Page 97 of Isolated
She was leaving.
She was leaving and didn’t want anyone to know.
“Leave me alone, Iris.”
Eleni pushed past me to move to her door, shoving the key in the lock and opening it.
“Where are you moving to? Why are you leaving?”
“What do you care? You’re not here, so it shouldn’t matter to you.”
I jerked back at the harshness in her tone and the meaning behind those words. I’d grown accustomed to her being snippy, but this was on another level. “Of course, I care. You’re my sister. Why do you think I’ve been trying to call you for weeks? Why do you think I drove all this way?”
She held my stare for a long moment, something swirling in her gaze. Then it happened; tears welled in her eyes, and she rasped, “Just go back to your perfect life, Iris. And leave me to my own mess.”
“What?” I whispered. “My life is not perfect.”
Eleni shifted her attention to the man standing beside me, took him in, and looked at me again. “No? Seems like you’ve found the guy now, too.”
“And everything else is falling apart,” I blurted.
For the first time since I’d arrived, she seemed surprised. “What is that supposed to mean?”
I sighed. “Can we please sit down and talk about this?”
She hesitated for several beats, her eyes darting between Landen and me. Before she could respond, he said, “I’m here for Iris, but I realize you don’t know me. I’m happy to leave while the two of you take time to talk.”
Eleni swallowed roughly and shook her head. I thought she was going to tell the both of us to leave, but she opened the door and said, “You can both come inside.”
The relief that swept through me was so tremendous, it shook my body. Fortunately, Landen was there to keep me steady.
And a moment later, with a look of encouragement from the man beside me, I stepped inside.
TWENTY-SEVEN
Iris
My sister was like a stone.
Eleni didn’t bend or break. She was firm and absolute and strong.
But in the mere minutes the three of us had been sitting in utter silence, it became clear to me that she was on the verge of breaking. And it had been a long time coming.
“Talk to me,” I pleaded with her. “What happened? Why did you leave your job? Where are you going?”
“I didn’t leave my job, Iris.” Her tone was filled with agitation, her expression annoyed.
“But I called them and they said?—”
“I don’t give a shit what they said. I didn’t leave there. They fired me.”
I gasped, my fingertips flying up to cover my lips. “What? Why?”
Her eyes shifted between Landen and me. “Because Igot involved with my boss. I did a stupid thing and got involved with him, and almost seven months ago, after I had a miscarriage, he broke things off with me. Tensions ran high between us, I was lost, and nearly three months ago, he fired me.”
My poor sister. Pregnant. Alone. And suffering some of the worst heartbreak imaginable. “Oh, Eleni. I’m so sorry. Why… why didn’t you tell anyone?”
“You’re joking, right?” She scoffed. “Why would I ever tell my family about how I was so desperate that I thought it was worth mixing business with pleasure and putting my job at risk?”
