Sixteen Vanessa #2
"Yes, my fucking sister, Elizabeth. Did you not listen to me telling you I had a younger sister at dinner, or were you too busy staring at my chest to pay attention to anything coming out of my mouth?"
The amount of stress she caused me over absolutely nothing was ridiculous. Even though I wasn't mad per say, she was going to learn her lesson.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, looking at the ground. This had to be humiliating her—not only throwing a fit over a misinterpretation, but the implications that came with it. Not that it revealed anything I hadn’t already known.
"This whole stunt was completely inappropriate and out of place; you crossed a major line."
She gulped harshly. "I'm sorry, just thought…" Her apology was more of a shameful mumble, the last few words inaudible.
"You just thought what? Because I can tell you what I thought. I thought this was because of Friday." Playing the disappointed boss, when all I wanted to do was assure her, was proving strenuous.
"What do you mean?" She pouted, still not herself.
"Don't play dumb, it's not cute."
"You didn't pressure me to go to dinner. I wanted to." She frowned, for whatever reason, not understanding.
"Evelyn, use your head, for once today," I instructed, fighting the urge to grab her chin to get her to look me in the eyes.
"Um—" she began, her mind clearly blanking.
"Jesus Christ, I thought you were upset I carried you in," I cut her off, running a hand through my hair.
"You carried me in?" Her eyes widened, visibly flustered at the revelation. It was so cute I almost forgot to keep scolding her. I don't know how I’d ever convinced myself she'd had a problem with me carrying her in.
"No, you teleported." My tone was dry, not trying to be funny.
Her lips curved at my remark. "I didn't know that."
"So you remember falling asleep in my car, waking up in your bed, and don't even stop to consider how you got there?" I questioned with concern.
"No... I just thought I forgot walking. I know this was stupid of me." She nibbled on her lower lip, only continuing when I arched a brow. "I'm sorry, Vanessa."
"Oh really? Are you? Is that all you have to say for yourself?"
She bit the inside of her cheek, visibly praying to disappear. "Umm, yes?" It was a question, encompassing everything we were leaving unspoken.
"Nothing you need to share with me to help your case, sweetheart?" I prompted.
“So, she had blonde hair, and you have auburn hair. Your hair color is gorgeous, by the way, but because she didn’t get as lucky to inherit it, it was harder to tell.” There was the Evelyn I knew and loved; this hadn't broken her.
“I’m flattered you agree. I have always felt quite lucky. Though siblings having different shades of hair is both a common occurrence and a piece of knowledge I would assume you already held. Is that the only claim you have to defend yourself?”
"You and your sister need boundaries?" she suggested, a mischievous glint in her blue eyes.
I forced my face to harden. "Evelyn, out.” She scurried to the door with a laugh.
Although her joke was uncalled for, she knew I wasn't actually upset with her. It wasn’t her fault that this had me so wound up.
She couldn't have known the memories she unearthed, or how easily it stirred the fear that, one day, I might make the same mistake with her.
I could not give her mixed signals and then be upset when she cared.
But I needed time to process. Lying to myself was only hurting us both.
"Sorry," I heard Evelyn say right outside my door only a few seconds after shutting it. I chuckled to myself, imagining her carelessly bumping into someone.
"It's okay, dear. It's nice to finally talk, isn't it?" I could recognize Lillian's voice anywhere.
I couldn’t make out Evelyn’s reply. She hadn’t even recovered from my intensity before facing Lillian’s. Poor thing, she was getting it from both of us. But it wasn’t Lillian’s place to admonish her, only mine.
My door swung open, Lillian smirking, once again not knocking.
"Lillian—" I started, but she cut me off.
"So our little Eve is talking to us?"
I frowned; she wasn’t giving her a nickname, and she was not making this an ‘us’ thing.
"Well, someone’s still possessive over her, so I take it that little talk you two had went well?" I rolled my eyes.
"I already gave it to her. Your teasing was unnecessary."
"Oh, and you’re protective too? Wow, it must have been a complete success."
"You can leave my office now too." I gestured toward the door with my narrowed eyes.
"Okay, I won’t mess with her again. God knows pretty soon you’ll—"
I stood up behind my desk without warning, my eyes sending daggers her way.
She shut up, taking a large step back reflexively.
"Good girl," I mocked, grinning widely. My words carried no real intention to escalate this playful situation further, though she blushed ever so slightly.
There had never been anything of this nature between us. Lillian wasn’t a submissive, but I could pull out those tendencies from anyone.
"Vanessa, you can’t—that’s not appropriate," she protested. She hated how easily I could mess with her. I did so very rarely, only as much as I deemed necessary to remind her I still could.
"And your talking about Evelyn isn’t either. Cut it out, Lillian."
She rolled her eyes as she opened the door, her dignity and insufferable pride returning too soon for my liking.
"I just hope Evelyn gets this out of your system sooner rather than later."
My jaw tightened. She was pressing her luck and my buttons. We both knew the limits, yet Lillian loved testing to see whether I’d ever pass the threshold. It was her personality to play with fire with no intention of getting burned.
But I would never pass them. I only enjoyed those games with people like Evelyn—people who, in a different way, were just as into them as me.