The noise in the cafe was almost deafening. With it being lunchtime, the interior was filled to the brim with those working in the nearby office buildings. They were all rushing through their meal or grabbing a quick bite before heading back to work.

In the middle of it all, Sharon wished she was one of them. It would be great if getting lunch was her only concern. Having been one of the first ones there, it was now nearing the end of her lunch hour and she was done with her meal. She even had two cups right in front of her. One of them was the drink that came with the meal while the other another drink she'd ordered. And still, the person she was supposed to meet was still not here.

She wondered how much longer she should wait. This should be enough, right? She had completed her obligation. She was in the cafe at the appointed time and for the appointed duration. There was no need to feel guilty, right? And she could reject any future calls as well, right?

Right.

Nodding with resolve, she grabbed her wallet and was getting up when she finally saw her guest. She was entering the cafe and, as always, her sister was dressed like she was walking down the runway. That was so unnecessary and attention-grabbing. Gritting her teeth, she wondered whether there was room for her to slip away but their eyes met. There was no escape now.

Cursing herself and her need to be nice, she sat down reluctantly. Then, her lips tightened while watching how slowly Amelia was walking towards her. She was sauntering as if there was all the time in the world. She was so slow that a turtle could overtake her. A baby turtle, with their small body and tiny limbs. Put another way, Sharon reckoned the time it took for Amelia to reach her was enough for them to complete this talk. She could even leave by now with no guilt whatsoever. And yet, she waited.

Finally, the queen arrived. Heaving a breath of relief, Sharon was ready. She could take on whatever Amelia had for her. She had been mentally preparing herself since this morning, bracing herself for whatever her sister was going to say. She had steeled her heart and mind, watching her closely, waiting for her to make her opening move. But, then, all the energy left her. She couldn't believe what had happened. She was left speechless.

With a perfunctory greeting, Amelia went right to the counter. She was going to buy a drink. Her eyes followed Amelia in disbelief. Her sister was even engaging the cashier in some small talk. It was all happening right before her and she still couldn't believe it. She, her own sister, hardly garnered much of a reaction but she was more than willing to listen to the sob story of a woman she met five minutes.

Sharon was both mad and hurt. Taking a deep breath, she tried to calm herself. But it was hard. Her naturally high threshold for patience had been slowly shaved off the moment she had rushed to this cafe. As the minutes passed by, chunks had been taken and now, she was approaching her limit. It felt like her head was going to explode.

"Sorry about that. That took longer than expected,"Amelia said as she slipped into the seat across hers. Amelia's calmness made her want to turn to violence. Sharon had to cross her arms, holding them tightly against her chest She had to do that. That was the only way she could restrain herself. Otherwise, her hands would do something she'd regret.

She didn't know what but she just knew it was going to be one of her biggest regrets ever. Not that she'd regret doing it. Instead, it was the consequences that stalled her. Consequences which would be bad. Bad, she repeated reminded herself, her hands gripping her biceps tightly. But it was so tough. Especially when Amelia was more concerned in relating whatever the cashier had told her instead of starting on why they were here in the first place.

This woman had no shame. Sharon was genuinely flabbergasted. Why did she think she could do this to her? Was it because Sharon had always given into her before? Well, no more. With her fingernails digging into her flesh, it was time to get her back on track.

"So what did you want to meet about?"she asked coldly, cutting into whatever Amelia was talking about.

"Excuse me. You know it's rude to just come in like that,"Amelia returned, clearly offended. Sharon was past the point of caring. Past the point of giving her any leeway. She had given her way too much. There was no use doing this to some people. Especially when they didn't feel any remorse or guilt.

"Well, then, I'm sure you know how rude it is to be late to a meeting you set up."

"I'm just a bit late. I had more important things to do."

"Fifty minutes is not a bit late,"Sharon exclaimed, unable to help herself. Her voice resounded in the cafe and all eyes were on her but she didn't care. She was holding herself back as it was. "And I have things to do, too. So cut that crap. Anyway, what were you even doing? Giving birth? If so, you look good for someone who just pushed a baby down her birthing canal. Tell me, is it a boy or a girl?"

"Keep your voice down. No one knows about this."

"Really? That's cute. You think people care? If your own sister doesn't, who else would? But I should feel so honored that you told me. But don't expect any courtesy in return. I work with respect. So if you show me some respect, I'd do the same. But if you don't, I won't. And since you didn't respect my time, please don't be delusional and expect me to respect your secrets."

"Shut up. Just because you're working in an office doesn't mean you know anything about what I do-"

"And just because you're a model doesn't mean the world revolves around you. Now, if you don't mind, please let me know why you came here or we can just end this." Sharon waited. Then when there was no response, she nodded and got up. "I see. Well, thank you for your time but I really have to get back-"

"Sit the fuck down."

"I'd rather get bitten by king cobra than talk to you. At least I know there's an end. Now, good day." Turning to leave, she stopped and gritted her teeth when a hand held her back. Glaring at Amelia, she hissed, "Let me go."

"No. Not until you listen to me."

"Oh, you want to talk now? Great." Sitting down again, she felt relieved when Amelia let go. By now, the entire cafe's attention was on them. Clearly Amelia was greatly affected by it. Her eyes were shifting around, her cheeks were blazing a bright red and she was almost sinking into her seat. Meanwhile, Sharon didn't care. Usually she would but Amelia just pushed her buttons and all embarrassment left her.

