It was obvious Ciara was not in a good mood. Arnold watched her as she approached the table. It was a slightly wide and long table with fifteen chairs on each side of the table. The seats for the head of the family and the one opposite it were empty and Ciara suddenly felt slight pain in her chest area. Ciara pulled a seat beside Aida, and sat on it, directly facing Arnold. She turned her attention to the young lady beside her. She knew the young lady was her niece, and she was yet to introduce herself to her niece.
"Hi!" Ciara greeted.
"Hi" Aida responded.
"Aida, right?" Ciara asked.
"Yeah. And you are?" Aida asked pretending she didn't know who she was.
"I'm Ciara, Vanessa's younger sister" Ciara replied beaming with a smile.
The sudden change in her mood, baffled everyone at the table but they kept their confusions to themselves and went about to continue their chit chats.
"That makes you, my aunt" Aida said smiling. "Nice to meet you, Aunt Ciara" Aida said extending her hand.
"Oh my! Only Ciara is fine. Nice to meet you too, honey" Ciara said as she shook hands with Aida.
"I heard you were twins. I mean you have a twin sister. Where is she?" Aida asked, trying to scan the faces of the ladies at the table.
"She's not here yet. She'll be here in a jiffy" Ciara said, when she saw Aida scanning faces.
"Oh, I see" Aida said and turned her attention back to Ciara.
"We're identical. You'd know she's the one the moment you meet her" Ciara said.
"That's wonderful! How does it feel to have another person have the same face as you?"
"Wonderful! I mean I can walk to any shop borrow any item, direct them to come to my house for their money. Guess what i do next" Ciara asked proudly.
"Have your twin pay?" Aida asked curiously. Aida felt quite relaxed and calm. She didn't feel any need to please Ciara and all the tension she felt earlier had dissipated into thin air.
"Wrong! I call my twin sister, sit beside her and ask the vendor which one among us borrowed the item" Ciara said laughing.
"You put the vendor through a tough time" Aida said giggling.
One thing was for sure, and Aida knew it, Ciara was fun to be with.
"My twin is never going to pay for anything she didn't buy. Well, i also pretend i don't even know the vendor" Ciara said and they, Aida and Ciara, burst into laughter.
"I pity the poor vendor" Aida chipped in.
"Yh, but eventually Vanessa pays" Ciara said
"You're kinda mischievous, i guess" Aida observed.
"You're right. I'm the black sheep among the Brown Wilson ladies" Ciara replied with a grin.
"I don't think you're a black sheep. I think you're just being yourself" Aida said
"Woooow! Someone finally sees me for me!" Ciara exclaimed as she raised her shoulders proudly and turned to look at Vanessa who pretended she hadn't heard anything.
"Do you call that 'being herself'? I thought...." Arnold said, finally joining the conversation.
"Oh! Haters!" Ciara interjected.
"Well, if your definition for hater, is some who tells the truth as it is, then i guess i am one" Arnold said wearing a smirk. "Well, well, Aida, why do you think she's being real when she's being mischievous"
"I think she doesn't hide who she is. She doesn't pretend she's good" Aida replied
"Bingo!" Ciara exclaimed.
"I see..." before Arnold could complete his sentence, maids came bustling in. They held differently coloured cookwares which they aligned in the middle of the dining table. Others walked in with trays of freshly baked breads, varieties of evaporated milk, cubed as well as granular sugar, honey in tightly covered jars, fried eggs and margarines. Just when Aida thought the foods were enough, a young woman walked in with a tray of fruits.
"That's her! That's your twin!" Aida exclaimed happily.