by Writing Shark
The storm in the mirror
“This will finish him off.” Satisfied, Karen Grant stands in front of the large mirror that takes up the entire height of her room’s wall. Along with her large bed lined with curtains on all sides, the closet that takes up the entire length of a wall, and the additional door that leads into a small walk-in closet, the mirror doesn’t leave much room for the expensive PC and the many lamps in front of it. It’s cramped in her room, but she has everything she needs for her life and hobbies. Especially clothes. For her social media accounts and online presence, even the prettiest girl needs her tools. On Instagram, it’s usually enough to look seductively into the camera, maybe wear a provocative dress or a skimpy bra. But on Only fans, she has to work hard to keep up with the competition. Karen doesn’t earn badly from her body and no matter what the other girls say, she is proud of what it allows her to do and until a few years ago she would have had to prostitute herself for it. Now she earns a few hundred dollars extra a month simply because she shows poor, insecure guys that they too could be lucky enough to meet someone like Karen Grant. She likes to play with her followers, tease them and entice them with more exposed skin. It’s more exhausting than most of her friends think, especially Carrie always looks skeptical at Karen when she pursues her hobby but it’s hard work to always look this good. The makeup isn’t cheap and she’d love to eat more than two burgers a month. But that’s a small price to pay for the satisfaction of seeing people praise her for what she enjoys.
For Karen, modeling in front of a cell phone or even some booked photographer is more of a job than anything school prepares her for. Just thinking about sitting in a gray office for the rest of her life, surrounded by the same people, a strict boss, and doing the same thing all day, all year, makes her sick. Karen wants a colorful life, a fast life, a life that is never boring. And her life so far promises her all that. As she looks at herself in front of the mirror, the tight-fitting gray tube top, her exposed tight stomach, the black pleated skirt and the knee-length white stockings with the black stripes, she compliments herself on her good taste. The outfit shows off her big breasts, bouncing a bit (there is no room for a bra in the ensemble) but her clothes still give off the flair of an innocent but ready-for-anything schoolgirl. This outfit has already earned her a lot of money and many fans willingly give large sums to see her in it again.
She playfully raises a finger to her lips, angles one of her legs and turns slightly sideways to her mirror. She tilts her head, half of her face shadowed by her perfectly styled brown hair. Damn that’s sexy, she thinks to herself contentedly, smiling the smile of a girl who doesn’t know at all how horny she makes the guys around her. What? Me? Sexy? What is that? How do you do that? Karen is happy as she looks at herself. Her mother once tried to warn her that when you stand in front of the mirror so often, you lose sight of the world. But Karen sees the world clearly in front of her. Her looks are the key to getting what she wants and when her mother left the family, her and her father, Karen found it easy to wrap the man of the house around her little finger. Besides, it’s hard work looking like that. She is not lazy, even though her teachers keep saying she is. Her mirror image imitates everything her role model does, as do the boys and other girls, and shrugs her shoulders. Well, she needs Emma to pass the class but who doesn’t need Emma? Even Carrie and Megan use the services of the nerdy glasses-wearing girl. Karen shines in a different field and her big plan is to make so much money through her looks and the lust of men – and some women – that she can retire in a few years. While Carrie and Megan will be sitting in their boring offices – Carrie in the boring Oval Office – Karen Grant will be sitting on her porch, sipping her iced tea and living off the money people gave her because they believed in her. Karen fulfills dreams and that makes her happy.
With a sly grin, she changes her pose in front of the mirror. She tugs at her top, then crosses her arms behind her back, presses her knees together, lowers her head and looks at herself from lowered eyes and pursed lips. Yes, she is selling dreams. The dream of being with her for once, of being able to touch her for once, to talk to her and… Karen isn’t fooling herself. The amount of cum that has already been spilled because of her would surely fill entire bathtubs. But this is also a dream she is selling.
Quickly she grabs her cell phone from the bed and shoots some photos of herself. The poses are easy for her, she has rehearsed them all and masters them like in her sleep. Shy schoolgirl, naughty brat, The V sign, tongue stuck out, winking, perky and cheeky. Finally, she posts the pictures on Instagram. For Only fans, she’d have to pull her top down a bit more. Her eyebrows furrow a bit at the thought. She has never really gone the full mile and stripped completely naked. Her fans are familiar with her nipples and actually know, like, 90% of her body. Somehow it has always bothered Karen that she would withhold something from the loyal followers of her body and the donations come in just as regularly as the requests for more. But even though there isn’t much more Karen could give her fans, her butt, breasts and the rest of her body they already know, she hasn’t shown them her vagina yet.
