3

CHAPTER 3

For Sophia, her camera served her a purpose. That was to make sure she doesn’t go insane, which is why she treated it like a child, felt overprotection and adoration towards it like any mother would to their child. Violating her personal place and touching her dear camera was the first mistake Troy made. The second one being his ever so annoying try to seem goofy and not like someone likely to steal her camera face.

Taking slow, steady steps, Sophia walked towards Troy. She made sure he didn’t realise her presence and continued to observe him how he looked at every small details of her device. She stood right behind him like a shadow, surprised that he was still oblivious of her presence. She made a sound from the back of her throat, making him jump out of his skin and clumsily settle the camera back in its original place. He turned back and looked at Sophia with wide and terrified eyes like some deer caught in headlights. He pulled his hand up and waved at her, ''H-Hey,'' he said with a cheeky, nervous smile.

Sophia returned the same cheeky smile at him in mockery before the same was lowered into a petrifying scowl. ‘‘What were you doing with my camera?'' she asked crossing her arms around her chest. Her eyes holding power to make him feel obliged to stare back at her.

Troy chuckled nervously raising his hands in surrender, ''It's not what it looks like. I-I was just looking around,'' he explained and shifted back to his cubicle, not taking his eyes off of Sophia, who was staring at him with the same scowl as her neck moved towards him moving figure.

''Without my permission?'' She asked. And before Troy could even answer, she continues, ''Now who's the intruder here?'' She shot back with a raised eyebrow and turned to face him completely from her cubicle. The incident of the other day flashed in front of both their eyes. Troy feeling as irritated as guilty for accusing Sophia of being an intruder and her feeling proud of the comeback she could muster.

Troy now frowned, ''Intruder? I was just having a look at it. I like cameras…'' was his silly reason, his voice lowering with his sentence coming to an end.

Sophia approached him with slow, steady steps, ''Still, it doesn't justify the fact that you were touching my stuff without my consent,'' she raised her chin and looked square at him with crossed arms. She kissed her teeth, stretching her lips in an ominous smile. 

Troy pursed his lips as his shoulders fell. He knew Sophia disliked him and this new impression he had on her worsened their situation. He shrugged, ''I'm sorry if you didn't like that. I was just curious,'' Sophia smirked an evil smile. Troy grimaced. ''w-what?'' he asked cautiously, his fingers nervously fidgeting on the back of his chair.

‘‘You know what I'm gonna do now?'' Sophia asked as the elements on her face like the amused lopsided smirk and the twinkling eye filled with mischief made him anxious. She looked like trouble to him. When she didn't get a reply from Troy, she proceeded to converse whilst taking a few steps backs. ''I'm telling Miles about it,''

Revenge.

Troy's eyes widened when she took a fleeing turn to leave the room, he suddenly took a hold of Sophia's wrist. The absurd moment making her wince and look up at him with a frown at the unexpected stunt. Troy realised his misstep and released her making withdrawing hands. He knew he was fucked a little more than he was a few seconds ago.

''Hey, what's happening there?'' A new voice asked. The two looked at the person who'd interrupted. Tara, the girl who introduced herself to Sophia when Miles took the initiative to introduce her to the office. Tara's eyes flickered from Sophia to Troy with curiosity. She chuckled, “What was that? Is everything okay?"

"He was stealing my camera, I caught him red-handed." Sophia whispered to Tara and pointed her thumb at him aggressively, stabbing it in the air a couple of times.

Troy's eyes widened and he shook his head, "misunderstanding!" He whispered yelled so as only the two ladies could hear him.

Tara giggled before saying, "Calm down guy, I don't think-"

"What's happening here?"

Miles' voice made the three of them jump out of their places. Troy being scared the most had his eyes wide and terrified. He was convinced that he was going to get fired. Out of the majority of the people in the office, he was the one that knew that Sophia was Miles' little sister and that it would probably not take much for her to persuade him into getting Troy fired.

"Nothing,"

Troy looked at Sophia.

Huh?

Miles nodded, his eyes not meeting anyone else's but Sophia's, "get comfortable and back to work," he said coolly and left the cube without any other word along with two other people who looked like were his clients.

