I decide the best course of action for tonight is not to give Naomi too much time to stress about it, so I put off telling her about it until the last minute. Once I've finished shopping with Lara I drop her and Albert off at home and go back to the flat to pick up Emily. I slide my key in the lock, frowning at the sound of raised voices coming from inside. I can hear Emily shouting and for one agonising second I think that Naomi might have come back and told her everything. A rush of emotions wash over me, everything from anger to relief, but when I step inside the voices die down and I walk in on Eff and Emily having some sort of standoff in the kitchen. Effy is holding on to Emily's arm and she pulls away as she spots me walking in to the living room. That's the thing about open planned living; it's kind of hard to find some privacy. They both have these guilty looks on their faces and Emily can't look me in the eye as she puts some distance between her and Effy.
"You ready?" I don't bother asking what they're arguing about. Things have been strained between the two of them ever since Emily caught me and eff in bed together last year. I think she kind of blames Effy; like her getting me to sleep with her had turned me in to some rampant lesbian who fancies her twin's ex-girlfriend. In truth I've liked Naomi for almost as long as Emily has, maybe even longer. She just had the guts to come out and say it first.
"For what?" Emily frowns at me like she's completely forgotten she's picking up her girlfriend from the train station in like ten minutes. I roll my eyes at her as I stand with my hands on my hips and I'm really glad there isn't a mirror in this room as I probably look far too much like my mother right now.
"Girlfriend? Train station? Jesus Ems, you spend one fucking day away from her and you forget the girl exists. Must be love." I quip, though I really wish I hadn't. I can tell by the flash of guilt that replaces the preoccupied look on her face that she wasn't just thinking about her girlfriend. Well, not her current one anyway.
"Fuck. Jen. Yeah, sorry, I'm ready." She pulls on her jacket, still refusing to even look at Effy as she does. I thought things were getting better between them, Effy was the one who talked her in to coming home this summer after all, but it seems that relations between everyone are still a little frosty at the moment. I'm not quite so sure this dinner party tonight is a good idea anymore. I suppose it's too late now though.
"Oh, we're all going to Lara and JJ's tonight for dinner. Jen can meet everybody there." I offer them both a big bright smile despite the churning feeling in my gut, and my tone leaves no room for arguing. Effy shrugs as she pushes herself up off the kitchen bench, her eyes still lingering on Emily's back.
"I'll be there."
"Sounds great." Emily manages with about just as much enthusiasm as Effy. God, it's going to be a long night and I haven't even gotten around to talking Naomi in to it yet.
The drive to the train station is agonisingly quiet. I've left my iPod in the flat and the car radio is broken so I can't even put any music on to try and kill the tense silence between me and Em. We're sisters. Silences are never supposed to be awkward. "So, what did you get up to this morning then?" I ask, trying to make casual conversation; and also a little curious as to where she went when she left the flat while I was out with Lara.
"I went to Naomi's." My foot slams on the brake a little too roughly at a red light and I almost send us both crashing through the windscreen, thank god for seatbelts.
"Jesus, Kay!" She snaps as she sits back in her seat and runs a hand through her hair. It's still the same vibrant red it was in high school, though maybe a little shorter. She dresses like a typical student too, all jeans and hoodies and trainers. The only time I tend to wear trainers is at the gym on weekends. It's a stark reminder that we're living completely different lives now, though we still seem to have one thing in common.
"Sorry." I mumble and the light changes. Slipping the car in to gear I pull off and focus on not totalling my precious Mini. This thing cost me a small fortune and I'd hate to wrap it around a lamppost because of Emily distracting me with revelations about going to see Naomi. I'm not quite sure why she'd go and see her in the first place. I know they never really finished things properly, but two years on is a little late to try for closure. She's never expressed any need for it before, so why now? Why, when Naomi and I are finally finding our feet, does my sister have to go and pull the fucking rug out from under us? "How is she? She seemed pretty out of it last night." I go for casual, but I'm pretty sure Emily can hear the strain in my voice. Hell, I'm pretty sure the bloke on the bike next to us can hear it.
She shrugs in response, not giving me an inclination as to why she went there; or more importantly, what happened between them. The silence builds between us again until it reaches a hilt and Emily finally mutters, "I went to tell her that I forgive her…for cheating on me with Sophia. I'm not a little kid, with these big ideas about romance and true love, anymore. I just wanted her to know that I get it. Why she did what she did." That doesn't really sound like closure to me. That sounds more like opening a whole can of worms that is going to make my life ten times harder. I swallow hard as I keep my attention on the road in front of me.
"It sounds like you know what you're talking about." I comment, hitting the nail on the head as a pained expression crosses Emily's face.
