A/N: Hey guys! It's been a while since I dropped by with one of these. I hope y'all are well.
So juggling three books at a go isn't easy. The attention shifts between the books and sometimes it's hard to keep the same pace going.
But I promise to stick with our update schedule. And whenever I'm able to, I'll release multiple updates like I used to cause even I miss that.

Happy reading!

~the_atticwriter

✄---------------------------------------------------------------------

~Brie

The car pulled up in front of Jewel Interactive and I unbuckled my seat belt and opened the door.

“Thanks” I muttered to my sister as I climbed out.

“Should I pick you up later?”

I turned to close the door.

“No.”

“I can. I'm not doing anything later.”

“No thank you, Aubree. I can get home on my own just fine” I told her.

She turned off the engine of the car and pushed her sunglasses to the top of her head.

“Okay then. How about I stop by in the afternoon and we have lunch together?” she smiled.

My eyes popped a little.

“What is wrong with you?”

She looked behind her and then back at me.

“Me?”

I groaned and closed the car door, shaking my head.

“So lunch?”

“No. Goodbye.”

I turned away before she could go any further with her absurd requests.

“Morning Carol. Ivy” I smiled at them as I stepped into the reception.

“Hey Brie” they greeted back in unison.

I stepped into the elevator and I was on my floor in a few seconds.

“Morning Avery” I greeted.

“Oh hey, Brie. I love your shoes” she grinned at me.

“Thank you Ave” I grinned back. “Is Mr. Corleone in?”

“Not yet. He's usually early...” she paused and eyed the clock, “... I'm sure he'll be in soon.”

“Thanks.”

I hurried down the hall and made a pit stop to check on Tameka and Glenn before reporting to my temporary desk.

“Hey, Breanna? Could you please put these out in the conference room?” Avery caught up to me with some files just before I was about to leave.

“Yeah sure” I smiled at her as I took it from her.

“Thanks.”

“Is Megan in? She's not answering her phone” I asked, making Avery stop and turn back around.

“Well, she's not...” Avery trailed off as her eyes fell behind me.

I turned around and frowned.

“What the hell are you doing here?” I asked.

She smiled and pushed the basket onto Amy's desk.

“Happy Birthday” she whispered before waddling towards me. “Hey, little sis.”

I folded my arms.

“I asked a question, Aubree. What the hell are you doing here?”

She shrugged lightly.

“I didn't get a reply to my lunch offer.”

I let out an exasperated sigh and shook my head at her.

“Go home, Aubree.”

I turned away from her and moved away from her.

“So lunch?” I heard her ask behind me.

“No.”

“It's just lunch, Breanna. Don't be like that.”

“No” I repeated, walking faster.

But she kept following me.

“Breanna c'mon.”

“I said no, Aubree. Now please leave.”

“Why not?”

“Aubree” I groaned as she kept following me.

“Why not, Breanna?”

I stopped in front of the conference room and turned to her with a big frown.

“Why not?” I repeat.

She shakes her head at me.

“I don't need a reason to refuse to have lunch with you, Aubree.”

“Well, it doesn't make any sense that you refuse me at all because you know I don't give up until I get what I want.”

I scoffed.

“Yeah. Like you didn't give up until you slept with my husband, correct?”

Her smug look wore off as quickly as it appeared and she gave me a disappointed look.

“Do you always have to bring that up?”

I shrugged.

“I don't see anything else we can agree on,” I said, stepping inside the conference room.

She chuckled, coming in behind me.

“Fine. I'll pay.”

I sighed deeply.

“Seriously Aubree, go home.”

“Not until you agree to have lunch with me.”

“What is this?” I made a face at her.

“A yes?”

“No. Leave. I have work to do.”

“I'm not leaving until I hear a yes to lunch.”

“Go with Leslie. Isn't that the reason you strung him down here?” I asked, setting the files on the desks.

“I wanna go with you.”

“Well, I don't.”

“Well then I'm not leaving, Breanna,” she said firmly, mimicking me.

“Yes, you are. And unlike you, I have a job to do. So get out and go home because I'm not going to babysit you, Aubree, okay?” I countered.

She rolled her eyes.

“So I slept with your husband and married him, Breanna. I'm not proud of my actions but get over it already.”

I scoffed nastily.

“Oh, I am.”

“So what's the problem? Let's have lunch then.”

“What part of I don't want to see your face, much less have lunch with you don't you understand?”

“I said I'll pay. Why are you so difficult?” she frowned.

I exhaled and gripped the corner of the table to calm down.

“Get out, Aubree. Or else I'll be forced to call security.”

On a pregnant woman? My conscience quipped.

God help me!

“Breanna—”

“No, Aubree. This isn't funny. Go home.”

