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Lost to life yet again
(SOFIA'S POV)
The air in the room was charged with raw tension, alive and electric. Jared was still standing by the door with his new girlfriend - my replacement, perched on his arm.
She didn't even have the decency to stand by herself, leaning on Jared the whole time like a silly highschool teenager out with her crush.
I rolled my eyes and looked away. I wanted to be anywhere but in the same room with Jared and Arielle.
It all felt insanely awkward, like walking around the house with no clothes on.
Jared himself looked uneasy at the sight of Arielle in the house but he did well to mask it up almost immediately. He took his arm off the lady and prodded her forward before shutting the door behind them.
He stepped into the house and nodded to his mother. "Good afternoon, mum."
Then he looked at Arielle and Ashley, and said a polite, "Good afternoon."
Arielle nodded coolly before Ashley followed suit. I could sense the malice rippling off of her, like a wild hunger to cause Jared some harm.
He didn't say anything to me and I didn't mind. I looked away, content to enjoy my own company and ruminate over my own thoughts.
Arielle's gaze locked on mine as Jared walked past and moved ahead to the stairway. But I looked away, careful to hide the effect Jared's presence was having on me.
Mrs. Smith must have noticed the tension in the room but her face remained straight and unmoved, almost drained of any emotion as she rose from her seat.
"I'll be down in a minute," she said and walked off in the direction of the stairs. We remained silent in her absence, our foods untouched on the table before us. Mrs. Smith returned shortly after with Jared and the new lady in tow.
"Please take your seats," she said to the newcomers with a very thin smile. The chef immediately reappeared at the table and set out a pair of plates to cater for Jared and his girlfriend.
"Shall we begin our lunch then," Mrs. Smith announced and picked up her cutlery.
The rest of us followed suit, doing our best to pretend that the air wasn't reeking with suffocating awkwardness.
"Alright everyone. So this here, is Tiana," Mrs. Smith pointed to the new lady.
I felt a tinge of jealousy and sadness at the announcement even though I'd expected it and seen it coming. It didn't take away the fact that it hurt so much.
"She's Tiana Langley," Mrs. Smith reintroduced.
Ashley's eyes narrowed and she looked at Tiana through new eyes.
"Wait... Langley as in the Langley Co.? The people who want my uncle's business?" Ashley asked.
"Indeed. Her father owns a chain of companies and he just like my son, share a very unhealthy ambition," Mrs. Smith explained.
"It's not unhealthy to want something more, mum. Where's it written that it's wrong?" Jared snapped back.
Ashley didn't look too pleased with his perspective and dropped her cutlery down on the table with a loud clatter.
"So you'd rather run another company out of business because you're so blinded by greed and can't tell the difference between ambition and wickedness, huh? It's why you want to run my uncle's business down to the ground so you could buy it and expand, right? To please your new girlfriend, huh?" she said passionately.
Jared kept silent for a while before he let out a little sigh, the type one made when faced with disturbance from an unbecoming acquaintance who they were being polite with.
"It's business. Nothing personal," he said with a shrug.
"Unbelievable!" Ashley sighed.
All the while, Tiana sat with her arms folded, occasionally picking a piece of grape from the plate before her. She probably still had her thing with diets.
She hadn't changed much from what she used to look like a while back.
We'd known each other as girls. With
our parents as business partners, we'd been raised almost together as sisters. She used to get a lot of my, princess dresses which I didn't like Not because her parents couldn
afford them, but because they were too expensive designers and my parents would rather give them out than have them go to waste at home. Because we were almost the same body size, we got mistaken for twins and dressed the part occasionally.
I was nearly half a decade older. She'd be somewhere around twenty now, I figured.
Anyone meeting us for the first time would believe we were complete strangers to each other. So far, she hadn't shown any form of recognition for me before the rest and I could only feel a little amused by her act.
I looked away from her in the same manner. I took a sip of water from the glass sitting before me on the table not because I was thirsty, but because I wanted to keep myself busy realized my hands were shaking terribly for no reason I could identify and I quickly placed the
glass down on the table.novelbin
Ashley and Jared went back and forth, with Arielle playing mediator and trying to calm her friend down.
"This is all aside from the point, people," Mrs. Smith intervened eventually. She rolled her eyes and rubbed the ridge of her nose.
"She's right. Let me introduce myself.. by myself," Tiana finally spoke up. The entire table went silent and all eyes were trained on her.
She seemed to be enjoying the attention because her lips stretched out in a smile.
"Hello, Sofia," she finally acknowledged my presence. She has a smile that was anything but friendly. Ashley and Arielle turned to look at me quizzically. "Hello," I nodded in response, my eyes never leaving Tiana. She'd not changed at all. Even her singsong voice had remained the same.
"I'm Tiana Langley as you all know
already. And I used to be friends
with Sofia when we were younger.
She used to be like my elder sister and I know she'd want the best for me. I know it's hard for her because I've always known Jared to be her knight in shining armor... you know, like her first love and whatnot." she paused, "But I want to assure you, Sofia, that I'm not doing any of this out of spite but because I have a
duty to my family. I didn't even
dream that in any lifetime I'd be with
Jared."
At this point, she took Jared's hand on the table and gave him a smile. Jared flashed her a brief smile and looked away.
I looked at both of them and for the first time, I felt really bad for myself.
Why did I have to be unfortunate and lose my womb? It should be me holding Jared's hand and planning our marriage, I thought sadly to myself.
"Do you even love him?" I suddenly asked, my voice thick with bitterness.
For everything that has happened, one thing I knew remained clear to both myself and anyone else was the fact that I loved Jared genuinely.
I wasn't perfect and I knew it. But at least I loved him. If I was going to have to give him up then Tiana was supposed to love him better at least... right? I reasoned to myself. But what was the use fighting a battle I'd set myself up to lose already?
I let out a little sigh. "Look... all I just want is for Jared to be happy. If you're both together for love then you'll have my blessings," I admitted, ignoring the pain in my heart.
Tiana flinched a little at my words and slowly withdrew her hand from Jared's. I could tell there was a bit of friction between them.
"Love? That's a little bit too strong for now. This marriage is more.. practical," she said.
"What do you mean? You're not planning on breaking Jared's heart are you? Because I promise you I won't let you," I fired back hotly, rising from my seat.
"Don't be too harsh on the girl, Sofia," Mrs. Smith cautioned sharply.
"She's still young. All I want is for them to get engaged first. They'll spend the rest of their time working on their relationship. Love can be learned," Mrs. Smith said. "In the meantime, Tiana would go abroad to continue her graduate studies," she added with an air of finality.
I bit back a retort and sat down in my seat. I looked at Jared to see if he had anything at all to say. I'd not intended to show any emotion but somehow I'd managed to jump into making a fuss over something that was literally not my business.
I watched his body language and noticed the little glances he stole at Arielle while she wasn't looking.
My eyes water with tears as I began to accept the reality of things-Jared had moved on from me forever.
I'd lost my appetite for the food so I quietly excused myself and left the table. I dashed into the adjoining bathroom through the living room and locked myself in before sinking to the floor and letting all my tears out. I'd lost to life yet again.