A Demystification: Eve

Day 3: Family

WORD COUNT: 795

"You've not been calling our parents again, little sister." Lara leaned against the counter of the local deli, tattooed arms crossed over an ample chest. "Tsk tsk, Lyn. You know they don't like that."

Lyn shrugged. "I've been kind of busy."

"Busy doing what, sis? Working at the bookstore and reading through every book known to man? I know you've not been busy; you just haven't bothered to call. Are you even aware what decade it is? You do realize mom's birthday is next week, right?"

Lyn had forgotten, actually. For the third year in a row. "Shit," she whispered. "It is?"

Nodding, Lara accepted her sandwich from the man behind the counter and thanked him, smiling her crooked smile and charming the pants off of yet another member of the human race. Lara had always been good with people. And talented; ridiculously so. She was an artist with a lucrative job in graphic design and a relatively successful gallery in Tribeca filled with her sculptures. Really, she was a typical Sinclair. Maybe with a little more fire in her veins, but not far out of the mold.

She was Lyn's favorite sister, too, though Lyn couldn't be more jealous of anyone.

"You're going to run out and get her something, right?" Lara asked when Lyn didn't speak up immediately. "Do you need help?"

Lyn sighed. She loved her family, and wasn't any more or less close to them than anyone else in the world, but sometimes they really had no idea what to make of her. They'd never seen such a curious mix of ambition and lackadaisical whims amongst their own number. Lyn was perfectly OK doing things her own way and in her own time, but she always acted just slightly surprised when things worked out. Her mom opened every conversation with the question, "So, have you left that cafe and gotten a real job yet?"

"I'll be fine," Lyn answered. "I do work full time at $15 an hour. It might not be as much as what you've got, but it's fine."

Lara raised an eyebrow. "How's the bookstore you want to open?"

"You know I can't do that. I have to go back to school and I can't afford to do that and pay my bills and mom's gifts, so I have to save up. And you're just bringing that up to make me feel bad, so quit it."

"Because I don't know how it is that you're alright doing this! Where's your ambition? I mean, you wanna do all these things, but you never take any of the steps necessary to even try to begin. Sometimes I don't even know if you realize that there's a world going on around you. It's like here's the world," Lara gestured to her left, "and here's you," and to her right. "And I worry about you, sis. We all do."

Lyn took her sandwich from the man behind the counter and thanked him quietly, but he had eyes for no one but her oh-so-compelling elder sister. They looked similar, too, though Lyn's hair was wilder and hard to control, and her eyes seemed more dreamy than sparkling. "Yeah, I got it, Lara. I'm the family black sheep, I guess."

"No!" Lara's reply was emphatic. "You are no such thing, Evelyn Sinclair. You are a member of our family and we love you dearly. You're just a person out of your time, love. And we know that." Taking Lyn by the shoulders, Lara looked her baby sister in the eyes. They were of a height, so those gazes met. "But the world is hard on people like you, and we want to see you succeed."

"Yeah, yeah," Lyn replied, embarrassed. "I'm special. I get it."

Lara grinned. "Don't be so afraid of it, dummy. You're so damned awkward with it. You'll go and do something completely you and completely amazing and then you'll ruin it all by running away and blushing like a mad woman. I love the sister that belts out Broadway hits on karaoke night, you know. And so do the rest of us."

"God, I don't need a pep talk, Lara! Really, I'm fine. I'll get there eventually. Y'all always act as if I'm some sort of savant, or something. I can reason and tie my shoes, OK?" At Lara's raised eyebrow, Lyn rolled her eyes. "Einstein couldn't tie his shoes."

"Wow." Lara picked a table and the two sisters sat. "You...know that?"

Lyn shrugged. "That's me. Random tidbits of history girl! It should be my Halloween costume." Tucking into her sub with aplomb, Lyn struck as heroic a pose as possible. "I'll get started on it now."

Lara laughed. "There's my sister. So, what are you going to get mom?"