You say coincidence, I say bad luck

chapter 15

I was impressed at my mother's poise when she walked into the house to see my dad and meet Olivia. I was fairly certain that if it had been me I'd have thrown a tantrum and broken down crying. I knew that somewhere in her heart she still loved him, and that the whole ordeal was more painful than she'd ever let on. I hated my Dad for putting her through it, but she handled it perfectly. Unlike Leslie and my awkward sentences and obvious discomfort my mother just walked right in, hugged my father, shook Olivia's hand and asked them how the trip was.

"Lovely." Olivia smiled. "Thank you."

My mother nodded. "Well, I made up a room for you. How about I let you two get settled in and then we can all go out for lunch?"

I almost started to protest but Leslie grabbed my arm. My father and Olivia agreed and it was settled. I couldn't have been more unhappy.

I followed Leslie upstairs gloomily while my mum showed our guests to their room. "Lunch?" I whined. "This sucks."

Leslie just shrugged. "They're here now; we can't do anything about it."

"Are you sure?" I muttered, "Can't we put lizards in Olivia's hair like the parent trap?"

Leslie laughed, "Yeah, if you were 10 and immature."

"Well, I am pretty immature, does that make it ok?" I asked hopefully.

Leslie shook her head with a smile. "Be nice to her, maybe she's not awful."

"She's not awful." I agreed. "She's just… annoying. She's just… you know…"

"She's not mum." Leslie finished.

I scoffed, "That's not what I meant."

Leslie sat down on her bed and sighed, "In a perfect world they'd still be together, Lydia."

"I know." I agreed after a pause. I sat down beside her.

"But we've got to live with what we've got."

"I know." I repeated.

"So, we're going to go and be nice." She concluded, watching me for my reaction.

"Yeah, okay." I agreed. "I'll try."

We sat in silence for a while, both in our own thoughts.

"So," Leslie finally spoke up, "I saw you with Jay the other day."

I started, completely caught off guard by the question. "What?"

"You were walking down the street together."

I paused, taken aback. I'd never thought of what to tell Leslie about this. I went with my first instinct – "No, we weren't."

Leslie smiled, "Yes you were."

"No, we weren't." I repeated, lost for a different response.

"Lydia…" She started, giving me a look.

I sighed, "Ok, fine, yes." I paused, fishing for something else, "but as friends!" I blurted out. Rats, I should have gone with that one at the start; she was never going to believe it now.

"So you didn't want me to know you and Jay are friends?" She asked skeptically.

I threw up my hands in defeat, 'Fine, no."

"So, what's going on?" She asked innocently.

"Honestly? I don't know." And I didn't know, it was all ridiculously confusing.

"But do you like him?" She pressed.

I smiled, "Yeah, I do."

She smiled back, "That's nice!"

I nodded, then throwing caution to the wind I added "he kissed me."

She squealed and threw her arms around me before I could register what was happening. "My little sister's all grown up!"

"She also can't breathe." I managed to gasp out.

Leslie let go of me, but continued beaming at me. "So, was it fun?"

"Leslie!" I screamed.

"What happened? Where were you?" She continued.

"You're my sister!" I exclaimed, wishing the pillows were closer to me so I could throw one at her. She paused and opened her mouth again, "No!" I shouted, "No more questions!"

She sighed, looking disappointed. "Ok, fine. We should probably get ready for lunch anyway."

"No, no, that's not fair." I shook my head, a mischievous smile on my face.

"What's not fair?" Leslie started warily.

"You have to tell me about Brian now!" I said, pulling my legs onto the bed and sitting cross legged. I clasped my hands in my lap and bounced up and down.

She blushed, shaking her head. "There's nothing to tell."

"Tell me something!" I insisted; I was going to get my way whether she liked it or not.

She paused, thinking, before finally sighing. "Fine." I grinned at her. She shrugged, looking a little embarrassed before saying quietly, "I like him a lot. I think… that I might love him. Like, a lot." She trailed off. Her cheeks were bright red.

If anything my smile just got even wider. "Love?" I asked incredulously. "That's amazing."

She shifted uncomfortably. "You don't think it's stupid?"

"Why would it be stupid?"

"Because I'm young…because maybe it's not really love. Maybe I'm just tricking myself?" She looked at me hopefully, as if I could actually give her answers. This was a side of her I'd never seen before.

"You can be in love when you're young." I replied. "And if you think you love him, I'm sure you do." I trailed off, hoping I'd said the right thing she needed to hear.

She smiled, "I guess. He's just so different to all the jerks I've dated before."

I nodded, pausing for a second, remembering something I'd been meaning to ask her since the truth and dare night. "Did you really date someone in a mental ward, or something?"

Leslie nodded her head. "He apparently killed someone, can you believe it?"

"No, not really." I answered truthfully. "How did he get out?"

"He was let out; they cleared his charges and everything. So maybe it was all just a lie." Leslie shrugged, "He was weird though. When I broke up with him he was all 'I'll get back at your someday!'".

I shuddered, "Whoah, seriously?"She nodded. I laughed, "You really do attract a lot of freaks. Have you seen Dominic lately?"

Leslie laughed, "No, didn't you hear, he's dating that girl from your school now. Lisa?"

