Lasting Damage (10 page)

“A vengeance quest?” Riley looked from Alice to Harper before
looking back to Alice. “You’re being overly dramatic.”

“Some occasions call for overly dramatic behavior. It’s often the
best way to get anyone in this family to pay attention to what I’m trying to
say.” she stated.

“Okay, fine,” Riley replied. “You’ve got our attention. What is it
you want us to know.”

“Not you. This message is for Harper,” she said, pointing to her
brother before unscrewing the cap of her orange juice and took a slug.

“Sounds ominous.” Harper sat back and, against everyone’s advice,
gave Alice her full attention. She tried to tell herself that it was because
Alice deserved the chance to be listened to but in her heart she knew it was
probably just to find one more way to stay in Jane’s good graces.  

“It is and it isn’t,” she said with great care and measure.

“Did you remember to take your Adderall?” Riley asked before
taking the spiked bottle of juice away from her. “You didn’t skip doses again?”

“My medication schedule has nothing to do with this.” Alice gave
him a sour scowl. “This is about Jane.”

“She already told me about the
frenemies
situation.”

“And you’re okay with that?” She scoffed.

“It’s a non-issue.” Harper shrugged. She hadn’t really spent a
whole lot of time wondering if she was okay with it or not since that part
didn’t matter to her. She knew Jane needed a date and she just happened to be
standing in the right place at the right time. There was no way she was going
to spend a whole lot of time overthinking something that didn’t need
overthinking. This was her do-over, her chance to show Jane that she wasn’t a
complete asshole and she was taking it.

“How can it be a non-issue?” Alice crossed her arms over her
chest.

“It’s not any of your business.” Riley reminded her.

“Yes,” she said, “but-”

“No, you don’t get to do this.” Riley interrupted.

“Yes, I do.” Alice closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “You
guys need to listen to me.”

Harper didn’t say anything. Her options at rebuttal seemed pretty
limited since Alice appeared to be immune to logic.

“Are you seriously willing to throw away all your dignity and
self-respect on someone who will never think you’re good enough for you?” Alice
asked. “She’s never going to forgive you for lying to her. She’s just stringing
you along and using you to hurt other people. How can you sit there and be okay
with it?”

“I need to get back to the studio.” Harper pushed back from her
chair and stood up. She was being as polite as she could but Alice put her
teeth on edge. “I’ll see you in a few?” she asked Riley.

“Sure.” he nodded. “Just let me get things under control out here.”

Alice turned her head, her eyebrows knit into tight line. “You
don’t need to talk about me like I’m a problem that needs to be fixed.”

Riley opened his mouth to say something and quickly closed it
before shaking his head. “Here’s your breakfast,” he muttered as he set the
bottle of spiked juice down on the table next to her. “I don’t have time to
deal with this.”

It was easy to see why he and Jane kept passing their sister back
and forth between them, neither one letting her settle in and get too
comfortable before they had her moving back to the other’s place. It seemed
like the only way they could manage to keep control of her was to keep her
uprooted.

“Should we just leave here there?” she asked when they were out of
earshot. “Is she safe by herself?”

Riley wrapped his hand around the door handle and gave it a turn. “She’s
probably not safe anywhere,” he said with sad smile. “But it’s the best I’ve
got right now.”

9.

“Is that what you wearing?”
Alice
pointed to the dress hanging on the back of Jane’s bedroom door and scrunched
up her face. “I do not approve of this.”

“How
can you not approve of that dress?” Jane asked as she smoothed her hands along
the sides of her head. It was one of those rare instances in life where every
single strand was in place, her makeup was flawless and she smelled amazing,

“It’s
not just the dress.” Alice eyed her from top to bottom before letting out an
exhausted sounding sigh. “I don’t approve of any of it.”

“I
guess it’s a good thing that I’m not looking for your approval.”

“This
whole thing is gross.” Alice sniffed before taking a swig from her bottle of
Dr. Mcgillicuddy’s. “You’re gross.”