She nodded.

“Fine.”

“Good.”

I turned away from her and arranged the files in front of every seat.

“I'll just bring the lunch to you then” she giggled.

I whirled around to face her.

“Yes, so we can eat together.”

I stepped up to her and narrowed my eyes.

“What's your plan, Aubree, seriously?”

“There is no plan. But even if there was, I couldn't tell you what it is, sweetie” she faked a pout.

“Well keep me out of it.”

“I already told you, Breanna, I can't” she sighed dramatically, reaching out to brush my hair away from my neck.

I swatted her hand away and stepped away from her as she chuckled.

“But I can tell you this, Breanna” She smiled. “I'm going to force this down your throat if I have to.”

Her tone had changed.

“Because I'm not going to stop until you give me what I want.”

“Well you should have thought about what you wanted before doing what you did, Aubree” I frowned.

She let out a laugh.

“And if you don't cut it out, I'll convince Riccardo to take Oliver far away from you so you never see him again.”

The rest of the laughter died in her throat.

“And it'll take just one phone call, Aubree. So don't push me to force this down your throat.”

Her face paled and she inched away from me.

“You'd do that?” she whispered.

“It's not hard to make a phone call, Aubree. And if you think I'll pass on a chance to hit you where it hurts then you don't really know me.”

She pressed her lips into a thin line and nodded.

“Well I'd hate to turn you into that twin so... I'm gonna go.”

“Go.”

She stared at me for a while before lowering her head and walking out. I leaned against the table for q while before I got back to setting out the files. I honestly
didn't see myself as that twin. And I didn't want to be. But I didn't see why she couldn't just pick up the phone and clean up after herself.

“I'm not doing it for her” I muttered and finished up quickly.

I stepped back out and spotted Megan walking in. She paused for a second as I titled my head at her and faked a disappointed look. She immediately shut her eyes and dragged herself over to me.

“I am super sorry, Breanna” she whined, throwing her arms around me.

She smelled great.

“I should have called to say something.”

“You did,” I said and she pulled away.

“I did?”

I nodded as I reached into my back pocket for my phone. Unlocking it, I opened up Megan's text from early this morning.

“I just didn't get this helfo... whatever the hell this means part” I chuckled as I showed her my phone.

She narrowed her eyes and then they went wide and she met mine with... guilt... in hers?

No, it's definitely embarrassment... not guilt.

Megan let out a sigh and shook her head.

“I can't tell you how sorry I am about this, Brie. I must have accidentally sent that to you.”

I chuckled and smiled at her.

“Don't be. When your calls stopped going through I was genuinely worried but this accidental text let me know you were okay.”

“No Breanna” she sighed. “We didn't agree for you to watch Lulu the entire night and take her to school today.”

“Hey,” I said firmly, gripping her by the shoulders. “It's okay. I promise.”

She exhaled.

“Okay. But I hope she didn't give you any trouble.”

I shook my head and smiled.

“Louisa is the perfect angel.”

Megan made a face.

“See, now I know you're lying.”

I chuckled.

“Okay, so she's not the perfect angel. But teaming up with Roman to sneak into my bed in the middle of the night with the excuse of having a nightmare just to get out of going to school in the morning is a perfect nine-year-old lifestyle.”

Megan groaned.

“Then she practically emptied the entire gallon of shampoo onto the bathroom floor and tried to cover it up with 'morning pee'. An incredibly smart move I'll admit.”

“Great, now I owe you shampoo money.”

I made a face at my friend.

“I'll kick your ass if you even attempt to joke about paying me for watching Lulu again.”

“Breanna—”

“Seriously Megan. It's fine. Don't worry about anything, okay?”

“You're sure?”

“Positive” I smiled, a wistful feeling creeping up on me.

“What's that look for then?” Megan asked.

I blinked and let her go.

“Oh, it's just... Beck and I... we never thought Roman would like any siblings so we thought we'd give it time. And considering how long it took us to have Roman, taking our time seemed like the best option for us. But turns out, Roman has always wanted siblings and we should have had the baby talk with him much, much earlier. If we did... maybe I'd have more than one kid now...” I trailed off.

“Hey, Breanna don't do that” Megan whispered.

“No, no, Meg. I'm fine” I chuckled. “The point I was making is that, what happened with Beck and I was inevitable. And if we had other kids after Roman, spending the night cuddling probably more than two kids back to sleep would have been my nightly routine.”

She laughed softly and I smiled.

“What I'm saying is, it was great having Lulu over. And... maybe having another baby isn't going to hurt anyone” I chuckled.

“Good” Megan let out. “That way I can spare you one night away from diaper duties so you can get the rest you deserve because me, I've never enjoyed sleeping like I did last night.”

I laughed.

