All the couples that Alaia Repond has gotten together have stayed happily together, and at this point, she really should consider matchmaking as a profession. So when her close friend Ollie asks her to set up a friend of his, she's more than happy t...
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It's her last day here in Buenos Aires before she heads off to New York for a show.
Alaia helps the Colapintos' take out the trash, and when she puts the rubbish bags in the bins outside, she spots her sister, Althea, looking at her. The little girl runs up to her, a colouring book and a pink coloured pencil in her hand — she can't be more than seven years old.
"Hi." she says, and Alaia freezes slightly. She has no idea of what to say.
"You're really pretty." Althea says, and Alaia smiles, still feeling slightly awkward.
"Thank you. You're very pretty too. What's your name?" Alaia asks, and Althea smiles brightly at her. "I'm Althea! I think I saw you when we came over that night." she replies, and Alaia nods.
"Yes, you did," Alaia replies.
There's a strange silence between the two of them for a bit. It's awkward for Alaia, but she can tell that Althea's debating on whether or not she should tell her something. She notices how the little girl's eyebrows are furrowed in deep thought, tapping her foot on the ground.
"We have posters of you on our wall." Althea blurts out, and Alaia raises an eyebrow in surprise.
"Really?" Alaia asks.
"Yeah. I know it's weird." Althea says. Alaia guesses she must not know that they're related. But she's wrong.
"But it's kind of not, too. Mom says we're siblings. Except I haven't seen you, ever."
"Yeah," Alaia breathes out. "We haven't. Your mom... left England when I was seven."
"She's your mom too." Althea says.
She hasn't been for a long time, Alaia thinks. But she just gives her little sister a smile. "Sure," she says, unconvincingly.
"Why don't you ever come?" Althea asks. She sounds hurt, and confused — Alaia knows that her mother must not have told Althea about why she'd never met her sister.
But she also can't tell Althea the real reason. She's the same age that Alaia was when their mother left her, and she knows that it's far too difficult for her to understand right now. "I..."
"Can we talk more often?" Althea asks, and Alaia nods. She did want to get to know her siblings. It's always been just her, so she's always wondered what it's like to not be an only child.
"Of course. Can I take your book and pen for a second?" she asks, and Althea hands it to her. Alaia scratches down her phone number on one of the blank pages in the front. "You can always call me. Tell your sister that as well, okay?" she smiles at Althea. "Let's get to know each other."
"Okay." Althea says excitedly. "Are you dating our neighbour?"
Alaia chuckles, nodding. "Yeah. You must not see him often though, right?"
"Yeah," Althea says. "Is he nice?"
"Very nice," Alaia smiles. "When he's in town, I'll tell him to come talk to you more often, yeah? Maybe he'll even bring me along."
"That would be fun." Althea giggles. "Can you guys come to the playground with me?"
"Of course we can," Alaia says. "Franco would probably love to."
"Althea, what are you doing outside?" Marianne says, and Alaia freezes at the sound of her voice again. But then Marianne's face immediately softens when she sees who Althea's talking to.
"Thea, go back inside." Marianne says, approaching the two of them. Althea waves goodbye to her, but she clearly wants to stay.
"Can you come visit more often?" Althea asks, just before she heads back into her house, and Alaia nods. "Promise?"
Alaia holds out her pinky finger, and Althea links her own with Alaia's. "Promise," Alaia says. Althea smiles happily, before waving goodbye again.
Alaia flashes a kind smile to her younger sister, and then she moves to return back inside the Colapintos' house.
"Wait, Laia."
"Don't call me that." Alaia tells her. "Don't talk to me, please."
"You're my daughter, Laia. I need to explain," Marianne says.
"You should've done that years ago. When you left me and Dad with no explanation — even after he took you back after the affair, took care of you while you were carrying a child that wasn't his!" Alaia fumes. She's regained her voice unlike the night before, and she's absolutely furious.
"You left us when we needed you the most. You didn't even say goodbye to me. And now you pop up, years later, and you don't even tell my siblings why I've never met them."
Alaia's voice cracks. "I... I keep thinking about the fact that this could've been worked out. If you didn't want to be with Dad and wanted to be with this guy you could've told us. I could've known my siblings. They could've known me. Do you even have an explanation?"
"I'm sorry." is all her mother is able to say.
"That apology's a decade too late," Alaia replies. "But what's done is done. Really, just know that I have no intention of having a relationship with you. Not right now."
"I'm sorry, Laia. Please."
"I know you're sorry. You've said that already. Can you offer me an explanation after fourteen years, or am I going to be still left in the dark?"
Her mother is as mum as a mouse.
Alaia nods, letting out a deep sigh. "Just as I thought. I'm really just done with this conversation. Let my sisters know I'd love to get to know them, but I have no desire to get to know you." She turns to look at the door of the Colapintos' house — she doesn't even know how long she's been outside, and Franco must be waiting for her. "Goodbye."
If her mother calls out for her, Alaia doesn't hear it.
