Take a pinch of revenge, a large portion of deceit, a pinch of stubbornness, a full spoonful of complicated characters, dip everything into hopeless chaos and sprinkle the whole thing with light sarcasm. Voilà et Bon Appétit!
It wasn’t just anything that was missing, but something very distinctive. The synapses in Liz’s brain were doing crazy capers trying to explain the apparition in front of her – it was hopeless, because she had absolutely not expected the person now stantingin front of her.
Because Melanie, her younger sister, was standing in front of her.
“Aren’t you supposed to resemble a beached whale by now?” Liz, the older of the two asked, clasping her hands dismissively in front of her chest. “What are you doing here, Mel?!”
“Please let me come in, I have some explaining to do,” Melanie asked and after a staring contest, which Liz clearly won, the unwelcome guest was allowed to enter their mutual aunt’s house after all.
“Guys, this is Melanie, my traitorous sister,” Liz reluctantly introduced the newcomer to her two friends. Sue’s eyes almost fell out of her head, Chris however had a better grip on his surprise.
Liz didn’t offer her sister a seat as she wanted to sort, whatever her sister wanted to explain to her out as quickly as possible. “So again, what are you doing here, sister?” Apparently her aunt’s house had just mutated into a therapy centre.
Melanie sat down sighing deeply anyway, her dark hair covering her otherwise light brown eyes as she stared down. It was obvious that something was weighing heavily on her mind. “First, here are witnesses. So keep that in mind before you cut my throat,” she warned Liz and it became clear that the two were sisters. The dry sense of humour seemed hereditary, even without a blood relation.
“I made one… okay, two stupid mistakes and now I’ve wrestled long and hard with them until I finally got myself to come here,” Melanie continued to explain, alternately looking down at the floor and back and forth between those present with embarrassment. “My mum and your dad are still on their research trip. Every now and then they call and tell me to give you their best.”
Their parents’ trip had already lasted three months, so they had been oblivious to all the drama surrounding their daughters, the pregnancy and the ruined relationship. They saw themselves as globetrotters and were sometimes here, sometimes there. A few weeks without reception in a tent in the middle of the tropics? No problem for them. Incomprehensible to Melanie and Liz, but the sisters had learned to be on their own very early on.
Melanie kneaded her fingers as if they were cake batter. “Liz… I… I’m sorry.” Ironic that earlier Liz had been the one apologising and was now receiving an apology herself. “It was a stupid knee-jerk reaction because I didn’t want to let you go. You know after my dad died I’m a bit… clingy.” That was an understatement. Melanie suffered from severe anxiety, but with good therapy it was slowly getting better. Strangely, her parents’ travels were only a minor issue. Liz’s planned move had hit her the hardest.
“I thought you’d break up with Alec and stay, stand by me somehow when I told you the story. Without Alec, I’d have you all to myself.” Deep regret echoed in Melanie’s voice. Her little sister was in agony.
Liz suspected the worst – or the best – and now sat down too. Her sister had acted incredibly selfish and had done the exact opposite with her actions, pushing Liz further away. Yet she was here to come clean and admit her mistakes.
Without further ado, Melanie then dropped the bombshell. “I’m not pregnant.” Suddenly oxygen seemed in short supply as no one breathed. Everyone held their breath tensely. “And I never was.”
This time it wasn’t a fall into a bottomless pit, but a wild rollercoaster ride. Inconceivable anger fought with relieving relief for dominance of her thoughts. Only slowly was she able to comprehend, categorise, process and correctly place what was being said – in understanding it, however, she did not succeed.
“So you’re telling me I’ve been through hell these past few months just because you can’t handle two fucking years without me?!” Her voice quivered with suppressed anger and at the same time tears of redemption now flowed down her cheeks. “So he didn’t cheat on me? Really not?” Could it be that Alec had been telling the truth all along?!
Melanie nodded ticked off. She too was crying. Sue joined the weepers and Chris desperately searched for tissues in the kitchen. They all could have safely done without the messy drama, but sometimes injuries and wrong decisions seemed inevitable.
