EXHASUTING ALWAYS
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The family next door. Living in the suburbs, always freshly cut grass, always in nice clean clothes. Friends with all their neighbors, no secrets, nothing to hide. Two daughters. 2 years apart, but they were identical. Daphne and Blair Dixon. Inseparable. Always in the same clothes, always hands in hands. Growing up in the same room, bunk beds. Not even apart in their sleep.
Daphne, 16 years old. Doing good in school, having good friends and a bright future as a doctor. That’s when it all fell apart. A tragedy. Blair went to buy groceries late at night just 5 minutes away. She never got home. She hasn’t been seen since. Letting behind her family, friends and a beloved boyfriend.
Medias. The story were everywhere, everybody became invested in the case and before the Dixons knew it, they were famous. Famous for their missing daughter and sister. Interviews, police interrogations, documentaries. It was a case for the whole world.
Dropping out of school, letting go of the doctor-dream. Her mental health came first. Getting professional help, trying to stay out of the medias.
At 18 years old, seeking compensation. Seeking company, by a name that was also known by the world. Alistair Norwich. None other than her missing sisters boyfriend.
It wasn’t that she loved him, it wasn’t that she thought he was the one. But he was her first love. And he reminded her of her.
Their romance caught the medias eyes, she no longer cared. Her sister would never return home, and it would just be a matter of time before people forgot about the case.
6 months and a ring later, she said the famous ‘’I do’’ words and accepted his surname next to her own. It wasn’t until then, she thought it through. What was she even doing? Getting married at 18 to her missing sisters boyfriend. She had let go of her bright future to take care of herself and even now, she wasn’t a place where she would want to be.
Living as if nothing was wrong for a while, moving in with her husband, every day she got more and more convinced that she could never love him.
Still young, still lots of things she wanted to do and experience. Suddenly feeling trapped - and it was her own fault.
Going out more, needing her space, needing her fun. Old enough to be a wife, not old enough to drink. She found her places and found her people. Flirting, charming, getting loose. Finally letting go of the past; letting go of Blair. This is her, finally living her life.
Creating affairs, having one night stands in hotel rooms and returning home to her husband the same night. A cheater. Of course she felt guilty.
Yet she never told him. Ashamed. Disrespecting the man her sister loved.
Sure he figured it out. And sure he got mad. Claiming a divorce. They agreed to wait till the case was no longer interesting for the medias, wanting to avoid any scandals. Now it’s been 6 years, they never signed any papers. Moved away, and forgot all about it.
25 years old, never resumed her high school, never used her big brain of hers to any use. Instead she works as a waitress in a small diner in New York. The place she calls home. Here she can just be ''Daphne the Waitress''.
Often joking about her missing sister and her husband. Out of herself and the trauma she's buried. Dark humor is her way to cope. Never meaning it; it comes from her darkest thoughts, where she is convinced she doesn't deserve love due to her cheating affairs. Not knowing who she is, who she wants to be. Feeling guilty, protective, responsible. A mess, not in control of herself or her life. Is she still a good person underneath all her flaws? Who would ever want to be with a person like her? Fears she will forever be defined by her past.
