The Right One

Thirty eight

It was glaring to anyone who cared enough to look that Hope was in high spirit. Sophie couldn't pinpoint what the changes were exactly but she was certain something good must have happened. At first, she'd chucked it up to giddiness over her relationship with Raymond, but it became clearer overtime that there was much more to it. As much as she loved seeing her sister happy, it also made her very curious as to what had brought about it in the first place. She got the chance to probe while Hope was helping her get Ella bathed and ready for bed, although the baby never actually slept through the whole night.

"You look really happy these days," she started, waiting for Hope to take the bait.

"Hmm hmm," Hope hummed, careful. She already knew where the conversation was headed. "So . . . ?"

"So what's the good news? Don't leave me in suspense."

Hope chuckled.  Her sister could be such a gist freak. "Nothing much. I went to see Philip, that's all." She didn't look up to see her sister's reaction at her revelation, focusing instead on dressing Ella up for the night.

Sophie however, was stunned into silence for the first few seconds. "You did what?!"

Hope sighed, taking the initiative to narrate all that'd happened to her sister. She went further to explain to her how relieved she'd felt after her conversation with Philip.

By the end of it, Sophie looked like she was conficted between chastising her and praising her. Hope had expected as much. Before Sophie could say anything else , she beat her to it. "I know, I know. I shouldn't have gone alone. I should have told someone . . . I know all that, but it all turned out for the best."

"I can't say that I appreciate what you did, Hope. It was very careless of you," Sophie chided honestly. "This habit you have of taking on dangerous things by yourself . . . it's exactly what we've been telling you to quit doing."

"I know, and I'm trying." Sophie's brows shot up at that so she rephrased. "Fine, I'm sorry. I'll try harder."

Sophie's gaze softened as she cracked a small smile. "But I can't lie that I'm not happy seeing you being yourself again."

"See," Hope teased, bumping her sister's shoulder with hers. "It hadn't been such a bad idea afterall."

Sophie returned the gesture. "Yes, it was. Just because it worked out in the end doesn't mean what's wrong isn't wrong."

"Yes, mummy. I've heard ma."

Sophie rolled her eyes at Hope's sarcastic tone. "So, does Raymond know you went to see him?"

"Yeah, I told him," Hope answered vaguely, her expression giving away that something wasn't right, and of course her sister was one to probe. It wasn't fair that Sophie could sometimes read her like a book.

"I take it he wasn't very happy with what you did?" Sophie guessed.

That was an understatement; he had been furious. Remembering how angry he had been almost had Hope flinching. It wasn't often one heard Raymond raise his voice, but she'd gotten more than an earful that day. He'd seemed capable of locking her up and throwing away the key when she'd told him. Imagine feeling like that merely by having a conversation with someone  over the phone. He'd ended up hanging up the call on her and refused to pick her call since then.

Hope scowled at the memory. "He's been giving me the silent treatment."

"Really?"

"Yes, I mean. . . He was the one who put the idea in my head in the first place, yet he's angry that I did exactly what he asked me to do!" Hope lamented. She'd been trying to hide how frustrated she was at him, but there was no hiding now that the issue was being addressed.