Fifteen

Nove

The sound of the Skype dial tone filled my bedroom as the online system tried to connect me to four different callers. Soon enough, one by one, the faces of my siblings filled the screen, with Michael being the last to join us. Lena looked tired as she peered down the camera from a darkened room, whispering her greeting. 

"Sorry but it's really late at night here and I don't want to wake Stefan up," she explained. "So, Isa, what's up? Why are you calling us at stupid o'clock?"

Romilly scoffed. "It's only stupid o'clock in Singapore. It's normal o'clock here."

"Let's not argue, girlies," Nina practically sang down the microphone. "But I have to echo what Lena said: why are you calling us? Aren't you having fun in Italy?"

Half smiling, I tell them all about the few short days I've been here and how Nari has been giving me guided tours, trying to get me interested in the city. Both Lena and Nina tried to insinuate that there was something going on between myself and Nari but Michael reassured them that nothing could be further from the truth. Romy challenged him to explain why he thought that and like any brother being heckled on by his sister, Michael swiftly spilt the beans.

"Because she's in love with Max," he revealed, causing my sisters all to groan. Micahel sat up a little straighter on his end and frowned. "Excuse me, what's with the whining?"

After a lot of whispering between my sisters, Romy leaned in closer and said, "Well, we just think, you know, that would be a bad idea."

"Why?" Micahel and I both asked at the same time, mirroring each other's anger in the tone we spoke with. When Michael folded his arms over his puffed up chest and rolled his eyes, I seized on the opportunity to dig a little deeper into the girls' thoughts. "How is me being in love with Max a bad idea?"

Lena laughed. "Ah, so you don't deny it. You are in love with him." I don't bother to argue with her. Getting serious, I watch as Lena's camera skews as she repositions herself and ties her hair back. Oh, now she means business. "He has a girlfriend, Isa. Plus, he's..."

Her words trail off, which makes me think that my sisters don't have a decent enough answer as to why getting with Max is a bad idea beyond the tiny matter of his currently having a girlfriend. Romy ties to give me her opinion which is basically a lecture about how I'm too young to want to be in an unrequited love affair while Nina backs her up and says, "Look what happened to me."

To be honest, I don't think that Nina's situation is remotely similar to mine. It's not like I'm going to get drunk, hop on a plane with Max and marry him in Vegas only to get divorced less than six months later. The worst that could happen with me and Max is that we get together, it doesn't work out and family gathering get a little awkward in the future. Not that I would ever go into a relationship with him thinking that it's going to fail. 

Not that I'm getting into a relationship with him anyway because, as Lena oh so helpfully reminded me, Max already has a girlfriend. 

"This is messing with my head," I shout down the connection at them. The lights flicker on at Lena's end and after a little bit of swearing in German, Stefan Schweiger appears on the screen, not at all looking happy with being woken up. "Hi, Stefan."

He winces in the light. "Isabella?" Wiping the sleep from his eyes, he looks over Lena's shoulder and grunts. "It's the whole asylum. Why are you all on Skype?"

"I needed advice on love and relationships and thought I'd ask this lot but then I remembered that they're all useless and I'm too polite to hang up on them," I sarcastically answer. My sisters all glare while Michael sips on his tea, not saying a thing. "Hey, Stefan, I don't suppose you have any advice for me?"

"Nope." He gets up from the bed, bare arse cheeks in full view for us all to see and says, "I'm going to sleep on the couch."

Michael, now that he's the only guy involved in the conversation, leans closer to the camera and stares at me. "Isa, what's really going on? I know you and you are the last of my sisters who would ever need to ask us for advice." He was right on that front. I'm the one usually dishing advice out, not begging for it. "Has something happened or has something been said?"

Nodding, I start to tell them all about Nari and how he's got inside my head with his talk about daddy issues and about being happy but being happier. Sharing my concerns about telling Max all about my feelings while he's with Amelie, I divulge the fact that I think Mum and Dad are going to divorce. From there, I tell them my biggest fear about starting a relationship with Max is that there won't be loyalty from him and that I'll probably end up broken-hearted because Max'll end up cheating on me, just like he left Amelie broken-hearted when he started something with me.

"You're pretty sure that he'll pick you over Amelie, aren't you?" Nina joked, not that I particularly found her words funny. If anything, it only created more doubt in my mind. 

I sigh. "God, what if I put myself out there and tell him how I feel but he rejects me? God, that's worse!"

"Isabella," Michael's stern voice came bellowing down the line. "I can pretty much guarantee that he won't reject you. That said, you do need to pick your timing perfectly. And for what it's worth, Max won't mess you around. And," he says a little loudly and with emphasis. "I'm not just saying this because I'm your brother and I think you're amazing but any boy who ends up with you should be the happiest boy in the world."