I nodded, remembering. "Yeah, you're right. You know, I heard that Lisa got arrested once for shoplifting."

Leslie clicked her tongue, "Really?"

I nodded, "Yeah, and one of my friends swore she stole money from her wallet once."

"Well, hopefully she's cleaned up her act now."

"Yeah, I guess-"

"Girls!" My mother's voice drifted from downstairs. "We're leaving in 5 minutes!"

Leslie jumped up in a panic. "I can't get ready in 5 minutes!"

Twenty minutes later Leslie and I were in the car with our mother driving to Safire Point. Dad and Olivia had opted to follow us in their own car, which was just fine with me. We were both wearing nice dresses, by request (orders) from our mother. I fiddled with my sleeve and leaned forward, putting my chin on Leslie's headrest in front of me.

"Can you teach me drive soon, Mum?" I asked.

She nodded, concentrating on the road. "As soon as you get your learners."

I scrunched up my nose. "Yeah, I know."

"What do you think of Olivia?" Leslie asked.

"Not much." I quipped.

Leslie gave me a look. "I was asking Mum, everyone knows what you think." I stuck out my tongue behind her back but stayed silent.

"She's nice." Mum said simply. We waited for more but it didn't come.

"And…?" Leslie asked.

"And nothing." She said shortly. "And I expect you two to be nice to her when I'm away."

"When are you leaving?" I asked.

There was a pause, then - "Tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" I repeated, at the same time that Leslie asked "Are you serious?"

"You girls haven't let me talk to you in two weeks and you're surprised that you don't know anything?"

"A bit bitter are we?" I asked stiffly.

My mother sighed, "Christmas is in a few days, of course I was going to leave soon. You know that."

"For the big meeting." Leslie supplied tonelessly.

"Yes." My mother replied, "If this goes well it will be a good change for all of us." Leslie and I stayed silent. My mother pursed her lips, "We'll see what happens."

We turned into the parking lot of a fancy little restaurant and got out of the car. Olivia and dad were right behind us. We got seated while the waitress fussed around us, handing us menus. Olivia and Mum started chatting politely about the décor and the food. I tuned them out, opting to pretend to be reading my menu.

"How's university?" I heard my Dad ask Leslie.

Leslie, who was very passionate about her subject, instantly began raving about politics and art history. I thought it was weird combination myself, but who was I to judge? I still had no idea what I wanted to study.

"Lydia?" I heard my name and lifted my head to see Olivia gazing at me quizzically.

"Yeah?" I asked, wondering what could be happening now.

"I was just asking you and your sister whether you'd like to come shopping with me sometime this week." She gave me an expectant look.

I blinked at her. Was she serious? Was she really trying to bond with us? I felt almost as though if I said yes I'd be betraying my mother. I cleared my throat, "Well, I'm, pretty bus-"

"We'd love to." Leslie cut over me. I saw my mother shoot her a grateful look.

"Yeah, I'd love to." I added, disgruntled. When was this ever going to end?

Olivia beamed. "I saw the cutest boutique stores just down the road when we were driving here!" She exclaimed excitedly. I didn't bother to mention to her that all those stores were ridiculously overpriced. It probably wouldn't have mattered to her anyway; she looked like she could afford it, with my Dad's money anyway. He was a successful lawyer. I loved and hated that about him. Loved it because if I'd ever wanted to study anything, it would be law. Hated it because I didn't want to follow in his footsteps. It left me in a difficult position and I blamed it all on him.

Olivia started chattering about her trip to Paris last year and I immersed myself in the menu again, tuning everyone out. I glanced up when I felt eyes on me and saw my dad was watching me curiously. I offered him a tight smile and he returned it, glancing back at his fiancé. I sighed, and started drumming my fingers against the table until I felt my pocket vibrating.

I took my phone out of my pocket and ignored the looks my mother was giving me and answered it without checking who was calling.

"Hello?"

"I've been thinking about you." The voice was low and sensual. I almost felt like squealing.

"Jay?" I ventured. I could feel my heart quickening and I knew a smile was creeping onto my face but I couldn't help myself. I felt like a love struck teenager, which was what I was I guess.

I heard a chuckle, "Did you miss me?"

I excused myself from the table, ignoring my mother, and walked outside.

"Only if you missed me." I couldn't keep the smile out of my voice.

I could imagine his lips tilting into a smirk. "What are you doing right now?"

I made a face even though I knew he couldn't see it. "Having lunch with my mother, father, and my father's fiancé." I said the word as though it was a curse.

"Your father's here?"

I sighed, "It's a long story."

I heard a pause on the other side, "Why don't you tell me about it tonight?"

"Tonight?" I prompted hopefully.

"Be ready after dinner." He said shortly.

"Alright."

"We've got some serious investigative work to do." He added smoothly.

I smiled, the excitement building in my chest. "Oh, really?"

"I'll see you soon."

The phone clicked as he hung up.

a/n – Sorry that this chapter probably wasn't that interesting, it was mostly just a filler. Things will start back up again next chapter! And we'll see Jay again! My life is fairly hectic at the moment; I'm sorry for the long wait between chapters.

Thanks to all you reviewers, you really make my day!