Page 65 of Bound By Fate
“Sure it does. Thanks for this.”
“Yeah, the mascara running down your face is…” Suddenly I felt mortified. Dryerson saw me with raccoon eyes. No. She laughed. “You should see your face. No, Katie. You cried all of that out a long time ago and remember, we washed together...”
I rolled my eyes dramatically. “I’m not amused here.” But I was smiling. For the first time really smiling, like when I was with Remy, but now it was out there in the open.
It felt strange but good at the same time. It would take me a bit to get used to this feeling. I moved into the bathroom with Ensley yelling, “I didn’t bring all your makeup. You don’t need that shit.”
At first my heart stopped. No makeup. No war paint? No, I couldn’t go out there without the mask… I jumped when a hand touched my shoulder and turned to see Ensley.
“I get it. You hide behind it.”
How the heck did she know that? I never talked to her about my war paint.
She nodded. “I’m not a dumbass. You loved makeup before all that shit went down, but afterward you went into double drive concealing your face, but really trying to push down your emotions. You don’t need that anymore. You’re here. You’re you. We all love you for you. Not all that crap on your face.”
Tears welled in my damn eyes again. “Is it too early to smack you?” I asked her, and she burst out laughing.
“You’re comin’ back to you. I love that.” She patted my butt. “Now get in there and let’s go find my baby girl.”
“Whatever,” I called out as I entered the attached bathroom.
My eyes were a mess. Red, puffy and an icky crust in the corners. My hair was a rat’s nest with so many tangles I didn’t know if I’d be able to get them all out. Ensley might not have brought the makeup, but I hoped to God she brought my hairbrush.
Digging in the bag, I found enough clothes for a couple of days. I didn’t know we were staying that long, but … crap. I needed to call my boss. I was supposed to work the later shift tonight.
I pulled myself together, sans makeup, and was happy to have a hairbrush. Since I had to make a phone call, I also didn’t have any time to dwell. Coming out, I asked, “My cell? Where is it?”
Ensley looked up from her phone, then looked around the room and shrugged. “I don’t know. You want me to call it?”
“Yeah,” I replied, starting to search the room for it. After I started crying in the clubhouse, nothing else registered except Ensley and Dryerson.
A buzzing sound came from the bed, and I pulled all the blankets off. Not seeing it, I peered down under the bed and low and behold, there was my phone. I snatched it up and looked at the display, hitting ignore on Ensley.
“That wasn’t nice. You’re supposed to answer your sister.” She was so full of it. The teasing, I really missed it. Missed being me.
“You’re right here, and I need to call work. I’m supposed to …” I looked at the display, and a message popped up with Mrs. Brashers’ name on it.
It read…
Dryerson, thank you for taking such good care of her. I’ll take her off schedule the next two days.
I scrolled up and read what Dryerson wrote to Mrs. Brashers …
Hey, this is Katie’s man. She’s sick and will be off the next two days.
The message made me smile. He didn’t ask her if I could have the time off; no, he told her. That was such a Dryerson thing to do.
“I should probably be mad that Dryerson texted my boss, but I’m not. What’s up with that?” I turned to my sister, seriously asking.
“Well, number one—you love him. Two—he’s taking care of you. And three—you’ve never had that, and you need to hold on to both.”
My lip tipped. “He does care. I’ve known that almost since we met but was too afraid to have something clean and happy. Let alone I felt like I didn’t deserve either of those things.”
Ensley came right up in my space. “No.” Her face was like stone, telling me she was not to be messed with. “You deserve it all. The moon and the stars. A man who will drop everything to take care of you when you’re sick. A man who’s by your side when you hurt. When you’re happy.”
I wrapped my arms around my baby sister and whispered in her ear, “I’m learning. Cut me some slack. It’s been like half a day, if that.”
She squeezed me hard and said low, “I know. It’s just hard because none of this was your or my fault. We just have to live with it. In doing that, we won’t forget it as much as we want to scrub our brains of all it, but we learn how to live with it there. And the only way to battle it and beat it down is to do something in this life. Do something you enjoy. Be with someone you love. Take walks outside. Go swimming. Spend time with Remy and the Trolls.”
