Addie
Curling her hands around the steering wheel of her Mini
Cooper, Addison stared up at the house that she’d grown up
in. On the outside, it looked to be an upper-middle-class
home that you would imagine a happy family living in, but
Addie knew better. She had lived in that house, and while
she didn’t exactly have a terrible childhood, it wasn’t
something to brag about either.
She still didn’t know why she came to family dinners
every Sunday. Her mother had insisted that they have those
dinners, and Addie was pretty sure it was so her mother
could brag about how close their family was when she went
to have coffee with her other upper-middle-class friends
each Wednesday. Everything was about appearances with
Marlene Jones. Even if what she told her friends wasn’t the
truth.
She was pretty sure her mother’s friends were under the
impression that Addie was a size four instead of the actual
size twelve that she was, because how would it ever be
acceptable to have a “fat” daughter? According to Marlene
Jones, it wasn’t.
Addie rolled her eyes and leaned her face forward, resting
it against the steering wheel. Why had she come? Why
couldn’t she find the courage to put her foot down and tell
her mother no? Probably because she knew the outcome of
that. It would be endless calls and texts from her mom,
telling her how disappointed she was with Addie for not
spending any time with the family and making her feel
guilty by hanging her father’s heart attack over her head.
You never know how long your father will be alive,
Addison.
It was always bringing up her father that made Addie give
in and come to dinner each week. He had suffered a mild
heart attack three years ago, but her mom acted as though he could die any day now. Addie knew he was healthier now
than he was before his heart attack, but she didn’t want it
on her conscience if he did happen to die suddenly.
Dinner would consist of three hours of her mother asking
questions and making digs at her weight, her career, and
anything else that she could think of, which was pretty
much anything that had to do with Addison and her life.
Closing her eyes, Addie thought of all the other things
that she would rather be doing than having dinner with her
mother that night. A pap smear and colonoscopy were at
the top of the list. If only doctors were open on Sundays.
A knock on the driver’s side window startled her, and she
let out a squeal of surprise as she lifted her head. Her
brother Jax stood outside of her car, grinning down at her.
The home that her brother grew up in and the home that
she grew up in might as well have been on entirely different
planets. For everything that Addie was criticized, Jax was
praised. He was two years older than her, and according to
her mother, he was basically walking perfection.
Despite their parents treating them differently, Addie
loved her brother, and he was a wonderful man. He often
stuck up for her against their mom, though it always fell on
deaf ears. Addie truly believed that if she were a size four,
her mother would suggest that she strive to be a size two.
She could make a million dollars a year, and her mom would
tell her that she should have made two million. There was
no winning with that woman. Not for Addie anyway.
“Are you going to get out of the car or sit here all night
and debate whether you should go inside or not?” Jax asked
through the window.
Peeling her hand off the steering wheel, Addie pressed
the button on the door to roll down the window.
“I don’t wanna go in,” she whined.
Jax leaned down and gave her a sympathetic smile.
“Come on, baby sister. We’ll go in together. I’ll protect
you from the vulture.”
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