“Oh,
I’m the gross one?” Jane laughed as she opened her closet, took out her new
shoes and placed them on the edge of the bed.

“Zanotti?”
Alice pulled the cover off the box to reveal the four and a half inch black
strappy sandals nestled inside. “Since when do you go to Neiman’s with Chloe?”

“Since
I wanted a new pair of shoes.” Jane replied.

“You
sure this is a good idea?” she asked, pointing to the shoes. “You and Harper
are the same height. You put those on and suddenly you’re a giant with a short
girlfriend.”

“Harper’s
not my girlfriend.” She took the shoes out of the box and set them on her
dressing table. In the last hour Alice had consumed half a pizza, four donuts
and half a pint of booze, she wasn’t about to take the risk of getting her
sister’s greasy little finger prints all over her shiny new babies.

“My
psychiatrist says you have a narcissistic personality disorder.” Alice
announced. “It’s probably why you’re having such a difficult time letting go of
Robin.”

“Excuse
me?”

Alice
took another swig, set the bottle down on the nightstand and let out a deep,
mournful sigh of what had to be fake sisterly despair. “The fact that you’re
putting in so much effort into making some bitches from high school jealous is
very sad.”

“Is
this the same doctor that’s got you on six different medications at the same
time?”  

“That’s
not the point.” Alice sat up and shook her head with such authority she looked
like she actually believed the weirdness spewing out of her mouth.

 “I
don’t care what he says about me,” she replied before crossing the room to get
her dress. “The guy is a hack.”

“He
said you’d get defensive when I confronted you with the truth.” Alice held her
hand up in mock defeat as she slid off the bed. “Don’t shoot the messenger.”

“Can't
you please go back to Riley's for a few days?” Jane settled the dress on the
bed and unzipped it. She was slightly ahead of schedule but things could steer
off track quick if Alice wanted to keep talking at her. “I’ve only got one
nerve left and you’re starting to wear it thin.”

 “Classic
deflection technique,” Alice mused. “Insult and belittle. Your hostility toward
people is a direct result-”

“Stop
it, Alice.” She interrupted before her sister could go any further. “You cannot
continue to do this.”

“Okay.”
Alice shrugged and took another drink. “How much did you spend on the bra and
panties? They look expensive”

Jane
placed a hand on her stomach and took a breath. She got the distinct feeling
that all of Alice’s mindfuckery was guiding her toward a specific outcome. Some
sort of twisted endgame that only made sense inside the depths of Alice’s tiny
lizard brain.

“Do
you think Robin will say anything about you not being blond anymore?” Alice
asked as she inched toward the door.

“I
hadn’t thought about it.” Jane could feel the tendrils of panic closing in on
her. It was a hot, miserable feeling that would be impossible to shake if she
didn’t get control of it soon.

“Hey,
speaking of blond,” Alice snickered. “Does Harper have an issue with the carpet
not matching the drapes?”

“What
are you doing, Alice?” she asked.

Alice
took another sip and smiled. “What do you think I’m doing, Jane?”

“I
think you’re trying to fuck with my head.”

“Trying?
Alice leaned against the wall and closed her eyes for a brief second. “If you
only think I’m trying then I’m not doing a good enough job.”

Jane
took a step closer. She and Alice hadn’t had a good fight in a while and she
disliked any kind of confrontation when she was only wearing her bra and
panties but Alice had pushed her just about as far as she was capable of being
pushed in one day

“Hey,
Harper’s here.” Lily popped her head into the doorway before Jane could reached
her sister. “Don’t you think you should be getting dressed?”

“I’d
already be dressed if it wasn’t for all the distractions.” She crossed her arms
over her chest and narrowed her gaze at Alice, who appeared to be trying to
fade into the bedroom wall. “Lily? Do you think you could do me a favor?

“Sure,”
she nodded.

“Can
you please get Alice the out of here before I kill her?” She asked, stepping
back to let Lily grab hold of her snotty little sister’s arm to lead her out of
the room.

