"Yeah. She's gone home." Kevin spoke hesitatingly. He had no intention of letting his sister know that he got no clue of Louisa's whereabouts. He had turned around quickly and gone upstairs even before Louisa left.
"Did Louisa say anything to you?" Claire said carefully as she was afraid to irritate her brother more. She knew that Kevin was already in his worst mood.
"What do you want her to tell me? Speaking of this, let's talk about her." Kevin originally planned to go upstairs but suddenly changed his mind upon hearing his sister. He walked back to the couch and sat down.
Talk about Louisa? Why? I don't know anything." What Kevin did automatically disturbed Claire. She didn't know what was inside her brother's head. His serious face was enough to make her feel uneasy.
It seems that we didn't have any heart-to-heart talk before, right?" Instead of getting straight to the point, Kevin decided to start their conversation by devious questioning. He was staring straight to his sister's eyes as if he was reading her unruly mind.
What's wrong, Kevin? You've changed. You were never an emotional creature. This is not like you at all. If I'm remembering right, you have never talked to me on your own initiative, let alone chatted with me." Puzzled was not even enough to describe Claire's expression. She didn't even know where Kevin's opening gambit was leading to. What game was he playing?
Claire, did you forget that we had a talk last night?" Kevin had to admit that he wasn't the best brother. His parents were all over Claire all the time, so he had always been an isolated child. He had confirmed at a young age that his sister never needed his love and he ended up subconsciously ignoring his only sister as the years passed by. Regardless of his existence, Claire would still be the beloved daughter of their parents and the object of their elders' affection because there were only a few girls in their family. The bottom line here was that Claire never needed him at all. As the saying goes, a thing is being valued in proportion to its rarity. Wasn't his sister the best example of it?
Was it a talk? I think it was more like a rebuke." Claire let out a sarcastic smile as she poured her bitterness out.
"Was it? I don't think so. Would you like some tea?" It was then that Kevin stood up and walked to the table where their tea making machine was. He switched it on and ended up scratching his head with embarrassment as realization suddenly hit him. He knew he didn't care for Claire too much. Was he even qualified to be a brother?
Sure. Although I don't like tea, I won't hesitate to drink it since you make it for me." Claire pursed her lips.
What are you talking about? Why would you hesitate? It's tea, not poison, okay? Stop acting like you are going to die after drinking this." A helpless smile cracked Kevin's lips. Although he couldn't make tea as skillfully and meticulously as Daisy, the tea he made was good. Claire didn't even need to worry about its taste.
"Well, let's come back to our story now. What do you want to talk about? You're suddenly treating me so well and it's giving me the creeps. If you have anything to say, say it. Don't beat around the bush." Claire thought that Kevin might be up to something as he was behaving quite strangely.
"As I just said, I want to talk about Louisa. You two have been friends for years. You should know her well." Kevin put the tea set in front of him and looked up at Claire. What was she so afraid of? He just wanted to talk with her, right? Was it because she had served the devil and felt guilty?
"Oh, it turns out that you want to talk about Louisa. What's wrong? She must have said something to you just now. What's your opinion?" Claire shrank back on the couch in fear that her words might provoke Kevin's anger. It was obvious that she indeed respected her brother a lot despite her crazy behavior.
You've already known what she said to me, right? I got a question. Who is more important to you, Claire? Is it Louisa or me? Kevin began to soak the tea. He had already taught of sitting with Claire and having a heart to heat chat with her since they were in the capital city. It was just that he couldn't find any suitable opportunity for this.
It's obvious. You're surely more important to me. You're my brother. How can you even compare yourself to Louisa who is just my friend?" Claire got more confused. She suddenly felt like she was skating on thin ice.
"One more question. Whose happiness is more important, mine or Louisa's?" Kevin proceeded systematically at his own pace. He had mentally calculated that he couldn't talk to Claire with undue haste. Instead, he had to approach things patiently and methodologically.
"Are you alright, Kevin? Why are you asking me such strange questions?" Claire reached for Kevin's forehead tentatively and found that his cold wasn't gone completely. Was it the reason why he was acting like this?
"I'm okay. Just answer me honestly." Kevin took her hand away and pushed a cup of tea before her.
"Surely your happiness is more important. Well, I'm sorry. It's just that you are somewhat abnormal tonight. You keep saying something I don't understand." Claire felt her uneasiness getting worse. Did Louisa go too far and say something to upset Kevin? What he said was quite baffling.