12 Days of Christmas With My Brother’s Rival

8 — OF BILLIONAIRE BESTIES AND ELECTRIC SNAILS

ANAHERA

I look at my watch and at the airport arrivals for the umpteenth time but Bella is yet to show up. She asked me to be here as early as three pm, so I cut short my nap and drove all the way in this metal hazard of a car.

Looking closely, I spot her standing near the terminal exit, looking like a neon billboard. She is really breathtaking. You know high cheekbones, skin like golden silk and those famous wide hips that she claims are a curse? Yeah, that kind.

She literally has people tripping over their luggages just for a glimpse of her.

I pull my beloved car, with the chipping red paint, up to the curb. She looks up from her phone and nearly passes out from genuine horror.

I grin like a Cheshire cat, enjoying her discomfort. Her lower lip curls up as she looks at the rusted thing like it is a pile of garbage. Without a word, takes a step back and acts like she cannot see me.

“Oh you want to play that game? Challenge accepted.”

I slam my hand onto the horn and hold it for five seconds so that it resounds like a blasting trumpet throughout the airport.

Several people jump at the sound, even a security guard glares. But my focus remains on my best friend whose face now matches her designer luggage. She stomps her way towards the passenger side of the car.

Then, I roll down my window, stick my head out and wave like a frantic madwoman.

“BELLA! OVER HERE, ANABELLA THOMPSON! YOUR CHARIOT AWAITS, YOUR MAJESTY!”

She mumbles angry words as she offloads some of her luggage in the trunk of the car and the rest in the backseat.

“Shut up! Ana, you bully, shut up!” she hisses, throwing her handbag through the window before diving into the seat. “Why do you live to humiliate me? My social standing is bleeding right now and I think…oh my god! I just felt my follower count drop by ten thousand. Why?!” she moans.

I reach over to pinch her cheeks. “Consider it a reality check, Bells. You were looking a little too vogue and less like the Bella that went through high school and college by my side. It’s my responsibility to keep you humble.”

She groans, pushing her designer, oversized sunglasses up her head.

“Humble is a sweater knitted by my maternal grandmother, and I hate her. This car is a serious cry for help. We talked about you getting a new one as a christmas present to yourself. Why are you still crawling around in this old tin of a car?”

I shift into gear, shameless as the engine let out a wheeze that sounded like a throat blocked with mucus.

“Because unlike you, I don’t have a billionaire father who sees the light flickering as an excuse to buy a Ferrari. Hell…I don’t even have a father. If I try to buy a new car now, I risk a literal hole in my pocket and I like my pockets intact.”

“Please. Your brother is a celebrity. Dominik makes enough in one season to buy a small island to get quarantined into if he wished. Why has he not changed this for you? It’s also ruining his reputation, you know.”

Yes, she knows about my brother’s craze for ‘our’ reputation.

“Look, he doesn’t have enough to risk. Most of his money goes into his training, investments and well…life.”

That is a lie. Maybe a half-truth.

Is Dominik rich? Yes, wealthy. But he lives with a working-class mentality which means we don’t spend unless we absolutely have to. Sometimes, it’s suffocating. However, I see his point.

“Bullshit,” Bella scoffs. “Your brother is being a cheapskate. He’s giving total miser squire and I’m calling him to blast his ass right now.”

I laugh, dodging a taxi as we exited the airport. “He’s not, he’s just being sensible. He might be popular but we don’t have money to squander on flashy things just to look the part. We are not all born with a silver spoon that doubles as a black card.”

She rolls her eyes so hard they almost get lost inside her head. “Give me a break and buy yourself a silver spoon now that you have the chance. Don’t knock it until you have tried it.”

I shrug, losing words to say in defense.

Despite the awkward silence, she reaches over and pulls me into a suffocatingly tight hug. My nose catches the scent of her expensive cologne.

“I missed you, stubborn brat. Even if you did pick me up in a coffin. A shopping cart could ram into us now and we’d go flying.”

“You know that’s not possible.” Then with a smile, I add, “I missed you too. You owe me a massive amount of gist by the way. I want every single detail about the Australian tour.”

Having Bella back means I have one person I can eventually tell the truth to even if I’m not ready to mention the whole Noel situation just yet.

“Ugh! It was divine. Sun, sand and the men with accents that make you wanna change your soiled panties with every word,” she sighs, lost in a dream state. Then she straightens. “Why did you refuse to come with me? You could have used the vacation. Instead you stayed here in the freezing cold.”

“I told you I had work. I’m a professional, Bel, and Tiare left assignments to handle before the holidays. I can’t just leave my patients.”

“Liar,” she retorts, wagging a finger at me. “You stayed back cos you had to babysit Dom. you’re obsessed with playing his little nurse, aren’t you? Stop lying to yourself, Hera, you love being his emotional support sister.”

I flinch at the name that only Noel calls me. Now hearing it from Bella feels like a deja vu.

“I am not babysitting him. It was the anniversary of mom and dad…you know. We had to stick together as siblings, look out for each other.”

Her face softens a little at the mention of my late parents. “That’s true. But seriously…have you even thought to ask him about the car for once or have you been assuming again?”

I look at her with a sheepish smile. She caught me.

“Not really. I don’t wanna burden him with my wants. He has enough pressure on his shoulders with the league and with everything else. A car is just a luxury I can afford some other time. Not now.”

“Luxury with wheels, Ana! It is a utility and I am buying it for you. We’re heading to the dealership right now.”

“No, you’re not,” I say firmly.

“Ana, please. This is a health hazard for you. Plus, I’m too embarrassed to be seen crawling around in this electric moving snail. If we get into an accident, the paramedics will laugh at us before they help us.”

Her serious tone cracks me up before I can help it.

“Then don’t look out the window! Get your ass in the seat and buckle up. We are going home and you are going to tell me all about that relationship you had while I try to figure out how to keep this snail on the road without flipping us over.”

She frowns, but grabs at the seatbelt which thankfully does not snap back today. “I hate you,” she mutters, smiling.

“I love you too, Bells.”