“You know what? I have this really pretty shade of red Dior lipstick that would look just great on you-“

“Jill!” Leah snapped. She was sitting in front of her vanity mirror, getting ready for a date with JC, and Jill was sprawled across her bed giving her unsolicited fashion and beauty advice.  “I like my lip gloss just fine thank you.” Leah had been applying pink Lipglass by MAC when she had just enough of her sister’s input. “If I need an opinion on my outfit, makeup, or hair, I will gladly ask for yours.” She said through gritted teeth.

“I was only trying to help.” Jill said, pouting.

It had only been three days, since Jill had unexpectedly dropped in on Leah and Lucky, and she was already overstaying her welcome.

“So, since I can’t give you my opinion, am I at least allowed to ask you where JC’s taking you tonight?” Jill asked.

“JC is taking me Demarchelier for dinner.” Leah replied, smoothing down her freshly blown out hair, and giving it a once over.

“Ohh, fancy! I remember, for our three year anniversary Tristan surprised me with a trip to the City, and got us reservations there.” Jill said sadly.

Sensing another oncoming meltdown, Leah decided to change subjects. There’s no telling how many Ibuprofens Lucky and Leah had had to down, from all of the crying spells that they’d had to endure over the past seventy-two hours. Literally anything had reminded Jill of Tristan, and Jill had cried more than a newborn baby, and Leah and Lucky had gotten less sleep than any new mother.  “So, I know it’s only been three days, but have you thought about work yet at all?” Leah asked. The sooner Jill got back on her feet the better.

“Oh God no,” Jill said, much to Leah’s dismay.

Dammit, Leah thought to herself.

“I’ve been so down lately that work hasn’t even crossed my mind.”

“Well, there are plenty of good firms here.” Leah replied. “With your education, and resume, I’m sure you’ll be able to find something in no time.” Leah said, assuring her sister, but also dropping subtle hints. It’s not that she didn’t love her sister; she definitely did, and she was glad that her sister wanted them to be close but they could do that from separate apartments right?  She understood that Jill was heartbroken, and that she and Jill were trying to work on their relationship, but one thing had remained the same over the last twenty plus years; That Jillian James was an absolute spoiled brat! Jill had taken over Leah and Lucky’s apartment, eaten their food without replacing it, and expected them to do damn near everything for her. It was time for her to move on.

“So, are you sure you still want to go out tonight?” Jill asked.

“Jill.” Leah sighed, warning her. No, she would not let her sister take her on another guilt trip. She had already cancelled one date with JC to stay home with Jill and watch The Way We Were. Twice! And the whole time Jill cried about how she thought that Tristan was her Hubbell Gardiner. Jill had officially ruined that movie for her, and she couldn’t even listen to the song anymore.

“Okay, fine!” Jill relented. “I’ll just stay here. By myself. With nothing to do.”

She was trying to pull a guilt trip, and Leah wasn’t biting. “You won’t be by yourself, Lucky will be home from work soon.”

“C’mon, you and I both know that Lucky hates me.” Jill said.

True. It had taken everything in Lucky’s power not to strangle her. She had never liked Jill, for how she used to treat Leah, and she wasn’t about to start now. “Well, how about going out?” Leah suggested. “It’s New York, there’s always something to do.” She pointed out.

“But then I’d have to get dressed.” Jill whined. Leah looked at her sister. She’d been in baggy sweatpants and t-shirts for three days, and her hair tied back into a ponytail. Forget about makeup. She’d never seen her high maintenance sister look so- low maintenance. 

“Well, wouldn’t it be worth the effort?” Leah urged.

“But I don’t know anyone.” Jill said.

“Well you can meet people.” Leah replied, putting on her Juicy Couture diamond hoop earrings. “Maybe even a guy. How about you go down the street to Delia’s and just simply pick up a cup of coffee. There are always lots of cute guys there.”

“Um unlike you Leah, coffee shop singer/songwriter, guitar strumming artsy guys aren’t my type. I’m more into guys of high society.” Jill quipped.

