Sisterly Love

Sisterly Love. Leanne stood by the graveside with her husband. Her sister stood a little way back with her teenage son. There were no tears, they had been spent over the last few days as their Mum slowly and painfully wasted away, until there was nothing left and she took her last breath. If anything, Leanne was grateful that she wasn’t in pain anymore. Leanne looked at her younger sister, they were now orphans, all they had was each other. They had become even closer over the last year, after Shirley’s husband got brain cancer and died 3 months later, and now their aging Mum had passed from lung disease. Suddenly Leanne felt so lonely, but she had to put on a brave face for her husband and for her sister. Leanne had convinced Shirley to move to the same town as her, so they could keep an eye on each other. They actually lived a block away from each other, so they were always visiting. Their lives went back to their normal busy pace. Leanne worked as an executive at an international cheese factory. She ran her own office personnel and went to many meetings and did a lot of travelling. Her husband Terry worked as a teller at the local ABC bank, and Shirley wasn’t working at the moment, she was still grieving and promised she would find a job in the next few weeks. One afternoon Leanne came home from work, threw her bag down on the chair and flopped into the lounge chair. “You okay hon?” Terry asked. “Yes I guess so, but I have to go on another trip.” “Oh, well where are they sending you this time, Perth?” “A little bit further than that, Japan!” Terry’s eyes stood out and his mouth dropped open. “You’re kidding, Japan! Why Japan? When are you leaving? How long will you be gone?” “Hey, enough with the interrogation! I have the week-end to let them know if I am still going, or if I have changed my mind, so we can have a talk about this quietly, okay?” They spent the next couple of days working out the “for and against” and finally decided it was a great opportunity for Leanne. “I’ll be fine love, I can cook if I need to, but I’ll probably get a lot of take-away. Ha ha!” “Oh no you won’t! I have had a talk to Shirley and she is going to do your food shopping and cooking, and her and Greg will come and have tea with you each night. Just to make sure you are okay, and eating something healthy.” “Oh okay, but you really didn’t need to do that.” The following week was a whirlwind of packing and getting passports ready and making sure she had enough money in her normal bank account for the trip. Two weeks sounded like forever, but she knew it would go very quickly once she got there. Leanne asked her family not to come to the Airport as it would be so noisy and busy, she would rather say her good-bye’s at home as she got into the taxi. Leanne hugged Terry and gave him a kiss. “I’ll miss you, but I’ll call every night!” She then hugged Shirley. Thank you so much for looking after Terry while I’m away. I owe you big time!” “It’s nothing love, happy to do it for my big sis. You just have a wonderful time over there, in between meetings, and make sure to take lots of photos!” In what seemed like no time at all, Leanne was landing at the airport in Japan. The next few days were taken up with meeting the Japanese personnel working for her company and several meetings, but after 6pm the time was her own and so she spent an hour on the phone talking to Terry and Shirley. About the fourth day Leanne had been kept very busy and didn’t get back to her Hotel room until 10pm. She quickly rang Terry and started to apologise, when she heard a voice in the background. “Who was that Terry? Is there someone there? Shirley has gone home hasn’t she?” “Of course she has darling! That was someone on the telly. I’m watching an old classic movie, you know how I love them. Why are you calling so late?” Leanne explained why and apologised for the late call. He was right of course, he did love the classic movies, but he didn’t usually sit up late as he had to get up early for work. Leanne loved her husband, but he had planted a small seed of suspicion. Leanne decided to ring at a time when he wouldn’t be expecting her to call. She rang Terry at 8am. “Hello? Terry here, who’s calling? Leanne listened intently for a few seconds. There it was, whispering in the background. “Hello Terry, it’s only me. Just calling to let you know we will be coming home a day later than expected.” The silence was deafening for several seconds.“Why are you ringing so early, couldn’t it have waited until tonight?” “No, I will be out very late tonight, going to a convention. Anyway, shouldn’t you be out of bed and getting ready for work by now?” “Yeah, I’m doing that right now, gotta go, ring me tonight.” Leanne was devastated. She had known for years that Shirley had the hots for Terry, and the first chance she had, she’d betrayed Leanne and jumped into bed with him. Leanne felt like staying in Japan and never going back, but she knew that wasn’t realistic. That night Leanne rang Greg’s phone first. “Hi Greg, how are you going? How is School? Is Mum there, I’d like to speak to her?” “Um, no sorry Auntie Leanne, she’s still over at your place. She said it takes a long time to clean up and do the dishes, and get something ready for tomorrow night, and she usually doesn’t get home until all hours. Actually, I think she has stayed over a few nights, probably fell asleep on the couch, you know what she’s like!” “Okay, thanks Greg, I’ll give her a call, love you!” Now Leanne was certain of the betrayal, and she knew what she had to do. Leanne rang her Lawyer and told him what was happening. He suggested to first send a letter asking for a divorce, and also telling Terry the house would have to be sold as soon as possible, as she wanted half what it was worth. The Lawyer sent the letters through his office, so it was all very official. Three days later she got a call from Terry. “What the *#*# is this? What are you trying to do to me?” He screamed into the phone. “I’m not trying to do anything Terry, I’m doing it. You needn’t try and worm your way out of it, I know exactly what has been going on. I want a divorce Terry.” Before he had time to scream any more, she slammed the phone down. That night she rang Shirley. “I don’t understand Leanne, why are you asking Terry for a divorce? He’s the best thing that ever happened to you!” “Well now you can have him Shirley. You were always jealous of me and Terry. You like second-hand shops, well now you can have a second-hand husband!” Leanne lined up a flat in the next town, and moved straight in there when she flew back home. She arranged for a policeman to accompany her while she removed all her belongings from the old house, as Terry and Shirley watched with scowls on their faces. “You will regret this Leanne!” Terry said. “I will fight it in court!” Just then a van pulled up and arranged a “for sale” sign on the front lawn. “You’ll be okay Terry, you can move in with Shirley and Greg, along with all her other second-hand goods! The only thing I will regret is the fact that my only little sister has betrayed me. So now I don’t have any family at all.” Leanne gave them one last look. “Have a nice life.” Then she drove away to start a new lease, on a brand new part of her life.