Pinpoint (Point #4) Read Online Free

Oscar is a huge deal, was a judge on a national cooking competition and has two other super popular restaurants in the city. He only caters the most exclusive events.
    Me: Cool. Seems nice but a little forward. He took one of my cupcakes without hardly asking.
    Violet: Ha-ha. Sounds like Oscar. The guy oozes confidence. BTW how was your interview?
    Me: Fingers crossed it went well. Made the interviewers cupcakes and they took seconds! Hoping that’s a good sign. How’s Toronto?
    Violet: Loving it here. Can’t wait to tell you all about it! Cameron’s parents are the sweetest.
     
    Jealousy swirls inside my chest as I read the exchange. It turns my stomach to be envious of my sister, but I can’t help but covet her life. She went through hell to get here, but Violet has all the makings of a wonderful life. The career. The man. The friends. The adoring sister and now, it seems, the adoring family of her boyfriend. She deserves all the good things that come to her—No one is better than my older sister is. Still, I want all those things for my life.
    Patience. It’s only been four months since I moved to Chicago. As badly as I want my circumstances to change overnight, I know that’s impossible. Good things happen to those who work hard and put goodness into the universe. I’ll dedicate myself to my sister’s business. I’ll pay all the kindness bestowed upon me forward. I’ll open myself to meeting men. I’ll become a woman who makes me proud.
    The computer chimes. A new email arrives in my personal account from Bruce at Mentoring Chicago. My heart takes a flying leap into my throat as I click to open the message. It’s impossible to stop myself from jumping up from my desk and whooping with delight.
    I got the job.

“Sister, sister, are you almost ready?” Violet pokes her head into my bedroom, watching me struggle to style my hair into a topknot. “Let me.” She places her hands on my shoulders and pushes me to a seated position at the foot of my bed.
    “You are the expert on all things hair.” I shut my eyes, enjoying the sensation of her fingers running through my hair. I missed these sisterly things most in the ten years we spent apart.
    “And you are the expert on all things in the kitchen.” Violet works silently, effortlessly twisting my hair into a messy but stylish bun near the crown of my head. A pat on my shoulder signifies she’s finished, and I blink my eyes open. We are sitting directly across from the full-length mirror. It highlights the stark contrast between our appearances. She’s auburn and fair skinned, and I’m honey-blond with what Violet deems a “natural glow.” Her build it lean and slender, while I’m shorter and curvier. The only feature we share is our midnight blue eyes.
    A gigantic wave of emotion crashes over me. How did I manage without Violet for all those years? Instinctively, I reach up and grab her hand. “God, I missed you.”
    Violet’s expression falters, and she folds down. Her arms slide around the top of my chest, and she drags me backward into a hug. She drops her face into the crook of my shoulder. “You’ll never know how much I regret leaving you there.” A lump of emotion distorts her voice.
    A rusty laugh slips out. “Violet, it wasn’t so awful that I needed to be rescued.”
    “Wasn’t it?” She untangles her embrace and scoots next to me on the hardwood floor. “That house was more like a prison with Father as the warden and the rest of us his inmates.”
    I thread my arm around her shoulder and tug her against my side. Sometimes, I envision myself as the older sister because emotions rule Violet, and she tends to act impulsively. I take the role of talking down her hyperbole. “Our less than ideal childhood is in the past. If Father hadn’t been so controlling, we probably wouldn’t have found our way here. We’re living our dream.”
    Her body shakes with a little burst of laughter as she pushes to her feet. “That’s right. We