Love at Second Sight

Chapter 11

"Yes." She immediately skipped to July and marked a huge red cross on the box saying 31, writing 'Gala' in an extremely tiny handwriting. "Done."

"Good. You might wanna set a reminder on your phone as well...so it rings?"

"Come on, Zac, I'm not that oblivious," she frowned.

"I know, I know. I was just pulling your legs."

They paused for a while. It was the comfortable silence that occurred at least once or twice during these talks.

Stella was the first to break the silence. "This is a candid talk, you know. You're supposed to tell me all your secrets."

"Are you saying you wanna hear about my one-night—"

"Nope. Nope. Not at all. I said secrets not sexcapades."

"Okay. But then, save one-nighters, I have no secrets per se."

"Oh yeah?"

"What are you insinuating, kiddo?"

She decided she'd have to tell him straight-off. She knew much too well how evasive her brother could be. "What's up with you and Savannah?"

"What!"

"Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about. You know very well about what it is I'm heading at."

"How?" he whispered so softly it almost went unheard by her.

"Dearest elder brother, you make it really obvious, all right? Extremely obvious. I've been observing you around her for quite a few Sundays, and every time you look at her it's as if you want to jump her right there. Your lust for her is visible in your eyes when your eyes literally follow her wherever she goes. And, believe me, I have noticed it. So, open up."

He didn't say anything. Talking to his sister about his currently rocky (perhaps, nonexistent too) love-life was not something he looked forward to, anyway.

"Zachary Sifton."

Dammit. She and the authority she held over him. It had always been like this. She had him wrapped around her little finger ever since she was born. He had been fascinated by his little sister—she knew it all too well, and she took advantage of it at times like these.

"I like her. Probably more than that. I don't know. I've never felt this way about anyone before. I—maybe I'm falling in love with her, I'm not sure."

"That's enough a reason to act upon it, then what's the problem?"

"The problem is that she won't let me anywhere near her. Not even within five feet of distance. It's like she's terrified of being with me, you know? I don't know, she gets really jumpy sometimes—most times—when I compliment her about anything but her profession. Compliments about Chef Reece are taken well, but compliments about Savannah are not appreciated at all."

Maybe, just maybe, it had something to do with her share of a woman's insecurities, Stella discerned. And, of course her brother wouldn't have even thought to think of that angle.

"Do you know she conducts workshops, seminars and gives awareness speeches on verbal abuse during teenage years?"

"I didn't know that..." he said. "Who told you?"

"She did. You remember she'd been out of town for two days last-to-last week?"

"Yeah."

"She had gone to conduct another awareness seminar. Some school in Virginia. Nice, isn't it?"