Sisters
Miles, Jo, and I found ourselves in my father’s study, the door shutting with a thud. Her gaze darted furiously between the two of us.
“You and my sister?” she blurted in a whisper at Miles. “My sister?!” Her eyes snapped back to me. “You and…him? Miles? I thought you both hated each other. What is this? How long has this been going on?” She breathlessly sputtered the words. “Does anyone care to explain?”
“Jo,” I sighed, “just calm down.”
“How could you?” she yelled at Miles. “This is my sister, not a one-night stand!”
“I never said she was,” he muttered, his voice indifferent as he stared right back at her.
“So, what is this?!” She clenched her fists, her eyes snapping to mine. “Are you a thing now? Together together? God, is this like, serious?”
“What?” I exclaimed. “No!”
“Why not?” She stared at both of us, trying to process the shocking scoop of the news.
“Yeah,” Miles mumbled, turning his head to me, “why the hell not, Florence?”
“What?” I blinked rapidly with confusion, my face mirroring Jo’s surprise. “Miles…this isn’t the time,” I breathed, glancing back at my sister.
“Jesus Christ!” she snorted. “And here I was thinking you two couldn’t stomach each other.”
“That’s how it was,” Miles said, “at first.”
“Miles,” I muttered, “stop talking!”
“Just look at you,” she continued, “it all makes sense now. You two always did have a weird kind of chemistry, didn’t you? Wow, this is like straight out of a Hallmark movie! How did I not see it?”
“You were too busy pairing her up with Blake,” Miles retorted.
“Ugh!” Jo rasped at him. “No one asked you!”
“Josephine…” I took a deep breath, but she continued.
“So, what, are you just…sleeping together?” she blurted out. “Or are you going to date each other?”
“That’s an excellent question.” Miles cocked his brow at me.
“Miles!” I gave him a sharp look. Not helping!
Miles crossed his arms, his eyes focused on me. “What? I too would like to know.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Jo demanded.
My gaze remained on him, blurring Jo’s figure in the background. “That wasn’t what we agreed on!”
“Agreed? I don’t remember any sort of agreement, Florence!”
“What? You can’t be serious?” I sputtered. “That day when you said we should commit to the story, and then you took me driving, and then, well, that happened. The observatory , ugh, you know what I’m talking about…” I trailed off with a frustrated sigh.
“Oh, so now I made you do it? Against your will?”
“What? No, of course not! I’m just reminding you how it all started.”
“Wait.” Jo’s voice drifted through the tension. “You were driving?”
“Well.” Miles let out a frustrated chuckle. “I certainly don’t recall making any agreements then.”
“But—”
“But what?”
“Miles?” My eyes searched his. Had I misinterpreted this whole thing from the very beginning? Did we actually agree on that? Or not? Did we say that out loud?
“She was driving?” Jo demanded, looking at Miles.
“You know what?” He threw his hands up, then took a step closer to me. “I don’t want to wait until I get back. I want to know now, Florence. And just be done with it.”
“Know what?”
“I want to know what you want?”
“Miles?”
“It’s simple, Florence. You just have to say it.”
“Miles, please, not now,” I pleaded, staring right back at him.
“Because I meant it, Florence. What I said to Blake that morning, the words you heard that day behind the door—you know they were meant for you.” Miles’s gaze fell to my mouth as he leaned in closer, whispering, “Every single one.”
“Said what?” Jo’s voice murmured from behind. “Can anyone explain what is going on here?”
“So, I’m going to ask you again, Florence.”
“Please,” I breathed. Not now. Please.
“What do you want?”
“Miles…” I mouthed. “I…I…” I want you . But I couldn’t say it. I wanted to, but not like this, not here. Not now. Not under pressure. Not when it wasn’t just us. Not when I realised my mother succeeded in her plan.
I felt a lump stuck in my throat, my insides twisting with nausea so intense I thought I was going to throw up. My chest tightened with heaviness, making me gasp in pain. “Not now,” I finally choked out. “Please.”
