“She’s my daughter,” Emma piped up, giving me a curious smile. “It’s nice to see you, Elijah. The two of you already know each other, right? Then isn’t this just perfect? We’re all going to be one big happy family.”
Shit. What happy family?
A waiter stopped by our table, so I didn’t have to say anything, and I breathed a sigh of relief. I looked at Sophia out the corner of my eye. She had her head ducked down, hands clasped tightly in her lap. Her hair had fallen over her shoulder so I couldn’t even see a part of the expression she had on her face.
She had to know what this meant, though. If our parents were married, then that made us step brother and sister.
“The coffee in this hotel is great,” Dad was saying. “Elijah, I think you’ll love it.”
“I’m sure I will,” I muttered.
Our parents ended up ordering for us because Sophia wasn’t saying anything, and I felt like she would snap if I even tried, so I was behaving myself.
It wasn’t like I begrudged my dad his happiness. If he was in love with someone, enough to marry her so quickly without even talking to me first, then it was serious. And he said they’d known each other before, so an old fling, too?
Just…of all the women in the world, why did it have to be Sophia’s mom!
I felt so stupid all of a sudden because I’d been trying so hard to make sure our relationship lasted, and with this, I could no longer be sure of that. I doubted Sophia would take the fact that our parents were married well, and my heart was already beating fast in my chest as I wondered how to get her to stay with me in spite of this.
Dating your step-sibling was weird…but it wasn’t like we’d known beforehand, right? I liked to think this wouldn’t change much in our relationship, but I didn’t think I could be that lucky.
I looked over at Dad and saw him and Emma had their heads together and they were talking. Dad looked like he was having the time of his life, his hand gently squeezing Emma’s on the table, practically showing off the fact that they were totally in love with each other. I frowned at the pair of hands, wondering if that was how Sophia and I came off as at all.
Before long, our order was brought to the table. We each got a drink and a slice of cake, all in different flavors. I picked up my coffee to take a sip. Dad was right, the coffee was great.
“So, how did you guys meet on campus?” Emma asked.
I whipped my head up to look at her and noticed Sophia flinch a little out the side of my eye. I glanced over at her, but she didn’t look like she ha
d any intention of raising her head.
“Um,” I floundered. “We…met, I guess? At school.” I frowned. I’d seen her around campus long before we officially met, but could I even remember how we met now? All I could remember were a bunch of arguing. “We weren’t close at first, but we have some classes together, so yeah, we know each other.”
“Then you’re probably one of the friends Sophia wanted to introduce me to,” Emma said, delicately cutting a piece off her cake slice.
I glanced at Sophia. “Um, she did mention something about it, but I think that was supposed to be next week?”
“The business I had concluded early,” Dad explained. “So, instead of waiting, we thought it would make more sense to just come earlier. Sorry I didn’t give you much warning before I appeared, though…”
“It’s totally fine,” I said quickly.
“Come to think of it; you had something to talk to me about, right? Lay it on me.”
“Uh, Dad, that’s kinda…”
I was panicking on the inside. I just barely stopped myself from glancing over at Sophia again. Dad was perceptive, and if he saw that, he would guess. I wanted to have a chance to talk to Sophia before we decided what to tell our parents about our relationship, or if we were going to do it at all. And I couldn’t exactly talk about her to my dad with her right fucking there.
“Oh,” he said with a knowing nod, then grinned. “It’s something private, huh. Must be important.”
I pursed my lips. “Well, it’s very important, but it can wait. Besides, we’re here for the two of you, right? I want to hear more about how the two of you met.”
“Wow, that would be such a long story,” Emma said with a sigh. “Ted?”
“We can start from when we met in high school?”
They delved into the story, one of them saying something with the other cutting in to continue the story. Their relationship seemed so natural, like they’d been together the past twenty plus years, and not have led different lives. I didn’t want to hear any of it, not at that moment, with Sophia too silent and too still beside me.
It didn’t last long, though. While they were in the middle of their explanation, Sophia suddenly moved. She put her hands on the table with a small amount of force, just enough to get everyone’s attention, but not enough to cause a scene in the café. Then, she pushed her chair back, got up, and ran out.
I followed her with my eyes as she ran out, but hesitated to go after her. She might not want me to, and even if I did, I didn’t know what I could say to her that would make anything better. If anything, me being around her might irritate her more, and that was the last thing I wanted to do.
“What’s wrong?” Dad asked.
“I… I don’t know. Did I say something wrong? Elijah, do you know if Sophia’s having some trouble?”
I looked back at our parents, both their faces were filled with concern. The look was so damn sincere that I sighed and decided to just come out with it. I would have to explain to Sophia later, but this would affect all four of us now, so they needed to know.
“It’s…not so much trouble, as she’s probably still in shock.”
“Still in shock?” Emma repeated.
“Yeah, shock.” I looked at our parents and said to them words we hadn't even said to each other yet. “Sophia and I…are dating, Dad, Emma. I’m in love with her, and…she’s in love with me. In other words, we’re in love, just like the two of you.”