Okay, there’s my sister! Leah thought. She may be down, but she still hadn’t lost her sassiness. “Well, I tried.” Leah said. “But, now I have to finish getting ready.” Leah got up and walked over to her closet. She traded in her camisole and jeans for a white, skin tight, spaghetti strapped Diane von Furstenberg dress that stopped at her knee. She slid on a pair of knee-high, stiletto caramel suede Guess boots, and her toffee leather Burberry jacket.

“So, how do I look?” Leah asked.

“Like you have a life, and a boyfriend that loves you and I don’t.” Jill said, gloomily.

“Oh-kay, not the response I was going for, but thanks, I guess.” Leah said slowly. Her sister really needed to get a grip. Suddenly there was a knock on the door. “That’s JC, I have to go.” Leah said, grabbing her black Armani tote from her dresser. “Lucky will be home shortly, and remember she has a very short fuse, so whatever you do, try not to make her angry.” Leah reminded her, before heading out the door.           

“Gotcha!” Jill called, but Leah wasn’t quite sure that she had. Upon opening the living room door, Leah’s eyes rested on her devastatingly handsome boyfriend. Before she could say anything he wrapped an arm around her waist, bringing her close to him, and placed a kiss onto her lips. Just what she needed.

 “Hi,” She said breathlessly.

“I needed that today.” JC said.

“Me too,” Leah said. “C’mon, let’s get out of here, before we get roped into watching The Way we Were. I cannot take that movie again!” Leah grabbed JC by the hand, and shut the door behind her.

*********************** 

“Twice?” JC asked, laughing.

“Yeah, and on top of that, I’ve gotten next to no sleep between Jill’s crying, and Lucky’s snoring.” Leah said. The two were now, at Demarchelier, an upscale French restaurant on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. With crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, and classic art pieces hanging from the walls, the restaurant offered a peaceful and serene setting; A nice change of pace from Leah’s chaotic apartment. “So, enough about me, how have you been?” Leah asked.

“Better, now that I’m with you.” He smiled.

Leah couldn’t help but to smile back. It was nice, being out with her boyfriend. Especially since their first two dates gotten cancelled. The first due to the tabloid frenzy, and the second due to Jill’s unexpected arrival, and subsequent breakdown. So, it was nice to be out on a proper date, just her and her man.

“So, I have an idea.” JC proposed.

“Yeah?” Leah replied, taking a sip of wine.

“I was thinking that we should get away. Just the two of us.” JC said. “I was thinking that maybe, we should just take a break, and get away from the world.” He explained. “You know us, the beach, no paparazzi, and a place where we can lead a nice and quiet existence, well for a while anyway.” He went on.

“Jace, you had me at just the two of us.” Leah stopped him. “So where is this magical place that you speak of?” She asked.

“Orlando.” JC replied.

Orlando. Leah always looked forward to going back to Orlando. Orlando was home. It was where her life started; Where she met JC, where she met Lucky and all of her other friends, and made the most memories. Not a single bad memory was attached to Orlando. She thought of the beach, and the ocean, and of course the people. She loved New York, but its inhabitants weren’t exactly known to be the nicest people. A slower pace, warmer weather, and a whole lot more privacy sounded like the perfect getaway. “I’m in.” She finally said.

JC looked over at his girlfriend and smiled. He couldn’t wait to spend a few uninterrupted weeks with her. Things were better between them now than they had ever been, and knew that they would only get better.

“There’s just one thing.” Leah spoke up.”Can it wait a few days? Just until I can get Jill moved out; I can’t leave her alone with Lucky, or Lucky just might kill her.”

“Yeah, that’s probably for the best.” JC replied, knowingly.