"Look, I didn't arrange this to fight-"

"Then you should have been on time."

"Sharon!"she snapped with a glare. Compressing her lips together, Sharon leaned back into her seat. She just wanted to get this done and over with. And she had a feeling that they were finally getting to the crux of the matter. "I just wanted to tell you that Jasmine is inviting you to their wedding-"

"Wow. That's great. And what are you? Her errand girl? Or Mom sic this on you? If so, great. It's like you finally received the approval from Mom that you've always wanted. She's even willing to give you this very important task. So, since you're so close to them, tell her I won't come. And Mom to suck ass."

"Sharon! She's our mother."

"What does that have to do with anything? That just makes it more tragic when we have to cut ties.

"Don't be like that. Anyway, look, Jasmine asked me to do this. She wants the chance to reconcile. Isn't that great? She's, like, your only friend, right?" Sharon had to pause and just look at her. She didn't know whether Amelia had always been this dense. Was her pregnancy affecting her this much? Sighing, she shook her head.

"I don't know if you're here to just rub salt in my wounds but whatever you're doing, stop. There's nothing between the two of us. Not since I came here. And I can't believe you actually took in her crap. Here I thought we were meeting to work things out between us. I'm actually grateful for all you've done for me since I came here. I wouldn't be here if you hadn't provided everything for me. But I guess you want that bond with Mom than with me."

"What do you mean? We're sisters. Bonded by blood-"

"And that means nothing right now. Not when you don't even care about my feelings. Not when you prioritise near strangers more than me. Not when you care about Mom when you know what she's done to me." Sharon was drained. She had had enough. This conversation was going nowhere. Grabbing her bag once more, she prepared to leave. "Right now, we're nothing more than strangers who shared the same mother and father. So don't expect anymore from me than what I would to a stranger."

"You don't treat me like a stranger. You treat me like an enemy."

"Well, let's just go with the fact that a friend of my enemy is also my enemy. Now, I have to go. It wasn't exactly nice to waste my entire lunch hour on you and I hope we don't do this again. But I'm glad this is out in the open."

"What about the baby?"

"I'm sure they'll be fine. I mean, with you as their mother, I'm sure she, or he, will be indecisive and hurts everyone they know. And their grandmother will always be there to help fuck them up."

With that as her parting shot, Sharon hurried out of there. Ignoring all the stares, she kept her head down and refused to think about what she had just said. Although a part of her was relieved, the other part of her felt like she had lost something dear to her.

-----@@@------

Walking back to the office, Sharon felt like a piece of paper that had gone through the shredder. Her head felt like it was going to fly off at any moment. In contrast, her limbs felt so heavy that they were going to fall out of their sockets at any moment. To top it off, her eyes kept stinging with tears despite her struggle to hold it all in.

Even though she had steeled herself, it still hurts to realise she would never have the support of her family. Ever since her father had passed away, their family was always on the verge of splintering. They'd managed to stick close by sheer force of will but for some reason, the bonds they had had weakened until they were at this state now.

Not that she thought back, she had a feeling that she was the only one who had tried to keep them together. Maybe she was the one who had tried so hard to keep that bond alive. That had to be the reason, she decided. Why else would she have stayed when her own mother kept slandering her, depicting her as the next Bathsheba?

Just recalling it made her want to both destroy something and cry in a corner. But her mother wasn't the main cause for her dark mood. Their bond had disappeared the very moment she decided to leave. The one who was affecting her the most right now was Amelia. When she thought of her sister, she wanted to just break down and cry.

It never occurred to her that she'd be this disillusioned. She thought she finally had someone in her court. Someone who would defend her against any and all accusations. But, looking at their recent meeting, that was clearly false. Something she had projected on Amelia. Something Amelia clearly didn't care about.

Anyway, she didn't have the time to think about all of this. With her office building coming into sight, she straightened and shook her head vigorously. It was just the middle of the workday. There was still the afternoon left. With resolved strides, she shoved the matter about Amelia aside and only focused on her work.

AN: Hey guys. How're you doing? I'm kinda in a mixed mood since my new job is going to start soon.

What do you think of the chapter? I wanted them to reconcile actually but for some reason, I feel like Amelia is still under her mother's thumb. She clearly showed this the last time they confronted each other and a change of heart isn't going to happen soon. So their fight is kinda getting dragged out.

But I do like how Sharon is clearly done with her. She's so sassy and sarcastic, taking charge of the conversation like that. She's growing and I feel like a proud parent. Which is weird because I'm the one who created her. 

Anyway, please VOTE and COMMENT if you liked this. Follow me on Wattpad and ko-fi for updates. Please get my book, Accidental Roommates, from Amazon. 

THANKS

P.S. Also can you tell me what you think about the story so far? I wanted to stick to the original as much as possible, being both silly and serious. Like meeting the parents and buying a cake to apologise. But if I do that, I feel like the story would be unnecessarily draggy and I'd get distracted. So now, it's more on the plot progression. I was thinking of putting their silly, slice of life moments in the other book, "Mini One Shots". But before that, I'd really like to know what you think.

P.P.S Also let me know how you found this story. Were you an old reader? Or a new one who stumbled on this? I'm so curious this week.