Between Truth and Tenderness

Chapter Four

Arielle's POV

"Arielle, you're back," she said, tapping her hands on the table.

Samantha

I had thought the first time we met after the incident I would rip her hair out or shout in her face and remind her of everything she had put me through, but the opposite was the case and today, I was calm.

It had been three years since I last saw her, three whole years, and I couldn't get the happenings of that day off my mind.

I still felt the emptiness churning in the pit of my stomach.

"Samantha." I called her name, moving my seat away from the desk.

"You're now married to Lucien. That's nice. Congrats even though I wasn't invited."

"Thank you, I really didn't see the need to send an invitation. It was on the news, you would definitely see it."

"We're sisters Arielle, I should know about your wedding."

I scoffed, I would have walked out already, but Lucien had asked me to hear her out when she asked if we could talk.

"Sisters don't do what you did, Samantha, and if they do, then they weren't sisters in the first place".

"Come off it Samantha, you know that man has always wanted me, you were too blinded by your faux love. If there's anything, I made things easier for you."

Typical, she was still the clown that she had always been.

"You said you wanted to talk, what's that about?" I asked, my eyes focused on hers.

"Well, I just wanted to catch up with my sister. Besides, you now hold a prominent position in your husband's company. You must know how important it was for dad to get this contract with them. Could you put a word or two in his favor?" She asked, touching my arm.

My eyes moved from where she had placed her fingers to her face. "Dad or you?"

"You know, whatever I do is for Dad and the company, you're still a part of it, right? Just do this one and we can talk everything out as sisters."

"You didn't think about that when you locked me out of my apartment? You didn't think about that when you thought it was like to have s*x with my man? Samantha, hearing this from you makes me want to puke," I said, standing up.

She pushed me back down and crossed her hands in front of my seat. "Now listen, Arielle, you'll do as I say. Stop being a crybaby, this stuff all happened ages ago. Moving past it, we're no longer kids. You make me sick."

I pushed her back and stood up, holding my bag. I turned to look at her. "We stopped being sisters the day you looked at how far we had come as sisters and decided to take everything from me. I really hope we don't see in situations like this, the relationship between us should always be professional."

She moved back, rubbing her forehead furiously. "Arielle, don't play with me, you know what I can do." She barked at me.

"There's nothing I have now that you can take Samantha, keep your threats, they don't have effects here," I said and walked out on her.

I paused in the hallway to catch my breath. I had held myself back from doing anything drastic, the whole time I wanted to slam her head into the mahogany table and spit on her.

"Get in," Lucien said the moment I walked into the parking lot.

He opened the passenger side of his car for me to get in and handed me a bottle of water after I had settled down.

"How was it?" he asked, bringing the car to life.

"She wants me to put in a word for her, the bitch." I cursed under my breathe.

"You'll be fine."

I turned to look at him, his eyes were focused on the road as he drove, his jaws were clenched, it made me want to run my fingers there.

He turned to look at me and smiled. For weird reasons, I wished we would remain like that.

"Damn!" I yelled, laughing as I held my laptop.

I had gotten an email from Samantha begging me to help her out. It was funny, and I really wanted him to see it.

I ran all the way down the staircase to the sitting room where I had left him earlier, but I stopped in my tracks when I heard his voice.

"It was weird getting a proposal from her. You know how she was back in high school, that fat girl everyone bullied. It was quite embarrassing for me."

"I still remember the words of that letter. On your wedding day, that was the only thing on my mind. I couldn't stop laughing, it's really a small world," his friend added, and they both laughed.

What were they talking about?

"Man, it was crazy. I couldn't sleep after that day. The constant teasing from the boys wasn't helping. I wished she had just kept it to herself or done that in private. Arielle was a crazy girl. Seeing her turn into this girl is surprising."

They were talking about me.

"You know she left school after and never returned. Seeing her now, I think she might have gone under a knife or something. She looks different from that fat annoying kid back in high school."

I heard Lucien laugh. It was accompanied by a loud smack, probably a handshake.

I held the laptop tighter, not minding the discomfort my fingers were facing.

I moved backwards slowly, making sure to not make noise. Slowly I climbed up the stairs, my heart slamming against my chest.

There was a sad feeling I couldn't describe. I wished the ground would just open up and swallow me.

He remembered, he remembered me all along but acted like he didn't. That day at the bar and the next morning, he always knew it was me.

My heart sank.