Tara excused herself and went back to her seat. Whereas, Troy couldn't take his eyes off of Sophia, who without glancing at him made her way to her seat. He observed how she ignored his piercing gaze and made sure it bothered him.

"What was that?" He asked looking from above the tiny partition wall separating their cubicles.

Sophia shrugged, "I was just messing around. I gatch you," she mildly laughed.

Troy chuckled, like eyes dropping on the floor in disbelief and astonishment, "you really did have me shit scared," He shook his head and turned back to take a seat. But then he heard her say;

‘’would appreciate it if you stay away from my camera though,’’

"Yeah I'm sorry … for yesterday as well," Troy admitted his guilt, making sure only she could hear her.

"Huh?" Sophia asked turning to him from her eyebrows leaning towards each other, "You're talking to me?"

Troy rolled his eyes and nodded, "Yes, you and only you. It's just not an everyday thing that someone wonders around in Miles' cabin like that. It’s almost illegal,"

"Hm...." was the only acknowledgment he received from her.

He had an urgent need to roll his eyes at her unbelievably annoying response, but he didn't, in fact, he continued his one-sided conversation, "if it's okay with you, you can join us for the lunch in the break,"

"Us?" Sophia finally engaged some attention to him.

Troy nodded, "me, Tara, and Josh at the same table at the lunch. If you would like to join us,"

"I would love to,"

For the first time, he received a genuine smile from Sophia. And it made him smile back like he’d made an accomplishment. He nodded at her and left her alone, going back to his work before Miles could appear again.

~

Without any further interruptions, conversation, or any breaks, Sophia worked on her pc. She did find a few things difficult in the system but those were quickly solved by Finn. He said he'd be one call away if she ever needed him for uncertainties like these and she found his attitude intriguing.

"Hey, it's lunchtime." Josh's loud edgy voice yelled, making Sophia aware that it was lunch time. He had a potentially irritating voice, the ones that are sharp and pointed. But on the other hand, his undoubled politeness and kindness concealed it off. From her peripheral view, she looked at how he was making conversations with the other colleague in the cube. Sophia nervously glanced around. She recalled how Troy offered her to join them but he had disappeared ten minutes ago and hadn't arrived yet. He was practically her only hope who'd take her to their lunch tables up the canteen. She didn’t want to look like a loner sitting on a table like she usually did in her college. So, she didn't make any move. She looked around and then back to her screen. Then fidgeted with her fingers, and then moved the mouse around pointlessly circling the cursor on the screen. She realised how being a new girl wasn’t very different in school as well as work, as she had experienced them both. 

"Hey, aren't you joining?" she heard a voice say and she hoped to the god that it was referring to her. She slowly turned, trying not to look too enthusiastic, and sighed in relief when she saw Troy leaning against the cubicle along with Josh who had joined him at some point.

"C'mon. Troy said you would join us for lunch," Josh smiled politely at her.

Sophia smiled and then nodded looking up at them, ''Yeah, I am. Thanks for letting me join. Let me just save this thing up real quick,'' Sophia turned to the screen but Josh stopped her.

''You don't have to do that. It'll go into sleep mode and then you can continue when you'll come back after lunch. It’ll be autosaved. '' Josh said. Sophia looked at him unsurely. He rolled his eyes, ''You can trust me.''

Sophia chuckled and agreed, choosing to just trust him. She stood up and followed the two men. The trio got into the elevator and to the ground floor where the cafeteria was. When they reached, a very pleasing smell of different spices and sweets hit their nostrils. Sophia's eyes lit up. She was a goddamn food lover. She would occasionally go out of shape and more than her, her mother would freak out and make her follow a starving diet. Her mother once forced her to follow a Keto diet and Sophia ended up constipating.

''Look there's Tara,'' Josh pointed at the skinny girl who was waiting for her friends at the table which had precisely four chairs. The three made their way towards her and took their seats.

‘’look who is here,’’ Tara whistled making the new girl chuckle.

‘’yeah, are you happy now?’’ Josh asked Tara as he took a seat in front of her. ‘’this girl always complained how she was the only girl in the group,’’ he rolled his eyes.