“Oh crap” she grumbles, looking at the photos on her phone. “Why not, actually?” Her fingers close tighter around the plastic of the pink case. Actually, she’s not that girly but that’s also what her fans want. Her other hand wanders down, skimming the fabric of her skirt and lifting it. Her panties are unsurprisingly provocative although almost no one has seen them yet. Then they’re on the floor. A slight pain jolts through her as Karen bites her lips. Her bed bounces slightly as she sits on it and spreads her legs. Her skirt slides up as if it was planned, which it is not. The week at the lake was intense and… special. Maybe it’s because Karen now holds the lens of her cell phone between her thighs and pulls the trigger. After all, she’s a grown-up girl who can do whatever she wants. She examines the photo. Only perfect shots, or perfectly imperfect ones, go on her account. She looks at the photo. The exposure is okay, no streaks and nothing is blurred. Still, she hesitates. As she looks at her opening, the labia already slightly parted, revealing pink skin and a slightly swollen clit, she is overcome with doubt. She doesn’t know anything like this, especially not in relation to her sexuality. Her head turns a bit and she looks again at her reflection sitting on her bed, her legs shyly drawn up and her face uncertainly searching for answers. Then it contorts into something else, an expression Karen doesn’t recognize and which startles her.
“What’s that about?” she wonders but gets no answer from her reflection. Somewhat annoyed, she rolls off to the floor. Her feet barely touch the soft, downy carpet before she is already on her way to the mirror. Again she looks at herself. Seeing her body has always given her confidence both in herself and in her future. But not now. “Crap.” Her eyes dart around the room, her pose in front of the mirror now anything but confident and satisfied. Something is different. “Not today damn it. Not now.” Karen can’t afford to be in a bad mood today of all days. She still has – she looks at the clock – plenty of time to prepare. Relieved, she exhales and looks back up into the reflective surface. Yes, this is how she will show herself to him and he will be thrilled. Finn Lynchwood is a man like any other. And that’s it.
Her eyes widen and her reflection does the same. Her head whips around to the bed and she almost stumbles as she throws herself back onto the mattress and grabs her cell phone. ‘I’m looking forward to it’ it says in the last message he sent her, along with a laughing emoji. He’s looking forward to seeing me. And with that thought, the memories come flooding back. The week at the lake, the nervousness, the night at the disco, the fear of being alone, John, Finn, his name on her lips, the help of her friends and the newfound support of the boy whose heart should have been broken. Then the drive home, her muddled thoughts and…his hand on her thigh. Karen lets her eyes wander to the mirror again and once again her eyes widen. The gray top has slipped while she has come up on the mattress. Just a few inches and her left nipple would be exposed. Her skirt has slipped up and again not much is missing. Karen shakes her head. What was she thinking? What happened to her? All of a sudden, the school beauty queen and Instagram model feels uncomfortable in her outfit, something she also has no experience with. As with so much else. In a corner of the room are already some clothes that she had thought too chaste. After all, she knows how to make an impression on men and boys alike.
“What…” Karen closes her eyes and concentrates. She has a date tonight with Finn, a boy she didn’t really think had what it takes to win her over. After all, he’s shown her that there’s something under the filters in her phone, under the makeup and the fancy clothes. He likes her because she is herself and not what she reveals about herself on the internet and in public. Karen almost throws up when she remembers how nervous she was in front of the mirror. She has no problem being seen as a sex object, it makes her a lot of money. But a real date is something else. Her love life has been almost exclusively online, and a real boyfriend, a real, loving, caring boyfriend, she hasn’t had that yet. That’s new. And that’s where her fear comes from. Sex? She can handle that. Temptation? That’s her in person. But love? Karen looks at the person in the mirror and this time she doesn’t recognize herself. She looks at a beautiful, sexy and lustful girl who has dressed up for a nice evening at the disco. Or a whore.
