9
Hurricane Lee
The knock at the door was so forceful I jerked up from the couch. The knocking kept going, and even though this made two unannounced visitors in twenty-four hours—a personal record—my stomach curdled. I knew exactly who stood on the other side of that door. The only person in my life with the combined gall and upper body strength to take the door off the hinges.
“Alexis Rosalie Stone! You open this door right now!”
My darling sister.
The second I twisted the doorknob Lee pushed through, rocketing past me like a Tasmanian devil, rattling the pictures on my entry table and gusting up the curtains. “I cannot believe you’re dating Logan Arthur. Of all people!”
It was a miracle I could parse her words, given her screech had climbed so high I was pretty sure it now registered as a dog language. I followed her. “Okay, it’s actually a funny—”
“And you hid it from me. Like a sneak.” Lee reached my living room, and in one fluid motion kicked off her heels and started pacing barefoot around the coffee table. “Don’t you know I have to endorse Mane since he backed my Green Machine bill? Are you trying to start a family war?”
“Logan backed you, too,” I said, feeling like that was an important place to start. “His chief of staff says he came to your campaign events.”
Lee threw up her hands. “And you forced me to find out from the news. When I saw you pop up on CBS 12, do you know what I did? I spit water all over my assistant Trey, and now Trey has to sign a contract agreeing he won’t sue me for harassment! You know, I heard the rumor yesterday that Logan Arthur was caught half-naked in public with some woman. But I refused to gossip about it to protect the poor unwitting girl. Imagine my surprise to find out that girl was my very own sister!”
“I wouldn’t say I was unwitting—” Lee’s face darkened. “Look, I am sorry about surprising you,” I said, using my most mollifying tone. “I had no idea I was walking into a press conference today. Did you see my hair?”
She kicked the carpet. “It did look a little flat.”
“Exactly. Not the hair of someone who knew she’d be on TV.” As I looked at her, standing in my living room radiating indignation, the impulse to assuage Lee lessened. In its place, a trickle of annoyance bubbled. “Though, you know...maybe if you bothered talking to me instead of sending your friends to do it, you’d know a little more about my life.”
Lee’s mouth dropped open, but no sound came out. I’d actually achieved the impossible: rendered my sister speechless. “I didn’t realize—” she stammered. “I’ve just been so busy—”
“Yeah.” I gave a little laugh. “It’s almost like you’re perfectly fine living your life without me.”
“Lex. You don’t really think that, do you?”
Did I ever worry that eventually my older sister’s life would get so big and full of other people and accomplishments that I’d no longer be a priority? That maybe now that we were adults, with fewer family obligations to keep us in each other’s orbits, she’d realize she simply didn’t like me enough as a person to stay close?
“No,” I said. “Of course not.”
We stood motionless in the unconvincing silence.
“It’s a lie,” I said, in an effort to change the subject. “Me and Logan. Our entire relationship is fake.”
If I’d stumped Lee before, this time I broke her. A scarlet flush climbed her neck. “It’s what?”
I’d sworn not to spill the secret, of course, but I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t some part of me that took pleasure in being the interesting one for a change. “It’s a cover-up. So Logan can ward off the governor’s attack and I don’t lose my job to prudish parents.”
“But—how—when—” Lee’s eyes danced back and forth as she tried to fit the pieces together. Finally, she settled on: “Why?”
As enjoyable as it was to hold all the cards, I put Lee out of her misery and told her everything. When I finished, I stood grinning, waiting for her to congratulate me on being bold and ballsy and maybe even one-upping her.
But her expression, carefully blank while I’d recounted, turned disbelieving. She shook her head. “I can’t believe you’re doing this again.”
I blinked, caught off guard. “I know lying is wrong, but—”
“It’s not about the lying. I can’t believe you agreed to be Logan Arthur’s trophy girlfriend. A prop to help a man win office. You shouldn’t play the good wife, Alexis—you should be the damn candidate yourself!”
“I don’t want to be the—” I started, but Lee rolled right over me.
“What’s the plan? You’re going to stand by Logan’s side, silent and smiling pretty, while he tackles all the substantive policy questions with his big man brain? That’s everything I fought against with that douche-canoe Hayes Adams. You remember—you were there!”