"I cheated on someone last year, not Jen; there was this girl and I really liked her, but there was this other girl and…I just couldn't help myself. I just had to, do you know what I mean?" I nod slowly, understanding her completely. I know exactly what it's like to be drawn to someone so much that you just think fuck the consequences and go for it anyway.
The train has already pulled in by the time we get to the station and we end up fighting our way through a crowd of peopled with bags and cases, until Emily excitedly points out a blonde girl as Jen. The other girl squeals excitedly as she catches sight of the twins and she's barely got her arms around Emily before she's crushing their lips together, her tongue finding its way down my sister's throat. Fuck me, that's not something I should have to witness. Emily's cheeks are burning as she pulls back from the other girl. She laces their hands together as she turns to me and introduces her new girlfriend. "Jen, this is Katie, Katie this is Jen."
"No need to ask whether you're her sister then?" The blonde jokes and just like that I hate her. I don't know why but something just doesn't sit right with me about this girl, and it's not just the way her hand is sitting on my sister's arse as she introduces her. She's pretty enough, in that blatantly gay way with her short blonde hair and her ripped jeans and multiple piercings. I don't know why, but she just doesn't seem like Emily's type. Though maybe that's just because the only comparison I've got to go on is Naomi and this girl most definitely has nothing on her.
I laugh at her stupid joke, because it's the polite thing to do and my mother raised me with good manners. Working in the fashion industry has given me a pretty thick skin and I'm used to faking a smile and pretending to laugh at jokes by lame wankers that I wouldn't look twice at if they weren't paying my wage. At least with Jen in the car the ride back to the flat isn't too painful, though now I've got to listen to her and Emily talk about people and places that I don't know and I feel like a fucking chauffer with them two sitting in the back.
I check my phone at a red light and debate whether or not to warn Naomi about dinner. It's still a little early though so I drop my phone back on to the dashboard. I don't want to give her time to think of a way out of tonight, so I'll call her later. Maybe an hour before Lara's expecting us all. Effy is noticeably absent when we get back to the flat, so I'm left alone with the happy couple until she finally swans in a couple of hours later. Emily and Jen have been in my bedroom, supposedly 'unpacking' for well over an hour and I've had the volume on the TV cranked up high to stop from overhearing anything that I really shouldn't. Jeremy Kyle blares through the speakers, echoing around the cavernous living room, and it's nice to watch something about people with lives more screwed up than mine. I could just imagine us lot on this show, 'Jeremy, I'm fucking my twin's ex-girlfriend and she's not talking to one of her manic-depressive best friends because she walked in on us in bed together.'
"Hey." Effy flops down beside me on the sofa, her long legs finding their way on to my lap as she makes herself comfy. "I watched this one this morning, neither of them are the dad." I nod at her, not really paying attention to the television anyway as I play with my phone. It's almost six and if I don't call Naomi now then I might as well just turn up on her doorstep at five to seven and drag her in to the car. I sigh as the phone rings a few times before Naomi finally picks up. "Hello?" Her voice sounds raw, like maybe she's been crying, and I try not to assume that it's over Emily's visit. I tell her we're going to Lara's for dinner and she doesn't put up too much of a fight, asking what time to show up for. I hope that she's agreeing to go so easily because she wants to see me, but a not so small part of me wonders whether it has more to do with my sister. The line goes quiet for a while as we agree to meet there for seven, and I wrestle over whether to say anything else with Effy sitting right beside me. Neither of us hangs up though and eventually I hear a heavy sigh down the other end of the phone.
"I miss you already."
"Yeah, me too."
"I'm sorry I invited Emily over for the summer." Effy apologises, her big blue eyes bottomless pools as she bites at her lip. She leans forwards and wraps her arms around me before resting her cheek against mine. It feels like we've been at each other's throats all week and it's nice to have things ok between us again. The rest of my world is going to shit and I'm pretty close to losing my sister and my sort of girlfriend. I can't lose my best friend too.
"No you're not. I know you've missed her. She's missed you two, she just has to be a bitch about it. It's hereditary." I sigh as I hug her back. They've been pretty close since the last summer of college, the summer when everything pretty much blew up in our faces, and even if things can't be fixed between me and Em, I hope she finds a way to make things right with Effy.
"Right, I'm off to kick Emily and Jen out of my room so I can get ready for tonight. I need to look fabulous." I wink at her with forced cheeriness and it feels good to be able to goof around with her again. She laughs as she playful swats at my arse with the television guide.
"What's she like anyway?"
"I don't like her." I admit with an honesty that I haven't been able to have with Emily for a long time. Effy's been more like a sister to me these last couple of years.
"She must be a bitch then." Effy nods, somehow managing to keep a straight face as I crack up.
