CHAPTER 3
Kristina
“You definitely need this. You haven’t been with anyone since the divorce.”
“You’re my brother… This is weird,” Kristina told him as she found the shirt she wanted to bring in her drawer and rolled it in order to fit it in the suitcase that she would finish packing after her younger brother left, because he didn’t need to see all the underwear and lingerie she also planned to bring.
“It’s not weird. I’m your brother. I want you to be happy. And that ex-wife of yours wasn’t doing it for you in more ways than one.”
“We are too close. It’s a problem,” she joked and tossed a pair of socks at him.
“I’ll admit, when you first told me you wanted to go to some party with a bunch of women to meet someone, I did not think the weekend would involve a rotation of sex partners because the founder of the company believes sex is important to figure out very early or something, but you haven’t gotten laid since before you two separated.
And correct me here, but it was longer than that, right? ”
“It was about a year before that, then a year of the separation, and it’s been a year since the divorce was final, so… several years altogether.”
“God, that’s awful.”
“Thanks.” She rolled her eyes at him. “And I have tried other stuff. It hasn’t worked. I applied, like, seven months ago, not thinking I’d get chosen or anything, but I did. Now, I’m leaving tomorrow and need to finish packing, so feel free to leave whenever.”
“What are you going to do?” her brother asked.
“What do you mean?”
“Are you going to sleep with them or just kind of hang out and get to know them to see if there’s someone you might want to be with?”
“I think the point is to do both, but I don’t know yet. I guess I’ll see who’s there and if I’m attracted to them.”
“Take the sex, Kristina.”
“What?” She laughed.
“Even if you’re not totally into someone, enjoy the sex. It’s a way to get back out there with no real consequences, right?”
“I guess.”
“Then, go for it. Have fun and just relax.” Her brother stood up from the chair at the bay window of her bedroom. “If something works out longer term, great, but if not, at least have fun. You deserve it, you know? She was horrible to you in the end, and you definitely didn’t deserve that.”
“I know,” Kristina agreed. “And I’ll try, but I’m really nervous. I know we’ll each have our own rooms, there will be non-sex events during the day, and everything is optional, so I shouldn’t feel pressure, but I do. I don’t want to be bad at it and ruin someone else’s trip.”
“How about you just let go and let God, as Mom likes to say,” her brother suggested with a laugh and walked over to her. “No pressure. That’s the point. Just have fun and maybe more, but if not more, that’s okay, too.”
“Yeah, okay,” she replied. “I guess so.”
“Great. I’m going home now, so pack something better than that old T-shirt you just tossed into your suitcase.”
“I’m going to sleep in that,” she defended.
“I hope not,” he replied. “I’ll see you when you get back. And I want no details.” He held both of her shoulders. “You heard that part, right? I want you to have fun, but I don’t want to hear any of the specifics.”
“Got it,” she said and laughed as he walked out the door.
Then, she pulled out a drawer of stuff she had bought, washed a few days ago, and was now ready to put inside her suitcase.
She wasn’t sure anyone could or would find her sexy, but she was thirty-five and still way too young to be thinking like that just because her ex-wife didn’t seem to like anything about her anymore.
Confidently, she packed everything away, but when that confidence promptly disappeared, she sat on the edge of her bed and sighed.
“What am I doing?” she asked herself.