‘’Good for me,’’ Tara shrugged and raised her hand that Sophia slapped with hers. Both the ladies bursting into a brief laugh.

Sophia felt her being welcomed into the group with warm wishes. She learned more about her new friends. Josh was the funny one and had a Jock character. He and Troy were the same age, which is 21 years old. He loved making jokes and see his friends laugh at them. Tara was a complete sweetheart towards Sophia. Her being five years older than her. She had a very pleasant and selfless personality, something that made Sophia look up to. Josh was working for the company for the past two years whereas Tara for three years.

They also freaked out when Troy told them that Sophia was their boss' little sister. It was solely any time when their boss shared his personal life with his employees and one of his family members working amongst them at a lower position was something beyond to them. Though, they slowly calmed down from the shock. 

Later that afternoon, when the office was silent and everyone was indulged in their works like they were supposed to be, someone decided to give the office a little visit. The person’s shoes clanked against the marble tiles and her perfume made the office come alive. Like promised, she appeared to pick Sophia up. An hour early than she was supposed to.

Miles looked at her sister, his elbows on the desk and palms cupping his chin and lips. Grey eyes staring into similar orbs as his in dissatisfaction. ''You know I can't leave work just like that, right?'' his voice was monotone. 

Pearl scoffed, ''but I'm leaving tomorrow. Don't be so mean when I know you don't mean to,''

''Pearl I-'' Miles was cut was by a knock on the door. ''Come in,'' he said, already knowing who it could be.

Sophia pushed the door open stepping in, ''You called- Pearl?!'' her eyes widened.  

''Come here, baby,'' Pearl cooed, making grabbing hand gestures which embarrassed Sophia on usual. The older sister never got the hang of the fact that the youngest Syde was an adult now.

Nonetheless, Sophia laughed sweetly and walked in. She was about to sit on the chair beside Pearl but stopped and looked at Miles, waiting.

Miles breathed out and leaned back in his chair, ''You can sit, Sophia,''

Pearl rolled her eyes and her sister took a seat, ''Miles, you're coming. That's the least you can do for me,''

''Pearl, I have got a meeting in thirty minutes,'' He told her with a defeated sign.

''You do tens of meetings every day. Can you not cancel one for me?'' she scolded also leaning back. Her eyebrows frowning and lower lip rose a scowl. This woman could change her personality from being a smart and mature lady to a 5 years old kid in a matter of seconds.

Miles held Pearl’s scrutinizing gaze for as long as he could before he decided to give up, ''Fine,'' he breathed out. He reached out to grab the telephone as he dialled a number, '' Finn? Yeah, cancel the meeting and reschedule it for tomorrow afternoon at 2pm,'' He said and put the phone down. ''Happy?'' he taunted, a smile tugging at his lips.

Pearl clapped her hands together with a cheerful smile, ''yes, Great!''

On the other hand, Sophia stared at her older siblings like a lost child who couldn't understand one damn thing, as her eyes flickered from one sibling to another at their interaction. ''Where may I ask?'' she finally interrogated in a small voice.

Pearl turned to her and smiled luminously, ''I'm leaving tomorrow for college camp for the next few weeks with my students. So, I want to spend some time with the two of my beloved siblings,'' She grabbed Sophia's cheek in one of her hands and pinched them together who whined and tried to push her away, but at the same time, couldn't stop the fit of laughter which escaped her lips.

Miles smiled at his sisters and got up from his seat, ''You both go and sit in the car, I'll be there in a few. And Sophia, don't forget to get your stuff,'' 

Sophia nodded and almost immediately walked out of the cabin and into the workspace. She hurriedly switched the pc off and put her markers and pens in a drawer locking it later. She pulled her bag around her shoulder and was ready to leave.

''You’re leaving early?'' Troy stopped her. ''On the first day of your work?'' he wondered out loud.