“I'm glad.”

Megan smiled sweetly at me and took my hand in hers.

“Seriously Breanna. Thank you so much. You're a great friend.”

“Yeah, more than you I can say for you” Avery's voice came from behind Megan.

We turned and she had a frown on her face.

“Avery—”

“Where were you that you were unreachable for the entire night and this entire morning?” Avery frowned at Megan and then sniffed the air around her. “And why do you smell so good?”

“Cause she slept good” I chipped in. “Can't you see how she's like literally glowing?”

“You got all this...” Avery moved her hand in a circle form around Megan, “... from sleeping?”

And probably using a new body shampoo.

“When you're that tired, yes” Megan chuckled. “And I'm sorry I was unreachable, Avery. I know how you girls worry about me.”

“Of course, Meg. You're our friend” I smiled.

“Just don't make it a habit okay?” Avery sighed and then smiled at her.

Megan nodded. Avery craned her neck behind me.

“She's gone?”

“If she refused me any longer, I would be holding her head on a pitchfork right now.”

Avery chuckled as Megan frowned.

“That's dark, Brie” Avery shook her head.

“That's just what happens whenever she's around. I don't know why she refuses to leave me alone. I don't understand why she's back either” I muttered angrily.

“Maybe you should've said yes.”

“Not even as a joke Avery” I rolled my eyes.

Megan held her hands up.

“Okay, who are we talking about here?”

“Breanna's sister” Avery answered before her expression turned serious. “You two look the same. I mean sure she's heavily pregnant and so has put on a little weight but aside from that, you two are a copy of a copy” She folded her arms, “I mean forget the hair... it does nothing.”

I need to go to a salon and have the dye professionally done this time.

“I mean same expressions, same hand gestures, and you smile the same.”

“We do not smile the same” I frowned.

“I didn't say that so you'd frown, Breanna” Avery chuckled.

“Whatever. But Aubree and I are not the same.”

“Why is she a topic for discussion this morning?” Megan folded her arms, clearly not appreciating how we were leaving her out.

“She's not” I assured her.

Avery laughed.

“She was here a few minutes ago.”

Megan looked at me as if asking for clearance. I sighed and moved to the closest empty cubicle to take a seat. Avery and Megan followed.

“She showed up at my house this morning.”

“What for?” Megan asked.

“To deliver a big basket of English breakfast she specially made for me” I answered.

Megan made a face.

“Thankfully, the kids and I had already eaten breakfast so I wasn't even tempted. I politely declined and told her I get the kids to school... which she managed to bend to her will by targeting the kids with a convertible. And that's how she ended up driving the kids to school and dropping me off here.”

“So what business did she have up here?” Megan asked.

“From what I heard, someone didn't give her a reply on having lunch together” Avery looked at me.

“Wait, wait, wait” Megan held her hands up again as she closed her eyes for a second.

She looked at me.

“She asked you to have lunch with her?”

“Yes,” I replied. “To which I declined of course.”

“Unnecessarily” Avery chipped in.

We looked at her.

“Look, I don't know the exact details except the ones from the news. She ruined both your marriages—”

“And didn't care about the boys becoming collateral damage” I cut in.

“Yesss” Avery dragged, holding out a hand to indicate I calmed down. “But she making you a full-on English breakfast, driving Megan's niece and your son to school, bringing you to work and asking you to have lunch with her, well...” she chuckled softly, “... I can't say I know your sister but from an outsider view, I'll say she's trying to make it up to you and salvage the little sisterhood bond left.”

Sisterhood bond my arse!

Megan scoffed.

“No that's just plain suspicious,” she said.

“Thank you, Megan,” I say out loud.

Avery frowned at us.

“Oh c'mon, Meg.”

“No. The Aubree we know doesn't make people breakfast. Especially since the incident and how she's been out to get Breanna ever since then.”

“Maybe she's changed” Avery shrugged.

“Maybe you should be her twin sister,” I said to her.

“You say it like it's not fun being a twin” Avery laughed.

“It used to be” I muttered.

“Did you two ever do the twin switch thingy?”

Megan laughed.

“All the time. You'd think they would stop when we got to high school but the fun was only just beginning.”

“It only slightly reduced when Beck and I got married after I graduated from high school” I smiled, a memory coming back.

“Slightly?” Avery chuckled.

I nodded.

“We had a blast with it in college. Yes, we went to different schools for college but we swore a silly twin pact when we were five that we'd be there for each other whenever and wherever.”

“Ouu I love a good story!” Julio strolled in, stopping at the cubicle. “Morning ladies.”

I chuckled.

“Hang on, shouldn't we all be working?” I asked.

“We just got back from a stressful yet unregretful two-week conference and pushed back into our jobs the very next day. I think we've earned ourselves twenty minutes of slacking off” Julio said.

