Vivian’s heart skipped a beat. She blinked in disbelief and placed a hand to her chest.
“Christine?” she said.
“Yeah,” Christine said.
“Oh, wow.” Vivian shook her head, awed. “This is . . . Wow, this is all so sudden. Please come in.”
Vivian opened the door wider, and Christine stepped into the parqueted foyer.
“First of all,” Vivian said as she closed the door, “I want to apologize for my behavior just now. I may be a little tough at times, but I’m normally not rude or disrespectful to anyone.”
“Oh, no prob. I understand,” Christine said. She flashed a small, tepid smile.
“After all these years . . .” Vivian said. “I had so looked forward to this moment. I had dreamed of this moment a million times, expecting to feel as if you and I had known each other a lifetime, yet . . . I feel as if we’re total strangers.”
“Well, it has been twenty-two years. After all, I am twenty-two years old.”
“True. Very true. Come here and give your big ol’ sis a hug.”
Vivian tightly embraced Christine, who winced with discomfort and barely returned the gesture, as she lightly patted Vivian on the back. Vivian noticed this and perceived that Christine may have felt as if a total stranger had embraced her.
“Let’s go into the living room,” Vivian said as she led the way. After they entered the living room, she picked up the needlepoint canvas from the sofa. “Let me put this aside,” she said as she placed it on the wooden coffee table. “I began working on it when you rang. I had neglected it for a while. Please have a seat.”
Christine seated herself on the sofa a few feet away from Vivian. Christine glanced at the needlepoint canvas and did a double-take. The cheerful colors and stylish design of the two oversized roses drew her attention for a moment.
“Oh,” Christine said, totally disinterested. “Looks nice. Why would you want to work on something like that?”
“What do you mean?” Vivian asked, perplexed.
“Roses? Isn’t that a reminder of . . . you-know-who?”
“Yeah, well, I try not to think about it. It’s nothing but a simple picture of a couple of roses, not humans. It doesn’t matter really, because there are roses everywhere I go and in everything I see, even in magazines and movies and on TV. I have plenty of ’em out in the back on the veranda, by the pool, and around the gazebo.”
“Well, if you ask me,” Christine said, “I would have opted for something like a pair of daisies being romanced by a bee, or a beige puppy playing with a large rainbow-colored beach ball, or a white kitty chasing a blue bird . . . and then eating it.” She let out a wicked chuckle, which surprised Vivian. “Just kidding.”
“Quite the imaginative, colorful artist, aren’t you?” Vivian said.
“Oh, I’m an artist, all right. I’m a very successful model and an aspiring actress. I’d like to try writing a book one day, also.”
“And maybe you shall,” Vivian said. “Anyway, this certainly is a surprise. I can’t begin to tell you how thrilled I am to have you here. As a matter of fact, I hadn’t been expecting anyone, much less you, and visitors are rare around here. I’ve more or less prided myself as being sort of a recluse, usually keeping to myself, especially since . . .” Her voice trailed off.
“Since what?” Christine asked.
“Well, that’s going to take some explaining, but we’ll get to that soon enough. Would you like something to drink? Anything I can get you?”
“No, I’m all right. Thanks.”
Vivian continued to eye her younger sister in wonder. She felt as if she had stepped into The Twilight Zone.
“Hey, come to think of it, where’s Blaine?” Vivian asked. “Isn’t he with you?”
“No,” Christine said. “He’s back home in Jersey.”
“I see. Sure you don’t want anything to drink or have a little bite of something?”
“I’m positive. Please don’t concern yourself about me. I appreciate you trying to be a good hostess. But, thanks anyway.”
“All right,” Vivian said.
Vivian closely studied Christine for a moment as she took in the attractive young woman’s facial features and admired her beauty. She could see that Christine had the shape of their mother’s facial bone structure, particularly the jaw line, and the eyes.
A bit unnerving, I’ll admit, Vivian thought.
Why are you staring at me? Christine thought as she looked away momentarily.
“I’m sorry,” Vivian said with a chuckle. “I didn’t mean to stare. It’s just that, well, many a time I had rehearsed the words, the questions, and many other things I had thought of saying, if and when the time had come that you and I would be together again, and here it is. You’re here, you’re really here. I can honestly tell you that I’m at a loss for words. I’m literally speechless, double entendre unintended.” She laughed. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to ramble.”
“No problem,” Christine said. “Let me begin by saying that our brother, Blaine, and I had been living in New Jersey. According to Blaine, that’s where he and I ended up after all that had happened twenty-two years ago. I only know bits and pieces because Blaine always had been rather reluctant to talk about it. However, he made sure that I knew about you.
“Anyway, he had gotten a small place for us and found a part-time job. He had saved up some money and paid his way through law school. To make a long story short, he eventually had gotten a job at a law firm in New York that specialized in corporate law. Later, he met and married a paralegal named Mary Beth, who now practices personal injury law. I had lived with him until I was old enough to get a place of my own, with roommates, of course. Female roommates, mind you.” Christine flashed a small smile.
“Well, anyway,” Christine continued, “Blaine had made sure I had done well in school, then I got into modeling, and more recently, acting. Well, now that I’m here, Viv, it’s really very nice to be with you again after all this time. Who would have imagined?”
“But, how did you find out where I lived? How could you have known?” Vivian asked. “Did Blaine tell you?”
“Yeah,” Christine said. “He had always remembered the address, even though he had tried erasing it from his memory, even erasing it from his heart. But, I’ll tell you he had very sternly warned me against coming here. He never even kept a telephone number. For obvious reasons, I guess.”
“I never had his, either. He never kept in touch with me since I last saw him that fateful day twenty-two years ago. For obvious reasons, also. Though, plenty of times, it made me feel as if I were to blame for what had happened which is silly, of course. I was as much a victim as you and Blaine were. Would you happen to have his number with you, by any chance? I’d like to get in touch with him. The sooner, the better.”
“Yeah,” Christine said, “I have the number somewhere. I don’t remember what I took with me when I left. But, if I were you, I’d wait a while before calling him. You see, he doesn’t know I actually came out here just to see Rose and to confront her about what happened twenty-two years ago. It would be a shock and infuriate the hell out of him.”
“Oh, I can understand,” Vivian said. “Who’d blame him?”
“He knows I’m in LA to do some modeling, take acting workshops, and go on auditions for TV commercials and walk-on parts in film.”
“We can wait a little while before getting in touch with him.”
“Yeah. That would be a good idea.”
“You could’ve written to me all those years ago when you were old enough to write.”
“Blaine discouraged me from writing you. First of all, he hadn’t known where you had gone, and secondly, he had always been deathly afraid of you-know-who.”
“Yes,” Vivian said, “I know.” She pursed her lips and nodded. “I thought that might have been the case. Well, you could’ve sent a letter to let me know you were coming to LA.”
“I had been uncertain about coming here and I didn’t know what to expect. The prospect of her still being around only made me more . . . I don’t know . . . I just took my chances, Viv.”
“Well, fortunately, you did the right thing. Coming here, I mean.”