Wait a minute… Calvin? Where does Calvin fit into this perfect picture? Oh, did I forget to mention? Calvin is the wife. Whoops. It completely slipped my mind. They’re gay. It’s a free country, period. Now, I was saying, they had the awesome life but what fun would it be for us if everything sailed smoothly? That is where our heroin comes in. Whoa, whoa, whoa… did I just say heroin? I meant heroine. Must have gotten confused because she’s a druggy. Darn. Another druggy, wasn’t there already a druggy in the last one? Can’t blame me, she’s thin.

Our heroin heroine is Calvin’s younger sister, Cyndi. Her real name is Cecilya Chen Xin Ling but no one really calls her that. The name Cyndi just kinda stuck ever since she nearly burned down the house while trying to smoke pot in her closet full of flammables. Not a wise move. It wasn’t because she was dumb, she was an addict and when you’re an addict, you tend to do idiotic things without having to be an idiot. If that makes any sense. Good thing Calvin was there cleaning up her room like a pro maid. He was able to prevent the fire from spreading and smoked everyone out. So that’s why they called her Cyndi. She almost turned their home to cinders.

Back to the future... to the present... to the present future... or whatever. Calvin was watching the cooking show while steam cleaning Hero’s jeans one morning when the doorbell rang. He turned off the machine and went down the flight of stairs to see who was ringing the door bell like a maniac. He had a clue who it was. Someone rude, straight forward, and above all, impatient. When he looked through the peep hole, his guess was confirmed. It was Cyndi, looking like a skinny punk. There was also a van parked outside. Calvin opened the door cautiously. Cyndi kicked the door open and jumped him.

“Awwwwwwww! My Callieeee! I’ve missed you so much!”

Calvin held the door to keep his balance.

Cyndi turned around to wink at the beat up Volkswagen. The guys and girls packed tightly inside waved at her as it sped off leaving a trail of black smoke behind.

That couldn’t be good for the lungs, Calvin thought. He ushered her inside before closing the front door quickly without actually slamming it.

“What are you doing here, young lady? I thought you were attending-”

“Dropped out. It’s so boring there. I thought I’d pay you and Hero a long visit.” Her eyes twinkled mischeviously as they scanned the spotless living room (it should be sparkling clean after Calvin had spent hours dusting and scrubbing away).

“What are you going to do with your life? You’re already 20… 20…”

“Yeah, I tend to forget my age too so don’t sweat it, sis.”

“So… where’s your lover boy?” She looked around again for signs of Hero.

“He’s at work.” Calvin quickly switched the conversation back to her, “Are you still doing… you know what?”

“Of course not!” Cyndi looked appalled, knowing exactly what Calvin meant by ‘you know what’. “I had to quit ever since you stopped sending me money for it.”

“What?!? You spent the money I sent you on DRUGS?!?!”

Cyndi giggled, “You said it that time!” She jumped on Calvin again, “That’s all in the past now. I’m as clean as a whistle.”

Calvin looked a little doubtful. “You know I don’t allow any addicts in my house. I might have a baby soon and that’s bad environment.”

Cyndi let go of Calvin all of a sudden, “What?!? You’re gonna have a baby?!? That’s great Callie! I get to be an auntie.”

Cyndi didn’t even ask about the details how two gays were going to have a baby. She pranced around singing, “I’m gonna be an auntie. I’m gonna be an auntie.”

“Don’t get too excited. Did I say you could stay?”

Cyndi stopped herself and made puppy eyes at Calvin. “Callie… you wouldn’t throw me out, would you? I’m your baby sister. I neeeeeeed youuuuuu.” she whined.

“But you have to follow the house rules. It makes me so sad seeing you all out of it like this. No school. No job. Doing 'you know what'… I just want to cry every day because of you.”

“Awwwww, don’t cry. I’ll be good. I promise. Can you tell me what the rules are? I’ll be extra careful about them.” Cyndi almost looked innocent.

“Absolutely no 'you know what.'”

“Yes yes, no more drugs for Cyndi.” she nodded.

Calvin cringed at the mention of drugs.

“I want you to look for a job. Don’t want you sitting around all day watch TV.”

“I don’t watch TV, Callie. I’m usually too high for that.”

Calvin pretended not to hear the last part and continued, “I’ll ask Hero tonight if he could find you a temporary job at his place. Maybe you’ll like it there and learn his trade.”

“Are you going to ask him before making babies or after making babies.” Cyndi made a silly confused face which earned her a disapproving look from Calvin.

“I mean you guys do this, right?” Cyndi poked her index fingers at each other repeatedly.

