Shaira was sitting at her regular bench basking in the warm sunlight. She was feeling a lot better than before. The sun has finally come out in the evening. Even though the air was cold, it did not affect her so much. She was sitting there with her half-finished sandwich in one hand and her pen in the another. Dr. Sordo's appointment is tomorrow, and she needs to complete her task. She sighed leaning back and closing her eyes.
"Your conscience is most precious of them all, huh?" Shaira repeated the same words as Dexton said. The problem was that her conscience is always there to guilt-trip her into doing things, but she gets confused any time Shaira asked her question which made her feel insane as she was talking about herself to herself quite literally. The three things she had written so far were first, reading business magazines. Second, violin, and third, Daniel's hoodies. She loved Daniel a lot but maybe his hoodie a little bit more?
She was disappointed that out of a lot of things she could have written she just found three things but then maybe she would not even have had the courage to write these three things if she had not talked to Dexton about it.
"For how many things should I say thanks to Dexton now?" She thought and sighed. She did not even know in which direction her life is going. She could not have ever imagined being thankful for any of the Vanidestines. But look at her now, things had changed drastically. She put her writing pad down as nothing is coming into her mind at that point.
She completed her leftover Sandwich when She saw Sebestian coming towards her. Her eyes furrowed when he saw Sebastian. He was looking serious and angry at the same time. He took a seat beside her at the same time without looking at her.
"How are you, now?"
Shaira knew that question was irrelevant. One thing about Sebastian was sure that he would not have left her until he was damn sure that she was okay which confused Shaira. Why is he so concerned about a stranger like me? Anyway, she sighed and still answered.
"I am okay. Thanks for your help back then." Shiara said in a hushed voice to which Sebastian nodded. After a moment of silence, Shaira could not help but ask him, "Did something happen?"
Sebastian's eyes snapped towards Shaira who was doing some assignments. Sebastian had, unfortunately, read the custody annulment paper of Shaira. Everybody in the whole school knew Shaira was the half-sister of Vanidestines and her birth circumstances because of the video. This made Sebestian much more concerned. Is Shaira not being treated well at her home as well? Is that why she hesitates every time someone asked her surname? Can he ask these dreaded questions to her?
Putting aside all of these doubts, He sighed and asked," How is your relationship with your brothers, Shaira?"
Shaira's hand halted while completing her assignments. She did not look at Sebastian. She rolled her tongue to her lips and lied through her teeth, "Excellent! They all love me very much. Why do you ask?" Shaira said making sure her voice does not waver.
"Is that so? Then Shaira, please explain these." Sebastian said passing her music notes to her which made her confused.
My Music notes?
Her eyes widen and she shoot up to check her bag. As she had feared, the papers were not there. Her face paled. No one could know about them. This could very well affect Vanidestine's reputation. Her mind racked for any solution to get out of this situation.
"It's nothing." She said snatching the 'notes' from him and putting them back in her bag pack.
"Do you want me to believe that?" Sebastian said looking at Shaira. Not getting any answer from her. Sebastian sighed.
"Hey, look at me, yeah?" Sebastian said pulling Shaira toward his side. Shaira's eyes were glossy but she knew she need pull her back or she would just dig a bigger hole for herself.
" I wanted to be independent that's why I want it." Shaira said looking straight at Sebastian. Shaira's reason was not satisfying at all. Sebastian could not help but to get more frustrated every second.
"If you wanted to be independent, there are thousands of ways to do that. Tell me Shaira, is this reason enough for you to break every relationship with your family?" Sebastian said. She did not know how to handle this situation.
"You can think whatever you want. Just know, if this gets out- we both would be in very big trouble including your family, Sebastian. So back off, when you have time. I really don't want to ruin any more families that I had already done." Shaira said standing from the bench. Everybody knew the power of Vanidestines and with one finger towards them, you could lose everything and who could understand it better than Shaira? She was living with them her whole life. She knew if Sebastian came in between them, she would lose two friends at the same time, and she do not want that.
Even Sebastian could understand the threat he was posing to himself and his family but was it worth it? He looked at Shaira who is standing strong and tall hiding every pain and reality within her trying to protect both sides of the scales. Was the girl standing in front of him putting up such a strong front would be okay alone? Was it okay for him to leave her?
Sebastian's thoughts were interrupted when he saw Shaira leaving. He abruptly stood up and grab her hand halting her.
"Just answer my one question, did they ever hurt you?"
Shaira looked at their hands and a soft smile spread across her face. A smile that shielded her from the world. A smile she would put on her face to make everyone including herself, believe that everything is alright, but Shiara failed to notice one thing. The people who truly cared for her never looked at her face when they could see exactly what is going on in her heart.
"No, they had never." Shaira answered looking at Sebastian as she walked from there.
......
The school was finally over and Shaira was in the cafe brewing her favorite tea. She was indeed worried about being Sebastian knowing her secret, but She knew that he would not tell anyone about it.