“Of course I remember.” Lee had run against Hayes Adams, a high-profile billionaire, for her state senate seat. Misogyny had run rampant in everything from the different treatment they got from reporters to the public’s reception of each of their strong personalities. While Lee got questions about what designers she was wearing, Hayes got policy questions. And even though Hayes was a self-proclaimed feminist, he’d let it go unchallenged. “This is totally different.”
“You just met the guy days ago. Do you even agree with his ideas? Oh, God. What if he’s one of those Democrats who supports charter schools or carbon taxes? That’s our name attached.” Lee didn’t give me the opportunity to tell her I’d vetted him before she was on to the next question. “What is Logan Arthur even doing running for governor? That child is like, twenty-five years old.”
“He’s older than you!”
“Honestly, who does he think he is?”
“Oh my God,” I said, sounding like a teenager. Behold the terrible time-traveling power of arguing with your sibling. “First, Logan’s a progressive running against a Republican for control of the state, so you should be all over that. And of course I agree with his politics—so do you. In fact, he wants to build on your Green Machine law and require all private contractors to go green if they want a government contract.” I felt a triumphant second wind at Lee’s expression: she was impressed despite herself. Truly, Google had never let me down. “Second, you sound jealous.”
“That’s ridiculous. I don’t ever want to be governor.” Lee got a faraway look in her eyes. “Do I?” She shook her head. “No. I’m running for Congress when my term is up. The point is, you’re volunteering to be an accessory for this guy and you don’t even know if you like him.”
“Ben stands next to you and he’s not just an accessory. I won’t be Logan’s.”
A speculative look crept into her eyes. “Wait a sec. You’re doing that thing you do—making that face. Alexis Stone, are you into Logan? Is that why you’re doing this?”
It was my turn to sputter. “Of course not. Did I think he was a good candidate for a one-night stand? Sure, I’ll cop to that.” Even the memory of Logan grinning at me from across the table had my heart rate spiking. “But in my defense, I haven’t slept with anyone in months. My judgment is cloudy.”
“Ew, Alexis! No wonder you’re making terrible decisions. You need to sleep with someone immediately. Do you want me to make a call?”
“No!” I pulled at my hair and a disconcerting amount came off in my hands. Arguing with Lee should come with a health advisory. “I’m just saying, it never went beyond physical attraction. I do think Logan has great policy ideas, but personality-wise, he’s a menace. Arrogant, thinks he’s smarter than everyone, has zero concept of the difference between a lie lie and a white lie.”
“Huh,” Lee huffed. “He sounds like my type, not yours.”
“Don’t get any ideas.”
“Please.” She shot me an injured look. “You know I’m reformed.”
We glared at each other, trapped in a deadlock, neither of us willing to admit that the conversation had veered so far off course we’d forgotten precisely where it was supposed to go.
“Aha!” She snapped her fingers. “You’re a trophy wife. That’s why I’m mad.”
“I get something out of this, too,” I protested. “They’re going to give me whatever I want as soon as I figure it out. They promised.”
Lee’s face fell, her features shifting into an expression a million times worse than anger. Disappointment.
“Lee—” I tried to stave it off.
But she bent and scooped her heels from the floor. “You know what? It really sucks watching you wait around so hopefully for people to give you things they’re never going to give you. Especially when it comes to men. You’ve got to stop letting other people control your life. Stop playing second fiddle.”
I’d been reaching to halt her, but stopped short. That’s what she thought of me? It was one thing to reflect on my own areas for improvement, but another to have Lee—the person I admired most in the world—voice the same thoughts. But like always, the anxiety of being in an argument made my stomach tighten and throat feel thick, so I could barely speak. “I don’t think that’s what I’m doing,” I managed.
She looked at me and sighed. “I don’t want to fight, Lex. But I’m your big sister. I have to call it like I see it. I know you have a spine in there. For once, I’d like to see you use it.” She walked out, squeezing my shoulder as she passed. I listened to the front door open and close quietly, but remained immobile in the living room.
Okay. That one hurt.