Page 3 of Somewhere Only We Know
I walk down the short hallway and up the stairs into my office. The shining sun and distant sounds of birds chirping is a sound I used to take for granted in dark years of my life. My office overlooks the city which is a bonus because I love seeing the hustle and bustle. When my realtor sent me homes to look at, I could not stop thinking about this place. So now I work from home with an insane view. I connect my camera to export the video to my computer and while that’s transferring, I open up the door to the balcony to let the fresh air in.
Nails tapping on the floor alerts me that Sully has wandered up from the living room and straight to the open balcony to find her spot on the dog bed. Bending down tokiss her on the top of her head, I head back over to my desk and log into my dashboard to reply to any comments left on my videos. This is one thing I stopped doing while with my ex. I stopped connecting with those who supported me in the early days of my career and for that my work suffered drastically. But now, my work has improved to where it was before he and I started dating. I took no time to mourn that relationship to reset my life before diving back into my blog and channel, eventually working hard to gain 5,000 new subscribers on each platform.
My computer pops with a notification that the export is done. So I slide my blue light glass on my face and get to editing with hope that I can finish this in a couple of hours for tomorrow’s upload.
“JJ?!”A voice shouts an hour later as I’m deep in the editing cave.
“In my office,” I shout before attempting to zone back in on my edits but it’s no use.
“You really did a great job decorating this place,” Kamryn says from the hallway.
“Thank you.”
My sister in all her natural beauty finally breezes into my office and dramatically falls onto the couch I have in here. Sully gets up from her bed and greets my sister, covering her face in kisses. “What are you doing this weekend?” She asks and sits back up to halt Sully’s love.
“Um, other than my usual work and taking Sully to the park, nothing. Why, what’s up?” I ask and turn to face her.
“Well, Mason got us tickets to go to the Cincy game. How great is he?”
“Good for Mason?” I deadpan.
She throws a pillow at me but it falls short of reaching me. “No, good for us, silly goose. You and I!”
“Who are they playing?”
“Philly. Say yes, please!” She holds her hands in front of her in a prayer pose and sticks her bottom lip out.
We may have been living in Cincinnati for the last five years but we’re still Philly girls through and through.
“Okay, I’m in. Plus, I can see if my friend is going to be there.” I say thinking of Sophie.
My sister sits up straight. “A friend?”
“Easy. I met her at the dog park. Her fiancée just got traded.”
“Look at you, making friends.”
I throw a pen at her which actually reaches her and she swats it away effortlessly. “But, yes. I’m in.”
“Yay!” she exclaims and pops up with the energy of a toddler. “I’ll come over around twelve and then we can just walk to the field.”
“Sounds good,” I tell her.
“Later tater. Bye, Sully girl.”
And with that she’s gone. I love my brother-in-law, but I love baseball more than football. It’s a good thing he’s retired and doesn’t have to hear me complaining. My relationship with my sister is also on the mend. Whether she knows it or not, the closer she got to her wedding with Mason, the closer I got to Trent and that pulled me away from her. Kamryn and I have always had an easygoing relationship. There was never any competition and it helped that we’re two years apart in age. But with her years away at college and me still in high school, she was out of sight out of mind. I mean, she still came home for breaks. But it was never the same as when we were kids.
While sometimes I resented my sister for hogging the spotlight, that just meant I was free to do what I wanted. And now that the spotlight is mostly off of her, I feel like there’s an unspoken rule that I have to follow her path to success.
3
JAX
“Jax?!” I hear called out when my sister enters my house. Sully’s nails echo as she rushes down the stairs and to the door to greet Kamryn.
“In my room!” I call out to her.
The adjustment period when you move somewhere new takes getting used to. Somedays it’s still weird being in a new space to call my own. It took some work to train myself not to head to my old apartment as that was where my career launched and where I lived for five years. But then all I have to do is remember the bad and that helps me to redirect to my new safe place.
