DSM- IV

It was Monday and Claudia woke up wanting to vomit. Her sheets were still dirty because yesterday when she’d gone downstairs to wash them, that obnoxious brunette girl was there, all curves and laughter and lacey bras, filling all four washing machines with her bright colors. Claudia had turned around and walked out, back upstairs and put her sheets back on the bed. It wasn’t that they were particularly dirty, she washed them every Sunday, but that wasn’t the point. The point was routine, the point was this exuberant brunet was loud and obnoxious and had been there all damn day.

Collin had laughed good naturedly and pulled her into a reluctant hug before kissing her on the top of the head in his big-brother fashion and leaving to go to work at the upscale bar where he flirted with anything in a skirt and half the things in suits as well while serving them all overpriced and highly alcoholic beverages with olives on little toothpicks.

Claudia had rolled her eyes and wished him a good night at work and warned him not to bring anyone home this time. Not that he always did, but it was often enough, and it drove Claudia up the wall, the ever-changing stream of pretty-people strangers that invaded her quiet clean world and dripped coffee on the counter and left dried rings of the liquid on the table where they left their dirty mugs before leaving in the morning or sometimes the afternoon back to wherever they had come from in the first place. Claudia much preferred living alone for this very reason, but after their parents had died a year ago, there was nothing for Claudia in the small town they had grown up in, the too small town where everyone knew everything and talked incessantly about whatever it was that they had heard. So she had come to this big city and her and her older brother rented a nice two-bedroom apartment with clean carpets and white walls and quiet neighbors and Claudia was content enough.

Collin just didn’t understand her obsessions, Claudia mused as she brewed herself her morning cup of coffee. He was happy and outgoing and optimistic about the world. Claudia was not so jovial and liked things her way: simple and clean and quiet. That was why she worked from home, writing for pieces of fiction and non-fiction for various journals that allowed her to make some kind of living but didn’t invade her way of life. Picking up the paper and her white mug, she went into the living room to consume the beverage and today’s news but stopped in her tracks at the bra-clad brunette wearing what were probably Claudia’s brother’s boxers standing in Collin’s doorway. Her smile was as bright and detestable as her damn lacy bra that clashed horribly with the plaid design of the boxers.

“Oh good morning, Collin mentioned he lived with his sister,” she grinned. “Oh but I think I remember you from the laundry room yesterday. Sorry about that, by the way. I hadn’t done mine in like a month. It was horrible. It took me practically all day, and then I just had to go out and have a drink and then I ran into Collin, isn’t it ironic you’re his sister?”

And then she laughed.

Claudia clenched her jaw, struck with a simultaneous urge to toss her coffee in the brunette’s face and kick her out of the apartment, bra-clad and everything. She also wanted to go into her brother’s room and yell at him for bring home such a tramp and letting her walk around looking like a slut. Breathing through her nose, Claudia set her coffee down on a coaster (that was what they were for after all) and the paper down beside it. She felt a migraine coming on and needed to take something to prevent it before the headache left her incapacitated. Rubbing at her temple she contemplated the pros and cons of conversing with her brother’s latest lay. She was spared from having to make such an arduous decision by her brother walking out of his bathroom.

“Claudia, you’re up,” he said, looking between his sister rubbing her head and the girl in wearing his underwear.

Claudia forced a smile. “Yes Collin, I am up. It is seven thirty in the morning; I am always up. The question is, why are you?” The real question was, who’s the tramp, but Claudia usually refrained from directly insulting Collin’s guests after Claudia reduced one poor girl to tears last month.

“Well, Lacy has to work today so I set the alarm so she wasn’t late. I’m going to go back to bed here in a minute.”

“Lacy,” Claudia repeated. Wasn’t that just perfect.

Lacy waved, apparently sensing the obvious tension because she responded with a small hi and retreated past Collin into the bathroom.

“And does Lacy have clothes?” Claudia asked.

“Hey little sister, don’t be upset, she’ll be gone in twenty minutes and
you can read the paper in peace,” he said amiably.

“I have a head ache,” Claudia massaged her temples. “I have work to do. I’d appreciate it if she didn’t talk to me.”

“Yeah, sure Sis. Take some meds, drink your coffee, do your work. She’ll be gone before you know it,” Collin said.

Claudia nodded and went to her bathroom to get her migraine medicine. When she came back out Collin wasn’t in the living room and Lacy was still in the bathroom. Deciding that if she didn’t see the girl any more she might have a better chance of getting rid of her head ache, Claudia picked up her coffee and paper and went out onto the small balcony that had enough room for only a small table and two chairs to be in peace.

Within fifteen minutes her head was throbbing and the medicine had yet to kick in. As much as she didn’t want to (she actually did have work to do today) she was forced to retreat into her bedroom, shades drawn, curtains closed, and a damp wash cloth to cover her eyes. Her current migraine medicine was new and she didn’t exactly know how well it worked. She had to change her last one because it interfered with her anti-anxiety meds, her anti-depression meds, and her anti-insomnia meds. Hopefully this new one would work better and interfere less with the slew of other pills she took on a regular basis.