Page 89 of Love & Other Disasters

“The only one.”

“Do you want to talk about your book?”

“Nope,” Jill replied. They were quiet again while they watched the movie.

“How’s working for Elle?” Jill asked.

“It’s going well. I can’t believe I was so resistant to working at a cosmetics company. But my day is filled with numbers and not makeup.”

“Do you get free stuff?”

“Yeah. I have charcoal face masks and these eye serum things. Want to put them on?”

“Uh… yeah. Of course, I do. What kind of monster do I look like?”

“One that needs a purifying facial mask.”

A half an hour later with their faces coated in black charcoal and purifying, the sisters returned to the couch. Violet tried to sip from her wine glass, but found it difficult with the mask tightening around her mouth. And she didn’t want to get it wet.

Jill rummaged through a bag of goodies from Pure Botanicals. Rico put samples and bottles of products on her desk, because she never grabbed anything from the take-home closet. Skin care and lip balm were the only things that interested Violet, and since that was the extent of her beauty regimen, it pained him to the core. But it meant Jill was free to choose between many face paints.

“You know,” Jill said, after they rinsed the masks off, “I’m sorry for everything that happened.”

“Are you talking about the jail thing?” Violet asked, drying her face in a towel.

“Not only that,” Jill, sat on the toilet lid, “but the whole Geoff thing. I was so stupid with all of that.”

“Not your finest.” Violet turned to go.

“And what you said about you being the only one to ever compromise. At first, I thought you were selfish and overreacting, but after all this mess with mom and the family dinner, it occurred to me none of this would’ve happened had you just apologized. Then it hit me, that you told the truth, you were the one who always gave in and made everyone happy. Except yourself.”

“I can’t do that anymore.”

“Yeah, I get it. I’m sorry you felt you had to go to such extremes.”

Violet shrugged and moved back to the living room.

“Do you think you can forgive me?” Jill asked, following.

Violet paused. “It will take time. It was our family dynamic for years. Can it really change?” She wasn’t sorry she’d cut them off. She couldn’t have handled their stress on top of J.P.’s betrayal.

Tears ran down Jill’s face.

“Oh, don’t cry,” Violet said. “We just got all pretty.”

Jill coughed out a laugh. “I’ll try. I’m just so sorry for how I’ve behaved. I was ashamed of everything that night the police picked us up. It was humiliating to find out what The Order of Protectors was and that Geoff was a conman. And I’d fallen for all of it. I took all of those emotions out in the wrong place.”

“Who are you and what have you done with Jill?” Violet asked, her sister had never sounded so in touch with emotions that weren’t self-righteous indignation.

“I’m going to therapy,” she said.

Violet stared. “You’re what now?”

“Yeah, that night in the police station an officer suggested I see a therapist. He was being an asshole. But, I decided it might not be the worst thing in the world considering my circumstances. I’m working on becoming a better person and still have a long way to go.”

“Is tonight part of your therapy?”

“It’s not like a twelve step program where I’m making amends, but after talking to her, I see what’s happened, and I want a relationship with my sister. If you’re ready.”

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