“I don’t even know why I bother with you.” Calvin threw himself down on one of the fluffy white sofas and wept.

“Awwww don’t be like that. I’ll listen. I’ll listen. If Hero lets me, I will follow him to work and do whatever he does.”

“He designs and sells clothes/accessories.” Calvin bounced right back up when he heard her say ‘I’ll listen.’

“You should ask him about it after you make babies instead of before. He’ll surely say yes.” Cyndi teased Calvin again.

Calvin got up to chase her up the stairs, “Go take a bath right now! You smell like doggie poo!” Cyndi burst out laughing.

“Okay, okay.” Cyndi stood there for a while, smiling until Calvin slapped her .

“Hurry up!”

Cyndi sprinted up the staircase and headed for the bathroom.

“Where are your things? Is you baggage coming later?” Calvin yelled after her.

“Nope. Whatever is on me, that’s all I got.” she replied before closing the door.

That night, Hero came home and was greeted by Calvin and the smell of spicy stew.

Hero turned to close the front door. Cyndi came out of no where and pounced on to his back.

“Gotcha! You’re never gonna get to marry Callie! He’s mine!” Cyndi cried pulling at his ears.

“Oh my god, what is this animal doing in our house!?” Hero’s question was directed towards Calvin.

Calvin just shrugged. Hero tried to shake her off his back but it was impossible to get her off, she was like a leech just like back in the days when the three of them played house. Hero was the Daddy and Calvin was the Mommy and Cyndi was the loud neighbor who constantly came over to annoy them. When they played wedding, Hero was the groom, Calvin was the bride, and Cyndi was the wedding crasher who always ruined everything on purpose. Ruining the fake play life wasn’t enough, she had to come and spoil their real life too?

“Cyndi, that’s enough. It’s time for dinner and Hero needs to take his shower.”

She hopped off Hero’s back without a word and followed Calvin to the kitchen not because she was told to but because she was hungry.

It had been years since Hero had seen her, she looked thin as usual but did something change? Ugh, it’s just too much to think about right now. He headed up stairs leaving the siblings in the kitchen.

Once Hero came back down, he didn’t see her around anymore.

“Where’s the little brat?”

“Oh, Cyndi finished her stew and went to the guest room. She must be tired from the road trip.” Calvin replied while bringing Hero’s chopsticks and silverware.

“Yeah right. She’s probably getting high off of something right now as we speak.”

“She promised me she wouldn’t. I told her that I’d kick her out if she did.”

“I know my life partner too well to believe that. You’re too generous.”

“But she promised…” Calvin looked like he was close to tears. Hero came over to hug Calvin.

“You must be hungry. After we eat, I have something to tell you.”

“What is it?”

“Later.” Calvin smiled.

Hero went to work early the next morning like usual except this time, someone else tagged along. Cyndi, by order of his wife, had to follow him to work. She was still half asleep when they got to the garage where Hero kept his precious car collection. Her eyes were a little droopy. What a sleepyhead.

“You work so early…” She yawned.

“Quit complaining… I’m already in a bad mood.”

“Because I’m staying at your place or because you have to work with me?”

“Both.”

“How cold. Are you going to try and get rid of me?” Cyndi was now more awake.

“If only I could,” he mumbled before selecting a car. Cyndi pouted.

“Let’s take this one today.” Hero pointed to an obnoxious looking Bugatti.

“Oh my gosh, is that the newest design?” Can it beat 400 km/hr on a stretch?” Cyndi walked around admiring its sleek body.  ”I always wanted to ride in one of these,” she nearly cried.

“I haven’t tried maxing yet but I heard she could do 420-430 km/hr.”

“I think I’m gonna faint like Callie…”

Hero got in the car. “Getting in or not?”

Cyndi stopped ogling to reply, “Definitely!” She was now wide awake. Cyndi carefully slid the car door open and got in most cautiously. Hero nearly had a fit after seeing the spunky princess lose her cool over his car.

He didn’t know she was into cars. Actually, there were many things he didn’t know. Luckily, he married the other sibling. Cyndi was really talkative on the way to work. Finds out, she knows more about cars than he did. Who knew…

When they arrived at his stylish, high-class workplace, people were gaping at them… or rather at Cyndi. Dear Calvin had gotten up extra early in the morning to dress Cyndi and do her make up while she was still sleeping (yes, Calvin had a full dressing room of cosmetics).

