What Nobody Knew

Part 2

I took a huge swig of orange juice before staring back at my laptop screen.

"Is Cat still avoiding mom?" Julie asked on the other end.

We had to resort to skype and phone calls for the past year. Julie was involved in a volunteer program in Greece to help teach English to disadvantaged children, which basically sums up what makes her one of the best and most kind-hearted individuals I know. She was also the only one of my siblings that I actually got along with and that made it so much harder not to have her around to talk to. She wouldn't say anything bad about anyone (no matter how much they deserved to be bad-mouthed) but she would at least let me get off my chest what was bothering me.

"Yeah, she practically raced away yesterday after dropping me off. I know mom can be quite a handful, but what I don't get is why she has to ice her out completely. Doing that only flames up her curiosity and makes all of our lives hell."

"Oh, you know Cat, she doesn't like talking about anything serious and I know for a fact she and mom have not talked about what happened last Christmas."

Ah yes, in true Bennett family fashion my mother and Cat have decided to just sweep the whole incident under the rug. Well, probably more Cat than mother, as she has been avoiding her calls or any other form of communication with her ever since.

Let me rehash what happened. So last year around Christmas time, Cat brought her new boyfriend home to meet the family. She wasn't really what you'd call the serious dating type but rather the continuous dating type if you know what I mean. Our mother kept nagging her to bring by her newest conquest, the famous (yes, you guessed it) hand photographer. She has always been really invested in our lives, especially in our dating lives. And seeing as Cat was the only one who was constantly in and out of relationships, she had to take all of the intrusive enquiries. And the funny thing is, the more you pushed Cat to open up, the more of a hardass she became and retracted. If it wasn't for Cat's constant need to brag about her fabulous personal life, none of us would've known what was going on with her.

But, that's still not the reason for her and our mother's rift. Long story short, Cat finally gave in and brought Gavin (the "boyfriend") home. During his stay, our dear old mother had the unfortunate advantage of walking in or rather out on them playing their own version of ring-a-rosy around our precious lemon tree at two in the morning. I don't even want to think of the terrible grass burns that resulted from that event.

Even though our mother was quite liberal, she couldn't stop herself from giving Cat a very long-winded and melodramatic speech about safe sex and putting a ring on it, which shocked not only Cat but the family as a whole. Cat being Cat threw a huge tantrum as only she can, stormed out on Christmas Eve shouting something about it being her body and her choice.

Ever since then, Cat has been keeping our mother at arm's length and the rest of us had to play middle man to their childish fight.

Cat was our mother's confidante and most beloved child. Maybe that's why she took her absence so harshly. Without Cat around to talk to about pop culture and their shared love for reality TV, our mother had no one. 

She and our father's relationship was strained enough as it was without her seeking out his company (which she never did anymore anyway). Had their marriage been what it appeared to the untrained eye, our sister's insensitive departure wouldn't have had such terrible repercussions on our mother's shopping addiction. 

"I am growing a little tired of being in the middle of this all by myself though." I said trying to refocus on the main issue at hand, "Hailey is hardly ever around and that just leaves me to deal with mom and it's not like Cat and I have ever really been close, to begin with." I picked up my laptop, fixed the screen so my face was still visible and headed to my bedroom.

"I know, I really thought I would've been home by now."

"Yeah, this really sucks, don't those kids realise how selfish they're being? I need my big sister back." I pouted into the screen.

I nudged my bedroom door close behind me and placed my laptop down on my bed.

"I'll remember to remind them of that next time in class." Julie shook her head at me but had a smile playing on her face, letting me know she was joking along with me.

I walked over to my closet and took out two blouses, one cream and the other black. I turned around with them in my hands and looked expectantly at Julie.

"Which one?"

"Oh is this for the interview? I thought that was only on Friday?" Julie's eyebrows scrunched together in confusion.

"It was supposed to be, but they phoned me yesterday to let me know it was moved up to tomorrow."

"I still don't quite get why you need to go back again. Wasn't the one interview sufficient?"

"Well, the first interview was with some woman from the human resources department. I think in normal circumstances that would've been that. But Knight Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies in the country. Apparently, this requires numerous interviews and extensive background checks before someone new is hired."

"I guess that makes sense. Do you know who will be conducting the interview?"

I have wondered this myself but they have been very vague about the matter. I guess I was going to have to wait until tomorrow to find out.

"They just kind of implied it would be someone higher up in the company. It'll probably just be someone from management."

"I'm sure this interview is anyways just a formality. But, you were asking me about a shirt..." She said moving closer to the screen to look at the blouses that I was still holding in the air.

"Yes, I was thinking of wearing that black pencil skirt and the matching black heels that I got for the last interview."

"Then you should go with the cream one." Julie sat back with certainty.

"You think?" I turned the blouse around to inspect it up close.

"Yes, definitely. Wearing all black will look way too harsh and the cream one will bring out your naturally beautiful skin tone."

"Cream one it is then." I draped the cream blouse on the hanger along with the pencil skirt that was hanging on my closet handle.

The sound of children's voices came from my laptop.

"Oh, sorry Liz, it seems like the little bundles of joy are a bit early today," Julie said, already focusing her eyes over the computer screen.

"Don't sweat it, I was thinking of turning in early tonight anyway."

"Okay, but let me know how the interview goes!"

"I will do! Bye, love you!" I finished.

"Love you too!" She smiled before ending the session from her side.

I was feeling excited and nervous about what tomorrow would bring. I felt confident in my abilities to get the job, knowing full and well that I was overqualified in terms of education. But I felt nervous nonetheless. I knew there was a lot riding on me getting a job as quickly as possible and I was also well aware of the fact that I was not the only university graduate up to their ears in debt vying for a job. 

The only difference between me and the rest of them was that my current financial predicament wasn't of my own making.