“But what about the kiss, the appointment with the gynaecologist and the positive pregnancy test?” Liz wasn’t stupid, she had seen the evidence before drawing her conclusion.
“The kiss was… a mishap,” Melanie opened through tears. And next to the fake pregnancy, her second mistake. “The graduation party just got a bit out of hand. We were in a good mood and then it just happened. It didn’t mean anything, but you caught us at that unfortunate moment and threw Alec out before we could put it right. And that’s when I got the idea for… well, this nonsense.”
Apparently, the ability to make wrong and stupid decisions also ran in the family. “The gynaecologist’s appointment a few days later was purely routine and until then I hadn’t even known that you can buy positive pregnancy tests as joke items on the internet.” The plan was as hare-brained as it was ingenious.
“So you’re seriously telling me that it was all just a couple of fabricated coincidences and you made it into the pregnancy story?” Liz asked repetitively, just to somehow bring order to her mental whirlwind.
Again she received a nod and, overwhelmed, Liz buried her face in her hands. It was the most beautiful confession and at the same time a sheer nightmare how anyone could make up such a story. But Liz had been angry and sad for too long. Surely she should now give her sister a good telling off, maybe even slap her across the face. But she couldn’t.
It was exhausting to carry around so many negative emotions and now Liz was finally offered a way out, as unlikely and surprising as it was. Alec hadn’t really cheated on her, he’d been trying to tell her the truth all along and she stubbornly just hadn’t wanted to listen to him.
They had all messed up, but now it was up to them to own up to their mistakes too. Melanie had shown incredible courage in confessin to Liz, even at the risk of losing her sister altogether. Perhaps the two of them could have more contact with each other again in the future, so that the physical separation would be easier for Melanie.
“But what happened to the savings?” now Chris intervened again. Liz sensed questioning looks from her friends who had been involuntarily dragged into this family chaos.
“I packed my things after the bad news and was going to buy a train ticket here. That’s when I noticed that our joint account was empty and that only strengthened my suspicions about Alec.” Because, of course, an expectant father also needed enough money.
“Eight hundred dollars isn’t the world, but still. I then broke up with him by text message. As far as I was concerned everything was said.” Not the finest solution either. Yes, they all seemed to excel at making mistakes.
“I don’t know anything about any money.” Honesty spoke from Melanie’s voice and facial expressions and in the aftermath they all fell silent. Everyone brooded over their own thoughts and no one seemed to quite know what to do.
“You have to talk to him, Liz.” It was the most sensitive of the round who had the courage to speak plainly after the long silence. There was a sparkle of determination in Sue’s eyes. “Even though all of you are not innocent, you have to sort this out.” Nods of agreement from all sides.
“I don’t know if it can be patched up. I’ve been impossible,” Liz responded meekly.
It would take weeks for her to process the whole thing or to start forgiving. But deep down she was glad to have her sister back. She was still angry with her, but she had missed Mel, just as she missed Alec. Maybe it was time to leap over her own pride so that healing could finally begin.
“He’s followed you this far, done a lot to get your attention and win you back in some twisted logic. I think you should give him a chance.” Noble words on Chris’s part, though all this left no one unscathed, including him.
“But he is and always will be an asshole. After all, he played with Sue just to prove the fact that I do care about him,” Liz still defended herself a little, though her protest was noticeably weakening.
“I’m expecting a big apology from him too,” her friend enlightened her. “But he’s not an asshole if he fights for you in his own way. Even if it’s all a bit… questionable and at my expense.” Chris and Sue were so much more mature, forgiving and generous than Liz could ever be. Maybe it was the Miami sun or the food here.
“Okay, he’s just a jerk then,” Liz relented, a small smirk now forming on her lips after all.
–––
It was a night and fog operation, but a big apology called for a big gesture. Everyone helped – Sue, Chris and even Melanie. With Liz’s guidance, they brought their idea to life and gradually a big picture was formed. It certainly wasn’t to scale, but hopefully people could see what the structure was supposed to represent. Thanks to the 24h shop, it hadn’t been difficult to get powerful torches and sidewalk chalk and now that the next day was casting its first rays of sunlight on the artwork, Liz’s doubts were completely removed.
