Chapter 4: Face to Face

Standing before Alexandra was a very groggy looking Kelly in her cute little blue Cinnamoroll pajamas, her light blonde hair in a mess, still rubbing the sleep away from her eyes. But the moment Kelly noticed the tears glistening in her friend's eyes, she felt awake almost instantly. 

"Alexandra? Are you okay? What's wrong?" Kelly asked, concern and worry written all over her face. The moment those words left her mouth, Alexandra broke down in tears almost immediately and Kelly could only hold her in her arms while her friend cried her eyes out. 

Kelly was her best friend since middle school, they were inseparable. She was there for her first crush, her first boyfriend, and her first heartbreak.

And now, her second heartbreak. 

They stood there for a while as Kelly wrapped her arms around Alexandra, comforting her. Alexandra had her face buried in Kelly's shoulders, her tears staining the top. "Hey, you are okay, I'm here for you Al." 

Tears were streaming down Alexandra's face at this point as much she hated it. But that was the first time that night when she finally let everything out, all the tears that she had been trying her best to hold back. 

"I'm sorry," she muttered under her breath, barely audible. 

"What are you apologising for?"

"I'm a mess, everything's a mess."

Her friend only looked at her and the corners of her lips twitched upwards into a smile. "You are not a mess dumbass," Kelly reassured as she wiped the tears off Alexandra's face with the sleeve of her shirt. 

"What happened Al?"

"Ethan… He demanded for a divorce," she started as Kelly looked at her with her green eyes as wide as ever, waiting for her to continue. 

"I caught him cheating on me… with another woman." Alexandra refused to acknowledge Hannah as her sister, going against her parents' wishes. But of course Kelly didn't know that the other woman was Alexandra's sister. 

"What?!"

The anger on Kelly's face was visible almost instantly. She clenched her fists tightly and her face turned red just enough for Alexandra to notice. 

"Those mother fuckers! I'm going to fucking kill them both!" Kelly yelled, almost forgetting that her own boyfriend was sound asleep upstairs in their bedroom. 

And so she told her everything she needed to know, from the moment she saw the other woman walk into the room to the moment she left that small old apartment.

"You know what? He's so fucking ugly anyway, you are better off without him, his dick is probably small too," Kelly continued rambling on in an aminated manner. 

Alexandra couldn't help but laugh this time, it was the first time she laughed that night, even though tears were still rolling down her cheeks. 

"What's so funny?" Kelly asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Nothing," she quickly replied, wiping her tears away. 

"Anyway, I was wondering can I-"

"Yes, of course, you and Sunny can stay here tonight. The guest room is all yours," Kelly replied, reading her mind in an instant

"How did you…"

"We've been best friends for over a decade. Of course, I can read your mind," she said with a playful wink.

There was a huge grin on Alexandra's face as she looked at her friend sitting beside her.

"Kelly, have I ever told you how much I love you?"

Alexandra was now lying in bed, exhausted, both physically and mentally. She caught herself staring at the ceiling above her as her mind was in a whirlwind of thoughts, replaying every single bad memory she desperately wished to bury. 

Those words played in her head like a broken record that she couldn't seem to fix. But it wasn't long before she drifted off to sleep with Sunny snuggling up next to her. 

Morning came quickly, the sunlight peeking through the tiny gap in the curtains. She had woken up to Sunny greeting her with kisses and a wagging tail. "Good morning my sunshine."

She quickly freshened up and headed downstairs. A familiar aroma lingered in the air, she looked over to see her favourite breakfast of all time, chocolate chip waffles with strawberries sitting on the table. 

"Mhmmmm…." She marveled in delight as she took in another deep breath. She had walked closer to see a piece of note with messy handwriting scribbled over it. 

Made you your favourite. Eat up, I have something planned for later tonight ;) See you after work.

Love,

Kels 

She couldn't help but have the biggest grin on her face this time as she quickly shot her friend a thank you text before gobbling up the plate of waffles before her, savouring every single bite. Just as she took her last bite, the sound of her phone ringing invaded her ears, breaking her out of her little reverie. 

She stared at the screen of her phone for a while before she finally picked up on the fourth ring. "Alexandra, your mum has fallen. I'm at work and no one's home right now. Get home now." 