 *********************************

Later that night, Lucky was just turning the key in the lock to the apartment door. She couldn’t wait to get on the other side, and wallow in her misery. Saying that today was a disaster was an absolute understatement. First, she had to style some insufferable high fashion model, for a Chanel press event. Anabela Francois had been impossible to style, and she was always referring to herself in the third person. It was “Anabela don’t want this”, or “Anabela don’t want that!” Everything was either “Too Beige” or “Too opaque.” Or some other bullshit that she kept coming up with just to piss Lucky off. If her career weren’t on the line, Lucky would tell her where the hell she could go, and where she could shove those dresses.

And then there was some new bitch named Rachel Zoe, who had totally stolen her client! She was supposed to style Jennifer Garner for the Oscars! She had been looking forward to it for months now, and now some new chick from YM magazine, had just snatched a client from right under her nose! Did she work for a firm? Did she even have an office at least! Ugh! Lucky was so over this day, all she wanted to do was curl up on the couch with a bag of kale chips and glass of wine and watch re-runs of The Twilight Zone.

Only she couldn’t, because when she opened the door, she saw that Jill was there. Watching The Way we Were. Again. Oh joy! Lucky thought. This is exactly how I wanted to spend my evening. Oh yeah, she was definitely going to need that wine now. Maybe even the whole damn bottle. “Where’s Leah?” Lucky asked, placing her jacket on the coat rack, and tossing her bag and briefcase in the closet.

“Out with JC.” Jill replied.

Lucky rolled her eyes. Leah knew better than to leave her alone with Jill. “Great,” she muttered under her breath. Deciding to avoid confrontation, Lucky wandered off into the kitchen. At least she still had her kale chips to look forward to. Or not…

Lucky checked everything from the pantry to the cabinets to the bread box. They had to be somewhere in here. After searching the entire kitchen for her chips to no avail, she knew that there was only one explanation, because Leah sure as hell didn’t eat kale chips.

“Hey Jill, have you seen my kale chips?” Lucky asked as calmly as possible, walking back into the living room.

“Oh, those were yours?” Jill asked hesitantly. She was looking everywhere but at Lucky. “I, sort of um ate them.”

Lucky looked at her wide-eyed. This was the fifth time in three days that she had taken something of hers without replacing it. “Jill, I’ve asked you repeatedly, if you take something that’s mine, then replace it. Is that so hard?” She found it hard to believe that a Stanford educated girl couldn’t comprehend the simplest of things. Either that or she was just an inconsiderate Bitch.

“Listen, I’m just really going through a hard time right now.” Jill said.

Oh, not this shit again. Lucky thought. If she had to hear that stupid excuse one more time, she would have to heavily sedate herself. If everyone acted the way that Jill did just because they got dumped by some guy, then the world wouldn’t even be functioning. “Yeah, I don’t actually like you enough to care.” Is what Lucky wanted to say, but she opted not to. Instead, she trudged back into the kitchen for wine, and to search for what she considered to be comfort food. Maybe some dried pears. Lucky opened the sub-zero refrigerator, and reached to the very back of the top shelf, pulling out a cold bottle of Pinot Grigio. The white wine would have been the one highlight of her night, had the bottle not been nearly empty.

What the hell? Lucky thought. She had just bought the bottle two days ago. There wasn’t even enough wine in the bottle to leave a buzz, let alone fill a glass. “Jill!!!!” Lucky screamed. By now, she was livid! Lucky stomped down the hallway, and back into the living room, the bottle in her hand. “Did you drink my wine too?”

“Okay, I thought that was Leah’s.” Jill responded nonchalantly. Her nonchalance was pissing Lucky off even more.

Lucky positioned herself in front of the television, and turned it off.

“Hey, I was watching that!” Jill cried.

“I’m talking to you.” Lucky said. “Listen, if you’re gonna stay under this roof, we’re going to have to establish some boundaries.” She said firmly. “This isn’t Beverly Hills, and you don’t have maids at your beck and call anymore. I’m not going to clean up your shit, and you can’t just eat and drink my food without replacing it.” It was time that Lucky put her foot down.

