"That's still not an excuse not to text you, but whatever."
My lips twisted at that, and I climbed out of my car to lock the doors. This area was nice, surrounded by fields, the smell of the ocean very faint. The apartment building had small balconies overlooking the street, and the light blue paint looked fresh.
"It's a nice place, at least. At least it's not some gaudy McMansion."
"Yeah." Straightening my shoulders, I held out my arm for my sister as her heels clicked on the pristine sidewalk. Dread clawed at my gut as we walked for the double doors, and I pried one open to gesture Laurie through. I'd rather be anywhere but here right now— preferably, I wanted to see Mel again.
Despite what Laurie said, I didn't find it the least bit suspicious that Melissa hadn't texted me. She got so wiped out by her allergies alone, and the added threat of her asthma... Hopefully, she had a friend or two that helped her out.
"Speaking of gaudy McMansions... I'm taking the bar in three months, and I was thinking it would be nice to move back to Rhode Island." Speaking up slowly, Laurie grabbed my attention as we took the stairs, and she glanced back at me with a quizzical arch of her slender brow. "In two weeks, I'll be taking my finals, and I was wondering if you could talk to that guy— Eric Dane."
"You want to go into corporate law?" Again, she shrugged, and a smile tilted my lips as I nodded. "Sure, I can give him a call. I'm sure he'd be open to talking to you."
"Thanks. I appreciate it."
Eric had asked me specifically if Laurie wanted to go into corporate law, but she'd been staunch about doing criminal prosecution. At least, until she found a fondness for corporate. My sister wasn't some justice monger, but she loved proving herself right.
That's basically the same thing, anyway.
When we reached the third floor, I knocked on the door numbered four, about halfway down the long hallway. My nerves shot through the roof, and goosebumps swept under my starched shirt. Beside me, my sister jutted out her chin and fixed a smile on her face that didn't reach her eyes. The soft click of the doorknob sent a shiver between my shoulder blades, and I sucked in a sharp breath and held it.
Bright, almost fevered green eyes locked on me, and my brows nearly flew off my face when Melissa herself opened the door. She paled, her freckles standing out on her near translucent cheeks, but her frozen, birdlike features only lasted a second or two. My sister looked between us in surprise, and I only managed to blink a few times before Melissa reached to pinch the bridge of her nose.
"I've been meaning to call you." I almost winced at how raw and nasally Mel sounded, and no amount of makeup could stop her eyes from watering. She stepped to the side, her cute, off-the-shoulder dress shimmering slightly. "I thought this couldn't get worse."
"You sound like shit, Mel. See, I told you she wouldn't ghost me, Laurie." Stepping through the threshold, I shot Mel a blatant 'what the fuck' look, but she just stared back blankly. "Are you okay?"
"I'll be okay when I can shut the door."
Someone's not having a good time. Laurie shuffled into Melissa's apartment, and I frowned at the redhead when she reached to wipe her eye very carefully. Right up next to the door was a huge, expensive looking air purifier, and worry soured my tongue when I saw a second one by the balcony door. There was probably a third in her bedroom, but Mel still looked like she was going to just keel over.
"Do you need an emergency prescription, Mel?" When I reached to touch her, Melissa pulled back with a slight shake of her head. Hurt stabbed my chest, but the closer I looked, the more I realized she was running on autopilot. "What's going on, huh?"
"I'm really tired. That's all. My dad didn't give me much time before telling me he offered up my apartment for this." Alarm rang in my ears as my sister scoffed lightly, and Mel sighed listlessly. "If Terry didn't help me out, I'd still be in my pajamas."
"Our mom said your dad said you offered your apartment..." Suspicion thickened Laurie's tone, and I struggled to catch up to their conversation. "It's nice to finally meet you, Melissa. Officially."
"I would say the same, but I'm miserable right now." They did an awkward half-hug kind of thing, and I stared dumbly between Laurie and Melissa. "I've got wine. You're gonna need it. A lot of it. All of it, probably."
"Maybe we will be best friends." I followed the pair into the kitchen, and my mom and her dad were sitting at a table designed for no more than three people comfortably. "Hi, Mom."