The fear of the unknown had driven her to fall into old habits. With the realization of doing something in which she has no experience also came the fear of making a mistake. Her looks don’t matter to Finn. It can’t be, she thinks to herself defiantly, forcing a smile. But would so many girls, her friends, give themselves to him just because he thinks they’re pretty? Can such a close bond as between Finn and his sisters be based only on physical attraction? Or the unconditional love of Emma and this Denise girl for a boy who does it with his three sisters? And Maureen, with her looks, can certainly hook up with any guy she wants. She already has. So why is she in love with Finn then? It can only be something other than the things Karen Grant excels at. Emma is much smarter than she is. His youngest sister is cute as hell, Megan sassy and confident but without having to take her clothes off. And there it is again, the fear. She rears her head and looks at Karen from the face of a dolled-up whore who puts her body on the Internet for money and offers it like a commodity. Maybe he just wants me for my body, she thinks, and is almost happy with the thought. But unfortunately she is just smart enough to know how stupid this thought is. This is her fate. Just smart enough to understand what the world wants from her but not smart enough to realize what it makes of her. But Finn is smart. So why does he want me? He knows her feelings, probably better than she does.
“I know,” she murmurs, thinking of the words he had spoken to her. He was so sure. And also during the messages he had sent her. He wanted a date, would be happy to get to know her better. And she had just written ‘k’ like a four-year-old who thinks she is cool because she can write so cool. And then his laughing smiley face. The whore in the mirror smiles dirty at Karen, knowing she is the only solution to the dilemma she is in. “I’m the only chance you have,” she says to the insecure Karen. “I am the only thing you know and the only way you will find happiness.” And she’s right, the Karen in the mirror. She sits on the bed, just as slumped as her real-life counterpart but unlike the real Karen, the other, meaner Karen has what makes them both tick on her side. The Karen in the mirror knows that Finn desires her body. She knows that the other girls have nothing to offer her in the way of depravity. The Karen in the mirror knows how to wrap Finn around her little finger.
“No.” The angry hiss rips the air in the room. Gesturing harshly, the Karen on the bed pulls her clothes into place and stares angrily at her cold glass counterpart. “He likes me for who I am.” Her hands clench into fists, the thin sheets of the bed between them. “He’s got enough beautiful girls. Beauty won’t save you here.” And it feels good. Karen recognizes the fear that surrounds her, but doesn’t let it guide her. Fear has made her feel so attracted. Fear made her forget what the lesson from the lake was. And fear is what degraded John’s sacrifice. “Don’t be afraid” she says to herself and sees her reflection sewing itself back on her. The two girls, actually one but somehow still split, draw closer again. “He likes you for who you are. He thinks you’re nice and funny. And he’s still attracted to you after all the fucked up stuff you’ve done.” She takes a deep breath, scrambles across the bed to the edge, sits up straight and turns to face the mirror. Karen squeezes her legs together, pulling the top wide over her breasts, trying to look as normal as possible. “He doesn’t just want your body. He wants all of you. He likes what you are just as much as your breasts and everything else.” She smiles. “You are more to him than what you show to the world.” And the fear turns into something else. The nervous anticipation of doing something she has no experience in but still knows something good can happen. Karen Grant is taking a risk.
It’s something she hasn’t had to do in her online activities. On Instagram or Only-Fans, every photo is well-chosen, thoroughly exposed and cropped for its value to Karen. There, she presents herself the way she wants to. And even when she goes life, it is short enough not to clash with normal life. She has never shown her fans such embarrassments as at the lake. The stammering, the ignorance, the nervousness, the fear, the desperation and the sheer happiness to see that Finn doesn’t seem to care. He likes the fancy dresses but also the casual look she so rarely wears in front of others. He looked at her body, her clothes, especially the bikini. Karen has to laugh happily at the thought of his stunned look as she danced past him with the other girls. But after that, he was back to being the big brother and fixated on something else entirely, something much, much more important than her looks. And when he talked to her afterward then always as a friend, not as a fan. The poor boys who lust after her – and girls too, she didn’t see them as equals. John is also one of those poor boys, she recognizes and feels bad. The world isn’t just made up of people who are attracted to her. John showed her that and Finn proved it to her. Finn understands her. And yes, she makes money from what she does, the undressing, the posing, the seductive looks. And yes, she enjoys seeing the comments under her pictures, the lewd ones or the chaste expressions of love from guys and girls she doesn’t know. But in the end, nothing has touched her like his hand on her thigh.