Yes, Alec and Melanie had made big mistakes and all was certainly not forgiven and forgotten, but this was a start. They were all human and making mistakes was in their nature. Today, a first step towards feeling whole again was forming – and they could work on the rest together, Liz was convinced.
She took another deep breath before sending Alec a text message to look out the window. It had ended with a message, it would only be fair if it started like that again. Not a minute later he stuck his head out of the first floor window and… was speechless. Presumably he had slept as little as they all had after the whole mess, but no tiredness was found in his gaze. Instead, Liz could see honest surprise, disbelief and finally, emotion. Under the window of his small student flat, Liz and her friends had turned the car park into a starry night sky. Large and small stars, constellations and various astronomical signs were on display. It was a tribute to him and his future, because Liz really wanted to be a part of it.
Melanie, Sue and Chris stood a little further away while Liz now walked towards the first constellation. “Get in the Big Dipper with me, because I want to be like Pegasus and Hercules with you, fighting together against all odds.” Liz walked slowly from one painted constellation to the next. As she did so, her words exactly mirrored the night sky signs she had now lain at Alec’s feet, even in daylight.
“I know I am often a Dragon, yet Cupid has long since struck me with his damned Arrow. No shield, however sturdy, could save me from that, for he’s a bloody good shot.”
Silent laughter escaped Alec as Liz, struck by an invisible arrow, moved staggeringly across the aforementioned zodiac signs. “But even as a lone wolf, I recognise the value of good friends and yours in particular. Despite the deception of a small snake, my ship’s compass points ceaselessly to you.”
She paused in her narrative as Alec’s head disappeared from the window, only for him to appear seconds later in the car park as well. Now he slowly approached Liz and joined her in stepping into the middle of the constellations. She had listened to him, soaking up his knowledge and now knew so many star signs by heart.
“You fought like a bear for me, even if our delicate unicorn deserves an apology for your reckless behaviour.” A quick nod from him followed as Liz alluded to Sue. He knew he was equally to blame for this predicament, but surely with conversation and time it could slowly be straightened out.
“So we’re like a phoenix then?” asked Alec now, pointing to the last constellation Liz had not yet mentioned. His hands had long since found her hips and pulled her close. “And raise up from the ashes of our mistakes, only for us to make new ones again?”
A nod and a smile followed. “Together” however, Liz demanded.
“Together” he agreed without argument.
Finally, without further hesitation, after what felt like an eternity, their lips found each other in a soft kiss that tasted of shared memories and newly forged trust.
Their friends in the background sighed with relief. It was a new stage for them all, and one that certainly held some hurdles. Trust had to be rebuilt, egos tamed and repentance done. Actions had to be followed by apologies and yet – they had all learned something from history and they would also survive new challenges together.
It was only when Liz felt something on her finger that she opened her eyes in surprise, reluctantly detaching herself from her boyfriend-ex-boyfriend and looked down at her finger. A surprised gasp was the only reaction she managed to get out at first. Her mouth opened but closed again and her eyes sunk into Alec’s sea blue.
“That one was actually meant as an apology for kissing your sister,” Alec explained to her now, a wry grin gracing his lips. “Besides, it was to help you remember me when we wouldn’t see each other for a year and would have had a long distance relationship.” Which was now moot anyway, because this stubborn man had given up his year off and followed her all the way to Miami.
“After the party thing, I knew I’d fucked up and I took our money to buy well… rings are fucking expensive.” But also beautiful.
Still aghast, Liz stared at the delicate structure on her finger. Precious rosé gold encircled white and cream-coloured gemstones in the shape of a moon and a star. In between were pearls and also a starfish. It was the perfect fusion of their two worlds.
“Only you, my star. Even if you are a dragon sometimes.” Overwhelmed, Liz had no choice but to press her lips to his again and this time their kiss tasted of a future together.