Jenna Monroe filled the kettle with water and placed it on the burner. After her ten o’clock conference call with Chet Mitchell, her publicist, she chained herself to her computer to work. It was now after two and she hadn’t got a single thing done. To make matters worse, she was out of iced tea again.
On her way back to the computer she heard a persistent knock on the door. She hadn’t taken the time to change out of her bathrobe and she was certain that her deep brown hair was a tangled mess, but she went to the door anyway. Her sister was the only person who ever bothered her at this time of the afternoon.
“Hi, Jen, I can’t stay long.”
Elaine Whitman breezed past her and flung herself down on the chair. She set her shopping bags down and threw her feet up onto the ottoman. Jenna sat on the loveseat and mentally prepared herself for whatever lecture she was in store for this time.
“I was at Foley’s today and I found the most amazing dress for you. You’re still a size four, right? Never mind. That was a silly question – you never gain weight. I’ve always been so jealous of that petite little figure. Just wait until you have kids…” Remembering what she was talking about, Elaine added, “Anyway, it’s simple, it’s elegant, and it’s black. Perfect.”
“’Laine, I don’t need a dress. I don’t have anyplace to wear it.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes, really.”
“Really?” Elaine put her feet on the floor and leaned forward, a glint of mischief in her hazel eyes. “You don’t have a high school reunion to attend in two weeks?”
“I’m not going and you know that,” Jenna replied.
“I know you said that, but you can’t not go. You’ll regret it forever if you don’t.”
“Somehow I doubt that.”
“Look, I was talking to Trista and we both think that it’s a good idea for you to go. You stay cooped up in this condo day after day, with no human contact. It isn’t healthy for a young woman to be so reclusive. You have to get out there and snag a man before you lose your looks. You don’t want to end up like Aunt Iris, do you?”
“That is exactly what I want, Elaine,” Jenna retorted.
“Dear, I think we both know that’s a lie.”
“Is not. In fact, I used to dream of being just like Auntie Iris when I was a little girl.”
“Jenna…”
“Nope. You had your dolls and made Sissy Tomkins’ little brother play house with you and I dreamt of being the crazy, reclusive cat lady that made all the neighbor kids too scared to show up at her door on Halloween.”
“Your fans will be devastated.”
“Then they shouldn’t show up on my doorstep to try making me do something I have said, repeatedly, that I will not do.”
Elaine put up her hands in defense. “Okay, fine. I can’t talk to you when you get snippety like this. You know that I worry about you. I just have your best interests at heart.” Elaine stood. She made a point to leave the shopping bags when she crossed the room to the door. “I have to run if I plan to pick up Lana from school on time. About the reunion thing, please just think about it. It’s been two years, Jenna. You can’t torture yourself forever. You have to move on.” She opened the door and turned back. “And, Jen, for goodness sakes…get out of the bathrobe once in a while and wash your face. Just because your skin looks like its cut from porcelain now, doesn’t mean that it will forever. You need a beauty regimen. Looks take work.”
Jenna stayed on the loveseat for a long time after her sister left. She knew that Elaine meant well, but she heard the speech often enough that she could recite it herself. Elaine couldn’t understand what she was going through…and she was certainly in no position to be giving advice.
It was common knowledge that Elaine’s marriage was always on the rocks. She had married a pilot for American Airlines when Jenna was still in high school and he spent a good deal of each month away on business. On top of the strain of having a long distance marriage, there was also all of their financial problems.
Despite the fact that Daniel Whitman made well over a quarter of a million dollars a year, they were up to their eyeballs in debt. Jenna always pretended that she didn’t know anything, but it was obvious that they lived well beyond their means. They lived in a million dollar home in the ritziest country club estates in the posh city of Frisco and Lana attended the finest private elementary school in the area.
Daniel often possessed the nerve to tell her that she was wasting her money on her condo in North Dallas. While she had more than enough of her inheritance left to purchase whatever home she chose, Jenna liked the freedom of having a condo association to take care of whatever repairs and maintenance she may need. Besides, somebody needed to put some cash aside for Lana’s college fund, even if it did cause more conflict between Jenna and her brother-in-law.
The whistle of the kettle brought Jenna back from her reverie.
“Okay,” she said to herself as she stood. “First, let’s get the iced tea brewing and figure out what to do with this dress. Then I’ll kill Trista for this when she gets home. I hate it when she conspires with my sister against me. Why should they decide when I’m ready? They weren’t there. They don’t know. I thought this was my life. I’ll sit around in my bathrobe all day long if I want.”
Jenna realized that she had just become one of those women who lived alone and ranted to her cat. She shook her head and hurried into the kitchen. Maybe she shouldn’t be joking about turning into the crazy cat lady…
© 2009, Sydney Katt. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use of content will result in dragon attacks.
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