The next morning was probably the quietest the house has ever been.
Mom and Cassandra were in the kitchen by the time I got down to have breakfast. My sister glared at me as I poured myself a bowl of cereal. Even when I turned away from her, I could feel her furious stare burning a hole in my back.
I could only ignore her and hope that Mom didn't pick up on anything. To be fair, she looked far too hungover to care, sipping orange juice with her head low above the table.
I considered saying something to Cassandra when I sat down to eat, but no words came to me. It was probably for the best, anyway-the less I talked about it, even vaguely, the lower the likelihood of Mom finding out.
I ate, got ready and was out the door inside ten minutes. Work was a welcome distraction from yesterday's mishap. I couldn't afford to think about Cassandra. I could even less afford to think about just how good it had felt.
I was stuck at the counter for most of the day. It was boring, but it was a familiar routine and it helped dull my thoughts. Near the end of the day, a woman came in. She wore high heels and a short dress that barely reached down past her ass. The thin fabric accentuated her full, round breasts, showing off a lot of cleavage. Her hair was curly and black, and she wore a cute little hair clip in it.
While I was debating whether or not her tits were real, she approached the desk.
"Eyes up here, Handsome," she said.
I jumped and directed my eyes up to her face. She smiled patiently at me as if she got that kind of reaction a lot.
I coughed. "Sorry about that, Ma'am. Is there anything I can help you with?"
"Sure," she said. "Your number?"
"W-what?" I asked, slightly taken aback.
"I saw you through the window and thought you look quite fetching. There's certainly nothing else in this store that interests me."
"Um, I..." I had never been approached so frankly by a woman before.
She's gorgeous. I should give her my number.
"I'm sorry," I said. "I have a girlfriend."
I didn't know why I said that, even as the words were going out of my mouth. This woman was practically throwing herself at me. Any sane, single man would have complied.
But I was far from sane. My brain was flooded with Cassandra. I couldn't think about anything else, even with this woman standing in front of me.
She frowned at me, then blew out a sharp breath. "Fine." She picked an old receipt off of the holder on the counter and scribbled something on it with a pen, then handed it to me. "In case you change your mind. I don't mind guys with a bit of baggage. More competition means more fun."
With that, she turned around and walked out of the store, leaving behind a faint smell of flowery perfume.
I felt a hand on my shoulder and jumped. I looked back to see the store's owner, Harvey, standing there. He was in his fifties, but his hair had gone all gray, including his bushy beard. He wore a flannel tucked into his jeans, and he looked like a proper lumberjack with that baseball cap to finish off the look.
"Must be some girl you got, turning down a pretty thing like that," he said.
"I guess so," I said with a nervous chuckle.
"Listen to my advice now. You got a girl that good, you hold onto her. Too many people make that mistake, taking the best things in life for granted until they're all withered away. Do that, and all you'll be left with is the dull, gray shit everyone hates. You know what I mean?"
I nodded slowly. "I think so, sir."
When I finished work, I headed straight home. I crumpled up the phone number and threw it in the nearest trash can.
==========
Mom was in the kitchen, as usual, fiddling with Dad's ring. I didn't pay her any mind as I ran upstairs. Cassandra's door was closed. She had one of those signs on her door that you could fill in with your own name. It read: 'Welcome to FUCK OFF's room!'
I knocked the door with my knuckles. "Cass? You in there, Sis? I just wanted to talk."
No response.
I licked my lips. I suck at apologies. "Listen. I know I acted like a jackass yesterday. I shouldn't have pushed you away like that. I just want to... talk this through like adults."
Still no response.
I heard footsteps and turned around to see Mom coming up the stairs. She came up on the second floor and leaned against the wall, crossing her arms under her breasts. She wore a skimpy night gown that showed off most of her smooth legs, and her heavy breasts were nearly falling out of their trappings.
"Cassie's out," Mom said, reeking of wine.
"Out where?" I asked, frowning. That wasn't like her. She was usually inside playing video games or studying for her university courses until three in the morning and didn't leave the house unless there was an emergency.
"She was meeting some friends, she said."
"She doesn't have friends."
Mom just shrugged. "That's what she said. Why are you looking for her?"
"Uh, no reason. Just wanted to ask her something." I paused for a second. "I was thinking about getting some takeout, do you want anything?"
"I guess a salad would be nice," Mom said. "Gotta slim this figure back down again if I'm hoping for any man to get near me."
"You look great, Mom," I said. I kissed her on the forehead, then hurried downstairs and out the door.
I knew I was being silly, but I was worried about Cassandra. She was acting unusual. I figured I could at least track her down and say sorry.
We lived in a small suburb of a couple thousand people, and since she didn't have any friends there weren't a lot of places she could be. As it turned out, I had a good idea where she might be hiding out.
I went into the local McDonald's, expecting to find her cooped up there. She wasn't in, and none of the underpaid, overworked teens soldiering on in there had seen her.
That didn't leave me with much. There weren't many places for a geek like my sister to hang out at our small town. She could have gone into the city, but I saved that possibility for later. If she had gone there, I had no way of tracking her down save for dumb luck.
I had one more idea. A place I hadn't been to in years.
I went down to the river that split the town in half. I walked up the soft, smooth river bank, continuing to walk until the quaint little houses were replaced with proud forest.
I came upon a bend in the river, sun shining through the trees overhead in beautiful rays that played on the mirror surface of the water. There was a large rock on my side of the river, flat at the top. It sat just at the edge of the river, water splashing against the side.
