Chapter 001

Charlotte McCartney

“Hey! Stop there! Where are you going with that bouquet of flowers and box of candy?” The receptionist at the hospital where Josh Xavier had been admitted held my arm.

Her grip jolted me to reality. I had been too immersed in my thoughts that I had forgotten to sign in at the entrance.

“Oh I'm sorry. My name is Charlotte. I have been here before. I am looking for one of the patients. He was brought in here some weeks ago. The accident victim. His name is Josh Xavier. I brought him these gifts”, I raised the bouquet of flowers as well as the box of candy so she could see it.

“And who are you supposed to be?” She examined the flower.

“I’m just a friend. My sister is his ex-girlfriend”, I smiled.

“So what are you doing here? Please leave here! Don't you know he has been discharged?”She looked ready for a quarrel.

TCHHHHHHH!

I heard her hissing loudly as I turned to leave. I felt very stupid as I walked away. Why did she have to be so rude? I was there to see a patient. All she had to do was tell me he had been discharged. It was not her fault though. If Whitney had not dumped Josh Xavier the way she did I would not have been there trying to make things right so desperately.

I liked Josh Xavier when he was my sister's boyfriend because he always made an effort to be there for my family when we needed him. But my family had been really unfair to him since the accident. No one even cared to visit or call him. It felt like everyone stopped liking him the day he had that accident.

Even if everyone deserted him, Whitney's reaction must have hurt Josh Xavier more than anything else. She broke up with him when she saw his condition. The poor man. My sister left him when he needed her the most. Mom treated him even worse, refusing to visit him despite all the love he showered on her. I felt bad I could not see him but I was happy he had recovered enough to go back home.

I decided to go home since I could not see Josh Xavier. I drove home still thinking about how badly my family had been treating him

As I walked into the house, I heard a strange sound coming from the sitting room which distracted my thoughts.

“What is this sound that I'm hearing? I wondered and went to see who was there.

“What!” I stood there with my mouth open, the bouquet of flowers and box of candy I was carrying fell from my hand causing a light thud on the ground.

Ron and Whitney jumped at the sound of it, and immediately they saw me, they shifted uncomfortably as if they were trying to cover up something.

“What is going on here?” I asked, still trying to process what I’d just seen, my brain refusing to believe it. It felt like I was having a bad dream. One where my boyfriend Ron was kissing my sister, except this had really happened.

“It's not what you think Charlotte”, Ron said as he buttoned his shirt with quivering hands.

“Oh really? It's not? What is it then?” I asked, staring at him with malicious intent. I wanted to rip his face off that instant. I’d clearly caught him kissing my sister, so how dare he try to lie to me?

“It is nothing serious. I know it does not look good but I swear to you it's nothing”, he said, cautiously approaching me.

“You really want me to believe this was nothing Ron? How am I supposed to believe that? Tell me Ron, tell me!”I snapped irritably. I wanted to hit him, push him or do anything as long as it would hurt him instead I took two steps back not wanting him to touch me.

My heart was breaking, tears welling up in my eyes at the sight of their betrayal.

How could they do this to me? My sister and my boyfriend. How could they hurt me like this?

“Trust me Charlotte we've only done this twice”, Ron looked into my eyes and I could tell he was lying.

“How could I have been so blind? How long have they been doing this? It must have been pretty obvious, I just wasn't paying attention. I slapped my forehead realizing how stupid I had been.

“Charlotte please don't act like this. I know we shouldn't have done this but I promise you we didn't mean to hurt you” Ron stretched his hand to hold me.

“Yes Charlotte we did not mean to hurt you”, Whitney finally said something.

Hearing the sound of her voice, I became more irritated.

“How did you not think that this would hurt me Whitney?” I glared at her, my fist tightening till they became white.

“Charlotte please this only happened because you were too busy working. Ron and I only started talking and hanging out because you are never around. That's also how we fell in love. This is as much your fault as it is ours. And I did not betray you Charlotte. You and I know that you were not really into Ron. You've never cared about him romantically. Do you even care about his sexual desires? Please stop saying I betrayed you”, Whitney blurted defensively.

I looked at my sister for a long time unable to utter a word. This was the most appalling thing I had ever heard. Did she just blame me for her betrayal? The nerve of her.

“Charlotte, if you love Ron and I, you would want us to be happy and support our relationship rather than dwelling on this,” Whitney added with a straight face.

I felt like I was losing my mind. I wanted to run out of the sitting room, to scream, just anything not to stand here and listen to the nonsense she was spewing. I l could not believe she was my sister.

It was all coming to me then. That was why she dumped Josh Xavier. To be with my boyfriend. Their betrayal stunk deeply and finally I could no longer hold back the tears.

“Are you kidding me Whitney?” I yelled angrily, stepping furiously towards her.

“First you steal my boyfriend, then you blame me for making you steal my boyfriend now you are telling me to be happy for you two. How can you be so selfish and insensitive?

You did not even consider that I was your sister. How can you do something like this to your sister? You did not care about our sisterly bond. You know I would never do that to you yet you went on with it. How could you?”, I shook with anger.

“What is the problem Charlotte?” Mom’s voice interjected from nowhere. I was so blinded with rage, I didn't even see when she joined us. She looked like she had just woken up from sleep.

I turned toward her, consoled that I could pour out my frustrations to her. Finally someone could talk some sense into Whitney, I thought.

“Mom I came home and Whitney was there kissing my boyfriend”, I wasted no time in explaining the situation and pointed at the spot I found them kissing.

“It’s a good thing you're here Mrs Ashley. Please help us talk to Charlotte”, Ron said with a relieved look.

Slap!

I recoiled in shock, holding my cheeks, nursing the red hot prints on my right cheek as she slapped daylight out of my eyes.

“What is wrong with you Charlotte? Why are you behaving like a child? It was just a kiss. Did you not hear that? You are creating a scene over nothing. So what if they have fallen in love with each other? Why are you still fighting them? Can't you get over it?” mom asked me angrily.

I looked at mom with my eyes and mouth wide open. I could not believe she was taking Whitney's side in this, and finally the tears I’d been fighting to hold back slid down my cheeks. This wasn’t happening, I thought. How could they all turn on me like this?

“I already knew they were in love. How did you not know? Move on, be happy for your sister. You will find someone else. There are so many important things to worry about and you are here making a big deal over something as trivial as a kiss”, mom said, looking at me with irritation.

“You already knew about this mom?” I wanted to ask her again to be sure I heard correctly. But my lips were sealed tight. Whitney and Ron held each other’s hand proudly with satisfaction and right then, I wished the ground would open and swallow both of them.

“There is no need to keep crying.” I thought, trying to console myself.

“I should just dry my tears and move on. They don’t deserve to see me like this. I’m not going to give them the satisfaction of creating a scene.” I thought, feeling even more hurt and isolated and with that, I walked away wordlessly, headed to my bedroom and locked the door behind me.