"Why is this place so cold? Don't tell me you didn't have firewood?" As usual, Phil had a gentle smile on his face when he walked inside the house. He lifted his arm, showing a take-out. "Dinner?"
"Did you get one for me?"
"Orange Chicken, your favorite."
She nodded and smiled.
"Thanks."
"I know you're not in the mood to cook."
"Oh… let's go to the kitchen."
"Not in the living room?"
"No. I miss… eating at the oak table." She lied. Of course, she couldn't let him see the folder that was still in the living room. Luckily, she had closed it earlier.
Phil reached out and slowly patted her head.
"What a baby."
"Hey!"
Phil chuckled as he walked towards the kitchen.
"I will change my clothes. I've been cleaning all day." Another excuse. She wanted to have the time alone to hide those files. When Phil shrugged and went to the kitchen, Ava immediately got the files and went to her room. She made sure to hide it well before she changed her clothes and came back down.
The two immediately started eating over beer.
"How's Marylis?" she asked.
Phil shook his head in response. "Why are you asking about Marylis? She has me. Of course, she's fine."
"Right."
"What was that for?"
'What?"
"The eye roll."
"I don't know what you're talking about." A chuckle escaped her lips. After knowing about Matthew's suspicions, she couldn't stop thinking about it in front of her own brother.
"Anyway, Marylis is good. She asked me to bring you takeouts. She knew you wouldn't be in the mood to cook after moving."
"Yeah…" she texted them yesterday when she arrived inside the house, telling them that she was already home. She started eating the chicken using the chopstick as she observed his expressions.
As usual, Phil looked calm, gentle, and handsome. Growing up, Ava was always pissed that Phil looked really good. She thought the difference in their looks made it too obvious that they weren't blood-related siblings.
While Phil was talk and muscular, Ava grew up really thin and small. She was lucky, she had a growth spurt when she was in college. Five-seven isn't too bad for a woman. Still, Ava wished that she could have grown taller to at least match her brother's six-foot frame.
"How are you?" Phil opened a can of beer. Its hissing sound attracted Ava's attention.
She stared at the liquor for a few seconds before she answered. "I'm good. The house is good too. Though, I need to do some furniture shopping soon. Oh, and the water isn't good."
"Really? I thought Marylis hired someone to check it before you arrive?"
"She must have forgotten about it. And why would you even ask her to do that when she was already thirty-nine weeks pregnant?"
He gave an awkward laugh.
An awkward silence descended between them.
"How's your business?" Ava asked.
"Marylis didn't tell you?"
"Tell me what?" she frowned.
"Well… the business is doing good. Too many wives want to get some evidence against their husbands. However, I stopped taking new clients a couple of months back. I hired two more people to do it for me. I wanted to take care of Marylis while she's pregnant. I didn't want to leave her."
Pursing her lips, Ava nodded. "When was that?"
"Hmmm…. Two months ago?"
"So what were you doing in Anchorage all this time? You're not really playing video games all day, right?"
"What?" Phil laughed. "You think I'm still in college?" Then he patted his chest and proudly said, "I made our nursery."
"Of course," she smiled. Phil mentioned that he was in Anchorage for the last two months. So… what about the CCTV footage of Phil around Valdez when that woman disappeared a couple of weeks back?
Valdes is about six to seven hours away from Anchorage. However, she couldn't sense any lies in Phil's words. Lying is one of the easiest to spot for an empath like her. The change of the aura from the person, the heartbeat, the gulping. Everything would produce some weird vibe that would flow out of the person when they lie.
And Phil wasn't nervous. He felt happy and confident, proud even. A person who was lying wouldn't show those emotions.
"You okay V?"
"Of course. I'm just… " She sighed just as concern flashed in Phil's eyes. Why was she even trying to investigate her own brother? Phil would never hurt Gabriella or any other witch!
"I went inside our mother's room earlier." She said.
"You— "
"I know. It's just that… I wanted to check."
Phil stared at her face, his blue eyes flickered with sadness. The brunt of his emotion hit her. It was raw, so raw, she could feel it scraping her insides. The absence of guilt in her brother's emotions immediately made her feel better.
The two of them stopped talking when a doorbell interrupted them.
"Oh! I ordered… would you like to get that?"
"Ordered what?"
"Your favorite pizza. I thought it would be nice to have some. But I was already on my way here so…"
"Oh!" Ava immediately made her way to the door. And paid the middle-aged man delivery guy.
"I'm sorry. Do you need something else?" she asked when the man just stared at her after her tip.
"Ah… no." the middle-aged man smiled. Then he lowered his red cap and said, "I just feel like I have seen you before. I have been delivering around this area."
"Oh… I grew up here."
"I see… Thanks for the tip. Bye."
The man waved and went to his bike. She wondered why the man was surprised to see her in this house. Though, she knew he wasn't lying when he said that he always delivered in this area.
She sighed.
Sometimes, times like this really made her want to turn off being an empath. She felt like this ability intrudes on someone's privacy. However, it was also pretty useful when she was still with Trillium.
"Gosh, I have missed this pizza." This place was located just about a mile away from here. Growing up, Gabriella would sometimes buy this particular pizza with this flavor.
The two started talking about the past and Phil being a father. Then, they started watching some of the older movies that they used to watch while they were kids.
Phil left around eleven. While Ava wanted him to stay, she understood that Marylis needed help. Still, she was thankful for the visit.
However, her lightened mood instantly disappeared when she discovered something…
The files that she hid earlier… were gone.
Someone… took them.