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“Sadie, where are you?” I asked, trying to decipher the chaos in her background. “Are you okay?”
“Mia! Can you come get me?”
“Where are you?” I was already stuffing my wallet into my purse.
“At the airport,” she replied, muffled sobs and an obnoxious flurry of sound behind her distracting me.
“JFK?” I nervously tapped my fingers along the edge of my phone, knowing holiday travel to and from JFK was going to be a disaster.
“Heathrow,” she replied. “He…love…sex…Mia!” Sadie sobbed into the phone, making it difficult to understand her words. I quit this family.
Somewhere between her relentless sobbing and epic guilt trip, I caved and found myself at JFK waiting with just my purse to catch the next flight to London. The guilt trip wasn’t just from my little sister, but from my mom, and she refused to let Benji go.
“It’ll give you time to read the book I gave you,” she told me while stuffing the atrocity into my purse as Benji scarfed dinner.
The plane only had a splattering of passengers, so I didn’t understand why I sat sandwiched between two people for most of the flight. It was within an hour of flying that I asked a flight attendant for another spot, preferably one that wasn’t next to the passenger quietly belching me into suffocation or the passenger who refused to use headphones during her documentary about the meat industry. Either way, I felt sick, and worrying about Sadie wasn’t helping.
I don’t know why, but I couldn’t throw out my mom’s book. It weighed me down, physically and emotionally, but that mom-guilt was a bitch and it was heavier than Big Ben.
I woke from a restless sleep as the captain made his last announcement about our descent into Heathrow, and I immediately shook myself into sister-mode. While walking through the narrow aisle, I know I pissed off the few passengers behind me when my purse got stuck on the seats I passed because of that damn book. Mia assured me she’d be waiting outside of a certain coffee shop but, when I got there half an hour after landing, my sister wasn’t there.
After an hour of looking for her and texting to the abyss, I pondered consulting my mom’s stupid book for advice. The more I thought of it, I wondered if Sadie could use it instead of me, considering her big sister flew across the Atlantic on a whim because a boy hurt her feelings. Honestly, I shouldn’t have done it. I should’ve let Sadie figure it out for herself, but how can anyone sit by while their little sister’s heart breaks?
I was ready to knock out the loser until I decided I’d rather kick my little sister when she came barreling around the corner, her lips adhered to some guy. Benji would’ve handled it better than me, but he was too busy with Amelia and mom’s dinner. He has a life, that’s why he isn’t the one rescuing Sadie all the time.
“Mia!” Sadie lunged toward me, her platinum hair bouncing as she threw her arms around me. I peered through the mountain of blond in front of me while I returned her hug, scrutinizing her companion. Sadie was such an idiot. Of course, a guy with messy hair, tattoos, and a beard was going to break her heart.
“Who the hell are you?” I demanded, grabbing Sadie’s hand as I approached him.
“This is Matthew,” Sadie replied, turning to give him the biggest googly eyes.
“Sadie, I just flew across an ocean to be with you because you called me. You were hysterical. I could barely comprehend a single syllable of your gooey tears that, frankly, the sound of which made me want to puke, and you’re now an hour late for meeting me…with Matthew?”
She stepped closer to me, smiling at him before whispering to me through clenched teeth. “We got in a fight and we’re fine now.”
“That’s not what you told me on the phone,” I quietly rebuked. Sadie’s brown eyes flicked everywhere, anxiously trying to stir up an excuse and spare embarrassment. Instead of giving in, I shoved my finger against Matthew’s chest, warning him. “You need to back off or I’m calling the police. Sadie,” I tugged on her arm, “let’s go.”
“Ladies,” he finally spoke, his British accent probably the only reason Sadie saw through his sleazy grin, “let’s just relax a moment, eh? I’d be happy to welcome you to London, but I have an inkling you don’t want to stick around much.”
“No.”
Sadie rolled her eyes, the movement causing what remained of her tears to wiggle from her eyelashes as she looked at me while squeezing my hand. “Mia, it’s fine. I’m so glad you’re here! How long are you going to stay?”
Eyes on Matthew, I replied. “Let’s start with a tour of your hotel, Sadie.”
“Actually,” she froze, and I refused to stop staring at the deadbeat, “I was staying with Matthew. Maybe… Matthew, can you just give us a bit?”
It surprised me when he nodded and patiently stood to the side, glancing around at the flurry of travelers. Sadie’s thin fingers squeezed around my shoulders when she spoke.
“This is such a disaster,” she whimpered, her eyes filling with tears. “He’s so handsome. Isn’t he?”
“You told me he slept with someone else,” I grumbled. “After he’d told you he loved you.”
Sadie twisted the frayed hem on her miniskirt once her fingertips fell from my arms. “Well, I guess everyone makes mistakes. How’s Benji?”
“Sadie,” I pinched her bare arm, “what the hell is wrong with you? I’m serious. I just flew across the ocean for you on a whim because your deadbeat boyfriend cheated on you. You’re coming home with me, and that’s final.”
She protested, “Can you just be nice for like two seconds, Mia? I promise I’ll tell you everything later.”
