“Yeah, sorry about that. Had some shit on my mind,” I replied.
“It’s cool. Come on, this way.”
Mel started off down the concrete path into the University, and Emily fell in step beside me. She wore a look of concern on her face and she gave my hand a squeeze.
“Did I do something?” she asked softly.
“What?” I replied. “No, you didn’t do anything.”
“Are you sure? You were really quiet, and I’m worried I did something wrong,” she added. “Was it too much for me to stay in your bed last night?”
“No. Of course not,” I gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “Sorry. It really has nothing to do with you. I just got caught up in my own thoughts.”
Emily gave me a half smile but released my hand when we passed a few people. It wouldn’t be a good look to be seen holding hands with your brother who might be starting a job here.
“I hope we can do it again soon,” she added, her normal smile returned. “I love being around you.”
I smiled and gave her a quick kiss on the lips once I was certain no one was watching. I didn’t like keeping things from her, but it wasn’t the right time to tell her about Erica. It might not ever be the right time. Emily and I could just stay as we are and go no further, and if we did, then I wouldn’t need to tell her.
“Here we are,” Mel stopped and spun around to face us. “Over there is the maintenance office. Go see John, he’s expecting you. We’ll be over in the main office when you’re done. We shouldn’t be too long.”
I gave Emily a hug, and she wished me good luck before she turned to walk side-by-side with her sister. I couldn’t help but stare at their asses for a moment as they walked. That was until Mel looked over her shoulder and gave me a knowing smile.
“Busted,” I muttered to myself.
I really didn’t know what to do about Mel. She knew the most out of all of my sisters, but she was happy to keep it to herself. Maybe I could talk to her about what happened with Erica and Emily? I had to trust someone after all.
The meeting with John was probably the most informal meeting I’ve ever had. John was a lean middle-aged balding man with glasses and an impressive moustache. He seemed friendly enough and always had a smile on his face. The recommendation from my sisters had pretty much guaranteed me the job even before the meeting. He held them in high regard.
I signed some papers and he gave me a key to my own locker and gave me the rundown on what I’d be doing around the school.
The university was fairly new, so there wasn’t a great deal to do around the ground except for the standard trash collection, grass cutting and changing of light bulbs. Occasionally something would break down and need repairs, but most of the time John just carted it off and replaced it with a new one when it was delivered. The pay wasn’t great, but most of my day would be spent hanging around the maintenance office, waiting for something to do.
Once John finished my induction, he offered me a firm handshake, and bid me farewell after giving me directions to the administration office, where I’d find my sisters. I followed John’s instructions, but still got lost twice before I finally found the admin offices. Mel was sitting out the front smoking a cigarette, so I took a seat beside her and lit one up.
“I saw a lot of no smoking signs around,” I said.
“Security doesn’t give a shit,” Mel shrugged.
“Cool by me,” I shrugged.
“You get the job?” she asked.
“Yeah. He was pretty excited to hire me. I’m guessing he likes you girls a bit too much,” I chuckled.
“He’s a nice guy,” Mel shrugged. “He has two daughters around our age but doesn’t get to see them because his ex-wife is a bitch. He looks out for us a lot, mostly Emily.”
“Ah, that makes more sense,” I added.
“Worried someone might try and steal my sister away from you?” Mel smirked.
“How much do you know?” I sighed.
“Only that Emily didn’t sleep in her room last night, and Erica was in a foul mood this morning,” Mel replied.
“Maybe we could talk about it later? If you’re still cool with that?” I asked.
“Of course. We’re family and I want to help,” she replied. “But, Nick.”
“Yes?” I asked.
“If you hurt Emily, I will castrate you with a rusty spoon,” Mel said with a cheery tone that made the threat even more alarming.
“Noted,” I nodded. “I wouldn’t dream of hurting her.”
“Good,” she nodded back. “She loves you. You know that?”
“I guessed as much,” I said. “What are your thoughts on that?”
Mel never got to reply, because Emily jogged over and plonked herself in between us with a big smile.
“You get the job?” she asked excitedly.
“Of course I did. I’m me after all,” I said with a cocky grin.
Emily gave me a big hug, then turned to Mel. “We should go celebrate!”
“It’s just a job Em,” Mel sighed, but immediately gave in. “Kingpin?”
“You know me so well,” Emily hugged her sister and planted a kiss on her cheek. “You know I love you, right?”
“Of course you do. I’m awesome.”
The rest of the afternoon was spent with the twins teaching me about the public transport system around Melbourne and I even got my own travel card for when I needed to start coming to work. Mel didn’t drive and didn’t like riding, so her and Emily caught the train to Uni each day. It would be easy enough to tag along with them the first few times so I could memorize the route, then I’d be set.
We spent some time at Kingpin, which was a bowling alley and arcade. The twins were terrible at bowling, but they were at least better than me. I’d never bowled in my life and I’m pretty sure I made the record for most gutter balls in one game. The arcade machines were more fun. There was a lot of old-school retro games, skill testers and shooting games that kept Emily and myself entertained for a couple of hours. I even saw a grinning Mel as she played a dancing game with her sister.
By the time the three of us got home it was late afternoon, and we were exhausted, and needed a shower. We went our separate ways as soon as we got inside, but I was able to steal a quick kiss from Emily before she went upstairs to use Amanda’s bathroom to clean up before dinner.
The house was empty, but I’d seen the others’ cars in the driveway when we got home. I checked the living room and kitchen but couldn’t find any trace of Erica or Amanda. The oven was on and the timer read another twenty minutes, so I guessed Amanda was just off doing something else while she waited for dinner to cook.
I headed up to my flat, prepared to shower and changed, silently hoping Erica was waiting here for me. Twenty minutes wasn’t long, but we could still have some fun. The lights were on, but it was Amanda sitting at my small kitchen table.
“Hey,” I greeted her. “You okay?”
Amanda didn’t greet me with her usual smile and cheery attitude I’d grown to love so much. She even looked like she’d been crying.
“Nick…we have to talk about the other night.”
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