Katriina glances at Nicki as if they are the ones who are sisters now, as if they are the ones who share the same thoughts.

“Yup,” Finn says, slipping out of her flip-flops. Part of her wants to yell at Nicki for not meeting her at the airport, but a more rational part just wants to get out of there as quickly as possible.

Katriina pulls herself together and stands up. “Serafina,” she says. “So good to see you.” She gives Finn an awkward hug, arms outstretched, her body as far away from Finn’s as it can possibly be. Finn’s arms stay at her sides. She can feel her back muscles tensing under Katriina’s bony fingers.

“You, too,” says Finn. Now get the hell off me.

Katriina pulls away. “Excuse me,” she says. “I’ve got to get the kids to Hanna’s.” And then she is gone, dismissing Finn like a mosquito that landed on her arm.

Nicki finally raises her head when Finn sits down at the table across from her, but her eyes remain unfocused, as though she’s concentrating on something just past Finn’s head. She has never liked looking at Finn. Finn imagines how surreal their tableau would seem to a stranger, some kind of horrifying before-and-after makeover shot from a terrible reality-TV show – Finn with her rat’s-nest hair and last night’s red wine staining the inside of her lips, Nicki with her platform wedges and Bumpit, her face spackled with makeup at eleven in the morning on a Saturday, wearing lipstick several shades lighter than her lip liner that makes Finn want to grab her and wipe it all off with the back of her hand.

The moment is broken by Nicki crossing her arms. As Finn watches her toss her head to the side, she knows exactly the impulse that caused it to move there and understands Nicki’s movements so intrinsically that they might as well be fired off from her own synapses. She is chewing gum, some kind of strawberry-scented sugar bomb that they used to love as kids. A tiny hot-pink flap of it peeks out of the corner of her mouth as she chews. Finn’s stomach heaves.

“How’s Mom?” Finn asks.

“Why the fuck do you care?” Nicki shoots back. She blows a bubble, pops it.

WARNING: PROVOKING ANGRY TWIN MAY CAUSE BODILY HARM. “Because she’s my mom and I love her,” says Finn as evenly as possible. She’s not going to let Nicki bait her, not this early. She pulls out her cell phone and scrolls through her old messages even though she has no new texts. Anything to avoid eye contact with Nicki.

Nicki plays with a piece of her over-processed hair, makes a little “pssht” noise with her lips. “That’s debatable.”

“I’m here, aren’t I?”