My Sister, My Rival

Chapter 2: Finding Maternae

Terrified, Mark began his search for her. He asked the staff working in the cafeteria if they had seen a little girl in pigtails with a bucket hat on but their response was no.

He left the cafeteria and ran about the airport searching for her, scanning every child’s face he came across. How was he going to tell Seraphina that he had failed at a simple task of just looking after her kid? He decided to search for the child some more, but still, he couldn’t find her. At this point he was gasping for air from all the running around, and he was drenched in sweat, panicking.

Pulling his phone from his pocket, he scrolled to Seraphina’s contact. His thumb froze, hovering over the phone, unsure of whether to call her or not. The beating of his heart increased rapidly to times ten and his hands visibly shook as he stared at her number.

While he was still contemplating, a call came in—it was Seraphina.

The shock almost made him drop his device. He almost let it ring out but when she called again, he panicked and answered.

“Hey, Mark”, Seraphina’s bright voice came through. “’ve secured the luggage and I’m at the cafeteria. Where are you and Maternae?”

Silence.

“Mark. Mark? Can you hear me?”

“Y-yes…but um…there’s…there’s a problem”.

Her voice sharpened. “A problem? Okay, why don’t you and Maternae come over so we can talk about it?”

He swallowed hard. “Well…that’s…that’s the problem”.

“What?” Her tone cracked. “What do you mean?”

“Maternae…s-she’s the issue here”.

“Did something happen?”

“Seraphina, I…I had just stepped out to pick up a call, but when I got back she was gone?”

“Gone? Maternae?”

“Y-yes…and I’ve—”

“Oh my God!” Seraphina half screamed. “For how long has she been missing?”

“About twenty minutes now”.

“Twenty minutes?!” She screamed and panicked. “Where are you right now? We have to find my child!”

“W-we will find her. I’m coming to you right now”.

“Please, hurry!”

While Seraphina and Mark were terrified, Maternae wandered the maze of hallways with her hamster backpack bouncing against her shoulders.

She wrinkled her small nose and whispered to herself. “Mommy always told me not to wander off, but I was so pressed and couldn’t hold it in anymore”.

After she had finished with the restroom, she stood in the long hallway frowning at the many signs with people brushing past her, dragging their suitcases. She stood confused with her little hand on her waist. “Um…was it this way? Or…that way?”

She adjusted her bucket hat and tried reassuring herself. “Calm down, Maternae, don’t freak out. You’re a big girl. And you’ll find mommy and Uncle Mark soon”.

But when the crowd pressed closer, she gripped the strap of her hat nervously. “This airport is so big and everything looks the same”, she mumbled. She looked around her again. “Ok…now I’m freaking out. What if I never find mommy and Uncle Mark?”

Meanwhile in another terminal, Anthony stood with Seraphine at the departure gate.

“I really wish you could come with me”, Seraphine whined, holding onto Anthony’s hand.

“I have to stay back and work”, he responded flatly.

“Come on Anthony, you’re the CEO. Can’t you let your employees handle things while you’re away?”

“That is not how I run my company”. He glanced at his wristwatch. “It’s best you get going before you miss your flight”.

“Oh, Anthone,” she hugged him, “I’ll miss you so much”.

Anthony froze. That name. Anthone. The same way the woman who had betrayed him, usually called him by.

Seraphine pulled back, pouting. “You’re not a statue, Anthone. Why don’t you hug me back?”

His voice became icy. “I’ve told you before—do not refer to me as Anthone”.

“What’s wrong with calling you that? Besides that woman—”

“Seraphine!”, he called, his eyes already narrowing on her. “You will do well to listen to me. Do have a safe flight. By midday, I’ll transfer two million dollars into your account. Enjoy your vacation”.

Her lips trembled. “But I—”

Anthony turned sharply on his heels, with his assistant right behind him, carrying files.

Seraphine stood rooted on the spot unhappy with the way he always acts towards her. Four years. Four years at his side and he still found a way to keep her at arms length. She was no longer satisfied with the money he always lavished on her. She wanted his heart too.

Two airport staff soon approached her with polite smiles. “Miss Seraphine, Mr Anthony has instructed us to assist with your luggage”.

She smiled to herself. Even though he had maintained a cold demeanor towards her, he always made sure she was well taken care of and that counted as something. She resolved to be patient with him and believes that soon, he will make her his wife.

“Yes, carry them in”, she responded.

But as they lifted her luggage she snapped. “Stop! Are you two this stupid or today is one of those days you don’t put your brains to good use? Everything here”, she said pointing to her suitcases, “even if you slaved away for ten years you couldn’t afford what’s in these bags! So handle them carefully!”

The staff exchanged anxious glances. They knew Seraphine was not bluffing as they were well aware of her connection with Anthony. If she reported them to him, they stood the risk of losing their jobs, so they complied with her instructions.

“We’re sorry, Miss”, they apologized. We’ll carry it in carefully. Please, go in while we bring a cart to carry it inside”.

She huffed. “Make sure nothing happens to my luggage. If I see even a scratch…I’ll make sure you’re dealt with!”

“Understood, Miss Seraphina”, they responded.

She hissed and catwalked inside, her heels clicking against the floor.

While she sat down, she started taking cute selfies of herself which she immediately posted on her i********: handle with the hashtag: ‘You know what time it is… off to pamper myself. VACATION MOOD ON!’ Within the next minute, the post started pinging with likes and comments.

She smirked, feeling hyped up from all the attention she got from her followers. She literally lived for it.

“Ma’am”, the airport staff from earlier approached her again. “We’ve loaded your luggage in carefully and everything is intact—not a single scratch.

She eyed him with contempt, then dug into her bag and threw five hundred dollars to the floor. “Don’t say I didn’t do anything for you”.

“Thanks, Miss Seraphine”. With that he left and from where she sat, she saw him shared it with his other colleague.

“Ugh! Peasants”, she cussed under her breath.

Just then, a blur of silver hair caught her eye.

A woman rushed past with her silver hair gleaming under the sharp fluorescent lights.

In her shock, she shot up. Frozen! Her heart plummeted.

“That silver hair”, she trembled, tightening her fist so hard that her nails dug into her flesh. “No, no. It can’t be her. She couldn’t possibly be here. Seraphina cannot be here”.