*****

Harper
wasn’t sure what to do with herself.

Lily
had let her in and left her standing in the living room only to return a few
moments later with Alice following right behind. Neither one of them said a
word but Lily’s face looked dark with anger and Alice appeared to be smirking.
After that Lily grabbed her purse off the couch and she forced Alice out the
front door with no further explanation.

It
was several moments of awkward standing and wondering before she caught sight
of Jane’s bedroom door opening and then her pulse started racing as Jane came
into view.

She
was dressed in…well, Harper wasn’t sure if it was a very short dress or a long
shirt and she didn’t really care because all she could think about was that
Jane Hollis had a set of legs that went on forever.

“Is
it that bad?” Jane asked as she tugged at the hem of her dress. “I know it’s a
little-”

“It’s
perfect,” Harper interrupted. “You look absolutely perfect.”

“You
don’t look so bad yourself.” Jane closed the distance between them in seconds. “I
was worried that I was going to be too tall in these shoes.”

“You
think I’d let you be taller than me?” Harper straightened the cuffs of her
jacket. “Height equals power and a really love these boots.”

Jane
smiled and pointed to Harper’s feet. “Jeffery Campbell?”

“You
know your boots.” She nodded.

“Stacked
heel.” Jane reached out to run her hand over the lapel of Harper’s jacket. “And
this is great. You clean up nice.”

“So,
you approve of my grand gesture?” Harper smiled.

Jane
met her eyes briefly before averting her eyes, the smile she wore so brightly a
moment before, flagged and she was left looking sad and lost.

 “What’s
wrong?” Harper put her hand over Jane’s hand and held it to her chest. “Hey,
what just happened?”

Jane
pressed her other hand to her forehead and let out a nervous little laugh. “I’m
not sure?”

Harper
felt a fast wave of panic. She didn’t know if she’s said anything or leered too
lasciviously and freaked Jane out, but she wanted to fix whatever was wrong
immediately. “Are you okay?”

“I
don’t want to go to that stupid party,” Jane whispered. “I know we’re both
dressed up but I’d like to change my mind about the whole thing.”

“Can
I ask why?” Relief replaced anxiety. Things might now be going as smooth as
she’d hoped but she needed to know if it was something she’d said.

Or something she hadn’t said.

 “I’m
not sure,” Jane stammered nervously. “You probably think I’m nuts but going
there just feels like I’m feeding something I don’t want to feed. I can’t
explain it.”

“Feelings
are tricky things.” Harper assured her before gathering her courage and asking
the mature question. “Do you want me to leave?”

“No,”
Jane said, shaking her head. “I don’t want you to leave. I want
us
to
leave but I don’t want to go to Sarah’s and I don’t want to stay here. I can’t
stand being here right now.”

“Dinner
and a movie?” She tucked a finger under Jane’s chin and lifted her face to face
so she could peer into her eyes. “Pizza and a beer?”

Jane
gave her a sweet smile before lowering her eyelashes and nodding. She looked
relieved. “There’s a place on Brackett Street that makes the best pizza in
town. It’s across the street from the liquor store where they sell growlers of
microbrew.”

“And
we’ll go back to the apartment?” Harper asked, they’d need a place to eat the
pizza and beer. “Unless you have something else in mind?”

“Sounds
like a plan.” She bit her bottom lip and grimaced. “But can we not tell Riley
I’m over there? I like spending time with my brother but I’m not in the mood to
explain this dress.”

“Speaking
of that dress.” As much as she liked the idea of spending the evening alone
with Jane she decided she needed to give her another option. 

Jane
eyes shone for a brief second with what looked like tears before she blinked
them away. “Yes?”

“Are
you sure you don’t want to go out and show it off?” Harper practically had to
force the words past her lips and she hoped Jane shared her reticence to go out
bar hopping, but she was prepared to stand by any offer she made.

“The
only person I wanted to see this dress has already seen it.” Jane touched her
index finger to Harper’s forehead and swept her hair away from her face. “That’s
showing off enough for me.”