Sebastian relaxed in his chair in his office at home and watched with deceptive idleness as Elisa approached him. Tiny hairs rising on the back of his neck, she made him nervous.
"Have a seat," Sebastian motioned at the empty chair across the table from him. "Would you like anything to drink?"
Elisa kept mum, avoiding eye contact, all the while scanning his office and taking in every detail. Elisa walked up to his desk. A picture of Sebastian and Aryanna posing together caught her eye.
She picked up the frame and took a closer look. Upon waking up and learning Henifer had taken them under her wing in her house, she felt overjoyed and a little depressed. Elisa wondered what Sebastian saw in Aryanna when she was so plain but upon a closer look in the dimly lit room, she saw her beauty.
Her hair, the darkest shade of dusky black she had ever seen, seemed to feed on the firelight, glowing with incandescent heat.
The slender wings of her brows and the heavy fringe of her lashes were a darker shade of auburn, while her skin was fair and a bit sharp on the nose and cheeks.
Elisa was amused by the festive sparke in Aryanna's eyes in the photo, it made one wonder what made her so happy. Aryanna had unfashionably full lips that were colored a natural rose, and large, round olive green eyes. Her eyes glistened brightly that it was nearly blinding.
"You look happy here," Elisa commented, though her eyes hadn't cast a glance on Sebastian in the frame.
"I was happy that day. It was at the reception of our wedding," Sebastian answered, wary of her.
"What is it like?" Elisa asked, setting the photo down where it was before. "To love and be loved in return," she said pleasantly. Her lips curved up with the first real smile she'd had in a long time. "Is it scorching or frosty?"
"A little bit of both."
"I'm glad."
Silence followed, Elisa found Sebastian to be a little intimidating, with his winty jade eyes and dangerous male beauty. Far from the boy she remembers him to be in her memories.
She took Sebastian's offer and sat down. Locking her gaze to his, she recalled how they used to play together as kids. The way he always managed to make her heart flutter as they played hide and seek, before she learnt the bitter truth, that he was mercifully her blood brother.
Elisa swallowed against the sharp pain in her throat. The truth was bitter for her to stomach. She came to learn the truth a little too late after Sebastian had already warmed his way into her heart as an opposite sex, not-so as a brother. In light of that fact, she often had episodes and breakdowns.
Sebastian's stomach gave a nervous leap in the silence. Elisa met his eyes fiercely and made no movement to continue the conversation. He took know not of where to start or what topic to initiate with her.
A bridge of sixteen years had built between them. One which filled his beings with guilt for leaving her behind, he could've handled everything a lot better than the way he did.
Elisa studied the beauty of him in the silence. She found him to be was tall and lean, his body a perfect frame for his elegant full-figure.
His jet-black hair was thick and slightly curly. His pale jade eyes glittered like rare diamonds. Beautiful eyes that showed no emotion when he smiled, it reminded of Jasmine. The two were like two peas from the same pod; eaqually gorgeous and lethal in an icy way.
"How are you feeling?" He chose her health as a good place to start.
"I feel hurt, Seb. I get you hate my mom and our dad but what did I ever do to be abandoned by you?"
An uncomfortable feeling settled in Sebastian's chest. Elisa cornered him with her inquiry, it put him out for punishing her for the mistakes of their parents. The fault lied with him for cutting contact and moving away.
He extended the perimeter of his hatred for Richard and Monica to his siblings and cast off the good relationship they had. Elisa, Jasmine and Jacob were all torn up by his hard-hearted decision.
"If you were going to break my heart, why were you so nice to me, Seb?"
"I didn't…"
"Why come back when you decided I wasn't worthy of being a part of your life?" Elisa cut in.
"Elisa, it was not my intention to hurt y…"
"Yet I got hurt, over and over again. My world turned upside down the day you disappeared from my life, Sebastian."
"I'm here now. I'll make it up to you," Sebastian confidently said. He walked over to her, his heart hammering with worry of the train the conversation was taking. "Give me a chance to rekindle our friendship."
"Did you give me a chance?" Elisa asked. "You weren't the only one who got hurt with everything that happened. My world crumbled too, I needed you to stay so we can get through it together, but you left."
Elisa scoffed. Her world was burning to ashes and instead of helping her, he added fuel to the fire. She averted her gaze from him and stared at the photo once more.
"You found someone to replace the role I played in your life."
"Aryanna is different, Elisa. She is my wife and my best friend."
"Will you deny the truth. The real reason why you cut contact with me when the truth came to light!"
"I don't understand what you mean," Sebastian tensed.
"She might be the one you love now but I'm the one you loved first, Sebastian," Elisa rose from her seat and strolled the short distance between them. She lifted her weight and stood on her toes, her eyes fixed on Sebastian.
Sebastian inhaled sharply. He clapsed his hand against his desk, the scent of her shampoo fills his mind, and for a moment he feels weak.
He swallows nervously as Elisa brushed her lips against the corner of his mouth.
"It's the reason your disappearance hurt so much. Because you knew what you meant to me for I held the same importance to you but it didn't stop you from leaving me," she confessed, she stepped back and pulled away from him.
"…"
"It's a beautiful photo. Don't let the frame break or the picture will be destroyed," she offered Sebastian advise on her way out of his office.
Elisa hesitated by the door, she swung her head back and took one last lingering glance of him. 'I'll hold you in my memory, Seb,' she slammed the door shut and left.