"How are you, Shaira?" Mr. Edoardo Bonardi a.k.a. the owner of the Sunflower Cafe asked. Late Mrs. Bonardi loved sunflowers that's why they named it "Sunflower Cafe" which Shaira find really cute. Although Mr. Bonardi was in his sixties, he still had the energy of a youngster- probably more than any of them. The cafe itself gave that vibrant yet retro ambiance that Shaira fell in love with at first sight.
Shaira's lips melt into a smile as she replied," I am good Mr. Bonardi."
"Very well child, make sure you eat a piece of cake that I made today morning. It turned out delicious!" Mr. Bonardi grinned. Mr. Bonardi was a pastry chef. Although most of the cakes were ordered from bakeries Sometimes Mr. Bonardi made special cakes just for his satisfaction. He always said," I would stop living if I stopped baking this sugary goodness!". He could be dramatic sometimes.
"You should not give your cakes free to me Mr. Bonardi." Shaira said making Mr. Bonardi roll his eyes.
"I am not giving it free to you I am just adding it to your pay." Mr. Bonardi said. He knew Shiara was not the same kid as her age. She was different and did not like to take things for free even though those cakes were her favorite. He was a lonely man with both of his sons settled abroad. So Shaira seemed to him like his own granddaughter.
Shaira sighed. She could not fight with him. After a month of working here, Mr. Bonardi had made complimentary cakes compulsory for her which was very weird for Shaira. She first thought that he was going to make her quit the job but thankfully he did not.
"I will enjoy it!" Shiara smiled at Mr. Bonardi whose eyes lit up listening to that. "Give me your opinion after tasting that!" Mr. Bonardi said as he went out for the cafe in his signature dancing walk.
"I will, Mr. Bonardi!" Shiara waved at him. Shiara smiled wondering how contagious positive energy can be. Her smile grew when she heard the bell chime signaling some customers are here.
"Welcome to Sunflower caf-" Shiara's eyes widen as she saw the person standing there.
"Sup' Shacks, Won't you hug your angel brother?" Shaira's jaw dropped when he saw Diaz Lawrence standing there. "Oh, my goodness" Shiara murmured as she run the opposite side of the counter straight into the arms of her big brother which make Diaz laugh out loud.
"I missed you."
"I told you Diaz. Don't ruin my surprise!" Daniel said opening the door. Shaira's head snapped towards him. When Shaira did not leave Diaz.
"Looks like, you only missed him not me." Daniel said giving a glare to his elder brother.
"Aww Daniel, I missed you so much." Shaira said as he went to give him her famous bear hug.
"You better be!" Daniel said as he hugged her back. "How is your grandma?" Shiara said as he parted from him.
"She is stable and quite well now." Daniel said to which Shaira sighed in relief.
"So, Miss Barista, won't you serve me one of your signature cups of drink." Diaz smiled to which Shiara nodded and ushered them to sit on the table.
....
Shaira put a steaming cup of Ristretto and a boba tea on the table. There was no crowd today, so Shaira was happy about that.
"So how are you here?" Shaira asked Diaz who looked at Shaira in a somewhat calculating way which made Shaira more self-conscious.
"I decided to work in dad's firm." Diaz said with his eyes much softer. It did not take long for Diaz to understand that something was wrong with Shiara. Her eyes were dull and tired. She had lost some weight too.
"That's unfortunate." Daniel said getting a slap on the back of his head from Shiara.
"You should not say something like that." Shaira said making Diaz smile at both of them. Shaira did not need to force herself to behave in a certain manner in front of them. She was happy like that.
Their conversation was interrupted by the ringtone of Daniel's Phone. It was his mom and by the sound of it, she was looking very excited about something. Daniel passed the phone to Shiara telling her to take it.
"Baby, I missed you so much!" Aunt Vanessa said making Shaira somewhat nostalgic. For all the hard times she had, this was a payoff for her.
"Hey, Aunt Vanessa. I missed you too." Shaira grinned.
"Come home soon darling. Michael and I will be very happy to see you!" Aunt Vanessa said.
"I will." She said as she hung up the phone.
"Come home tomorrow, we will have fun." Daniel said as he took the phone from Shaira. Shaira's smiled dropped as she remembered she had her appointment tomorrow, but she decided she would not tell this them because she don't want them to get worried.
"I have some work tomorrow so maybe we could shift it by a day." Shaira asked. Daniel was confused. Usually, Shaira tells him what 'work' She had in the first go herself.
"No Problem at all." Diaz said as he smiled at her stopping Daniel to ask anything with eye contact. Shaira sighed in relief internally. At least they didn't ask for an explanation.
Their drinks were over. Daniel and Diaz gave a parting hug to Shaira as they go out of the cafe. Shaira sighed watching them drive away in the car from the windows. Shaira did not get more time to think as she heard the bell chime again. She smiled at them.
"Welcome to the Sunflower Cafe. What would you like to order?"
....
Finally done. Hope you enjoy the chapter. Well, don't ask me how I did it when I said I would be taking 3 or 4 days. Please don't mind grammatical errors. I just gave it a normal read before updating.
This is for all my lovely consistent readers. I said I will be punctual then I WILL BE!
Bye.