“I know” Karen mumbles, remembering his knowing look, surrounded by girls who love him but completely fixated on her. Karen plays with her followers, but not with Finn. Because Finn isn’t playing with her. Although she comes from a world of anonymity, she firmly believes that his feelings are real, honest and well-intentioned. She doesn’t deserve these feelings, she doesn’t treat people’s affection so gently. But still he gives her these feelings, attention and time although he has his hands full with all his girls, girlfriends, sisters and concubines. “With his harem” she whispers, thinking about the word. Is she really ready to throw herself into such a relationship? Before she can find an answer, her body takes on a life of its own. Like any normal person, Finn is on some social media and it’s easy to find photos of him. He didn’t have time for it at the lake but he did before. Karen looks at him, laughing, surrounded by his sisters. Even a selfie with Emma a few months ago, hidden among other posts. No, Finn doesn’t gamble, the stakes are too high for that. But what does he see in me? One last time, the other Karen rises in an act of disbelief but is quickly brought down. Only one way to find out. She looks down at herself and actually has to smile. “But not like this.”
Quickly jumping up from the bed, she plunges headlong into the large closet and quickly finds what she’s looking for. The gray tube top is replaced with a light blue long-sleeved shirt, this time even with a bra underneath. The skirt is replaced with a longer white one that hugs her knees in natural pleats and waves. The white slip quickly strokes her long legs as he is pulled up. Karen keeps the socks on her feet but this time no skin is visible. Then another denim jacket over her shoulders. The only concession is the size of the jacket. Finn will have to put his jacket around her in the evening. Karen grins widely at the thought…and blushes.
“Look at you Grant” she mutters and the two people in and in front of the mirror are the same, pleased with each other, happy, nervous and a little anxious. “There’s even an extra burger in there.” She clasps her toned belly. Finn is a young man, and that’s how he eats. Where only Megan trumps him in appetite, Karen used to turn up her nose. Now constant sex keeps him thin, she thinks to herself…and gets even redder. “Crap…” She thinks. “Fuck.” The word makes her grin. It’s his word. “If he wants to eat burgers, let’s do it.” Her teeth flash in the mirror, so happy is she at the smile. “This is the new Karen.” It feels right, if not yet good, to embark on a new path. Entering into a relationship, wanting it with all your heart, is the most normal thing in the world. Like a boring office job something everyone has. But still, butterflies fly around in her stomach when she thinks about the ‘normal and boring’ life with Finn and his harem. ‘Normal’ was always something she didn’t want in her life. No normal job, no normal life, no normal relationship. That’s why she had used her beauty to build a life for herself. “Not anymore,” she admits to herself.
Life with Finn will not be ‘normal’. Yes, a relationship with a boy her age, a boy without too much money – at least not as much as some men had offered her for a night, a week or a lifetime with them – is not what she had always been working towards. But still, his hand felt better than the thought of money. His smile and concern for her have become precious to her, a glimpse into a life she hadn’t dreamed of. Karen is no longer what she embodies in her photographs. She no longer has to play the innocent girl who secretly knows every sex position and is ready for anything. None of this is true. Karen Grant is neither innocent and pure like Millie or as depraved and experienced as Maureen. She is also not as mature as Megan to work on herself, to submit and still blossom. The fear comes from Karen not knowing how to please Finn other than just being herself. Not innocent enough to enjoy his protection, not spoiled and independent enough to stand by his side.
“Millie is behind him, Maureen is in front of him, and Megan is next to him. And where am I standing?” She’s talking to her reflection, but only to herself. She always wanted to accumulate money for a wonderful life. Something that comes after her beauty. Now she’s faced with the question of what to do with her time, her beauty, and what comes from it. And Karen has no idea.
But there is someone who does have a clue. At least that’s what Karen thinks, hopes. Her fingers carefully swipe the screen of her cell phone, picking out the number. As always in life, including hers, the solution is in front of Karen, but it’s still not as easy as she’d hoped. For several minutes she stares at the number on the screen, never letting the light in her phone go out, but not daring to go any further. This wasn’t so hard before, she thinks to herself, swallowing hard.
“Fuck…” she whispers, smiling slightly at the word. “Okay…” And then she presses dial… and immediately breaks off again. “Arg!” She throws herself into the pillows of her bed and buries her face in them. Angrily, she kicks her legs but it doesn’t help. Sighing, she straightens up, fixes her hair, and presses the damn green button again.
“Hello?” comes a female voice from the receiver. Karen braces herself.
“Finn?” she asks perplexed, pulled out of her nervous anticipation of hearing her crush.
“Is that what I sound like?” Karen recognizes her friend’s voice, and Megan knows who’s on the other end, too. She giggles brightly. “You probably want to talk to my brother” she laughs, “He’s busy right now.”
“Oh… I… understand,” Of course Karen understands and images of Finn flit before her inner eye. Him between the legs of every girl who wants him. And Karen wants him, too. Karen needs him. “I’ll get him,” Megan hums happily.