Jill blinked rapidly. Should she speak? She was afraid to even make a sudden movement for fear that Lucky would kick her ass. So what if she ate a bag of chips, or didn’t do laundry? It wasn’t that big of a deal. Was it?

“I’m just telling you, what Leah’s too nice to tell you. And turn on the lights in here; we don’t live in a fucking cage.” Lucky said, walking over to the wall, and flipping a switch. She sure wish that she hadn’t, because if she hadn’t then she wouldn’t have seen her empty pint of vanilla bean coconut milk ice cream, her empty bag of raisins, and her half eaten jar of almond butter. Had she left the lights off, she also wouldn’t have noticed that Jill was wearing her PJ Harvey sweatshirt, and had gotten a stain on it.  

“Is that my shirt?” Lucky squeaked, her free hand clenched into a tight fist, and the other wrapped tightly around the nearly empty bottle of Pinot Grigio.

“Um…” Jill stalled.

Fight or flight, fight or flight. Lucky went over her options in her head. Fight or flight… Oh fuck it, this Bitch is dying tonight!

******************** 

“Tonight was amazing.” Leah said, walking hand in hand with JC, up to her apartment door. After dinner JC had surprised her with a horse and carriage ride through Central park, something that she had never done before. It was almost enough to make her forget that Jill was staying with her. Almost.

“Um, Are you sure, you wanna go in there?” JC asked, upon hearing the sounds emanating from behind the door. First a knock, then a thud, then a slam, then a scream, followed by a bang.

“Oh shit.” Leah sighed. She knew that whatever was happening on the on the side of that door could not be good. “Help me?” She asked.

“Oh, no,” JC said, raising his hands, as if to surrender. “You’re not pulling me into this.” JC knew Lucky, and he knew Jill, and he knew that it was only a matter of time before their personalities clashed. It was like fire and fire. “You’re not pulling me into this.”

“Josh, if you love me, then you’ll go in here with me.” Leah said.

JC stood his ground. Chick fights were not his specialty.

“Jace, please!” Leah pleaded. There was no way she could handle those two by herself.

“Fine,” JC relented.

“Thank you.” Leah replied, before unlocking the apartment door, dreading the oncoming confrontation. Once Leah opened the door, the world of chaos unfolded before her eyes. Pictures from the mantle had been knocked over, and the floor had been littered with what looked to be an ice cream container, a jar of almond butter, and various amounts of empty food packages. And behind the couch were the culprits; Lucky had Jill in a headlock and Jill had a fistful of Lucky’s hair.

“Oh my God!” Leah exclaimed. Although it seemed almost inevitable that her sister and best friend would clash, she was hoping and praying that it wouldn’t lead to this. And not so soon! Leah and JC rushed over to the dueling duo. Leah grabbed a hold of Jill, and JC, Lucky, trying to pull the two apart.

“Lucky, Honey, let go of her head.” JC instructed. He had Lucky by the hips, trying to pull her away, without Jill head being ripped off in the process. “Lucky Amelia St. James, let go of Jill’s head now!”

“Bite me!” Lucky snapped. Nothing pissed her off more than the use of her full name.

“Jill, Jill, let go of her hair!” Leah demanded, trying to unclench her sister’s fist.

“Fat chance in hell!” Jill screamed.

JC and Leah gave one last pull before finally breaking the two apart. All four of them were out of breath. Lucky tried to go for Jill again, but JC had to hold her back.

“Cut it out you two!” Leah demanded. “What is going on here?” She asked, exasperated.

“She attacked me!” Jill said accusingly.

“Lucky!” Leah gasped.

“She’s taking over my life!” Lucky cried as JC dragged her away. He figured it was best to remove her from the situation. “She’s taking over my taking over my liiiiifffeeee!”