It was her dad. 

Before she could even get a single word out, the line was cut and she was greeted by the sound of a single beep on the other end. 

She couldn't help but to let out a loud sigh.

Oddly enough, she didn't feel as worried as she should have been. But that's only because deep down she knew that her dad was probably lying to her just to get her home. For whatever reason, she doesn't know just yet. Until she's standing at the door of her home with the door wide open. 

Her dad was standing by the door, as if he was waiting for her arrival, knowing full well that she would have come regardless. She stood there for a while as everyone was all staring back at her like she was some fool who fell for their tricks once again. 

"You are here," her dad announced, breaking the deafening silence in the house. 

"I'm leaving." Just as Alexandra had turned around to leave, she realised that her dad had already closed the door behind her. 

"You guys need to talk. Your sister wants to talk to you."

Of course, her parents would be fighting so hard to get her to forgive her sister. Of course, they would want her to talk to Hannah. After all, only her sister's feelings matter to them.

"Why is everyone calling that woman my sister? You two need to stop calling her my sister, she's not my sister and she will never be my sister."

"Just talk to her," he pleaded, simply out of frustration. 

"There's nothing to talk about," she replied coldly, glancing over to see her husband and Hannah sitting on the couch, side by side with their fingers intertwined.

"That's your sister, she just wants to make things right" her mother chimed in and Alexandra couldn't help but scoff loudly for everyone in that room to hear.

"Maybe she wouldn't be so concerned about making things right if she hadn't fuck my husband in the first place."

Her words shocked her parents as they stood there basically dumbfounded.

"Al, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to -'' Hannah suddenly stood up from the couch to speak, the huge bandage on her arm caught Alexandra's attention immediately. Alexandra couldn't help but let out a cold chuckle as she quickly cut her off mid-sentence. 

"Save it, no need to act coy. Stop pretending that you are some saint when you are really nothing but a pathetic miserable homewrecker who is so damn insecure that you have to mess around with someone else's husband to feel better about yourself."

"I…I…" She watched as Hannah struggled to find the words, it was rather entertaining, at least to Alexandra.

"Don't say that about my Hannah," Ethan spoke up for her this time, the first time he had said something since Alexandra walked through that door into her parents' house this morning.

"Oh so everyone is just defending her now?" 

"Al, you are being-" Her mother chided, speaking up for her sister just as she had expected. But she was quickly interrupted by Alexandra. 

"What? Ridiculous!? Unreasonable!? Crazy!?"

"... I'm just saying that your sister is sorry about what happened, she already apologised. What more do you want from her? What can she do so that you would forgive her?" 

"I'm sure she wasn't feeling sorry when she's all up on my husband last night!" Alexandra countered as she looked right into her sister's eyes, who only quickly looked away as if in shame.

"Why don't we just sit down and talk it out like adults?" Her dad interjected amid the chaos, while Ethan stayed silent all this while.

"I don't want to," Alexandra replied curtly.

"Fine."

She watched as Hannah fumbled around with something in her hands for a while before her mother finally snatched the piece of paper out of her sister's hand and forcefully placed it in her palm without saying another word. 

It was Hannah's medical bill.

She looked up at all of them, making sure her gaze met all of theirs. Without saying another word, she tore that piece of paper into pieces, throwing them onto the ground. "Anything else? No? Then I'm leaving."

Just as she turned around and was about to walk away, Hannah finally spoke up again. 

"Ethan told me that he loves me. We are truly in love with each other and we are serious about one another. We will be getting together officially, and we hope to get your blessing."

In that very moment, Alexandra should have felt angry, upset, and betrayed but she refused to let it show. She had slowly turned her head around to look at her sister, whose hand was still interlocked with his after all this time, squeezing his hand tightly as if for reassurance. 

The corners of Alexandra's lips curled upwards into a small smile as a cold chuckle escaped her lips. "Thank you, Hannah," was all she said.

"Huh…? What for?" Visible confusion was written all over Hannah's face, her eyebrows furrowed together. Confused as to why Alexandra had not broken down just yet when she was so sure this would anger her. 

Alexandra smirked. 

"Thank you for picking up my trash."