"This is why I love you." I laugh before kissing her cheek and calling out a warning to Emily that I'm heading in to my room.
When I walk in though they're just sitting on the bed, full clothed and sitting on opposite sides. Fuck, if Naomi and I get within five feet of a bed we seem to magically lose our clothes; along with any constraint or willpower. Jen beams at me like she's trying a little too hard and she gets the same forced smile right back as I pull open my wardrobe. "We're leaving in like forty minutes so make sure you guys are ready!" I insist as I gather the clothes I need and a fresh towel before heading for the bathroom. I'm planning on dropping the others off at Lara's for about quarter to seven and then going to surprise Naomi up by picking her up. We'll only have about ten minutes alone, but it's better than nothing; besides, we can fit a lot in to ten minutes.
I give her a call when I pull up outside her house, but instead of the loving greeting I expect I hear a gruff, "I'm leaving now!"
"I'm outside." I snap back, my tone just as short. I had been excited about the chance to spend five minutes alone together, but I can already tell what kind of mood she's in as she storms out of the house, slamming the front door closed behind her. She's looking pretty good in a casual dinner kind of way, with her favourite pinstriped blazer on over a plan white t-shirt and those tight skinny jeans that hug her arse in all the right ways. Her hair is tied back and she's wearing a little bit of eyeliner and lip gloss, just enough effort without over doing it. She makes a quip about me chauffeuring her to make sure she goes and it doesn't help to lift my mood. "I thought it'd be nice to get five fucking minutes alone!" I growl at her and she has the good sense to look ashamed.
She mumbles an apology at me as I start the car. I really need to get that fucking radio fixed, because once again the silence in the car is unbearable. We stop at a set of traffic lights and her hand finds mine over the gearstick. We still don't speak, but her hand never leaves mine and the warmth on the back of my hand is enough to thaw my mood a little by the time we get to Lara's street. I stop in a parking space halfway down the street from Lara and JJ's house. I can see Naomi's about to ask why I've parked so far away, but I don't give her the opportunity. Leaning forward I kiss her, my tongue sliding past her parted lips. I've been craving this all afternoon and I'm not going to let the fact that we're barely speaking to each other get in the way.
I only intended for it to be a kiss, some quick reassurance that we're still ok, but I find my seatbelt coming off as I slide out of my seat and on to her lap. Naomi doesn't wait for permission as her hand slides up my skirt; and I am really fucking glad I chose a skirt tonight as her fingers brush against the thong I'm wearing. The tiny strip of material doesn't pose much of a barrier to her and her deft fingers brush against my most sensitive parts. She's barely even touched me and my body already feels like it is on fire. I wrap my arms around her neck and lift my hips, giving her the clearance she needs to slip inside of me.
Her movements are slow and torturous though, denying me the release I need as the tension between my thighs mounts to an almost painful point. As much as I would love to draw this out, to have her skilful lips and hands all over me, we're already running late and I don't want Emily to catch us fucking in my car. "Babes." I groan, the sound becoming lost in her mouth as I buck my hips against her hand. She curls her fingers at the same time as her lips curl in to a satisfied smirk and I almost consider giving up dinner all together.
"Yes?" She breathes in my ear, knowing exactly what effect she's having on me as my voice catches in my throat.
"Naomi!" I whine petulantly at her, her name the only word I seem to be able to form on my lips. I bite at her lip to get her back as her thumb brushes teasingly against the bundle of nerves at my core. She giggles in to my mouth and god, I fucking love this girl.
"I love you." She seems to read my mind and I bury my face in her shoulder as she finally gives me the release I've been begging for. My nails dig in to her neck and I'll just have to worry about the marks I leave later, along with the fact that my hair is probably I mess and I smell like sex. Once I come down from the high she slips her digits out of me and looks around sheepishly for what to do about her soaking wet hand. Deciding that it's time she had a little teasing herself I take her hand in mine and guide her two fingers to my mouth. From the way her eyes practically pop out of her head, and the low moan she bites back, I'm pretty sure I've done a good job of winding her up. I want her begging for my mouth elsewhere later and I won't be happy until my name becomes a prayer on her lips. Despite the rising sexual tension in the car we manage to compose ourselves and Naomi even runs hers hands through my hair in an attempt to sort it out for me. I smile at the gesture and press my lips to her cheek. I can't kiss her lips right now, if we start that again we'll never make it to Lara's. Instead I place my hand high up on the inside of her thigh. "I'll drive you home tonight, yeah babes?" She manages a nod at my suggestion as my fingers flex out, brushing against her centre and she tries not to whimper. Smiling I open the door and hop out of the car to head up to Lara and JJ's house; safe in the knowledge that I'm going to be the only thing on her mind tonight.