I smiled.

“Now what are we talking about?” he asked.

“Breanna was just about to tell us about a twin pact she and her sister made when they were five” Avery smiled.

“It was just a silly promise made by two innocent twin five-year-olds. There's not much to it” I chuckled.

“Well at least tell us one college experience where you honored your twin pact” Megan giggled.

I looked at her.

“You're encouraging this?”

She shrugged playfully and I chuckled as a memory flooded my mind.

“So I had finals coming up” I began.

Avery and Julio groaned.

“Finals” Avery shuddered.

“Never again” Julio added.

Megan looked between them.

“I liked finals.”

We turned to her.

“Nerd” Julio teased.

“Hey I was a nerd” I playfully scolded him, “Yet I hated finals” I turned to Megan.

She laughed.

“Well if you were making sweet money tutoring the snobby bitches from Wall Street, you'd like it,” she said.

We all laughed.

“So finals” Julio shoulder bumped me to continue.

“Aubree went out of town a night before her exams and on their way back, they got robbed and stranded in the middle of God knows where.”

“No” they chorused.

I nodded.

“Then what?” Megan asked, peering at me.

“Our mom had us memorize our home phone number in case of emergency. But, Aubree couldn't call home because she'd be in so much trouble. She couldn't call our brother either because they'd gotten into a nasty fight and hadn't been talking to each other for over a week.”

“Classic Emmett” Megan laughed.

“So Aubree found a pay phone... still not sure how she paid...” I made a face.

“Never underestimate the importance of body language” Julio smiled.

I rolled my eyes, smiling.

“She called me saying she needed my help. I asked how much she'd need and she told me she had it covered.”

“I like her spirit” Julio laughed.

I shook my head.

“She just needed me to go to her college and take her exam for her.”

“Wait what?” Avery arched her brows.

I nodded.

“She begged, told me she'd get me whatever I wanted, brought up our twin pact, and how I was her favorite sister in every alternate universe.”

Megan chuckled.

“When her coaxing failed, she resorted to blackmail” I shook my head.

“Now that's the sister of remember” Megan rolled her eyes playfully with a big smile.

“What was the blackmail about?” Avery asked.

“Story for another day” I winked at her.

She pouted a little and I smiled.

“So that night, I left Columbia University for Harvard to save my sister's irresponsible ass.”

“Yeesh” Megan muttered.

“Did you tell your husband?” Avery asked. “You were married, right?”

“Yes. But I didn't tell Beck. He would have freaked out and as much as he's a great actor, he doesn't do well in a crisis” I sighed.

“So what happened next?” Julio asked.

“I called her lackey, Leslie, and filled him in. He took me to her dorm room, her roommates were out so no questions there. I got her student's ID and when it was morning, Leslie took me to the exam hall where I filled in for my sister.”

“Lucky her. She had someone to write her exams for her” Julio commented.

“Hang on” Megan interrupted, “You, a photography student, wrote a pre-med student's exams for her? How'd you pull that off?”

I scoffed.

“You think my sister didn't know that when she asked me to?” I asked. “But she had the worst hangover to deal with when she got back to worry about the B minus I earned her”

Julio let out a low whistle.

“You got a B minus in a pre-med course?” Avery asked.

“It was Calculus” I chuckled. “But she got to retake it, don't worry.”

“Huh?” Megan asked.

How'd we even end up here?

I chuckled softly.

“Aubree... has always been better at numbers. Well not more than Emmett of course” I smiled, “But if you put the two of us together, she's way better than I am. And her performance in her freshman year caught the Dean of Academics' eye before he got to know that she's directly related to his old-time buddy.”

“Playing favorites aren't we?” Julio teased.

I shrugged.

“I never got to meet any of our dad's old school buddies to play favorites with me so don't gimme that look, Julio,” I said.

He smiled.

“Anyway, it didn't make sense that a top student like Aubree who was tutoring the hopeless kids would get a B minus in a Calculus exam. So the academic board made her take the exam again. All new different, tougher questions.”

“Is that even legal?” Megan asked.

“When she got the A plus they wanted? I'm sure” I chuckled.

“Why didn't she refuse?”

“She'd be stuck with a B minus in a non-pre-med course on her transcript forever. She would have gotten the 'You don't have to follow my career path if it's too hard for you' talk from our dad and our mom, she would have definitely caught on to what had happened and my dear sister would be in trouble... automatically getting me into trouble with not only our parents but with Beck too.”

“So in conclusion, you dodged a mini World War Three?” Avery asked.

I thought back to the events of the past... not directly relating it to the topic of discussion, and smiled.

“I did, didn't I?”

Thank you so much for reading! ✨