Too soon to tell

"Hey Bobby" She calls you teasingly as she walks through the door. She wears an almost see-through white top (long sleeved and exposed her flat stomach) along with a black mini-skirt and heals. You never liked that name and preferred to be called Robert but she has always called you Bobby anyway.

You groan inwardly as you respond, "What?"

"Hey what's with the tone, I have you set up here for a week doing nothing but feeding my birds and you're already acting high and mighty?" She retorts with a glint in her eye.

"You always seem to want to play some sort of word game..Why don't you just spit it out, Karen, what do you want?"

"Jeez, I didn't know it was gonna be like that is all." She seems actually hurt by your comment. "I know we used to fight a lot but I missed you and I know it can't be all that fun living at Mom and Dad's. You know I could've asked one of my friends to watch my birds but I decided to ask you because I thought you'd be grateful to be on your own for once."

You start to feel a bit sorry. "Listen, I didn't mean to-"

"Of course you did! everything is always my fault and you make damn sure I know it." Tears are glinting in her eyes. "Even growing up you always blamed me for all the problems in your life...Maybe if you were a bit nicer to me, I would've spent more time helping you out, but you're just a jerk. Why don't you just go back home then, it's not like I could have used your help this time..." The tears have started to flow freely onto her cheeks as she turns away.

You start to reach out a hand and put it on her shoulder, "Look, I'm sorry...You're right. Maybe I have been kind of a jerk to you. What did you need help with?"

She turns back to you, "...I'm just stressed right now. I wanted to spend time with someone who was more chill like you. All of my friends wanna party all the time but sometimes I just wanna be at home and watch some t.v."

"Ok, sure, that sounds good, do you wanna watch something right now?"

"Actually... I was kind of hoping you would stay here a while, and maybe we could do stuff when I got off work."

You pause for a second taking in the spacious room, "That sounds...really good, but this is too far from my job and I'm not sure that I could get one out here.." You haven't always had the highest self-esteem and getting a new job seemed like more of a challenge than you really wanted.

For some reason she smiles at this, "Oh you don't have to worry about that," she says excitedly, "I have some friends that could hook you up with a job or two, but in the mean time why don't I just pay you."

"What, but-"

"Yeah, you did a good job not only feeding my birds but also keeping my house clean. I could just pay you to clean my house, you'd definitely get more than working at your job."

"I...suppose that could work, but that would be a bit embarrassing to tell people.."

Her face drops a bit, "Listen Bobby, this is what you've always done, do you know that?"

You look at her puzzled.

She continues, "Every time something half-way good comes along you start putting up road blocks. Now I'm not saying you're in a bad place in life. All I'm saying is that you could be in a better place. And no I don't think cleaning is what you want to be doing, but if you stay with me and let me help you to network you'll have a lot more options...just trust me, ok?"

You sigh and realize that she's right, finally you relent. "Alright, I'll try it."

Her face lights up again, "Awesome, first things first, you gotta quit your job, no two weeks notice, just quit. No, don't give me that face, I know it's rude but I also know you and I don't want you to chicken out because you feel bad. And don't worry after all the opportunities I'll provide for you, you won't need that retail job on your resume anyway."

She deftly picks your phone out of your pocket, finds your work number and dials. You try to get it back but she's dodging you while laughing, finally she stops playing around, takes your wrist and twists a bit, while you react to the pain she pushes you onto her couch and sits right on you. While sitting on you she wraps her legs around your stomach and gives you a quick squeeze, eliciting a grunt from your throat. She stops twisting your wrist but then takes both your hands and pulls them down away from your face while she puts the phone to your ear and you hear your manager on the line. Your sister whispers, "It's for your own good," and gives you another (softer) squeeze.

You try to pussyfoot around the subject but after your sister starts to glare at you and begins squeezing a bit you blurt out, "I gotta quit!" Your manager seems to get upset about the abruptness and starts to scold you over the phone. As you're about to apologize, your sister ends the call. You give her a wide eyed glare and make a grab for the phone but your sister's grip is too strong, she keeps your hands down and throws the phone across the room. Every time you try to say something she squeezes your stomach and says, "Behave." This happens for the next 5 minutes until you're very red in the face and finally calm down.