“Wait!” the girl on her bed calls into the phone, squeezing it hard. She can almost hear Megan stumble.
“Okay… Why else would you call him?”
“Uh…” Karen is at a loss. It should be so easy, it really should be. “I’d like to speak to Finn…”
“Okay, then I’ll put him on…”
“No!” Megan has to laugh out loud.
“Damn it Karen, what’s wrong with you?” Then her voice softens, conspiratorial. “We all know how you feel honey. No need to panic.”
“Yeah…uh, thanks…but…”
“Is everything okay? Now tell me.” Now Megan sounds genuinely concerned for her friend. “Did something happen?”
“No…no, nothing happened. I…”
“Karen?” Apparently the pause was too much for the girl on the other end. And of course, things only get worse as the girl with new found feelings and knowledge hears his voice on the other end. “It’s Karen” Megan explains to her brother and lover. “I think she wants to talk to you, but doesn’t dare.” Her heart leaps for joy as she hears her crush laughing through the line. New courage fills her at the image of his face.
“I actually wanted to talk to…Maureen.” Now it’s Megan who says nothing.
“Why is that, please?” she finally asks, a little perplexed.
“She offered to talk to me.”
“About Finn?”
“Yes.” Karen just mumbles, kind of embarrassed by all this but also feeling the spark in her heart… and between her legs.
“Okay…” The line is silent for quite a while, then Karen hears indistinct murmurs of a woman’s voice, the one of Megan for sure, and Finn. Then it’s silent again for a long while, and Karen has to remind herself to breathe. Finally, she does.
“Karen?” asks Maureen, not sounding as surprised as the middle Lynchwood sister.
“Hey…Maureen…it’s Karen.” A laugh.
“Yeah I know silly. So you don’t want to talk to my brother?” The question raises a whole other dimension for the nervous girl.
“Yes… of course… just…”
“I think I understand,” Maureen says with amusement. “Come here honey,” she replies and Karen doesn’t understand. Then sounds come from the receiver that sound like kissing, then footsteps and the clack of a door. “Okay, I locked myself in the bathroom. I’m supposed to say ‘hi’ to you from Finn, by the way.”
“Uh…thanks. Say ‘hi’ back to him, please.” Maureen giggles at the brittle voice that catches her ear.
“So?”
“Yeah…So…” And Karen tells Maureen everything. At first it’s like the first drops of a summer rainstorm as she tells of herself, her worries and fears, her plans for the future and everything else. Soon, however, her torrent of words resembles the monsoon, never-ending rain. Maureen is silent the whole time, doesn’t say a word and just listens to the girl as she goes through the same transformation on the phone as she did before alone in her room. First there are the doubts, then the realization that everything is different, then the new look at her life. Then come the new fears and the question: how to deal with them.
“I know how to pose for photos and how to make money” Karen finally says, quite out of breath. “But I have no idea about how to make guys happy beyond that. I mean… if that’s what he wants, that’s what I am to him. You all have always said that you are for him what he needs. Maybe he needs another whore in his harem. But making him happy… I’m not Millie. It’s not that easy for me. I… I have no idea how to do it. But then why does he want me? Wouldn’t it be easier just to stay the sex bomb? I don’t know if I can find my place in all this. And what if I don’t? What if I’m not enough for him?” Karen pauses, only because she has no more air in her lungs.
“Okay, look…” begins Maureen with the dominance of a girl who has already walked the walk. “That’s a whole lot of questions.”
“This is all so new to me.” Karen clutches her cell phone and clasps it with both hands as she slouches on her bed.
“It was for me, too,” comforts her Maureen. “And still is sometimes. Don’t kid yourself. A relationship is the hardest thing you can do in life. But also the best thing that can happen to you.”
“But… But I’m so unprepared. I don’t even know what Finn likes to eat.”
“That’s not important either Karen” laughs Maureen. “If you really care about him then none of this matters anymore. Trust me.” To Karen, the older girl sounds like the purest wisdom. She grins at her power with her calm voice and the knowing smirk that is clearly evident through the electronic connection. “When Finn came downstairs to me that one night, I was devastated.” At these words, the smile dies and Maureen suddenly sounds very grown-up. “I always knew he loved his sisters and I had put them in real danger with my cursed life. That Emma sacrificed herself to protect Millie I will never forget. That night I was absolutely sure that I had lost the only person who really cared about me. I had always known that I loved him, but I didn’t realize it until that night. Well, maybe I needed a little longer, too.” Maureen sighs. “But then when he made love to me it was the most beautiful thing I had ever experienced. I couldn’t believe what was happening. What was happening to me. I was sure that I didn’t deserve to be happy, that my life so far was worth nothing and that Finn would hate me. And then he told me that he loved me. And I told him.” Now the older girl sounds dreamy. “I can’t tell you when I believed him, no, when I believed myself. When I allowed myself to feel what he knew all along. But in the end, here I am.”