His face tensed, a single strand falling over his dark, stormy eyes. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. “Well,” he said, his voice thick with emotion, “at least I know what you don’t want.” He quickly glanced at Jo. “See you at the wedding.”
“Miles?” I called after him. “Wait!” But he didn’t.
He…left. And the moment the door shut behind him, a cold, abrupt dread settled in my stomach.
An emptiness followed, as if the fear itself had consumed everything, leaving nothing but a gaping hole inside me.
My hands momentarily trembled. Was that it?
“You have a lot of explaining to do.” A voice suddenly snatched back my attention, but the feeling of hopelessness wouldn’t go away. “Why couldn’t you just be honest with me?” Jo rasped, annoyed. “Why would you keep this from me?”
“Jo,” I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down before I lost my temper.
“How could you lie?” She pressed even more.
And as my nerves, hanging on a thread, frayed, I snapped back. “Oh, you’re one to talk!”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Gee, I don’t know, Josephine. How about the fact that you slept with Mark’s brother?!”
“What?” A breath escaped her as she stood, gaping, absolutely terrified at my words.
“Yeah! Why haven’t you said anything? Especially about the guy you nearly fell for. And now you’re marrying his brother. Which, by the way, brings up another question. Does Mark even know?”
“What?! No, of course he doesn’t! So, if you could, please stop yelling so loudly about it!”
A sudden silence fell around us, only the heavy panting of our heated conversation remaining.
We both processed everything that had just been said, perhaps wondering why we weren’t the people we could confide in when we needed each other most. What had gone wrong?
And why? Why did we feel the need to keep secrets from one another?
Jo inhaled deeply. “How did you…?”
“Chantelle.”
“Of course.” She let out a heavy sigh.
“Then I just connected the dots. Well…his eyes , really. They’re quite a distinguishable feature to miss. But, Jo, did you seriously think I wouldn’t figure it out when I met him at your wedding?!”
“Well, I was kind of hoping you wouldn’t remember that detail. And that he wouldn’t show up either.”
“So, how did this all happen?”
“I don’t know, Florence. All I know is, it was one of the best nights of my life.
Then…he left the next morning,” she snorted with a scoff, “and I never heard from him again. Soon, Mark appeared on the horizon. I was upset and…he was nice. He invited me to meet his family, and the next thing I knew…” She paused.
“A fucking surprise! His brother was the guy I lost my virginity to.”
“But did he…Did you two ever try to talk?”
“He did. A couple of times…Anyway, I told him to leave me alone, and since then, we’ve barely even seen each other. And now he’s coming to our wedding. Great!”
“Of all people.” I mused.
“Yeah. You can’t even imagine my shock when I saw him.”
“So did you just pretend like you didn’t know him?”
“Yes. And it’s best Mark doesn’t know about this either.”
“You know,” I cocked my brow at her, “you’ll be taking a vow in front of God himself.”
“Ugh! You don’t even believe in one.”
“Well…” I rolled my eyes. “True.”
“Florence—” She covered her face with both hands, then peeked through her fingers at me. “—it’s best for everyone if it stays unsaid.”
“If Mark ever finds out, it won’t be from me,” I reassured her, “but is this how you want to start your marriage? With a secret hanging over your head?”
“Look, I didn’t say anything back then. So I don’t see why I would bring it up now.”
Jo sat on the corner of the desk, letting out another heavy, vulnerable sigh. Her gaze slowly travelled to mine. We stayed like that for a moment, just looking, trying to understand each other. Sometimes words weren’t enough; some things you just had to see.
“Now back to you,” she murmured. “Miles? All this time?”
“Since the volleyball game,” I breathed, taking a seat next to her, my palms tightly pressed against the hard, wooden surface of the desk.
“And the driving?”
“Yes. But it was just a couple of times.”
“It’s still a big deal, Florence. Especially for you.”
