"Please Lilly! Pretty please!" Petunia hugged her sister's arm, once again being stupefied by how muscled that arm felt compared to her own. But she was on a mission! Life changing mission! Cannot be distracted!
"Pleaaaase Lillypad!" Ha, she took heavy cannons out! Her Lillypad always protected her! Being on the playground at kindergarten or restrooms of highschool, whenever she was bullied her older stronger sister protected her.
She squeezed tears out of corners of her eyes. Why is it not working this time!?
Lilly stood there, while her baby sister shook her and swayed, deeply sighing at her fate. Why was she the one born first? Why was she the one who was stronger? How did it come to this?
She hugged her sister back, feeling her fake sobbing on her shoulder and scrutinized frilly and lacy wedding dress innocently displayed on a tailor doll.
"Explain it to me properly, Petula." She sat on a pink soft sofa, pulling her sister to sit next to her "I just got home, no one even called to tell me you are getting married." Talk about being blindsided.
"I did call you, and left messages" Petunia pouted "you ignored all my calls."
Lilly thought for a moment, then pulled out her mobile phone. Yup, notifications of messages and calls received were clearly there.
"I am so sorry, I was doing high altitude training" climbing to Machu Picchu was so fun "and had no signal there. And then I went straight to the airport."
Petunia rolled eyes at her. Even since she went to university and her sister opted to focus on her sports achievements, she could barely get in touch with her. Either training in some wilderness or competing, Lilly mastered the skill of ignoring rest of the world.
"Yeah," she grumbled "that's how it all started." She leaned back into plush sofa and reminded her dear sis.
"You remember that New Year charity gala event we were supposed to go with our parents. The one you missed because weather in Australia was perfect for surfing?"
Lilly remembered of course. She took some time to explore competitive surfing scene and participated in some events while at it. Got a cup or two as well.
"I got a gold and a bronze!" She said proudly, only to be elbowed by irritated Petula.
"Well, I had to go alone with our parents, and then got invited to dance by that obn.. Noah." She grinded her teeth. Cannot disparage her fiance too much if she wants to push him onto Lilly.
"He is a heir of that construction consortium owner, the one our dad is cooperating with lately, so I could not refuse." Cornering her like that in public, obnoxious.
"Then our mom made a comment how we look like a cute couple, dad laughed and patted his business partner how convenient that would be, and that old codg.. gentleman laughed as well and agreed!" She wanted to scream, but had to be calm. Like a lake. So lilipads do not sense danger.
"So basically, by the time dance ended I managed to explain Noah I had no intenton to date him, and he kindly agreed that we are mismatched." She was a bit surprised at how easy it was to discourage his initial interest in her.
"But it was too late, our parents already set us up with engagement and a wedding date." During one single song. Infuriating. Only comfort she had was horror in Noah eyes, she was not the only one terrified of the prospect.
"Wait," Lilly interrupted her "if Noah agreed you are mismatched, why did the deal went through? Could you not talk our parents out of it? He should be able to do he same with his parents. It's not like either of you are minors." Being full grown adult should have some weight in decision about marriage, it's not like taking up a new hobby or sport.
How disconnected her big sister became during this few years? Petunia narrowed her eyes pondering her own life choices. Perhaps she should have gotten into different university, create some distance with her parents as well. But she did move out to her own apartment and the business program she attended here was top notch.
"Well, mom pulled out the fact that I am 25, not getting younger, and that I already refused four other marriages she went to great length to find for me." Precisely one a year since she turned 21.
Lilly snickered "So did I, we are twins remember. She gets me into those just come and meet him, honey dinners every April. Why did you fold his time?"
"Because I do want to get married," Petunia whined and Lilly started wondering what did they talk about for the past half an hour "just not for Noah." Petunia ended with a whisper.
Lilly now finally felt the scent of truth coming off her sister "Oh, pray tell? Who is the lucky one, if it's not your official fiance Noah?"
Now, Lilly had her own expectations what would answer be, but seeing a blush appear on her sister's face, first lightly pink then full blown red, her eyebrows shot up to her hairline in amazement. No freaking way!
"Is it Jason?" She asked and then watched her apple faced sister nod then hide her face with her palms and squealed in highest possible pitch "I knoooow!"
Lilly was now flabbergasted. First she thought it was Theo, the most recently added high achiever from her sister's group of friends, but when she saw that blush..
"How? Why?" Well duh, all three of them were childhood friends and Jason had a crush on Petunia since like forever, but she always claimed to see him as a brother.
"Since freaking when?" Lilly almost started to swear.
"Last year." Petunia said from behind her palms.
Lilly thought for a bit "After you graduated?"
"Yeah," Petunia rubbed her face, then lowered her hands in her lap, twisting her fingers together "you know how he left for that STEM university program after highschool?"
Lilly knew, it was on the other side of the country. She felt sad but seeing him decide to move on from his failed love, gave her hope that he will find his own happiness. Then how? She looked at Petula and her messed up makeup made her melt. She did care.
"Well, he invited me for dinner to congratulate me on my graduation, so we talked." She looked down with slight bashful smile.
"He graduated as well, and just moved back. Planned to start his own environment management agency, so I gave him few suggestions about HR prospects that I knew from my Uni." Her lips were now in a full smile and she looked at Lilly with sparkling eyes.
"For the past year I have been working as CEO on his.." she blushed again "our company. We plan to go public with it by the end of the year and hit stock market after we finish setting up our company portfolio."
"Let me guess, you kept it a secret from our parents?" Lilly massaged her forehead.
"Well, if I tell them, dad will insist to invest, and then it would not be my achievement." Lilly understood that. Their parents were fine as parents go, caring and nurturing them, yet had a tendency to take all the credit for each and every achievement they managed to accomplish. A bit stifling from time to time.
"And that ended in you two becoming an item and you talking marriage... How?"
"Well, you know, when I got to that restaurant and asked about table, he was sitting there, and I could not recognize him." Lilly was afraid her sister will think her shallow, but before, whenever they were together as kids, she always saw Jason as that lanky kid with braces. They were friends for so long that she did not even differentiate him from her sister.
"I assume he grow up well?" Lilly was slightly amused by her sister's personality. She claimed Lilly to be detached from people and obsessed with her sports, yet she herself was completely into business management to the point that she did not even notice a harem of top students following her around on campus. She called them "study group" never even noticing all of them were male and single.
"He is the most wonderful human being I ever met. He is smart, creative, good with his hands, gentle, passionate..." Lilly started to laugh and Petunia pouted again.
"We started dating six months ago." Petunia looked at her wedding dress.
"I did not propose to him yet, and this mess with Noah is going to ruin everything." She wanted to go slow. It took her half a year to seduce Jason, he was such a serious man, concerned about her career and his influence on her prospects as female CEO in a field where there were not many women yet. Like she cared for any of that. If she wants to do it, she will. No one can stop Petunia Rhodes.
"So sister, will you dress in that gown, walk down the aisle instead of me, and while you are on the honeymoon I will elope with Jason and get married before anyone notices."
Lilly snorted, "Yeah right, if I put on that dress everyone will know it's not you. Our faces and hair might still be identical with some make up, but that thing has no sleeves."
She flexed her bicep "There, you see?"