She slept in my bed again.
I woke up with her legs dangerously wrapped around my body.
She frowned in her sleep while hearing the ringing of the alarm on my phone.
"Ugh is it morning already?"
I watched as she untangled herself from me while yawning.
She pushed off my chest and got up, while scratching her head.
Then she started taking off her clothes.
"I'm gonna use the shower Adam."
Did she really have to strip in here though?
I threw a pillow at her.
––––––––
I heard the bathroom door open and a lot of steam drifted out.
Eve walked out with a towel wrapped around her waist.
I ignored the sight and started brushing my teeth.
After rinsing my mouth, I looked at my closet.
Eve was right.
It was pretty dry.
Hell, I only had one non-work outfit.
I closed the door to my room, much to Eve's chagrin.
She slinked away to her own room to change.
Before long we were both ready to go.
I drank a quick pre-made smoothie and was putting on my shoes.
She was waiting for me at the door in some sneakers.
She had on an oversized tracksuit hoodie and some sweats.
Even so, she still looked stunning.
"Let's go Adam!"
She said cheerfully while taking my arm.
I shook my head at her silliness.
We took the elevator down and stepped out of the complex.
It was only 8:30 AM but this was New York City.
Quite a few people were on the streets and in spite of Eve's half-hearted efforts at a disguise, what with her large sunglasses, some people were brave enough to approach us.
"Excuse me, are you Eve Martin?"
A girl a few years younger than us approached.
She was staring at the ground and fidgeting.
Eve glanced at me and turned towards the girl still holding onto my arm.
"Yes that's me. What can I do for you?"
"Uhm uh I'm a big fan!" she squeaked out. "Can you give me an autograph?"
"Uh sure. Do you have anything to write it on?"
She handed over a notebook and Eve signed it.
The girl cried out a thank you and rushed off, blushing furiously.
Of course, that drew a crowd around us.
There were quite a few whispers.
"Let's get out of here Eve."
She readily agreed and we left in a hurry to hail a cab elsewhere.
––––––––
We stepped out in an intersection on 59th street in Manhattan.
We were in front of an enormous department store with its name etched out in gold block letters. Bloomingdale's.
Eve dragged me in and I could only stare in wonder at the sheer size of the building.
This was only one of its floors, yet it was so stock-full of clothes and accessories.
Everyone here had the same designer clothes I'd see Eve wear from time to time along with expensive jewelry or accessories. I couldn't help but feel a little out of place standing in my thrift shop jeans and plain shirt.
Eve was looking at me with a triumphant expression on her face.
"Now do you know what I mean Adam? We'll rebrand your wardrobe! I'm thinking Givenchy and Ralph Lauren for your professional and we'll improv your casualwear."
She was saying the names of brands I didn't recognize and I could only let myself caught up in her drift.
The first store we went to was Givenchy.
It was laid out in a series of small compartmentalized spaces, each one displaying several types of clothes or accessories.
It felt both enclosed and unique.
As we walked down the tunnel-like aisle, one of the attendants came over and asked us if we were finding everything alright.
Eve had waved her off, saying she would be finding clothes for me.
She was pretty in the zone.
She kept looking at the clothes and muttering things like "that would bring out his eyes" or "damn I want to see him in that."
Then she seemed to find what she wanted.
She practically skipped over to one of the clothes racks hanging on the walls and took out a navy-blue suit. She brought it over to me and hung it against me and started beaming.
"Try this one out Adam!"
I obliged and found my way to a dressing room.
Eve tried to follow but I had stopped her with a flick.
I put on the suit and looked at myself on the full body mirror.
I had to say, I looked kind of strange.
I didn't find myself any more appealing?
But I trusted Eve's feeling.
I stepped out of the room after playing around with my hair.
Eve's eyes widened after seeing me and I swear she wiped some drool off her mouth.
She looked me over and gave me a wolfish grin.
"You look very dashing Adam. I think this is the one."
She took me by the hand and made me wear the suit to the front counter.
The clerk coughed when she saw me and I assumed it was because of the fact I was still wearing it.
