“Trey,” Perfect said to her sister. “Nice to see you, too.”
“Having yourself a little shopping spree?”
“Just helping a friend decorate her apartment,” Perfect said.
“I hope she paid for that herself.”
Perfect briefly considered lying… so briefly that an outside observer wouldn’t have noticed any hesitation.
“It’s my money. If I choose to spend it to help a friend, that’s my business.”
“Well, we’ll talk about that later,” Tranquility said. “Let’s take a ride.”
“No, thank you. It’s a nice day and I’d rather walk.”
“Don’t be stubborn, Perfect… we can take all those bags and relieve your ‘friend’ of her burden, too. When we’re done, I’ll drop you off at her apartment.”
While the townhouses could be passed off as apartments from the outside, Perfect didn’t want her older sisters thinking of them as a place they might come looking for her. Instead of taking Dani’s bags, she handed hers to Dani and said, “Why don’t you go back to that cafe we passed and wait for me? I’ll have Trey drop me off there when we’ve finished our little chat.”
“Is everything okay?” Dani said.
“Not really, but I’ll be fine.”
Perfect got into the car with her sister, who signaled to the driver to go.
“Okay… what’s going on?” Perfect asked her.
“I might ask you the same thing,” Tranquility said. “Setting up nest with an older woman… is that why you’re never at your apartment?”
“I’m not ’setting up nest’, and Dani’s not much older than I am,” Perfect said. “Not that it’s any of your business. Anyway,” she said, a little smugly, “if you’re worried about that, you might recall that I’ve been recently involved with a man.”
“Yes, Perfect, the whole restaurant remembers that… that’s why I’m here. Divinity’s about ready to have you hospitalized. Mother’s only against that because of the scandal. She’d much rather have you bundled off to Switzerland and then committed. I talked the two of them into letting me talk to you instead. I’ll be able to tell them you left your rabbit at home, at least.”
“Oh, yeah, Mr. Buttons and I are working on a little problem for the government and I thought it was best if one of… um.”
Tranquility sighed.
“Perfect, I know I haven’t always been there for you,” she said.
“Why do you think you have to? Your my sister, not my mother,” Perfect said. “And you’ve got your own life to live.”
“I’m still responsible… look, if we don’t come up with something for you to do with your life… something quiet and respectable and out of the way, something to keep you focused… Mother’s going to come up with something to do with you,” she said. “So here’s the deal: I’ve been looking at your transcripts, and I think it’s time you applied to law school.”
“Law school?”
“It only makes sense, Perfect,” Tranquility said. “Daddy practiced law before he went into politics. Grandpa was a judge before me. You don’t have to follow either of our footsteps… I’m afraid to say you’ll probably always be a bit, uh, scattered for that. But you could be a public defender. We need good public defenders. You’re independently wealthy, you’re focused on things that you’re passionate about, and I’ve noticed that you’re passionate about what you think of as doing good. Mother won’t understand, but she can’t complain because it spins nicely. Besides, she’s got two daughters with careers she can brag about in terms she understands. Daddy will be proud that you’re doing a public service. Dee will see how functional you are as you are and stop trying to medicate you into a corner. It’s a perfect fit.”
“Oh, gee, I’m glad that’s settled,” Perfect said. “And without a word from me.”
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