Ups & Downs

Ups & Downs- 2

I find myself walking towards Challenges after wandering around aimlessly hours after class. I don't know how long I have been walking but by the time my legs carry me to the place it remembers best, the sky is already dark. Even without my eyes looking ahead, my legs know where to drag me to.

A soft depressed sigh escapes my lips.

"Of course, the shop is already closed. What was I thinking," I mutter to myself.

Slowly, my legs give off and I sit down at the entrance, putting my head between my knees. My apartment is nothing but an empty shell, it makes me reminisce about my past and makes me feel suffocated no matter how hard I try to make it homely. It lacks the cozy feeling a home has to have so I've finally given up any futile attempt to bring life into it.

Suddenly, the bell hanging from the door jingles and it slowly opens. A person's shadow blocks out the light from the bulb above the door.

I turn around and look up. The girl from yesterday is standing there with her pink pyjamas on.

"Oh you poor thing. Don't you feel cold?" she asks. "Let's get you inside," she says and instantly pushes me in without waiting for my answer. She closes the door behind her.

"I'm sorry," I say once we are fully in.

"For what?"

"For barging up like this at your doorstep."

"You didn't barge in. You didn't even make a sound so you don't need to worry. It's just me and my instincts you know. I happen to feel someone and that's why I came over to check," she explains.

"Aren't you going to ask why I am here?" I question her.

"No, because I understand you have your own reasons and because you've been our customer for so long, I trust you enough to bring you into our home. Come," she says motioning me towards the kitchen.

It surprises me when I see that their kitchen is even larger than the customers' area.

"Call me Maggie," she says as she leads me up to their second floor, the place she calls 'our home'.

"I didn't happen to catch your name," she says casually.

"Carina," I reply.

"That's a beautiful name," she says, "Can I call you Cary?"

At that, something inside me snaps and breaks apart.

"No!" I exclaim out loudly, clutching my hands tight.

Realising what I just did, I shrink back. "I'm sorry. Sorry," I mutter. I sob out, my legs giving out on me once more.

"Oh my poor poor girl," Maggie sits down beside me on the stairs to scoop me up into a tight embrace. "There's nothing you need to apologise for. Okay?" she assures me and I nod.

"If you don't like that nickname then it's okay. I'll just address you as Carina. Alright?" she soothingly says.

"Thank you for understanding," I croak out.

I pull apart from Maggie's warm embrace and stand up. She smells of vanilla and sweets.

"I should leave," I inform her. "I'm sorry for showing up like this and snapping at you."

"I don't think I can let you go back at this hour, you can sleep in my room if you want," she offers.

"No," I tell her. "It's not necessary. I don't want to disturb you guys."

"When I see a broken person like you, I'm not going to turn a blind eye. You can sleep in my room for tonight. I will sleep in my brother's room and he can sleep on the couch. That's final," Maggie is a girl of about 5 foot but her glare and her firm tone tells me that I'm not going to win this.

"Okay," I finally say, giving up with a sigh of defeat.

"Nobody wins a fight with her when Mag gives the stink eye," a male voice fills the small area.

I turn around to look whose voice it is and see the utterly adorable waiter from yesterday morning standing at the top of the stairs.

"Hey," he says casually, while leaning onto the frame of the stairs.

So that's the brother.

"Hey," I greet back.

Mag pushes me up the stairs and into their home after shoving the brother out of the way.

The second floor is as large as the first floor (both the customers' area and the kitchen) so it's a considerable size for the two siblings.

As soon as I set my foot on the second floor, a vision of home fills my sight. Their sitting area is small but cozy. A small dining table is in the middle and a TV is perched up on the wall on the right. Papers are scattered on their simple white dining table and I notice there are three rooms up on this floor.

"The loo's downstairs if you are wondering," the brother tells me.

"And that's the guest room, but because we don't have any guest for the moment we use it as a storage place," Mag continues on pointing at the room on the far left.

"If you wish to stay here then we can clear the place out for you," the brother says casually.

Mag nods at his statement. I look at them with wide eyes. Amazed at their generosity.

"Really?" I ask, the surprise visible on my face.

"Yep," Mag assures me with a pat on my back.

The brother just chuckles and murmurs something under his breath. Afterwards he extends out his hand for me. "Trevor Craig at your service m'am."

I giggle at his cuteness.

I put out my hand not expecting to have a light kiss planted on. It is absolutely a new territory for me but it feels good that there's someone who accepts me as I am. Blushing, I pull my hand back.

Meg just lightly smacks Trevor's head and commands him to go sleep on the couch and not to flirt with her new friend.

Friend. Such a foreign word but if feels so right now that it makes me smile.

A/N: It'd be awesome to vote for this story if you liked it.

And tell me what you think of the siblings in the comment down below.

xxVic