Sophia stopped and looked down at him. ‘‘Um ... my sister has come.  We’re going out,''

''Oh, all right,'' He nodded turning his chair back to his screen but not before addressing her, "just to let you know, on Fridays, we wear non-formal attire in the office,"

Sophia nodded and smiled, ''Thank you, I'll keep that in mind,'' She then excused herself, said goodbye to Josh and Tara before stepping out of the cube. When she was waiting for the lift to come, she felt someone's presence behind her. She, like anyone would, ignored and kept waiting for the lift to finally reach the floor patiently. When the lift finally arrived and the doors opened, the first thing she noticed was the reflection in the mirror in front of her. Her brother standing behind her, for some reason, scared the daylight out of her as she almost jumped out of her place letting out a little scream. She turned back to see his face. Her hands were upon her chest as she stared up at him with wide eyes.

Miles looked down at his sister weirdly and wondered how anyone could be as weird as her. Nonetheless, he bends down, picked the purse that fell on the floor. ‘’that was unnecessary,'' He muttered grabbing her hand and pulled her into the elevator.

''You scared me,'' she muttered taking the purse from him and fixing it back on her shoulder.

Miles smiled putting his hands in his pockets. ''I didn't even do anything,'' he looked ahead of him.

Sophia didn't reply to him anymore.

The elevator dinged opened. Miles let Sophia step out first and then got out of the elevator himself. Pearl's car was parked outside the huge doors. Sophia quickly got into the back seat knowing very well that in the presence of her siblings, the front seat was never in her favour.

As soon as the ride started, Pearl put on a playlist on shuffle. Her music taste was pretty soothing, making the people in the car relax. Sophia too looked out of the car and smiled. Today's day wasn't that bad. She thought.

"How was your day, Sophia?" The sound of music wasn’t loud enough for Pearl to yell. But Sophia being the Ms. Lost in another world she was, couldn’t give attention to her. Pearl and Miles shared a look. The oldest sibling rolled her eyes and honked twice which earned her awareness. "I asked how your day was," Pearl repeated.

Sophia looked at her and answered, "oh sorry. I wasn't paying attention. And um ... It was fine, I guess. I made friends. The food was great in the canteen. I could do the work nicely too, so I guess I'm all good."

Pearl chuckled and nodded. "That's great. You're happy right?" She asked feeling content that her youngest sibling was growing up, but was also in a constantly worried knowing her parent’s influence on her decision.

"Yes," A hot breath escaped her lips, tenderly fogging the window her head leaned against. Her eyes followed the moving cars that twinkled under the early twilight.

 She wondered about how in what felt like an eternity, someone had asked her this question. At home, her mother never thought about her preferences, staying loyal to the goal of making her the perfect daughter. Her father looked out for her but his attention was never enough because he could never make any changes come into her life that would profit her. She needed support which she believed was non-existent.

"You okay, Sophia?" Pearl soft voice over a classical song questioned. "You look lost..." She stared at Sophia through the rear-view mirror.

Sophia smiled and shook her head, closing her eyes for a few seconds before snapping them back open. She replied in a vulnerable voice whilst still looking out the window, "I'm fine. It's just, no one had asked me that in a long time,"

Pearl made eye contact with Miles and they both exhaled, feeling sympathy for their sister. Without leaving her sight from the road, she put her hand back on Sophia's knee and patted it. "Everyone cares about you, Soph. They just have different ways of showing it,"

"I understand."

~

The location which Pearl chose was something her siblings did not expect. She was the lady of pride, elegance, and confidence. The majority of places she visited and the people she knew met her standards. Although, growing up in a rich home and marrying into another did not let her lose her empathy, which is why she chose the place she did. The smile she had on her face as she drove into the woods reflected her excitement and cheer which only brightened at the sight of the small stall in the middle of the road.

As the siblings got out of the car, the scent of hot and tasty food instantly salivated them. It made them feel hungry even though they knew they had snacks not very long ago.

The three siblings walked near the stall. It wasn't a fancy place , not even an ounce of luxury, which they were very familiar with was present. The stall was nothing else but a kitchen, where hardly three people could fit. The tables were outside of the stall, in the open, airy sky. It was getting darker every passing minute. The sun had almost settled as the moon itself to shine.

"What is this place?" Sophia asked quietly at the unfamiliar. She stood between her elder siblings like a little kid would between their parents.

"This is ...." Miles spoke lowly, "-— this is a special place." He replied. His eyes not escaping the sight. He had a smile on his face that twinkled his eyes.