******************

“So, another night of chaos it looks like.” Leah said, walking JC to the door. After Lucky and Jill had calmed down, the cops had showed up, courtesy of Mrs. Atherton, their seventy-something next door neighbor. Leah had to convince two burly, and very unfriendly female cops, that she and JC were not involved in a domestic disturbance, and that it was all a huge misunderstanding. They almost didn’t believe her. They told her to blink once for yes, and twice for no. It was terrible. “I am so sorry.”

‘It’s not your fault.” JC replied.

“Well, on behalf of my sister, and my best friend, I’m sorry. It seems like every night since Jill’s been here, it’s something new. I’m trying my best to be accommodating, but it’s so frustrating. ”

“Well, for what it’s worth, I think you’re being a good sister.” JC said.

“Yeah?”

“Totally. Just keep your head up, Babe, everything will work itself out. I promise.” JC replied, stroking her cheek.

“Thanks for everything.” Leah smiled. She was determined to not let Lucky and Jill’s little mishap ruin the night that she had with JC.

“No problem,” JC said before kissing her.

“Call me when you get in.” She said, before closing the door behind her. Leah took in a deep breath and let out a long and hard sigh. Before the night was over she had to talk to Lucky. She tried to talk to Jill, but she had dissolved into a fit of tears, so she made it impossible to verbalize anything.

“Knock, knock.” Leah said, once she finally got to Lucky’s room, cracking the door ever so slightly.

“Hey.” Lucky said. She was dressed in a black camisole and black boy shorts. Her jet black hair was piled high on top of her head into bun, a big change from the mess that it was about an hour ago, after Jill had tried to pull it out. Honestly, Leah was surprised that Lucky wasn’t bald. She was also surprised that Jill still had her head.

Leah made her way into Lucky’s room, and sat next to her on her bed. Lucky was sitting cross legged, reading The Art of War by Sun Tzu. “I’m really sorry Lucky about Jill.”

“It’s not your fault that she is the way she is.” Lucky replied. She couldn’t be mad at Leah. It wasn’t Leah’s fault, and she felt bad for fighting her best friend’s sister, but she couldn’t take it anymore. “But, something has to be done about her.”

“I know.” Leah huffed, leaning back against the headboard. “I know, I just don’t know what. I don’t know how to help her. She’s frustrating me just as much as she’s frustrating you, but she’s my sister, and I feel responsible for her.” Leah felt helpless. She was felt stuck between a rock and a hard place, and she didn’t know what to do. Jill’s emotional outbursts were wearing both Leah and Lucky thin.

“First off, she’s an adult, so she’s responsible for herself, and second, maybe New York isn’t the place for such a fragile being.” Lucky said.

“Maybe you’re right.” Leah said, coming to a possible solution in her head. “Lucky, you actually sounded like you cared.”

“I do.” Lucky replied. “About you.” She placed an arm around Leah’s shoulder. “You’re finally at a place in your life where you’re happy, and I’m not about to let anyone fuck that up. Not even your batty sister.”

Leah laughed a little. She was happy to have Lucky, no matter how eccentric, temperamental, or misunderstood she maybe. Despite tonight’s brawl, she didn’t know if she could survive Hurricane Jill alone. She was fortunate to have a best friend to whether the storm with. “So, is there any chance at all we could trade sisters?” Leah joked. Lucky had a five year old sister named Elliott, who threw less temper tantrums than Jill. Right now, Leah would much rather take care of a five year old than a twenty-five year old.

“Ha! Not on your life!” Lucky replied.

“Oh, well I tried!” Leah said, laughing a little.

“Hey, where are you going?” Lucky asked when Leah got up from the bed.

“I’m going to go talk to Jill.” Leah replied. “I think I may have finally found a way to help her.”

“Well, if it involves her moving out then don’t let me stop you.” Lucky said only half jokingly.

“I can’t promise you anything, but I’ll do my best.” Leah replied, before leaving Lucky’s room, and shutting the door behind her. On the way to her own room, Leah thought things through, and she knew what she must do. She genuinely did love her sister, and knew it was for the best. JC was right; everything would work itself out.  She had a really good feeling about this.