Page 8 of Poinsettia Lane

“The hotel looks so chic now, too,” Addison says. “I hardly recognized the inside when I checked in earlier.”

“Thanks, yeah it’s been a lot of work updating it over the years. All the interior rooms were remodeled and I added the indoor/outdoor venue space.” Everly bites her lip before continuing, not wanting to brag, but proud to share her accomplishments all the same. “The venue is consistently booked out nearly two years in advance.”

Addison’s eyes widen. “Wow, that’s incredible, Ev.”

A small ember of pride glows in Everly’s chest, warmand tentative in its arrival.

“Do you want to unwind with one last drink before you head back to the Sioria?”

Addison’s shoulders relax and she offers a smaller, more tired smile than the ones she graced everyone with during the party. Everly wonders if her sister was faking it the whole time too. Maybe she doesn’t fit in with them as perfectly as she made it seem.

Addison takes a seat at the kitchen bar, and Everly leans back against the counter across the island from her.

“Thank you for hosting,” Addison says.

Everly’s eyebrows shoot up. She’s unsure how to respond for a moment. She always hosts, because that’s what everyone has always told her she should do.

“It’s what mom and dad would have wanted,” she replies.

“Would they?” Addison says, then shrugs. “Maybe.”

Everly isn’t sure what Addison means by that, but she doesn’t have the mental fortitude to ask after the day she’s had.

“Well, anyways, it’s over and I have a year to rest before the next one.” Everly is just saying her thoughts out loud at this point, which might not be the best for carrying a conversation, but again, she simply doesn’t have the energy to care.

Addison looks like she’s about to say something before stopping herself, snapping her mouth closed. She shrugs one shoulder this time, and looks back down at her drink.

“Did you have fun? It seems like it was a huge success, and that was quite the event to pull off on your own,” Addison says, like it’s an accomplishment Everly should feel proud of.

Everly doesn’t feel proud, though. She doesn’t feel any satisfaction or fulfillment at hosting such an extravagant event. If anything, she feels emptied out, drained but also relieved that it’s done.

“I guess, yeah. I’m ready to sleep for days now that it’s over.”

She doesn’t think her true thoughts on the matter need to be shared, except maybe with Carrie later.

Her sister drops the subject, turning the conversation to her stay for the next few days. She has some plans to meet up with old high school friends in the area, and mentions that it would be nice to see Everly again too. Everly’s insides warm, a foreign sense filling some empty space inside her. She was hoping for the same, but didn’t know if Addison would want to see any more of her.

CHAPTER FOUR

TWISTING HER OFFICE chair back and forth underneath her the next morning, Everly stares out the floor to ceiling windows at the desert view behind her desk, rather than the computer screen as she should be. She’s relieved the weekend is over and the work week has started again; work is what she knows. Still, she can’t help but reflect back on the day of the party and how it went. She’s learned about redirection in therapy, and Carrie is adamant that redirecting her thoughts and preventing her tendency to ruminate on anxious topics will allow her to better handle her anxiety. It does seem to help when she can manage to actually do it, but unfortunately this morning does not look to be one of those days.

Interestingly though, her thoughts don’t stick to the things they normally would, namely, the guests and her interactions with them. She has this annoying habit of going over every single thing she said, they said, how she reacted, and what her future omniscient self thinks she should have done or said that would have been exceedingly better. This is useless of course, as it only serves to make her feel worse. Today though, her thoughts are circling around two people in particular, and one of them wasn’t a guest at said party.

Between her distress over the confounding situation with her long lost sister, and the depressing reality of not having a date with the hot delivery guy, she can’t help but wonder what she is even going to do with her life. Does her sister want a relationship now, after all these years? Does Asim think about her constantly after theirbrief time together, like she does him? She decides to put pen to paper and make a list.

Lists, she firmly believes, fix everything.

Thoughts about Addison:

She seems friendly and has gone out of her way to interact with me.

She has good social skills and has clearly done well for herself.

What does she want?

Why is she here? Why now?

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