I had just graduated college and was facing a dilemma, nowhere to live. When I started going to college, I had been living with my parents, but since I was the last to leave the nest, they decided to sell their house and hit the road in a motor home to travel and see the country.
I could not have been happier for them since they had worked hard to put me and my two older sisters through college. They deserved a happy retirement, but that now left me without a place to go until I was able to find a new job and get a place. Thankfully, my oldest sister, Carolyn, came to my rescue.
Carolyn, now 29 years old, had made a great life for herself in the city, and had a genuinely nice large loft apartment on the edge of the city, near the great lake. She was a corporate attorney and had pretty much absorbed herself in her career, so she had never married. When I called her, she was more than happy to take her little brother in.
I had gone to a college in a suburban area and we had grown up just on the outside of a small town, so a move to the big city was going to be a big change for me. When I got off the train at Union Station, right away I was taken aback at how big the city looked like as I came out of the station and saw it all laid out in front of me for the first time.
It seemed crazy busy, as I weaved my way through the crowd of people coming and going from the station. I got to the street, got into a taxi, and headed to Carolyn's apartment. The ride was not too long, and we arrived in front of her building. I paid the driver, grabbed my bags, and headed into the building lobby.
Wow, this place was nice! I felt like I just stepped inside a movie or something. The doorman got my name and called up to my Sister's place for me to let her know that I was here. A few minutes later, I heard her call my name across the lobby from the elevators.
"Jimmy," she exclaimed, then ran over and practically jumped into my arms! "How are you little Brother? Damn it feels like it has been forever since I have seen you! When was it, your high school graduation right?"
"Yeah, it's been that long, Carolyn and WOW, you look fantastic!" She was dressed in a very nice-looking pant suit that only accentuated her beautiful stature. Carolyn was by far the tallest girl out of our family. She and I were often the butt of jokes saying that we must have been the milkman's since my Mom and sister Maddi are only about 5'6", and my Dad is only 5'10".
While the rest of the family were pretty much average in height, she stood 6'1" tall, just an inch shorter than me. Regardless of her height, though, Carolyn was absolutely beautiful, with her shoulder length brown hair and the most beautiful crystal blue eyes you had ever seen. Her smile was enough to melt the hardest of hearts and she had a strong but very pleasant personality.
"Aw stop it now, don't make me blush, but thank you for the compliment anyway," she smiled, looped her arm in mine and we headed up to her apartment. When we walked in, I was blown away again by the size of it. It was huge inside and the floor to ceiling windows on two sides just made it seem even bigger.
"Wow, this place is awesome, Carolyn! I can already tell that Vandal Corporation must be paying you quite the buck to afford this," I said in amazement.
"Yeah, working for them does have its perks," she said with a smile, then added, "Come, let me show you your room, Jimmy." I followed Carolyn towards a set of iron steps going up to a second level of the loft. She pointed towards a room at the foot of the steps and said, "That's my bedroom and yours is up here."
We ascended the steps and she opened the door. Again, I was blown away. The room could have fit three of my bedrooms in it from our childhood home, and it had its own bathroom with a huge walk-in shower in it. "Wow, Sis, this is almost too much for me to handle," I said with a laugh.
"I'm glad you like it, Jimmy. I want you to feel at home while you stay with me, okay? I have a few connections to help you with your job search, but listen, you are welcome to stay as long as you need to, okay?"
I nodded my head, smiled, and said, "Thanks, Carolyn, you are the best as always." I went over and hugged her tight briefly. When we parted, she was smiling but had a tear in her eye. "I'm simply happy to have you here. It's been too long since I've had family around me, and I missed my little bro like crazy." She reached up and tossed my hair like she used to do when we were younger.
I would get a little pissy when she did that as a kid, but now I just laughed it off in appreciation for my sweet big Sis, especially since she was so gracious to take me in like this. Carolyn smiled and said, "Well I'll leave you to unpack and get comfortable, Jimmy, and if you are interested, I know a great sushi place just a block from here, for dinner?"
"Ewwww, sushi? Yuck," I said making a scrunched up silly face, then finished just as she was about to playfully hit me in the arm, "I'm just teasing, it sounds good to me, Sis." She smiled again and headed downstairs. I started unpacking my bags, putting my clothes in the dresser and in the closet, then put my toiletries in the bathroom.
When I was done, I sat down in one of the overstuffed chairs in my room and just got lost in thought for a few moments about what the future would hold for me. "Come on Jimmy, I'm starved, you about ready to go yet," said Carolyn from the bottom of the steps. I came back to reality and said, "Yep, I'm coming now."
The sushi place was awesome, and I swear I think Carolyn ordered just about everything off the menu. The girl had a bottomless pit for a stomach even when we were kids, but as active as she was in sports, she never had an ounce of fat on her. I started getting full after the 4th roll, but she kept going. "Carolyn, where do you put all that food," I asked with a chuckle.
She laughed as she swallowed another bit, washed it down with some sake, then said, "Well between the stress of work and the 6 day a week workout I do, that keeps me fit. God help me if I ever stop, though, I'll probably turn into a cow." We both laughed at that and she asked, "What about you though, you look awesome little Brother. You must be hitting the weights hard with that physique."
"Yeah, I learned pretty fast in college that the girls would not look twice at you if you weren't packing a 6 pack or more," I said with a laugh. Carolyn grinned and said, "Oh, my younger Brother, trying to be a lady's man?"
"Nah, nothing like that. I just wanted to look good though, for that special someone that might come along."