Entwined Fates

Entangled hearts

Sophia’s point of view

“What are you doing here?”, I asked in the most spiteful tone possible.

“You're stalking me now?" I yelled aggressively.

“Oh please, don’t give yourself too much credit,apart from being a pathetic piece of s**t or also a stinking hypocrite”, Roxy snapped at me.

“Listen, I don’t have time for this. If you’ve got something to say, out with it already”, I replied.

“You go on and on about how much you hate Donald and can’t stand him, yet throw yourself into his house like some cheap w***e the first chance you get”. Roxy snared.

“Tell me,have you slept with him already?”.

“ROXY!”I yelled, slapping her hard across the face, bringing the squabbling to a halt.

The tension between us was palpable, I could feel my blood boil, my throat dried up.

Roxy looked at me, eyes widened in shock, “You b***h, How dare you?”, she said, spitting while clutching her face.

She raised her hands aiming at hitting me too but before the situation could escalate further, Donald’s husky voice interrupted.

“Everything okay ladies?”Donald asked from behind me, walking towards the door.

“Just a little misunderstanding but nothing I can’t handle”, Roxy replied with a wide smile on her face.

“Okay then, please come in”, he ushered her into the living room. With one hand Roxy moved me out of the doorway violently.

I shook my head in utter disbelief, it was almost difficult to believe we were related siblings, our lives were contrasted. She was a horrible pain in the butt.

“Wow! Your house is magnificent”, I could hear her drooling over the house from where I stood.

I didn’t want to stand there and watch her fake being impressed just to fan his ego.

I grabbed a coat, left the mansion and decided to walk to a nearby cafe I saw on my way to the mansion.

On approaching the cafe, I saw an advertisement for a job vacancy.Need to get that job, I thought to myself.

The cafe was cozy, filled with the aroma of delicious and freshly baked pastries. I approached the counter scanning meticulously the description on the job bulletin.

“Excuse me, is the vacancy still open?”, I said to the barista who was happily making coffee.

She was a friendly woman in her mid twenties, she looked like she loved her job and had been doing it for a while.

“Actually, we are! Got any experience?”, she asked warmly.

“Experience?”, I re echoed to be certain I heard clearly. Didn’t realize coffee shops needed experience.

“Ever made a cup of coffee? How long have you made coffee for ?”she inquired.

“Emm yes I have some experience”, I lied, silently hoping my desperation didn’t give me away.

“Great then! You can start tomorrow”,she said, handing me an application with a wide smile on her face,”I’m Amanda by the way”. I had never seen anyone so happy. I knew there and then that we were going to be great friends.

“Absolutely, thank you”, I said, filling out the form excitedly. “I’m Sophia”. It was the first time I ever had to seek a job, the thrill, the anxiety, the fear of rejection— it felt good.

As I left the cafe, beaming with smiles and glimmering with hope for the first time in weeks, lost in thoughts I bumped into someone by the door.

“Oh I’m sorry, didn’t mean to”, I said apologizing to the stranger.

“It’s okay, it’s totally fine”, the stranger responded.

“Alexander? What are you doing here?, I was genuinely surprised to see him, but he didn’t seem surprised to see me.

“Had a business deal around the estate, decided to grab a cup of espresso from the best cafe around”.he said with a warm smile.

“So you and the Lakes?”, he asked subtly. I understood exactly what he meant, it was barely a day but the news had already spreaded.

“I only camped for the night, doesn’t change my decision. I am indifferent to marrying Donald and that’s it.”I reaffirmed.

I saw him heave a light breath of relief, I couldn’t understand why my decision to not marry Donald made him feel relieved.

“Sophia Hartley, wanna grab a coffee with me?”, he asked, looking me straight in the eye in a way that gave me butterflies once again.

Hearing my childhood crush call my name like that made my cheeks flustered, “Sure,why not?”, I nodded my head gently.

We walked back into the cafe , the aura between us strangely comforting, I never got a chance to be this close to him apart from the times he came to see my father.

I admired his aura from afar for years and finally here I was , grabbing a coffee with him.

We sat in a quiet corner and he made an order, “ what would you like to have?” He asked.

“A latte would be fine please”, I responded, fondling my fingers lightly. It was my comfort in anxiety.

“How have you been truly?”Alexander asked with genuine sincerity in his eyes.

“I’ve been better”, I said avoiding his gaze.

“I understand”, he began. “I can’t be easy dealing with people who don’t care about your feelings”, he said, reaching across the table and grabbing my hands.

The feel of his touch was warm and reassuring, he raised a hand and gently brushed some strands of hair off my face. I felt my legs go numb.

His hands lingered on my cheek a little longer till a cough interrupted us. “ Your coffee sir”, the waiter offered.

“Thank you”, Alexander said in the most gentlemanly manner.

We sat for a while sipping our coffee in silence , finding comfort in each other's company.

When we finally left, he walked me through the beauty of the estate at sunset, the golden cast on the landscape. The tension from earlier was slowly dissipating, “ Thank you for this”, I said, breaking the silence.

Alexander smiled, “I’m always here for you, whenever you need someone to talk to”, he said, his voice tender and reassuring.

I felt a lump in my throat, my legs trembling.” Thank you Alexander I never knew how much I needed a friend,what would I do without you?”

He smiled, “ it’s a good thing you wouldn’t have to find out then”.he said, pulling me into a gentle hug.

For the first time in a long time, I felt genuinely safe, His arms around me were a warm comfort , a subtle reminder that I wasn’t alone.

Could he be attracted to me too? Or was he only being a nice friend to my father? I shook the thoughts off violently, “I must be overthinking”, I muttered inaudible over his shoulder as I clinged onto him helplessly.