When I woke up the next morning I discovered I was naked still, under a blanket on the couch. After having sex last night Troy and I talked for hours about our feelings for each other, but I felt uncomfortable seeing him today in broad daylight. I wrapped the blanket around my body and rubbed my eyes before heading to the bathroom.
It didn’t seem like anyone was home. Troy’s apartment – my apartment – I really have to get used to that – was a large loft-type place with pine floors and steel beams for support. The ceilings must have been twelve feet tall and the windows were easily eight feet. “How could he afford this place when he was a student?” I wondered. Troy had some things to tell me – in particular, how were we going to deal with our new relationship? It’s not like I couldn’t deal with being a “fuck-friend”, I’ve done that before, but I had to know where we stood. How could he just leave me here like this the day after something so important? I felt a little bruised, physically and emotionally. I was worried about Troy and worried about us and he was nowhere to be found.
I washed my face and headed to Troy’s bedroom to find some clothes for the day. I rummaged through the nearest garbage bag (they were still sitting on the floor; we fell asleep before we got to unpack yesterday) and found a denim skirt and a white peasant top. I looked for a while longer but I couldn’t find a pair of panties, so I decided to go commando – not something I normally do but have done in a pinch. I suddenly realized I was really hungry and headed to the kitchen.
After I ate some cereal I found in the cupboard I heard a knock at the door. I still hadn’t heard anything from Troy – not even a note to say where he was. It was only ten in the morning, so I wasn’t sure who would be visiting but I decided to answer the door anyway. If anyone asked questions I would tell them I was his cleaning lady. No need for him to get caught having a roommate he wasn’t allowed to have or something. I was still really naïve about the city.
“Can I help you?” I asked the girl who stood on the other side of the door. She was blonde, petite, and wore a tennis outfit.
“I’m looking for Troy – who are you?” she asked, obviously a little annoyed that he had another woman in his apartment.
I nearly boiled over when I saw Troy come bounding up the steps behind the girl.
“Sandy!” he exclaimed, a tiny guilty look escaping from the corner of his eye. “You’re a little early, sweetheart, it’s only ten.”
“You said ten last Saturday, Troy. You told me your bus would be in town early Friday night and ten would be fine.” Sandy gave him a pointed glance and then looked at me rather meaningfully. “You should introduce us, Troy.”
“Who, her?” Troy said, laughing. “That’s my sister, babe. Can’t you tell the resemblance? Her name is Callie.”
“Oh.” Sandy was visibly relieved. I still hadn’t said anything – but Troy was clearly a little uncomfortable.
“I’ll leave you two alone,” I said, glaring at Troy briefly before closing the door.
*****
When I got back inside I headed straight for Troy’s bedroom. I picked up all the clothes I had scattered over the floor this morning and stuffed them back into my garbage bags, choking back sobs. “That fucking bastard,” I muttered. “He’s just like every other guy, only I’m his sister and he does this to me.” I couldn’t see straight anymore because of the tears in my eyes. “I guess yesterday doesn’t mean anything to him. I guess he only wanted me out here to wait on him. What the hell is he thinking? Did he think I’d just stick around and take it? I’ll go back home, I’ll go back to Dad…”
“Callie, what the fuck are you doing?” Troy walked in the room as I was stuffing clothes back into my bags.
“I’m leaving, Troy. Is she still here? Go entertain your guest.” I spat the words out at him, looking at him with tear-filled eyes.
“You’re not leaving, Callie. Christ, that was my ex-girlfriend. Ex. And besides, I’m not letting you go.”
“You can’t stop me! You can’t make me stay…” Troy came over and grabbed my wrists to keep me from packing. “I won’t, I won’t stay…”
“Damn it, Callie, I didn’t ask you to come out here just so you would go back home! And I don’t want you to go home like this, after what happened.” Troy looked away from me and dropped my wrists. “We still have to talk.”
“Yeah, we do, Troy. Talk about how you had sex with me, your little sister, and then your “ex” girlfriend came over the next day. Talk about how you can afford a loft apartment in downtown Dallas when you’re a student. Talk about playing tennis on a Saturday morning – when did you start playing tennis? What the hell is going on, Troy?” I brushed my tears away angrily and backed away from him. “Your turn to talk now.”
Troy paused. “Well, I don’t wanna sound rude, Cal, but I didn’t think you’d catch on this quick.” He sighed and sat down on the bed. “Put down the bags will ya? You’re making me nervous. I want you to stay, damn it. Will you stay if I try to explain this to you?”
“I’ll consider it,” I said before sitting down grudgingly beside him.
“You’re fucking beautiful, baby sister, you know that?”
“Stop trying to butter me up,” I said. I was melting under his eyes anyway and I knew he could tell I was giving in.
“I’m not trying to butter you up, little girl,” he whispered, leaning towards me to kiss my throat. “I’m trying to lube you up.”
“Well we’ll talk about sex later. Tell me about this shit now, Troy,” I said threateningly.
