The sound of her alarm buzzing woke Jasmine up from her afternoon nap.
She sat up on the bed and pulled off the sleeping mask from her eyes. Jasmine took a few seconds before opening her eyes.
Fragments of her conversation with Leah haunted her memory. She hated the idea of Leah using Elisa's condition for her agendas. Jasmine could smell schemes and plots under Leah's perfect smile and it made her head hurt.
"I hope I won't have to deal with her again. What bad luck!" she cursed under her breath.
Picking her cell phone from the bedside table, she got up and headed out for lunch. She took a day off to recharge from the events of the previous night.
Jasmine intended for a peaceful quite day, little did she expect that her day would be filled with countless unexpected guests.
She took the last step down the stairs and shot her head up to call for a maid. The urgency to inquire about her lunch pressed her as her stomach rumbled loudly.
To her surprise, she caught a glimpse of her brother, Jacob casually chatting with Jalana in the main room. Two lines formed in between her eyebrows as Sebastian's little sister came into her view.
Jasmine examined Jalana for a moment, the girl was the exact opposite of who she was. Jalana was warm, sweet and lively. The girl lit up the room with her pleasant smile and light personality. For a second, Jasmine stood still watching the outcome of growing up in a loving home, something she never had since birth.
"What's going on here?"
Jacob and Jalana were paralyzed with shock for a full minute. Neither of them were aware that Jasmine was in the house and weren't expecting her company. It stunned them to see her at home in her pajamas, instead of at the office in a formal outfit.
"Jasmine, what are you doing home?" Jacob asked, nervously moving about in his seat.
"I live here, Jacob," Jasmine answered. "The question puzzling my mind at the moment is,what is she doing here?" Her voice lowered a notch slightly above a whisper.
"Good afternoon, Jasmine," Jalana greeted her cold-hearted half sister.
"Keep your pleasantries to yourself," Jasmine harshly shut Jalana up. She gave her attention to her twin brother, her eyes growing colder than ever. "Let's just call this what it is. You've betrayed me!"
Jacob blinked his eyes nervously. He cast down his head in shame, he had indeed betrayed his sister's trust by going behind her back and forming a friendship with Jalana. Jasmine has always been there fo him, the least he owed her was not to go behind her back.
"Jacob isn't to blame," Jalana stood up in Jacob's defense. "I forced myself into his li…"
Jasmine raised her hand in the air, silencing Jalana, she didnt care for all the girl had to say. She sat down and massaged her temples to wade off a headache.
She went on to tap her long manicured nails over her blue-panda phone case. Her mind racing as she wrapped her mind around the fact that Jacob and Jalana are friends.
Of all the people in the world, Jasmine felt she knew her twin brother best, yet she didn't see his friendship with Jalana coming. For a moment, she found herself second guessinh her intuitions, she rested her head on her free hand deep in thought.
"I admit Jalana made the first move but I was more than happy to accept the olive branch she extended. She's nice, compassionate and funny. Once you get to know her you'll see how wonderful she is," Jacob expressed his opinion on the matter.
Jalana's face lit up with the brightest smile at the praises Jacob showered on her. She felt the same way about him. Jacob was easier to talk to and he understood and could relate to her as they were the same age
"If she's funny, laugh," Jasmine snapped.
The temprature in the room went down a few notches. Jasmine heard him but she couldn't voice out the emotions in her heart. Jalana and her family had ignored their existance for as long as she could recall. Refusing to acknowledge the blood relation that they shared, a decision that left Jasmine scarred and wounded.
She had to step up for her siblings and be the adult voice in the room when she too was a child. Jasmine knew deep down that she`s forgotten how to be a teenager, a luxury that Jacob enjoyed because she carried all the heavy burdens on her shoulder.
"I'd love to get to know you too, Jasmine. I want to be your friend and be close to you. We're sisters, and that's what sisters do right?"
Jalana flashed her brightest smile at her sister, Jasmine. Hoping her warmth would melt Jasmine's heart. Jalana had her fingers crossed, not hoping for hugs and kisses right away but for a chance to get to know Jasmine and keep her friendship with her brother, Jacob.
"Did you just realize I'm your sister?" Jasmine coldly asked. "Where have you been in the last sixteen years, huh? Or did you simply not wish to get to know me then?" She hounded her with numerous question before she answered the first one.
Jalana went speechless. She hadn't been in a position to approach Jasmine and Jacob in the past. Her mother and Sebastian disliked the Kincades to the core and bringing up the topic was never an option.
She took a risk by getting close to Jacob and when Sebastian found out, he frown upon it. Her luck favoured her that he found it out at the gala and although he got angry at her, the events that followed refused him room to scold or punish her for it.
"I apologize sincerely that it took me this long to reach out. I only hope that I'm not too late to make a place for myself in your heart, sister," Jalana humbly pleaded.
Jasmine recalled all the desperate efforts she made to reach out to Jalana's family. Her loud cries for help that went unanswered and frowned. Her innocence was the price she paid living the life her family cursed her too, Jalana's side of the family could've helped her but they couldn't be bothered.
"It's too late, Jalana. So read my glossed lips, you and I are never going to be friends," Jasmine got to her feet. She felt slightly dizzy, hungry and bitter.
Her unexpected guests got on her last nerves. Leah boldly asked her for her trust and Jalana daringly requested for friendship and a chance to create a bond of sisterhood with her. Jasmine's patience was running thin.
"Get out!"
Jasmine showed Jalana the door. "Jasmine be reasonable," Jacob implored her.
"She's leaving in one piece. That's me being reasonable, Jacob," Jasmine retorted.
"It's alright, Jacob, I'll leave," Jalana spoke up. She didn't wish to be the reason that Jacob and Jasmine get into a fight.
Jalana said her goodbyes and walked to the door to leave. Before she could touch the doorknob, the door unlocked and were pushed wide open from the outside.
Jalana, Jacob and Jasmine snapped their heads up to catch sight of the visitor. They three of them stood aghast, blown away by the person standing outside the door.
"You've got to be kidding me!" Jasmine exclaimed taken aback by all the surprise guests paying her a visit.