“I’m aware of that, trust me, but…I don’t know, Jo.” I glanced at her, shaking my head. “All this… I’m not sure what this even is. It was our mother’s plan all along. She wanted to set us up from day one. Ugh, I hate that I fell for it.”
“You refused to even try, let alone sit behind the wheel for years. I doubt that what happened with Miles, and the fact that you trusted him enough to drive, had anything to do with our mother.”
“He…God, we really did hate each other. And, I don’t know, he was driving me infuriatingly crazy, but then…I saw his other side.”
“So, what now?”
“Well, he left.”
“He’ll be back, you know?”
“I know. But this is just what our mother wanted.”
“Florence, forget our mother!” she blurted, quickly stepping in front of me and taking both my hands. Her eyes intently searched mine. “Do you actually have feelings for him?”
“It certainly isn’t love, but I’d be a fool to call it nothing either.”
“Okay, and what if mum had nothing to do with this? Would you give it a chance then?”
“It’s different.”
“How? How is it different?”
“You just don’t know everything she’s done. From day one she tried to push us together. That spa treatment when she ‘accidentally’ couldn’t make it, dragging you along in the car. Then the hospital. She faked all of it so that I wouldn’t go out with Blake. She—”
“She what?!” Jo gasped.
“She faked it!”
“No!”
“Yes!”
“No!”
“Yes, she did.”
“Wow.” Jo shook her head in disbelief, letting out a sudden snort. Pretty stunned, she pressed her lips together in a slow grin, looking at me before bursting into laughter.
“What? Why are you laughing?” I couldn’t help but smile at her.
“She actually faked the whole thing so that you two could be together.”
“Yeah!” I suddenly chortled, nodding. “She bloody did!”
After giggling for a couple of minutes, Jo leaned in and hugged me tightly. “I’m sorry I kept this from you,” she said with another sigh.
“Um…” My hands slowly wrapped around her shoulders, and I breathed, “Me too.”
“You know that I love you, right?” she murmured.
“You know that I love you more?”
“Impossible,” she whispered with a soft chuckle.
Just as my father predicted, a bright lightning bolt stretched across the gloomy sky and angry thunder roared seconds later. Jo and I quickly walked to the window, watching the dark clouds swallow the last rays of sun. The trees howled with the wind, ghastly, whispering a haunting song.
“It’s going to start any minute now,” Jo mumbled.
“I guess,” I breathed, both of us glued to nature’s terror behind the glass.
“Come.” Jo suddenly pulled me by the hand.
“Where?” I tried to catch my steps as I followed.
“You’ll see.”
Escaping the dark study, we ran down the corridor as thunder rumbled around the house, heavy raindrops momentarily tapping against the roof tiles. Jo kept pushing one door after another until the scent of petrichor hit my nose and we found ourselves outside.
The last time I stood under the rain, willingly , was probably when I was five.
Now, look at me—both my sister and I, barefoot, danced on the soaking wet lawn.
The cool spray cascaded down our hair and already-drenched clothes.
Hand in hand, we twirled around in our mother’s garden, laughing until we couldn’t catch our breaths.
“Josephine? Florence? What on Earth? You want to get sick for the wedding?” My mother’s voice erupted from the house. “Get inside! Immediately!”
“You are ruining all the fun, Mother,” Jo chuckled. “Come, join us.”
“No thanks, my wits are still about me!” she retorted, holding a couple of towels in her hand. “Now, could you two please get inside?”
As I was about to head to the house, Jo grabbed my wrist and hugged me again, so tightly that a breath hitched in my throat, then, her voice hopeful as she muttered in my ear, “If you think he is worth it, if you think this could be something truly special, then you should be selfish about what you want, Florence. Not hers. Yours!” And as quickly as she said that she pulled away, a gentle smile on her lips, and ran toward our mother.
Oh, Jo. I inhaled deeply before I could finally take a step forward.