I was going to apologize and take it off when she just scanned it directly.
My eyes popped out at the price that came up on the sales screen.
$1450.
For a single suit!
That was almost half of my rent!
I was going to chide Eve but she just handed over a black card.
The clerk took it and swiped it.
It beeped and she handed us a receipt signifying that our purchase had been completed.
When we stepped out we got nearly twice the amount of stares as before.
Even in a store full of rich people, I guess Eve stood out quite a bit.
––––––––
Eve took me to almost ten other stores after that.
It was practically one for everything.
Shoes, pants, shirts, and even watches.
By the time we left our tenth store, I was even starting to pant from how tiring this was.
I was carrying around five bags packed with clothes and Eve was happily leading me out.
She had a large iced coffee that she kept holding out for me to take a sip from.
Neither of us cared about the fact that she only had one straw.
My shirt was feeling a little sticky from the humidity.
After I started sweating I had taken off my suit and placed it inside the bag.
I was just in my regular clothes and I must have looked like some bag carrier.
We stopped on a bench and Eve had given me a slightly miffed look.
I gave her a questioning glance and she had complained.
"I've given you a completely new look so I think I should get rewarded, no?"
"You're right. What do you want?"
She looked at me with fierce eyes.
"This is a date right? So we're going to act like it!"
"Uh-huh."
"There's a cinema not too far from here. Let's go watch something."
"What are we going to do about all this?" I gestured at the bags lying on my feet.
She tilted her head. "Just take it with us?"
This girl really will be the death of me...
"How will we enter the cinema with all that baggage. How about this..."
We eventually came to a compromise to drop it off at our apartment.
By the time we got back to the cinema, it was starting to get dark.
That's right.
We had been shopping and moving around for nearly twelve hours.
I was a little shocked at the tenacity of my sister.
We truly did look like a couple as we walked down the streets illuminated by the city's lights.
We got to the cinema and had looked through the films being displayed.
Eve insisted on watching something titled "Forbidden Love."
It was about two lovers who were on opposite sides of a war.
A soldier invading and a farmer's daughter in the invaded country.
Pretty sappy stuff.
I didn't really care so I bought two tickets.
Eve had paid for all my clothes so this was the least I could do.
We made our way to our seats and the film started.
––––––––
I was loudly sipping from one of the overpriced drinks I had purchased.
I wanted to just buy water but Eve had insisted on making the date as realistic as possible.
Apparently, this included concessions.
During the movie, she kept trying to feed me popcorn or take a sip from my drink.
Like hell I'd give her a sip of my delicious Sprite!
In one of the final romantic scenes, Eve had clenched my hand and I could hear her breathing strangely.
The soundtrack started and I was about to have another drink when I felt something soft brush against my cheek.
I turned around and saw Eve looking away from me while holding her hands to her lips.
We left the theater during the ending credits without a word.
It was pretty dark now.
The movie had been over three hours long and I was feeling slightly restless.
Eve was walking a little bit ahead of me, her sneakers clopping against the pavement.
At a streetlight, she turned back to me.
A passing car's headlights completely illuminated her, giving me a view of her dazzling smile.
"Thanks for today Adam. I really, really enjoyed it."
She twirled back around.
She looked so happy.
Ah.
My chest was feeling so warm.
I felt a little feverish when I saw her smile.
I wanted to cherish that smile.
Protect it.
See it every day.
I don't know what came over me.
I walked over to her and grabbed her shoulders and spun her around to face me.
"Adam?"
She looked at me with surprise at the sudden movement.
She started saying something, but I cut her off with a kiss.
Ahhh.
Her lips were so soft.
Her eyes widened but she didn't resist.
She just moved her arms around me, one of them wrapping around my back and the other holding my cheek.
I kept my lips locked with hers even as the traffic light signal changed.
I didn't care about the people walking around us saying things like "damn kids" or "get a room."
Nothing else mattered.
As I opened my eyes, the headlights kept illuminating the blush on her cheeks.
I broke my kiss from her and looked away.
...
I was eighteen years old when I kissed my sister under the warm breeze of a midsummer night.