“Sounds like it was fate” Karen murmurs.
“Yeah, maybe.” A bright, happy laugh reminds Karen of what she’s missing in her life. “Or maybe it was just him. Maybe it was just Finn.”
“Yeah, maybe.” Maureen is right. Even though Karen doesn’t see it yet, just like the other girl, she senses there’s something there. Something that only Finn Lynchwood has. “But I don’t know if I can give him what he deserves.”
“Of course you can. Again, you just have to be happy. We’ve all had to learn that, not just me. It’s a weird feeling, I admit, but in the end, my little brother just wants you to be happy. Are you happy?”
“No.” The answer comes easily to Karen. “No, I’m not. Only with him…”
“Then the answer is obvious. And he would be honored if he could be the one to make you happy.”
“But I don’t deserve it…” Young Grant sounds exasperated, realizing she’s just fighting against being given something she’s wanted all her life. “He gives so much and I…”
“He’s not going to hold that against you. Believe me. There’s no one who’s taken as much from him as I have and he still loves me.”
“How did you do it?”
“That was just him again,” Maureen giggles happily. Then she realizes that this doesn’t help Karen who doesn’t even know how Finn works. Just that it works and that she wants it too… “Okay, listen. If Finn falls in love with you then that’s a big deal. He loves infinitely and he only wants one thing from you, and that is for you to be happy. A smile from you means the world to him and we all know he likes you a lot, okay?”
“I guess.”
“We know. And so do you honey. So pay attention. If you really want to accommodate him then I think that’s fine. God knows he’s had to chase me all my life. A little less work is exactly what he could use.”
“I really want to do everything I can to make him like me,” Karen admits to herself and Maureen. The two barely know each other but one thing unites them. And that’s the strength Karen is looking for.
“We all have our roles in his life. I’m sure you’ve noticed that. Millie, Emma, Denise, and myself.”
“What about Megan?” asks Karen, puzzled when she realizes her friend is not among those mentioned.
“Megan hasn’t found her place yet either,” Maureen says with amusement. “It’s easier for some than others. So don’t worry if you don’t know where you want to go with Finn yet.” This is actually a big relief to Karen.
“Really? I would have thought Megan would be the first to have a role at his side!” she admits in amazement.
“Finn describes her as our glue,” Maureen giggles with amusement. “And he’s right. She does hold us all together. But I’ve also had to bring the two of them together before because they hadn’t hit it off yet.”
“Really?” Karen can hardly believe that.
“Well, sure. We’re all just people. And so are you, Karen, okay? If you don’t know how to handle Finn, just ask him. If you’re unsure, he’ll be really happy to help you. That’s what friends are for, lovers and platonic ones. And it’s your first date with him, after all.”
“Yeah, you’re right.” Karen laughs in relief.
“And don’t beat yourself up just because you don’t know your role or are nervous. Megan hasn’t been on a date with him yet either. That whole phase is still ahead of us.” There’s silence on both ends of the line for a brief moment. “Shit, I was the first one alone with him,” Maureen says. “And you’re the second.”
“What?” gasps Karen, forced to snort. “That doesn’t make it any easier for me.”
“The lake was good to us I guess. But now we’re back home and things are different here. Finn can’t afford to go on a date with a handful of girls. Not financially or socially. So you’re lucky. I’m sure we sisters won’t have him to ourselves for quite a while.”
“Damn it, Maureen. I didn’t know…”
“Oh, come on,” the older one waves it off. “Don’t worry about that. You have fun with my brother tonight first and then we’ll see what happens, okay?”
“Yes, okay!” exclaims Karen, now full of energy and confidence. Today turned into a beautiful day. “And…thank you…for everything.”
“Don’t mention it,” says Maureen. The two girls say goodbye verbosely, with Karen hearing the voice of Megan at the end of the line just before she hangs up.
Then she takes one last look at herself in the mirror. Her reflection looks just as pleased as she is. She is still nervous, but this time it is a good feeling in her stomach, light and unfamiliar. But Maureen has helped her a lot.
Writing Shark 