going to be a lady killer like his dad. He’s only just walking and he’s already got all the little girls at the playground wrapped around his finger. And you know Mae.” She shook her head, but her eyes softened with love.
“Sometimes I think Mae is an evil genius.”
“There’s no question about that. She’s already plotting to take over the world.”
Anna looked at her beaming sister. She was so beautiful, with her dark red hair, and her willowy figure. She’d always been that way, but now there was a permanent glow to her, a kind of general peace behind her eyes. “You’re happy.”
Freya smiled brilliantly, opening the magazine the nail technician handed her. “Yes.”
“I’m not sure I look happy.” She studied herself in the mirror lining the wall across from them. It was Sunday, and she was with her favorite person in the world, having a sister day. They’d had a mimosa brunch and now were getting pedicures. She should have been content at the very least. Instead she felt unsettled.
“It doesn’t matter how you look,” Freya said. “It’s how you feel.”
“Then I’m definitely not happy.” She frowned. “Not that I’m unhappy either. Really, I’m just confused.”
“What has you confused?”
“It’s just that I should be happy. I have everything I wanted. I wanted to be a lawyer, and I have a great apartment.”
“You’re welcome.”
“I have a good paycheck and some money saved up. I’m secure, which is all I wanted, but I’m not happy.” She shook her head at the magazine her nail lady offered her. She felt too restless to even look at pictures. “I think I’m becoming boring.”
Freya laughed. “You are definitely not boring.”
“The way I dress. The red toenail polish. My hair.” She put a hand on top of her head. It was straight and brown, and she usually just pulled it into a twist. Even today, on a weekend. “I’m becoming drab.”
“I look at you and I think exactly that,” her sister drawled. “That was sarcastic, in case you missed it.”
“I didn’t, but thanks for clarifying.” She stuck her tongue out at her.
“What brought all this on?”
“I feel restless.”
“The white bread guy is the first one you’ve gone out with in a long time, right? Maybe you need to date more, and by date, I mean hook up with someone for nights of delicious passion.”
Sighing, she propped her chin in her hand. “Easier said than done. There aren’t many men who’ve inspired me to have thoughts of even mildly appetizing passion. None of them seem right.”
“What is right?”
“Max Corazao.” Just the thought of him made her feel happier, which also depressed her. She looked mournfully at her sister. “He was so great.”
Freya shrugged, lifting her foot out of the tub for the nail lady. “Maybe you should look him up. What can it hurt?”
“It’s been over three years since we broke up.”
“But you didn’t break up badly. I thought it was with mutual consent.”
“It was, but it doesn’t change the fact that I let him go.” She shook her head, switching her feet out when her nail technician pushed one back into the lukewarm water.
“You loved him,” Freya pointed out. “True love doesn’t just go away.”
“How do you know it was true love?”
“Are you saying it wasn’t?”
“I don’t know!” She threw her arms in the air, startling the woman doing her pedicure. “It was perfect when we started dating, but then I didn’t have the bandwidth for it and law school at the same time.”
“You should give yourself a break. You were only twenty-one at the time.”
“But, looking back, I realize he was so great. He cooked for me, and listened to me, and kissed me like I was a delectable treat. I didn’t properly appreciate it at the time.” She smacked her forehead. “What was I thinking, letting him get away?”
“Maybe you owe it to yourself to find out if there’s something still there. At least do it for
The Science of Leonardo: Inside the Mind of the Great Genius of the Renaissance