I never really had a typical relationship with my little sister. Sure, she was a fixture in my daily life until I left home for college, but we were far enough apart that we just never had much in common at any one time... or at all. While I always kept my head in my books, hers spent more time in the clouds than anywhere else. When I left home at 18, she was only 12 though, and I always thought that she would grow out of what I considered to be a pretty immature personality. She never really did.
While I was away at college, my parents would tell me about what Katie was up to. How they couldn't understand for the life of them why she acted out, sneaking out of the house and cutting class, smoking pot with her friends after school, and dating complete losers. She was effortlessly intelligent, her grades reflected that, but she was simply not interested in school beyond that, not being involved in hardly anything extra-curricular besides art and drama, which she showed a lot of talent in. When I would go home for breaks, I found her to be witty, stubborn, with a wild streak that I never cared to possess. Once again, not much in common with her besides our relation. We got along just fine, I was just never close with her.
I was finishing my second year of law school when Katie graduated high school, and to absolutely no one's surprise, college wasn't in the picture for her. Against the pleas from my parents, she moved out of their house a few weeks into the summer, and took off to California, where she said she had some leads in the talent industry and wanted to get into acting.
I should have expressed more concern, it's a regret that I still carry. But being in law school, and working as a clerk for a local firm, I hardly had time to care about myself, much less anyone else. I relied on my parents for updates on Katie, and hearing from her once in a while when a random text popped up on my phone. Sometime toward the end of my L3 year, however, I stopped hearing from her completely. I did try to call her once, but the line was disconnected.
I finished law school and passed the bar, moving from Dallas to New York to work for a national firm. I knew that my parents had Katie's number and were talking to her at least semi-regularly, and so selfishly I didn't worry about her. But about the only thing I knew about her was that she was somewhere on the west coast, and apparently was still alive. That was about to all change, however.
I'd been at my firm for about a year, successfully building a client base with business transactions and mergers, doing very well for myself. I had my own apartment in Brooklyn, close enough to walk to the office every day, and I got absorbed in my own world, going out with friends, dating, and working. Katie was far from my mind.
I was in my office one afternoon preparing for a client meeting when my desk phone rang. It was Callie, the Lobby secretary. Callie was from Brooklyn, and was a hell of a paralegal. We'd actually gone out on a few dates when I first started at the firm, and despite it not going any further than that, remained good friends.
"Luke... there's a young woman here at the front, her name is Katherine Clark. She says she is your sister," Callie said.
By this point, I hadn't seen Katie in almost three years, and I had no idea how she would have found me. I didn't have her number, and I assumed that she probably didn't have mine either or she would have called me.
"Callie, I have the MTI meeting starting in 15 minutes, can you tell her to grab a seat and I'll get her when I get out?" I asked, still surprised and a little confused as to why she was there.
There was a bit of strain in Callie's reply. "Luke... I think you need to come down here."
I sighed and checked my watch. I had a few minutes and my meeting notes were ready to go.
"Ok, be there in a sec," I said and hung up the phone. I stood from my desk and put my suit jacket on, so I would be prepared to walk into the conference room and start my meeting. I walked out of my office and down the hall, into the open area that made up the firm's lobby.
Standing there at the desk, head down and not saying anything, was my baby sister Katie. My first thought was that she looked exhausted, just completely worn down. She was wearing jeans and a t-shirt underneath a jacket that was not near thick enough for how cold the weather was, and her hair was tied back into a single ponytail, but looked as if she'd been traveling for some time.
"Katie," I said quietly, walking up to her. She looked up at me and that was the first time that I saw the tears forming in her eyes, threatening to cascade down her face.
One thing that I definitely did not expect, but did not go undetected by me, however, was that despite her fatigue and her clothes that were showing some light wear... she was stunningly beautiful. Katie had always been a pretty girl, but it had been so long since I'd seen her that it was clear I'd missed that she had blossomed into a full grown woman. Standing about 6" shorter than me, she had dark blonde hair and deep, blue eyes and a very pretty face. She was skinny, but I noticed that she filled her jeans out well, and could tell that she had nice breasts, even with the jacket on.
"Luke I'm so sorry I came to your office," Katie said, her tears beginning to flow, "I didn't think I had anywhere else to go."
I stood there, dumbfounded. This situation was going to take longer to process than what I had before my client meeting. I scooped my arm around her and pulled her into a hug, and felt her melt in my embrace. Callie looked up at me with a questioning expression, but said nothing.
"Come on," I said, guiding her down the hall, "let's go to my office."
Leading her into my office, she sat on a couch next to one of my bookcases and I sat down beside her.
"Katie, I'm really glad you're here, it's good to see you. But, what are you doing here? Have you talked to mom and dad?" I asked.
"I was afraid to go there," Katie said. She looked like she had been through the wringer, and questions were coming to me faster than answers were at this point. I looked at my watch.
"Katie, we definitely need to talk. I need to go to a meeting right now, but I want you to make yourself comfortable here. There's a break room down the hall with food and drinks if you're hungry, and then you can just hang out in my office until I'm done. It shouldn't take more than an hour," I said.
"Thanks, Luke... are you sure it's not too much trouble?" She asked.
"Not at all," I said affirmatively, patting her leg with my hand. "I'll be back in a little bit, ok?"
"Ok..." she said, her voice trailing off.
I was wrong about the meeting only lasting an hour. It was almost two and a half hours later that we were finished, the deal was done, and I headed back to my office, hoping Katie was still there and that she wasn't upset with me. I walked in to find her laying across the couch, sound asleep.
I quietly sat down behind my desk, filing some documents and answering the last few e-mails I had before leaving the office for the day. Katie stayed asleep until my office phone rang again, causing her to stir. It was Callie on the other end.
"Luke, just a question out of my own pure curiosity... How is it that I had no clue you even had a sister until she was standing in front of me today?" The question didn't sound accusatory, but I felt bad about it all the same. On the couch, Katie sat up and stretched.
"Sorry. It's a long story, I'll tell you about it later." I said, putting the phone back on the receiver.
"Was that about me?" Katie asked.
"Nope," I lied easily. "Associate wanting to know why my meeting ran so long."
"How long was I sleeping?" She asked.
"I'd guess almost three hours. It's not a big deal, Kate. It looks like you need it," I told her. She didn't say anything.
"So you're in New York? How long have you been here?" I asked Katie.
