Kenzie

The afternoon of Thanksgiving Day, I walk into my brother’s shiny glass-and-chrome condo building, preparing to steel myself for what’s to come—an entire afternoon and evening with my parents.

I love my parents, but it’s been a long time since I’ve seen them and that was by design. Every time I leave them, I can’t help but feel… less than. Not to mention the mental chore of having to listen to them go at each other when one pisses the other off, which always happens at some point.

So after my brother buzzes me in, I give myself a mental pep talk on the elevator ride up.

Despite my anxiety, I’m excited to meet my brother’s girlfriend that he’s been hiding. I just hope she’s ready for the family dynamic.

I knock on the door of my brother’s condo and hear some commotion behind the door before it swings open. My head rears back, and I blink a few times to make sense of what I’m seeing. Andrew is standing in the doorway.

Andrew. Not my brother.

What is he doing here?

“Um…” I stand there like an idiot, and before I say any actual intelligible words, my brother pops up beside him.

I haven’t seen Andrew since our meeting at the firm earlier this week to pick out the decor for the party. He seemed distracted and colder than normal. More like the Andrew I met on the blind date. I chalked it up to work stress, but now I wonder if it’s because he knew he’d see me here today. If so, why didn’t he mention it?

“Hey, Mac. Come on in.” Finn waves me in and gives me a hug once I’m inside. “I’m so glad you’re here.” He pulls away and takes in my face and must register my surprise. “Oh right, you haven’t met Andrew yet. You must’ve wondered if you were at the right condo.”

He laughs and I do my best to join in, though it sounds stilted and fake to my ears.

“Andrew, this is my baby sister, Mac. Mac, this is Andrew.” He gestures to Andrew standing beside him, looking equal parts guilty and anxious.

Obviously, Andrew hasn’t let on to my brother that we’ve met, let alone spent time together, and I can’t help but wonder why since he’s here and presumably knew I was coming.

I make the split-second decision to play along and stick out my hand toward him. “Call me Kenzie.”

Relief washes over his features and he slips his hand in mine. “Good to meet you.” He nods and squeezes my hand in what I take as thanks for playing along.