Chapter seven

After Lun pulled herself together, she went to the cafeteria bathroom to rinse out her mouth. She even bought a piece of gum to try to get rid of the bitter taste. She had vomited the coffee on the floor. The waiter was not amused, but just smiled and gave her a glass of water.

When she came out, she saw Alissa waiting for her with a somewhat sad smile. She was sure she felt guilty about her headaches. What she didn't know was what had set her free.

When she reached her, she gestured to her.

"Let's go for a walk," she rubbed her throat.

"Sure."

They walked down Houston Street talking in hushed, leisurely tones. They didn't stop to look in any stores. Both Alissa and Lun were still feeling a little stunned by what had happened. They didn't know what to do about it. Every time they passed a crosswalk, Lun's eyes darted around the crowd, trying to spot any familiar faces from the accident.

The two girls had agreed not to tell the police or family members anything. No one would believe them anyway.

Many times, Lun asked her a question in order to see a memory more clearly. She was surprised to see that Alissa was also still in pain when she remembered, only she tried not to show it. Her green eyes were thoughtful, as if she was not there.

 

When it was getting to be lunchtime, she realized that she hadn't brought her cell phone to call Paulina. Every time it took her five minutes to get home, her older sister would freak out and go through the streets of New York with a loaded shotgun and her cell phone. She had already been called to the attention of the police more than once, but she was still the same. Tom wouldn't always be there to get her out of the trouble her panic attacks got her into.

 

Lun wanted to walk her home, and although she was surprised at how pretty and nice she was, she didn't comment. She surely wondered how two such young women could afford to live in such a big house. Lun smiled as she saw her sister through the living room window with those sapphire, ice colored eyes watching her. She sighed in relief and nodded to her.

 

"Come in, you don't have to talk in the street!" she shouted before closing the window. Lun looked at her.

"Do you feel like coming in? You can stay for lunch if you want. My sister has a habit of falling asleep after every lunch. I need to keep talking about what happened" she whispered desperately. "We must keep in touch. What will happen if we see them again? I don't want to live the same nightmare again and be left with a headache that prevents me from remembering. I don't want to be like this all my life."

"Okay, I'll stay for lunch, and we'll keep talking, maybe we can do something" Alissa looked at her with bright and... longing? "Ever since it happened, I've been afraid to stay alone in my apartment. I hear a piece of furniture creaking and I'm afraid they've broken in. After these months of thinking, I've come to a decision. You don't have to follow me; I just want you to know."

Lun frowned and nodded.

"We'll talk about it later" Lux wanted to groan and know what she meant, but she had to agree. Alissa wouldn't talk about it yet.

The two girls entered the house and sniffed a smell of bleach that Paulina left behind after cleaning vigorously. They found her with a mop in her hand and a blue-eyed cat on her other arm. Lun knew what impression she must have made on Alissa: The feline and her sister had the same eyes. And besides, she was damned beautiful.

Lun had always had a complex about Virginia. Many ex-boyfriends had called her "the Adriana Lima of New York". Her straight black hair with just a few waves gave her an air of sensuality that few women had. While Lun had a medium bosom, Paulina was the opposite.

Few bikinis looked bad on her. She was of medium height, perhaps the only thing she lacked to be perfect. She wore a white tank top, denim shorts and fuchsia pink sneakers.

"Alissa, meet Paulina, my older sister" she looked up at her sister, shuddering as she was watched by her light eyes. "Paulina, this is..."

 

She was with me during the accident. She saved my life.

Paulina rested her light eyes on Alissa. She smiled warmly and hugged her tightly. When they parted, Lun felt like a monster. Her sister loved and cared for her, while she only looked for flaws in her so she wouldn't feel inferior.

"Alissa, you're welcome in my home whenever you want," the cat jumped off her arm and onto the floor.

"Thank you" she smiled.

"What's more, I want to buy you lunch, how about it? I went shopping today to make roast sirloin with bacon."

"My pleasure, Lux had invited me anyway. Although I'm afraid it was all so rushed that I didn't bring anything to go with it."

Paulina waved her hand indifferently and walked into the kitchen.

"Make yourself comfortable. Lun, set the table while I finish making the food. Alissa went to the living room, where two large black leather sofas awaited her."

 

Sitting down, she looked carefully at everything around her. Something she couldn't help being in an unfamiliar house. Her nature had been kind and trusting, but not anymore. She didn't trust anyone after they had wiped her mind.

 

On a dark mahogany-colored bookshelf sat a picture of a blond-haired man with blue eyes just like Lun's. He was embracing a dark-haired woman. The picture frame was silver with small flowers, all in connection by embossed stems.

 

At that moment, Lux appeared, setting up the living room table. She was carrying a navy blue tablecloth and silverware in a small basket. Lun shrugged and smiled.

 

"My sister," she replied. She laid out the tablecloth, "She loves matching tableware and decorations. I have to control her, so she doesn't spend all the money at once" she joked.

 

"I can't help but want to ask you something, how can you guys have such a nice big house? You are so young. Banks don't usually give mortgages to young people and..." she looked around, gestured with her arms and finally dropped them, with a half smile. "Unless you work as astronauts or..." she frowned. "Your sister's a model?"

 

Lun smiled a little uncomfortably and shook her head as she finished setting the silverware.

 

"My sister works as a waitress in a pub. I work in a company that deals in furniture construction." she shrugged and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "My parents died when I was nineteen and left us this house. The mortgage is paid off, so we're only taking care of the bills stemming from water, electricity... and the upkeep of ourselves."

Alissa nodded in surprise.

"I'm sorry for asking you so.... bluntly," she smiled. "It's one of my many shortcomings, I can't control my tongue."

"No, not at all. It only hurts me to talk about my parents. It's been seven years since they died. Paulina doesn't take it well either. It's them" she gestured towards the picture Luna had looked at earlier, walked over to the bookshelf and picked up the photo. She caressed their faces tenderly and then left it where it was. "It was a car accident" she cleared her voice as she noticed it rough "we had to drop out of college. We had no money."

Alissa approached her and hugged her. Lun was surprised and tensed in her arms, but then returned it.

Paulina appeared with a large platter of food from which smoke was rising. The smell of freshly made food reached both of them and they unwound the hug to look at the food.

"Come on girls, it's freshly made" she patted Lux on the back "I'm going to get the bread, start eating now if you want."

When Lun looked towards the kitchen, she saw Paulina's cat with a piece of freshly made meat on her plate.

His blue eyes looked at her with almost the same intense gaze as Paulina and he purred before eating his plate.

She shook her head and smiled. For some strange reason, her sister loved that cat she had found roaming around Fulton Street.