Back to Cyndi. She looked like one of those pretty gothic punkish rocker girls you see in magazines. The epitome of dark cool high-class fashion, you could say. Hero had to admit, Cyndi looked good wearing his designs… or is she making them look better? It was the perfect combination for Hero’s workplace. Now, Hero explained a little about his work as they entered the tinted double glass doors but Cyndi didn’t seem to be paying much attention to him. She just glanced around with her judging eyes.

“Are you listening?” Hero asked for the second time.

“Yeah, I heard you the first time.”

“Really…”

“Yes, really.” Cyndi then proceeded in repeating everything he said before in the exact order and then some more.

“This place isn’t bad but I’ve seen better.” Cyndi poked at one of the metallic mannequins as they walked by.

“So what do you want me to do here, boss?” She asked.

It was weird hearing the word “boss” from her after she shocked him with her hidden talent. Hero managed to bounce right back, “What CAN you do here? You obviously know what’s going on.”

“Anything…” was her response. Cyndi didn’t seem at all interested in his work.

Just then, a customer walked up to them. “Do you work here? I was wondering who to ask around here. Everyone seems to be plain except for you.” The lady was obviously addressing Cyndi.

“Yep, you came to the right people, ________….uhhh… you’re name?”

“Allison.”

“Right, Allison. I’m Cyndi. B.T.W. Oh… and he’s the boss. The father of these clothes.” Cyndi grabbed the back of Hero’s shoulder and shoved him forward.

“Hi, I’m Hero Kim. What can I-”

“It’s an honor to meet you. Your accessories are just to die for.”

Though he was rudely interrupted, Hero beamed at the compliment. The lady named Allison turned her gaze back to Cyndi who was now preoccupied with mimicking the mannequins nearby.

“Have I seen you somewhere before? Did you model for Elite or Glam or-”

“Are you talking about me?” Cyndi asked, pointed at herself.

“Yes.”

“Nope, I’m just a regular employee here. It’s my first day.” Cyndi winked at Hero.

“Can I ask you a question?” Allison continued.

“Sure. I’m free now that posing like a mannequin is no longer a challenge.”

Allison laughed. Cyndi gave a silly mean face. Hero felt left out as Allison continued, “So which color do you think would look good on me? I can’t tell between these two.”

“Definitely this one.” Cyndi grabbed the dress on the right. “The other one will make you look fat. Trust me.”

Allison laughed again, “Yeah, you’re probably right.”

Hero suddenly jumped in, “Yeah, that is totally a fat color.”

Cyndi shot him a “you-took-it-to-far” look while Allison tried to chuckle politely… probably because he owns the place.

“Let’s go grab some matching accessories for that dress. I’ve always dreamed of building expensive outfits but sadly, I usually only own one set of clothes at a time.”

“Really?” Allison looked shocked.

“Yeah, really. But once I can secure this job, I’ll be able to buy something like what you’re wearing right now.”

“I hope you get the job!” She gave Cyndi’s hand a squeeze of encouragement as they made their way towards the bag section. Allison lead the way while Cyndi followed. She still didn’t know where everything was yet.

After the first customer, it was a string of surprising achievements. When Hero stood there deciding what to put out on display, Cyndi just grabbed something on the bottom shelf. It turned out to be a customer attractor and a best seller. When Hero was stuck with a customer who asked for a ier shirt, Cyndi came over and pulled out a pair of super sharp scissors from her pocket. Hero was afraid for the customer at first but later, he was just plain amazed. With a pair of scissors, Cyndi was able to reconstruct the tee shirt to make it smokin’ hot! Next thing he knew, customers were buying shirts and getting in line to have it sliced and diced by Cyndi. The best part was, she did it while they wore it. Soon, his whole store was swarming with cleavage.

“Where did you learn how to do this?” Hero asked.

“A couple of my friends and I did it while we were… hmmm… enjoying ourselves? We cut everything in sight. Hair, clothes, wrists and even-”

“Okay, everything…” Hero interrupted not wanting to know what other things she and her bunch of druggies did to each other.

“Why do you have a pair of scissors in your pocket?”

Cyndi kissed her hot pink scissors. ”This baby has helped me through a lot of rough times. Want me to elaborate?”

“No thanks.”

By the end of the day, she had the whole staff praising her.

“She’s really something, isn’t she?” one of his oldest employee, Jon, said to him.

“Yeah, lots of potential.” Hero took a look Cyndi’s way. She was occupying herself with making the rest of his employees laugh like mad people as they closed up shop together. She was smiling like a little girl.

“A true beauty. Is she your new girlfriend?”

“Huh?”

Jon repeated his question.

“No! What makes you think that? You know I’m married…”

“You were smiling like a fool, boss.”

