Emma was getting so annoyed that her aunt Maisie still wasn't home but she would pay for her lateness for sure.
Maisie is thirty-nine-years-old and is staying with twenty-four-year-old Emma and her mum, Janet, who's is Emma's forty-nine-year-old mum.
Janet has a busy job and three days ago announced she would be away on business for the next two weeks.
Emma had finished Uni and set up her own clothes business which she ran from home.
Maisie was out of work and on benefit which was why she could not afford a house rental and begged Janet to let her stay a while. The two sisters generally got on when living in their own homes, but tensions rose after Maisie moved in as she didn't contribute to the running costs or pay rent but assumed her older sister would put up with that.
Emma was also getting really annoyed with her aunt who would watch tv all afternoon and generally interrupt her business by being noisy when she was trying to concentrate.
So, when Janet announced that she would be away for two weeks Emma asked in a worried tone, "What am I supposed to do, mum? Auntie Maisie loafs around the house leaving a mess everywhere."
Janet was sympathetic to what her daughter was saying and replied, "I'll talk to her."
Well the talk didn't go too well. Maisie was off hand with her sister saying it would all be okay and she won't interrupt Emma when she was working. However, Janet knew Maisie lapsed in to her bad ways very quickly and decided on another tack. "Listen up, Maisie, Emma works hard and needs support and not your interference so I need to know you will be helping around the house as well."
Maisie obviously wasn't too happy with what her sister said and even less so when Janet said, "So I am going to tell Emma to let me know if you become a problem and if you are then I'll do what mum did to you when we lived at home. You'll remember she grounded you."
Maisie looked surprised at the threat. "You are joking sis, aren't you?"
Janet remained resolute. "No, Maisie, I am not joking. I trust Emma to keep a watchful eye on you. Don't forget she was a prefect at school so is used to monitoring behaviour, and if she tells me you are causing her a problem then I'll ground you, and Emma can monitor that was well."
Maisie just wanted the conversation to be over so simply agreed with her sister. "Sure thing, Janet, young Emma can watch over me."
Janet didn't thing the sarcastic sounding response was helpful and pushed back with, "Exactly. Maisie, Emma will be in charge whilst I'm away."
Janet had been gone just three days and Emma was already getting more and more frustrated with her aunts' time wasting. Thankfully Maisie did go out a lot but spent her benefit money on frivolous things she didn't need and so then had to stay in or ask Emma for some money on a promise to repay her.
Today though, Emma decided to exercise some authority over her aunt. "So, auntie, you have an interview at 3 o'clock so make sure you attend it and if you don't I'll be telling mum."
Maisie was off-hand. "Well I may not bother, sweetie, as I get my benefit money today and there's a top I really like at the shops so I might just go there instead."
"No way, auntie. You must go to the interview," Emma insisted. "Also, remember that I'll be making supper for six o'clock as I have to work this evening and I'll need peace and quiet all evening."
Maisie still didn't really want to go to the interview but didn't tell Emma, of course. "See you later, Emma," Maisie said as she picked up her handbag and left the house. She was wearing a short sleeved pink blouse and a white skirt and had bare legs, which, on reflection, didn't look particularly like clothes anyone should wear for an interview.
However, Emma was pleased with the sudden quiet that befell the house and settled down to work and got quite engrossed although at two-forty-five remembered that Maisie was supposed to be at the interview. She got her phone out and looked at the tracking app. She had got hold of Maisie's phone a couple of weeks earlier when it was unlocked and changed the tracking setting so that she could tell where Maisie was. It was an app really for parents to track where their kids were but Emma decided it might be fun to track Maisie. That was before she found out her mum was going away but she was now so pleased she had set it.
Emma looked at her phone expecting Maisie to be in the business area of town as the interview was due in about ten minutes. However, she was fuming to discover that Maisie was still in the shopping centre and there was no way she could get to the interview in time.
That was why Emma was fuming as Maisie still wasn't home and it was already seven o'clock. Emma knew from the tracking device that there was no use waiting for Maisie for supper as she was still nowhere near the house. In the event Maisie had just about finished the drying up when Maisie got home.
Emma heard the front door open and still holding a plate and towel went out in to the hallway to see Maisie blushing but holding a bag from the store she had been to.
"Sorry, Emma," Maisie said although looking guilty.
"How was the interview, auntie?" Emma asked knowing she hadn't been.
"It was good," Maisie said, blatantly lying, adding, "Erm, I've had a bite to eat as well."
Emma was fuming at the blatant lies. "What's in the bag, auntie?" Emma asked trying to sound interested.