Disclaimer: This story is a work of fiction. It involves elements of incest, alcohol, and questionable consent. All characters are at the legal age of 18 or older.
* * * * *
"It's the least you can do for him, Elizabeth."
Having to listen to those words was the final straw. I hung up the phone call. That was after I had listened to my mother for nearly an hour with barely a chance to say anything myself. A bitter and frustrated sigh left my lips.
And so, after taking another deep breath, I crawled back into the softness of my bed and grabbed the blanket to comfort myself. I was lucky that I no longer lived at home. So whenever my mother attempted to force her will on me, it was just a matter of putting the phone away.
She had told me about how my uncle was going through a divorce -- yet another divorce -- and needed a place to stay at. It was his own fault for getting into bad marriages. After the first one didn't have a happy ending, he should have just taken some time to figure out why -- and then go from there. It seemed so silly to me for a person to rush from one relationship into another. He should know better -- he was twice my age after all. There should be some wisdom in those years, right?
Since he was my mother's brother, he used to visit us at home pretty regularly. He had always been a welcome part of the family. However, almost every time he visited us, he brought a different girl along. Sometimes he would introduce her as girlfriend, sometimes it would be a fiancΓ©. I can only take a wild guess at why a guy would enjoy changing his partner more often than most people change their bedsheets.
For some weird reason, my mother suggested that he could temporarily move in with me, into the apartment I was renting. Just because he was a man, and in her words, would be able to keep me safe. And, in return, he would have a roof over his head until he could sort himself out with a new place to stay at.
I dreaded the thought.
A knock on my bedroom door startled me, and brought me back to reality.
"Elsa, are you in there?" It was the familiar soft voice of my dearest friend.
The door opened and Lauren peeked inside. She was my best friend, without a doubt. She was also the person I shared the cost of the rent with, since we were lucky enough to be accepted into the same college together and sharing an apartment simply made sense. Calling her a childhood friend would be an understatement, we grew up together, and she often remarked about how I was closer to her than some of her own siblings.
"I told you not to call me that," I replied with a frown, but raised part of the blanket as invitation for her to join me.
"Elsa, do you want to build a snowman?" Lauren replied with a rapidly growing smirk. Nonetheless she couldn't resist the offer, and joined me underneath the cozy blanket. She snuggled up against me. Strands of her long hair waved into my face, and I barely managed to suppress a sneeze.
"It's summer. There's no snow," I responded matter-of-factly instead of playing along with her joke. She loved teasing people with movie quotes. "I just finished the call with mom. She's nuts, she wants my uncle to stay with us for a few days so he can sort out his divorce."
"So?" Lauren gave me a quizzical gaze. "If he needs help, I don't mind if he stays here! The more, the merrier. Right? Besides, family always comes first," she explained. It was understandable that she thought that way. She had two brothers, and a dozen or so cousins. Her family gatherings were huge. I would often come along for those, and the atmosphere was always so energetic and positive. Naturally I envied her, since her entire family was such a happy bunch.
"I don't know... it could be weird. What if one of us brings a guy home? It would be strange." It didn't matter how much I thought about it, there was no benefit to playing along with my mother's request.
"Elsie, relax. If you were to bring someone home with us, I'd pop a bottle of champagne. It's long overdue that you get over your last boyfriend. Besides, we could use an extra set of hands!" She tilted her head and pointed into the direction of a stack of old laundry in the corner of my room.
"We don't need a special reason just to help someone anyway. But, even so, he clearly can make himself useful while he's here. The washing machine made weird noises recently, too, so maybe he could fix that as well when he's here. Give him a chance." She reached under the blanket and playfully pinched my side. "Guys can be useful."
"Fhh...fine," I muttered back at her.
"Now go get dressed. I promised my friend that we would come to her bachelorette party. There's going to be cake! Everybody likes cake, right? Come on." She climbed back out of the bed, with a firm hold on the blanket which she quickly pulled away from me and out of my reach.
"All right, fine," I replied, and she left the room. Just in case there were going to be any cute guys at the party, I also made sure to clean up where I could, which included the aforementioned laundry.
Getting dressed for a night out was always the most time consuming and annoying part. After examining myself in front of the mirror in a dozen different dresses, my choice fell on an elegant cocktail dress. The wine-colored fabric nicely accentuated my curves, and harmonized with my flowy curls of auburn hair that draped just past my shoulders. The freckles across my pale skin were in plain view, but according to my previous partners, freckles are
hot
.
After putting a finishing touch on my makeup, I was ready and we departed together to enjoy the party. It was hosted in the backyard of the bride-to-be. She was out of her mind with joy and it was a delight to watch her. Lauren and I had a good time with some of the guests too, though Lauren had a significantly easier time approaching everyone. She had always been the more extroverted type.
Since we mingled with the crowd, and most of the guests were college seniors, we didn't stick out too much when we had some drinks as well. We would sip our cocktails, chat about college, and then drink some more. It was nice. Mostly. At some point, I pulled Lauren aside and gave her a drunken rant at how stupid it was to marry before having a good and proper career like this silly bachelorette was planning to. The rant was full of passion and vigor. I even gave her a brief rundown of my ten-year-plan which outlined when I intended to buy a house and quit the job I didn't even have yet!
That was when Lauren decided it was time to get my drunken ass home.
It was already dark outside, but fortunately, one of the guests had volunteered to drive us home
. The drunk college freshmen and their chauffeur
. We laughed and giggled in the backseat, like a pair of hens, as we competed to see who could have the silliest humor. The jokes simply kept getting worse and I could only imagine our driver's relief when we arrived at our destination. The familiar sight of a three-story building in a nice part of the city. Our home.