“Well… her smile is contagious, that’s all…. and I’m gay!”

“So you admit being hooked on her smile?”

“Stop trying to tease… you’re horrible at it.” Hero grabbed the out of fashion designs and headed for the storage room. How could anyone mistaken them as gf/bf? Did it look like that? Never had she said anything remotely kind to him.

The door of the storage room opened.

“Can I come in?” It was Cyndi. The room felt like it was quickly losing oxygen. Did she just ask to come in? Didn’t she used to just do what she wanted without asking? Wait, was she begin particularly kind to him?

“Well, can I?” Cyndi asked again after there was no response.

“Sure.” Hero got back to messing with the clothes to keep his hands busy. Cyndi came up right next to him and started folding the ones he tossed aside.

“I just have to tell you this one thing and then we don’t have to mention it again if you don’t want to.”

Hero’s ears perked up.

“You know back when we were little? I actually wanted to be the bride and the wife. I really liked you but I knew Callie wanted to be wife and bride so I let him. You know how he cries when he doesn’t get what he wants.”

Hero was holding his breath the whole time while she confessed her feelings.

“Even now, I still find you cute.” Cyndi poked him in the side and he turned at her. Their faces were THIS close to each other. He could feel her soft breaths. Could she feel the heat coming from his red face? Cyndi smiled sweetly as she leaned a little closer until their lips touched. Hers were so soft as they moved with his. They held it for a very long time before Cyndi pulled away her lips. A whole bunch of things raced through his mind. Why did he hold her lips for so long when he knew it was wrong? Why didn’t he pull away first? What kind of feeling was this? No. No. NO! He loved Calvin. LOVES Calvin. There was nothing wrong between them. They had a wonderful life together.

“Was I your first?”

“Uh… what?”

“Girl kiss?”

“Yeah.”

Cyndi smiled. “Sorry, I couldn’t help it. I’ll never do it again if you don’t want me to.”

OMG, did she think he wanted to? Wait, did it look like he wanted to? Does he really want to?

Unlike the ride to work, the ride back home was in silence. Calvin greeted them both. “Did you two have fun at work?”

Why did Calvin have to say “you two” and “fun?”

“It was okay.” Hero managed to say as he headed upstairs to shower.

Cyndi went to hug Calvin, “Of course, Callie. We had lots of fun!”

The next day, everything was back to normal… kind of. Nevermind, except for Hero, everything was fine. They went to work and came back home with no problem. A few days went by in the same fashion. Hero still didn’t know what he was feeling for his wife’s sister. One night, Hero went down to the kitchen for a glass of water. When he flicked the lights on, he found Cyndi in the corner doing what she did best. Getting high.

“What the heck are you doing?” Hero whispered not wanting to cause a large commotion.

“What to join me?” Cyndi patted the floor next to her.

“No. Get rid of it now. Calvin will-”

“Ahhh…. Callie… shhhh.” Cyndi placed a finger on her lips like a little kid, “Don’t wake him up.”

“I know. He’s sleeping really well tonight.”

“Goodie, you go down first.”

“You mean up, right?”

“Whatever.”

The next morning, Cyndi was gone.

“Did you scare her away, Hero? You probably told her to leave, didn’t you… now she has no place to go…”

“Calvin, stop siding with her, she was-” his phone vibrated on the table. The name “Cyndi” popped up. Hero grabbed his phone. Wait, when did he put her number in his phone? Did she snag it during work?

She sent him a text message:

You better not tell Callie about last night… or else I might just tell him what flavor lip gloss you like wearing and what it tastes like.

OMG, was she blackmailing him?!?! Was this all planned? The seducing to blackmail?!?! Insurance?!?! All this time and he thought he turned un-gay or something. She was just playing with him?

Oh, I’m taking a job with my friend up North… the job at your place is too boring…

Did she just call his whole life’s work boring? Found a job up north? Probably found another druggie group that would take her in, more like it.

Don’t even think about telling Callie anything you THINK you know…

What the heck? Is she reading his mind? Why was her text so… But if he told Calvin, he would-

Callie knows I’m capable of anything and that included having an affair with his life partner.

It was NOT an affair! It was just a brush of the lips. Not even a kiss. Why was she saying affair?!?! Wait… for Calvin a kiss is equivalent to making babies… Hero sighed. It’s true.

Byeeeeeee. I love youuuuu.

Confused… very very confused. Exactly what Hero was feeling.

“Hey, Hero. I just got a text from Cyndi. She said she found a place to work. Isn’t that great?!”

“Yeah. Awesome.”

O.O