Sophia scowled at her brother. His answer helped her close to none, other than the fact that it meant something to him and his twin. In hopes of a better answer, she turned to her sister and tried again.

"Why'd you bring us here? This place doesn’t really look good,"

Pearl looked at his sister and smiled, "this is where I and Miles used to come. It was when we were very little and when dad wasn't as successful as he is right now. This used to be our favourite place to come,"

Sophia blinked at Pearl and nodded. "That's nice…” her eyes grew bigger. She looked down at her hand which was gripped into Pearl’s who dragged her nearing the stall. The owners quickly identified the twins. It was an old couple. The women’s eyes dampened at the sight of them. And when they came to know that Sophia was their sister, she was treated like a baby. They cooed at her, caressed her face with a couple of kisses here and there on the cheeks as they grabbed her face in their wrinkly hands.

Despite feeling being violated, Sophia laughed it out, respecting their emotions.

Jamie, the old lady, offered them to take a seat at the tables. Nova, her husband took their orders and left the trip alone.

"So do you like this place?" Pearl asked merrily. She and Sophia were sitting beside each other whereas Miles sat in front of them, arms crossed on the table, looking around, smiling at the nostalgia.

Sophia nodded, "it's my first time eating in an open place like this but ... This is cool. I would like to come here again," she shrugged her shoulders with a cheeky smile.

"Oh of course," Pearl patted her shoulder, "I would also love to come here more often,"

Miles sighed with his shoulders dropping, "It was very clever of you. I never realised how much I missed this place."

Pearl giggled with pressed lips, "you're welcome."

They soon got distracted by the fragrance of the food the old couple was preparing. They dug into it as soon as it arrived and savoured every bit of it. Small conversations irrupted within the circle which was mostly bought up by Pearl. She would tell stories like how once Miles and she should snuck out of their homes after Roy and Lana’s marriage because they would take them to fancy restaurants and not this one which they missed a lot. And because they were still underage when they pulled this stunt, they were forever banned from using public transport, leaving them to ask for their parents to take them places or the drivers who they knew would snitch on them for going to an isolated place alone. And Sophia’s stomach almost hurt from laughter when she saw how embarrassed Miles was when Pearl teased him for being a naughty little boy breaking rules.

Sophia agreed to herself that she had not had such a delicious meal in a very long time. As the food penetrated her stomach, she got more and more tired. Leaning against pearl's shoulder, she closed her lids to take a break. Slowly lulling to sleep when Pearl wrapped her hand around her head.

"It feels great to be back here," Miles spoke. He was looking up, high in the sky. It was clear, only two street lights illuminating the road. "Thank you, Pearl. I didn't think I would get to come here again," He looked at her smiling.

There was a long pause where Pearl looked at her nails and fidgeted with them, smiling, "Mom loved this place." She knew Miles would not comment on this so she did not bother waiting for one, "I wish she had never left us,"

"She left for her selfish reasons," Miles reasoned quickly, his eyes darkening. "She left because of her lack of patience and selflessness,"

"I kinda miss having a mom," Pearl confessed shrugging. "I wish Lana could be the one for me, for us."

"Stop wishing," Miles grumbled, frowning a little, "we cannot change the past. And Lana can never be our mother. Even if we try, she would never accept us as her kids," His voice became and as cold as ice.

"Lana could be quite a disaster sometimes," Pearl chuckled to herself.

"Every bad has something good about it. Suppose if Lana is the bad here, then maybe ..." Miles looked at his little sister who fell asleep against Pearl's side. "So maybe Soph is the good,"

Pearl caressed Sophia's head gently glancing at her, "I guess, you're right,’’ she never realised when her eyes became a pool of tears.  ‘’I just ... miss her. There had been times when I eagerly needed a woman, a mother. But there wasn't any," Times like when she got her first period. Or when she needed a piece of parental advice about her first boyfriend. She never had anyone to rely upon.

"That woman doesn't deserve us. She left us. She didn't think about us once or tried to communicate. It's better to just forget her," Miles' voice was calm and collective as he summarised this time. He took a pause and spoke again, "At the end of the day ... Look at us. We don't need her, we've already got everything we need."