Conflicting Desires

Chapter Five

Audrey

"Hey," I mutter, adjusting my phone closer to my ear. I look at the door of the office awaiting-anticipating- Scarlett's arrival.

"Hey," a tiny voice reverberates through the line.

It's Daisy, my younger sister.

My heart skips a beat and I can't help but smile. Usually, I find it hard to reach my sister. Her calls go straight to voicemail and Daisy hardly returns her call.

"How are you?" I ask cheerfully as I draw invisible circles on my table with my finger.

"Good, I am kind of busy right now," Daisy says quickly.

My heart drops, and my smile slowly turns into a frown. I was kind of hoping our conversation will last a little longer this time.

"I just wanted to confirm that you are still driving down here for the weekend."

I haven't seen Daisy in two years. The only time I saw my sister after running away from home was when I got a call from Daisy. Daisy was having a mental breakdown due to the stress of college. At that time, she was a freshman at Yale. In the middle of it all, she picked up her phone and called me. I drove down there, held her close, and talked her through her fears until the sun came up.

The next morning when I woke up, my sister was gone. She wrote a note saying that she was going home. I felt like someone that just had a one-night stand.

"I don't want to have to say this-"

"Then don't." I urge.

"I have to work on a project this weekend."

"You said that last month and the other month before that. Come on, I am looking forward to spending time with you. " I pause, before baring my heart to her. "I miss you."

She takes a sharp breath in. "Fine, I will see what I can do."

I smile, "Great, I will see you then."

"Okay,"

"By the way, how are mum and da-"

"They are fine," Daisy says sharply before hanging up.

I take the phone away from my ear and put it down. I tilt my head to the side, feeling the warm wood of the photo frame beneath my fingertips.

It's the only photo I have of my family with me in it. I can still remember the day we took this picture. It was in our backyard on a Sunday afternoon after church. Mum wanted it to be perfect, but the rain had other plans. It ended up being a playful shoot, and it captured the fun side of the Gibson family, which is rare.

Now pictures I see on Facebook of my family make me question if I am still a Gibson. It looks like they have only one daughter and I can't blame them. I did turn my back on them.

But that doesn't mean I don't miss them every day.

My eyes move to a picture of Tripp and I. it's a Polaroid from four years back. It was on New Year's Eve and Tripp had just gotten a call that could have led to his big break. We looked so happy. I was so happy. I wonder where that happy girl went and if she will ever come back.

~~~

"What's on my schedule today?" Scarlett walks into the office in a pink pantsuit and a white silk shirt, looking as unbelievable as ever. Her hair is half up and half down and she has bold red lipstick on. "Audrey?"

I snapped out of my daze, murmuring "Uh-"

"My schedule for today," she asks, looking down at her phone, and then she turns and begins to walk towards her office. Taking it as an indication that I should follow her, I take the cup of coffee from my table, along with my iPad, and follow behind her.