Self-Seeker

11

Emily turned to glance at Tyler but ended up staring at him for much longer - and there wasn't a doubt in Genesis's mind that he was staring back. It was in that moment that she realised her brother-in-law had made what was probably the worst mistake of his life by betrothing her sister. Regardless of his obvious attraction to her, Tyler wouldn't make a move on Emily, he was far too noble to do that. Besides, Emily wasn't the most forward of people. Genesis knew what she had to do.

She gave Emily a hug goodbye and left her to finish her coffee. Genesis approached the counter before acknowledging Tyler and ordered a stack of pancakes with a small message drizzled in honey on the plate. It read 'I would like to go Peter Pan on your cake, honey'. She couldn't help but chuckle as she told the waitress who to serve it to and who it was coming from.

The waitress set the plate down in front of Emily and pointed in the direction of Tyler. She shyly looked back over at him and began to turn ten shades darker - bless her soul. Pleased with her efforts, Genesis walked over to Tyler to catch him gazing at her newfound friend.

"She's got the face of an angel, am I right?" She inquired, startling him and causing him to snap out of his daze.

"Uh, sure. Whatever. Can we go somewhere more, you know, private to do this?" He asked, though she was unsure of what he meant, the café was hardly full and there were plenty of spaces for them to speak without being heard.

"What's wrong with right here?"

"Look outside." He deadpanned. Genesis peered out of the window to see a group of photographers gathered directly outside the door. There was no way they could leave out the front without being seen.

"For goodness sake Morris. You let the paparazzi follow you here? I thought you wanted this meeting to be in secret." She stated the obvious, annoyed with his lack of skill in the 'ghosting' department. "Where did you park your car?"

"Across the street." Tyler replied. She sighed and rolled her eyes, which immediately made her cringe as she imagined how much she looked like Jazmine whilst doing that.

"Follow me." Genesis directed, swiftly moving towards the 'Staff only' sign on the door of the kitchen. She pushed it open, leading Tyler through a maze of confused cooks and cluttered kitchenware before they reached the back door of the building. The two exited by the left side of the café. "Keep your head down and cross the road...now." She instructed as they crossed to the other side with a group of teenage girls who'd been out shopping.

Tyler unlocked his car and they climbed in, free from the wrath of the public eye. He drove off and didn't stop until Genesis told him to pull over in an empty parking lot.

"What about your car?" He finally spoke, turning off the engine.

"I'll have my driver pick it up. Enough chit chat Morris. Now what did you want to speak to me about? You said it regards my sister?" Genesis was straight to the point, as always. They had already wasted enough of her time evading the press.

"Yes, well, you have to promise me not to tell her first. I can't have her knowing I'm looking into her private business."

The fact that he referred to it as 'her' private business instead of 'their' private business should have already sent a red flag waving in his face.

Genesis plastered a smile on her face, turning her body to face him. "Of course not, Morris. I mean, we're practically family now, are we not?"

His face wore a sceptical expression, he was more than likely still wary about her. But his need to find out more about his wife had pushed him this far - he wasn't going to turn back now.

"Jaz has been acting really strange lately."

"Can you define this strange behaviour?"

"Yeah, um, she's been having these weird phone calls late at night, sneaking out of the house when she thinks I don't notice, and she always seems on edge. As if she's waiting for something to happen, you know?" He explained, his voice laced with concern and worry for his wife.

"Morris, let me ask you something. How well do you really know my sister?" Genesis inquired, if she could unnerve him he'd be more open to what she was implying.

"What do you mean? She's my wife. I know everything there is to know about her." He defended, sounding offended that she'd even ask such a question. Clearly that statement was incorrect, as he hadn't even been aware of Genesis' existence until a week ago. She was sure there were a lot more secrets where that came from.

"No Morris, you're not listening. How well do you really know her? What do you know about our past?" She pushed.

"I know your Mum passed away when you were both young. You were thirteen then if I'm correct. Jaz said your Dad struggled with raising you guys alone, he became short-tempered. Uh, let's see, oh - she said you pushed her to leave so that you could have your Dad to yourself. Then she told me you died, and she lost contact with your Dad. She never talked about your death because she said it was too much for her to handle. I guess that part was made up, though, because here you are." Tyler explained.

Genesis felt her blood boil as she was forced to listen to the utter lies Jazmine had told her so-called lover.

"Trust me when I say there is nothing my sister can't handle. Wait. She told you I pushed her to leave?" She repeated, not believing what she was hearing.

"Yes. But why wouldn't you - you guys were never close anyway. She said that you envied her and always had this unreasonable hatred for her, ever since you were young."

Genesis fought back the tear that threatened to slip out of her eye. "Tyler, Jazmine is a damn liar. Don't you see? She's deceiving you! When we were young, she and I were the best of friends, inseparable. It was us against the world. Then she is the one that turned her back on me! She left me to rot when I needed her the most. Ten years later, she sees me for the first time and ever since then she has done everything in her power to make me look like a monster. You can't stand me. Damon probably hates me too. I have practically forced Emily to befriend me. And if that wasn't enough, one of the people I trusted the most has been working with one of the people I don't trust at all to screw me over." Genesis let out as she banged her fists against the dashboard, her head hanging in frustration. Her rant about her sister had soon turned into her venting about all the emotions she had bottled up for the last few months.

Genesis blew out a breath to find Tyler looking at her with a bewildered facial expression. It was unlike her to lose all composure like that, she usually executed a perfectly reserved demeanour. People only knew about her what she wanted them to know, but she had just spilled her pent-up anger to a man whom she hardly knew.

"I apologise for blowing up on you Morris, I don't mean to be this way." She sighed. Tyler hesitantly placed a hand on Genesis' shoulder; she habitually tensed from the gesture. She knew he was simply being empathetic as he patted the spot, though his face displayed that he felt just as uncomfortable as she did. None of them knew quite where to go from here.

"It's fine. But Genesis, Jaz would never keep all that from me. She would nev--"

"I don't want to hear any more of your 'she would never' crap." Genesis interrupted, he was a hopeless cause entranced under a witches spell. His hand was abruptly shrugged off of her shoulder.

"Clearly, you don'tknow my sister as well as you thought you did, or at all for that matter. Myadvice to you, Morris, get out now while you still can. It's not too late tofile those divorce papers, just rid yourself of her burden before you getcaught up in her mess. And don't ask her about what she's been doing creepingaround in the dark, my father wasn't the only one in the family with a badtemper." Genesis ended the conversation, getting out of the car and textingHann to pick her up. She was beyond aggravated at this point and desperatelyneeded to channel her frustrations on something.