THE GOOD SISTER

Chapter 10 - Corrigendum

Cold morning to you guys. I don't know about you but it's chilly where I am this early. 

I noticed that this fic is not getting as much reads as my previous ones, maybe because it's a bit angsty, haha. Ok lang naman, I understand the fear of reading angst, the emotion can really carry over till after reading. I remember Broken Promises and The Surrogate Wife, both really emotional works that had me crying while I wrote it. 

Anyway, as some of you pointed out, communication is the key to making a relationship work. And here in this phase of ficDei's and ficRichard's life, they are still immature and ill-equipped to handle they relationship by talking things over.  The result : emotions reaching boiling point and saying things that hurt.

So nip confrontations in the bud. Talk things over while your heads are sill cool. Don't wait till another entirely different issue crops up and spills over into other issues, until soon you're arguing over so many things you kept inside. It's unhealthy.

Have a nice day, beshies. Hope you'll like this chapter :)

Richard was cleaning his car when Dei suddenly arrived. She got out of her car, her face stony. She looked mad as hell, and it seemed she was mad at him.

"Can we talk?"

"Sure. Come in."

He opened the door to his apartment and was about to hold her by the small of her back but she pulled away.

"Dei what's wrong?"

"Did you talk to Kat?"

"Yes about two weeks ago."

"And you didn't tell me?"

"Your sister and I talk once in a while. I didn't know I was required to furnish you with reports of what we discussed."

"Don't be an ass Jay, you know why I'm fuming. Your last talk fueled her to do something that could very well get in the way of her finishing college."

"Your sister has a dream."

Dei looked like she was a bomb about to explode. Flushed, she impatiently ran a hand though her hair and looked sharply at him.

"She's too young to get into showbiz. That world is filled with so many deceitful people who can take advantage of her and you encouraged her! I can't believe you'd do that. Now she's using your encouragement to go against us and pursue this stupid dream."

"Stupid dream?" Richard asked incredulously.

Unbelievable. It was just incredible how Dei continued to disregard her sister's individuality, and still see her as a pesky child. Kat was a young woman who needed to be taken seriously. If Dei would just take the time to get to know her sister better, to take that chip off her shoulder about Kat being the favorite, then maybe she would get to see that Kat wasn't so bad.

"Did you even bother to find out how she came about the pursuit of her dream? Your sister is part of a theatre guild. Being part of that takes dedication and hard work. Now an opportunity is being offered to her. What is wrong with going for this opportunity? We're not even sure she'll get in."

"I don't want her to get ideas that showbiz can be a career option. It's not a stable business, there are so many bad things that can happen to her there. It's a very risky business to get into."

"She won't go far if she always plays it safe. Just let her do her thing, Dei."

He was trying to ease her anxiety by rubbing her arms, but she remained agitated. She slapped his arm impatiently.

"She might hurt herself, don't you see?"

"Maybe. But at least she's willing to take risks on something important to her! She's braver than you are, Dei."

He suddenly let go of her. They did not realize it, but they were already yelling at each other. Dei was hit by his angry words. She was suddenly quiet and felt the sting of what he said. She knew he was referring to their relationship, and how she let it be sidelined into being just a friendship. He was looking at her, unblinking.

"Are you done, Dei?"

"Richard......."

"Sorry, because I'm done. Let's talk some other time before I say more that I might regret. The least I can do is save our.....friendship. Please go."

With her head down, she had no choice but to leave.

-----

An hour after their argument, Richard sent a message to Kat. For the first time, he initiated a chat request and Kat was thrilled. It was nice to feel needed and sought out, especially by someone who was seven years older than she was. She quickly opened her laptop and logged into Facebook.

Due to the slow internet connection, they haven't tried Facetime yet, and had to be content with just plain chat. But their chats were nonetheless fun and engaging, especially now that Kat was slowly maturing and was getting to be less bratty from the 15-year old Richard first talked to.

"Yo Jay, to what do I owe this honor???"

"Hey Kat, how's it going? Sorry to bother you, it's evening there now, right?"

"Close to midnight actually, but it's ok, I'm not sleepy yet. What's up?"

"Dei and I got into a fight. An ugly one. And it was about you."

"Me? Oh. She found out about the audition. I'm sorry, Jay."

"It escalated into a yelling match and I said something really......hurtful. I sent her away."

"What exactly did you tell her?"

"I told her at least you were ready to fight for something you believed in."

"Oh, shit. Burn. Dude, that was really classy."

"I'm sorry, I was trying to get her to see you as someone capable of making her own decisions."

"So you do that by insulting her. Nice."

"Which side are you on anyway?"

"Dude, she's my sister. Whether I agree with her or not is something between us two as sisters. But if you hurt her, I'll hunt you down. I know she's kinda slow and clueless about relationships but don't use me to get what you want from her."

"Yes, shit, you're right. I'm sorry. I love her and I know she feels something for me. But I get frustrated and feel that she's complacent about us."

"Date someone else then."

"What?"

"Make her miss you, dimwit. You're too available. Make her see that she can lose you."

"But I promised I'd wait for her to be ready."

"For close to a year? Come on, that's a long time for her to make up her mind."

"But what if that doesn't work?"

"Then she's not it. Geez, why am I giving you advice, you're older than I am?"

"Because you're her sister and you know her better."

"No I don't, Jay. Dei has kept her distance from me because of shitty family business that needs to be ironed out. But trust me, date someone else. If she doesn't come to her senses, then at least enjoy those dates to keep your mind off her."