Chasing Sin

3

His smirk grows. "I'm just meeting some people."

"Okay. Um, who are you here to meet? Let me look at my-"

He cuts me off abruptly. "I see them now. Thanks, Sunshine. See you around."

With that, he stalks off into the restaurant. I let my arms drop to my sides and watch him walk away. That was odd. Before I have a chance to question it further, Zara returns to my side.

"So spill. How many guys did you meet?"

After filling her in on the events of my day, mostly centered around nameless boys, my shift ends. I clock out and drive home, only to be met at the door by screaming. I roll my eyes, rushing up to Ollie's room.

"Ethan?" I call out. There's no sign of my older brother in Ollie's room, however.

"Hey, Ollie," I say in a calming voice. His red eyes look up at me expectantly, and I reach inside his crib to put him on my hip. "Shhh, I've got you. Calm down, baby."

I bounce up and down a little in attempts to calm him down further before looking around in hopes to find Ethan. When Ollie has finally quietened, I leave his nursery with him on my hip to find Ethan.

"Ethan!" I call out again, angry at my brother for leaving Ollie alone. "Ethan, where the hell are you?!" I continue calling out, but I'm careful not to shout and upset Ollie again. I turn the corner towards the kitchen. I find Ethan standing in front of the refrigerator with the door hanging open, nothing but a pair of sweatpants on.

"Ethan!" He turns his head slightly and gives a little smile, pulling his headphones out of his ears.

"Hey, Bee. You're back from work already? I figured you'd be back late again." I roll my eyes at him and look pointedly at my baby brother.

"Ethan, what the fuck have you been doing? First thing I get home, I hear Ollie screaming. He seems as if he's been crying for hours." I look down at him, grabbing a tissue off the counter to wipe at his face.

"I didn't hear a thing. Headphones. But I saw him like twenty minutes ago and he was fine." He just shrugs, and I scoff.

"You suck as a nanny," I tell him, not that surprised.

"Wow. You know, I'm really gonna have to come to come to terms with that one day. Until then," he trails off, pairing a shrug with his sarcasm. "The hell are you wearing?"

I look down at my uniform. "This is my work uniform," I say simply.

"What, do you work at a Goth Hooters or something?"

"What? No. This is a standard hostess outfit. It's just a black shirt and skirt," I defend the outfit.

"Whatever. Just go put on some more clothes, please." I scoff, having no intention of doing so until after I shower.

"Hypocrisy runs deep in this family." I eye his shirtless torso annoyedly.

I return Ollie to his room, putting him in his high chair with some cereal before knocking on the twins' door.

"Kyla! Kyler! Are you in there?"

"Yes!" I hear Kyla shout back, just as Kyler shouts a "No!"

"Come downstairs and I'll make dinner," I tell them.

"Can you make pancakes?" I hear Kyler shout, and I roll my eyes.

"Maybe if you go downstairs, we'll see," I say back. It's a struggle to get them to eat anything but chicken nuggets, pancakes, or poptarts.