The Muse's Undoing

He laughs. “I don’t know, but I can’t wait to hear about it.” And then he hangs up on me.

I inhale deeply, putting the phone in my front pocket and unlocking the door. I open it slowly, my anxiety rising. My face feels like it’s on fire.

She glances up, and her sardonic expression quickly morphs to one of total confusion. “Fischer?”

“Hey.”

She scrambles up from the ground, shaking out the skirt of her flowy cotton dress. Her dark, wavy hair is down, and I hadn’t realized how long it is. Almost to her waist. “I keep missing Matty, and I was hoping I’d catch him.”

“He’s uh…yeah, he should be here soon.”

She takes me in, the casual sweats, the plain tee, the bare feet. I must look pretty at home… “Come in.”

I remind myself Matthew will be here any second as I swing the door wide. She walks past me, taking a look around. The kitchen table is my workspace now with both my laptops and hundred of pages of notes. The bed is unmade. There’s no sign of anyone having slept anywhere else.

It might not scream, I’m sleeping with your twin, but there’s certainly no evidence to the contrary.

I almost offer her coffee, but then stop myself. It’s awkward. It’s really fucking awkward. She smiles at me, like she’s expecting me to let her in on the secret.

“How’re the wedding plans going?”

“Good. Picked out all the dresses. Menu’s set. The biggest fight we’re having right now is over the honeymoon.”

“Oh?”

“I want the beach, he wants an experience,” she says, mocking a male voice.

“South Africa has beaches and experiences,” I offer.

“Hm.” She stares at me strangely, and I get even more uncomfortable. “I’ll look into it.”

Matthew appears in the doorway, slightly out of breath, like he started running after he hung up on me. Thank fuck. He probably figured after laughing at me that I was in no way equipped to field any questions about what the hell I’m doing here.

“Hey, Maggie.”

She brightens immediately on seeing him and hurries over for a hug. “Hi! I miss you!”

“Miss you, too. You just show up now?”

“Apparently. Surprise!”

He gives her a tight squeeze and lets go, glancing over at me and catching my contagious uncertainty.

“So!” She bursts and gestures toward me. “Fischer’s here!”

“Yes. He is.” And then he says, “Barefoot,” like he wouldn’t be able to explain it with anything but the truth either.

“Is this what you wanted to talk to me about?”

Matthew runs a hand through his hair and takes a few steps toward me. I stay put, and so does Maggie. “Yeah,” he says, and I swear I can physically feel him wanting to touch me. Or maybe that’s just me—needing it.

“Should I go?” I ask.

“I—” He looks between me and his sister. “Do you want to?”

“Kind of.”

Maggie is on the move, coming to stand with us, completing a triangle. She crosses her arms and stares at her twin. “Why are you guys acting so weird? It’s not like you don’t have these brother sleepovers all the time.”