“How long is this going to take, Jan?” asked a restless Brittney Lawton.
“Why? Did you actually have plans for tonight?” replied her bemused older sister, Janet.
“Watching movies and eating leftover Thai food counts as plans.”
“In that case, this may take longer than I thought.”
Brittney groaned to herself as her older sister led her up the stairs of the quaint, suburban house she shared with her husband, Kyle. She wasn’t in the mood for another one of her half-hearted efforts to boost her spirits. She’d had enough of those over the past seven months. While her Janet’s heart was always in the right place, she had no idea what she was going through.
“Seriously, Jan,” she groaned, “I don’t have the energy for this tonight. I get that me living here is a pain in the ass, but let’s not make this harder than it already is.”
“I’ve been watching you loft about this place for months, looking miserable and depressed at every turn,” Janet said, stopping just at the top of the stairs. “Trust me. It can’t get much harder.”
“Famous last words,” Brittney muttered.