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I scoff, and tell her in a warning tone, “You’re going to burn out soon.”
“Right back at you, girl.” Natalie says, then after a pause, she adds, “I’m really sorry I didn’t tell you about Anna. She only told me literally minutes before she and Eric found you, and I couldn’t get hold of you.”
My blood begins to boil and I feel anger rising up in me. “She actually told you what she was going to do?”
“Apparently, Anna wanted to brag about her plan and how clever she is,” Natalie sighs. “That’s what I got from it, though, not her words. She’s disgusting, let’s put it that way.”
I can’t agree more with that.
“This isn’t going to ruin our friendship, is it?” Natalie asks tentatively.
Her hesitation surprises me. We’ve been close for so long, something like this is nothing more than a speedbump in our relationship.
“Why would it?”
Natalie groans. “I don’t know… Because Anna’s my sister. I want you to know that I don’t approve of what she did.”
“Natalie, I’m not going to stop being friends with you because your sister did something stupid. That’s not how this works.” I smile. “Besides, who’s going to be the one I rant to about how stupid your sister is?”
Natalie laughs. “I suppose there’s that. You can rant as much as you want about it.”
“Thanks. I probably will end up doing that in the near future.” I find myself yawning, sleep finally calling me. “Things are going to get awkward at work. Eric’s going to be around, and with my role I can’t avoid bumping into him.”
Natalie snorts with laughter. “You think work’s going to be awkward? I have Mom calling me and asking when I’m going to meet Anna and Eric.”
My body tenses up. “You what?”
“She met them a few hours ago for dinner,” Natalie says. The incredulity is clear in her tone. “Anna invited Dad, but he refused to have anything to do with it. So they tried me. I’ve never been happier to be at work.”
I bit back my laughter. “I’m sure your mother had a lot to say about that.”
“She called me later to tell me I should stop being a brat and support my sister. I can’t believe that woman sometimes,” Natalie says.
Listening to her go off, it seems like she’s almost more upset than I am about what happened. It warms me up to her even more. Makes me feel like there’s someone on my side, after all.
“She’s always favored Anna,” I say. It doesn’t make sense how a parent could love one child more than another.
Natalie laughs derisively. “Yeah, because I never let them get away with any of their bull. That’s why. And this whole thing with Eric just doesn’t feel right. She shouldn’t be supporting them.”
I feel like screaming. Because, yes, one would think it’s pretty obvious. Just like it should be obvious that you do not cheat on your significant other.
Instead of losing my temper, I reply, “We can’t control how people think about a certain situation. And I don’t want to say anything mean about your mom…”
“She’s a witch,” Natalie does it for me. “I’ve known that for years so you don’t have to worry about offending me.”
I can’t help but smile at that. “You do have a way with words, Natalie.”
“I like to think so.” Then there’s a teasing note in her voice when she adds, “So, this means you’re single now, doesn’t it?”
“What?” I blurt out.
Natalie giggles conspiratorially on the other end of the line. “You’re free to drool over my dad now.”
It takes a moment for my brain to compute with what I’ve just heard.
“Wh—what are you talking about?” I stammer, feeling suddenly hot and bothered.
“I thought you’ve got a crush on Dad. It’s pretty obvious. Well, to me anyway. I see you interact with him all the time,” Natalie laughs. “Now that you’re single…”
