing to give him some really personal assistance. Sara didn't think a job description should include afternoons of frolic at the nearby motel, or, as the Vice President hinted, a few frantic moments on the couch in his office.
At the grocery store Sara also made a few more purchases so it wouldn't look as if she just came in for the wine. There were times when Sara wished she were more like her sister and not really give a damn what people thought of her.
The boy who bagged her groceries gave her the once over. Sara knew men liked to look at her body even though lately she had been fighting a battle with her weight. She was a little plump but still in god shape with her full, high breasts long legs. And few men resisted taking another look at her from behind when she was walking away. But she knew she wasn't pretty. Her mousy brown hair was never manageable and her green eyes were set too close together and she thought her nose too sharp.
Her sister Becky was the pretty one, and the smart one. In school Becky was voted most popular and homecoming queen. She always made good grades without the effort that Sara put into study. After graduation Becky took a job as a secretary to a lawyer. Three months later she married the lawyer and a year after divorced him. There were two other marriages and two other divorces and Becky had come out of all of them with more money, more property, and more security. Becky lived well in a huge home and didn't have to work.
Sara had tried college but working as a waitress and trying to study was too much. She had tried business school and did well but there were no jobs available by the time she graduated. She went to work as a secretary in a small publishing firm. She had a brief affair with a co-worker who dumped her almost as soon as she had sex with him. Her virginity gone, she soon also lost her job and had to move in with her sister Becky.
Becky made her life hell. She listened to constant litany of how silly Sara was to do all that studying and work and all she really needed to do was find a man to take care of her. Becky always insisted that all Sara had to do was be less choosy, open her legs, and trap some man.
Sara had been looking forward to the day when she could move out of Becky's house but now it looked as if it wasn't going to happen until she found a new job, and she was also going to have to listen to all of Becky's crap again.
Knowing what she faced was another reason she needed the wine.
A red pick-up truck was parked in the drive when she got home and she felt even sicker inside. She was in no mood to see Eddie Harris. Eddie Harris was the son of one of the most powerful men in town. He was married but it didn't seem to stop him from chasing women. Becky was his current choice. Sara had no idea what his sister saw in him besides his money.
He was sitting on the couch drinking a beer when Sara opened the door. He gave her the once over and lifted his beer to her in a mock salute.
"Hello sweet cheeks," he said.
"Where is my sister?" Sara asked.
"She's taking a shower," Eddie answered. She's been busy this afternoon."
The tone of his voice left no doubt as to what she had been busy doing.
"Why don't you fetch me another beer?" Eddie said.
"Fetch it yourself,' Sara said.
Eddie shook his head sadly. "You should be nicer to me."
Sara could tell what he was thinking and she shook her head violently. "That will never happen."
"I've always wondered what it would be like with sisters," Eddie said.
"You sick bastard," Sara said.
She knew she couldn't kick him out of the house because the house belonged to her sister but she didn't have to stay in the same room with him. She hurried through the living room toward the bedroom but she heard his voice behind her.
"I don't think you'll get a better offer, sweet cheeks," he said, "unless some guy will put a bag over your head."
She slammed the door of her bedroom and sat down on the edge of the bed. She quickly opened the bottle and poured the wine into a paper cup and finished it off in a couple of swallows. Now she definitely wished she had gotten something stronger as she poured another cup. She felt sick inside. It wasn't the first time she had heard the comment about the bag over her head, but she hadn't heard it in a while. How could boys and men be so crude and cruel?
When she had been a girl, she had dreamed of Prince Charming. She had dreamed of white picket fences and babies and living happily ever after.
She sipped her wine and felt the tears come again.
There was no fucking prince anywhere in sight.
She didn't get out of her clothes. Instead she cried for a while and then finished off the bottle of wine. A couple of times her sister knocked on her door but she didn't answer and later she thought she heard her sister and Eddie talking outside her room. She didn't really sleep well. Her mouth felt dry and she felt ill when she got up the next morning. She took a long, hot shower and dressed in jeans and a pullover sweater without bothering with a bra. She found her sister sitting at the breakfast table.
"You look like hell," Becky said.
"Thanks," Sara replied.
Sara couldn't face breakfast. She poured herself some coffee and piled it thick with sugar and sat at the table with Becky.
"So you don't have a job again," Becky said.
Sara sighed. She had hoped to avoid this conversation but news travelled fast in a small town. There was little sympathy in Becky's tone of voice.
"No, I got laid off again," she said.
"You've had three jobs in less than a year," Becky said.
"The economy is bad right now," Sara said lamely.
Becky laughed. "That wasn't why you were fired. I hear they have hired a college girl to take your place. She's tall and blonde and good looking. She doesn't have to have brains with a face and figure like she has. "
Sara didn't answer.
"So why are you going to do about paying me rent," Becky said.
"I'll find another job," Sara said.
"Sure you will. In the meantime the debt adds up. Do you have any idea how much you owe me now?"
"No," Sara said miserably.
"I can get you figures but it's a hell of a lot."
"I'm sorry," Sara said. "I'll pay you back. I will."
"You bet you will," Becky said. "In the meantime, you can start taking up some of the responsibilities around here."
"I can do cooking and cleaning," Sara said. "I don't mind. I told you before that we could get by without a maid coming."
"I like having a maid and I can afford it," Becky said. "Actually, I had something else in mind."
"I don't understand," Sara said.
"I want you to start being nice to Eddie. He's my boyfriend. I want you to start treating him special."
"He's a creep," Sara said.
"You hurt his feelings last night," Becky said. "You called him a sick bastard. He didn't like that. Now you are going to apologize to him."
"I won't do that," Sara said. "I can't stand him."
"You will apologize to him and treat him nice or you won't be living here anymore," Becky said.
There was a determination in Becky's voice Sara had never heard before. Her sister was serious. If it came to a choice between Sara and Eddie, it would be Sara who had to leave. Sara was fighting to stay out of deep depression and she knew if Becky kicked her out she would become even more depressed.
And where would she go? She had no savings and very little money. Even her car was in Becky's name. And there were creditors who still chased her.
"Okay, I'll apologize," Sara said.
"And you'll be nice to him," Becky insisted.
