Chapter 32: The sisterly visit

Jace POV

Earlier, I was supposed to go to work, but it turned out that the day did not go as expected. The moment I got up from bed, I did not feel as good as I used to. I fell right back into the bed. The sickness just came suddenly. After a while, the doctor I had called also came to examine me as I felt too weak to go to the hospital myself. He assured me that everything was alright with me.

He said I was experiencing low blood sugar (hypoglycemia). I had never had that before. He said the treatment consisted of diet modifications. He asked me to consume high-sugar foods or drinks, such as orange juice or regular fizzy drinks, to treat this condition. Alternatively, he said medication could be used to raise blood sugar levels.

I was expecting Brielle's call all day, even if it was to talk about something that went on at the office, but it never came through. I did not want to call her either, but it had already been twenty-four hours since we spoke last.

I had principles of my own that made me check up on those I cared deeply about if I did not hear from them in longer than twenty-four hours. I tried to call her, but her line did not go through.

I was in the living room holding a glass of orange juice that I had just substituted with my phone. The doorbell rang! It was about time! Brielle could not resist me, could she? I opened the door feeling triumphant, but I was disappointed instantly. My sister had just arrived unexpectedly, and she came with some luggage.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, stepping aside for her to come in.

"What a nice way to say hello, Jonathan Christopher!" said my sister, struggling to get the luggage in.

"I wasn't exactly expecting you to show up!" I replied tersely. "And nobody calls me that anymore. I'm Jace, trying to stay up to date."

"Nobody cares about what you call yourself," Hermione groaned. "Well, I am here now regardless of whether or not you were expecting me. I am here to stay for two weeks, so you should start adjusting to my presence, and also, it would help to start adjusting your attitude too."

"Oh, great!" I said sarcastically.

Two weeks! Why me? Why did she not stay with my brother? Anyway, she was here, and I could not ask her to leave. I assisted her with one of two boxes.

"Woah, slow down!"  Hermione said, halting me. "Come and give your sister a hug."

"I just don't get it! Why are you here? What happened to your husband?" I asked, leaning into her open arm for the demanded hug.

"Fine! I'm here to talk about the discrepancy you have with our mother about your future partner."

"Brielle! Well, forget about trying to change my mind about her.  I love her, and I've already proposed to her."

"And what did she say? You said you proposed to her, not that you are engaged to be married. I guess she said no."

What was it my sister was again? She should have been a detective or something. How was I supposed to explain that Brielle, that I have fought my mother over, had turned me down when I proposed to her? My phone rang, and I had never felt so happy about a phone call like I did now.

"Hello, oh alright! I had hypoglycemia. That's why I didn't show up at work," I said to a member of staff that had called to check on me. She told me about Mr. Henry Floyd. I was happy to hear Brielle could get him to give us the contract.

"You had low blood sugar levels?" Hermione said.

"Hmm, yeah."

"This morning?"

"Yes, and the doctor asked me to relax for a day or two, and you're not helping me relax."

"Yeah, I am not nice," said Hermione snickering. "So what did Brielle say to the proposal?"

Well, I felt tired of standing and took the luggage into the guest room, and she followed behind me. I could not believe that she did not let go of the topic.

"She said I should do it again, properly." I spun around to see my sister arching her brow at me.

"How did you go about it?"

"In bed, what's the big deal?"

My sister laughed out loud. "You're so not severe! Why would you do that?"

I shrugged. "I don't know."

"Anyways, mother doesn't like her."

I sat on the bed because I felt tired. "I don't need anyone else to like her. My likeness for her is adequate."

"Well, I would not know how I feel until I meet her," Hermione said, sitting next to me. "You hear that, Jonathan? I want to meet with Brielle as soon as possible."

"Hmm, I'll make the necessary arrangements for you guys to meet."

"Good boy," she said, patting me like I was a dog, for goodness sake—show me some respect; I'm way older than Enrique and her.

"You're so unbelievable right now!"

"Yeah, I know, I know!"

—

Later, Hermione went to grab a quick bite. She did not mind running late, and the food might upset her stomach. I was missing Brielle so much. I reached for my phone by my bedside drawer and tried her again, but her number was switched off. I wanted to rest the next day, but I was anxious to know what Brielle was up to.

She was angry, but I did not get why she would get mad because I wanted to check what she thought about me. All sorts of ideas had passed through my mind after she had refused to let me read her thoughts. I wondered if, deep down, she did not love me. I had many doubts spring up because she could not share her inner thoughts with me. I could share mine with her.

The following day, I was feeling considerably better. I had to slip out of the house before my sister woke up, so I left for work earlier than usual. I wanted to check out Brielle in her home, but I forced myself to be patient and drove straight to the office.

I took a pack of orange juice with me to the office too. I was so on time that the cleaner looked shocked to see me. I had to step out of my office so she could carry out her duties.

After a while, the company went into full swing as everyone had arrived. I stepped out of my office to search for Brielle, and I found her in the lobby. She looked pretty stunning. She made eye contact with me and quickly averted her eyes.

"Brielle, in my office now!" I barked, and she straightened to send me a glare. Well, I did not care. Outside these four walls, she could behave as she wanted to, but here I was, the boss.

"What is it, Jace?" she asked, standing.

"Brielle, sit down," I said, taking my seat.

"No! I'm busy, Jace, what do you want?" she snapped.

"It's my company, and I can choose to relieve you of your duties if I wish; now take a seat." I gestured to the seat in front of me, and she sat down.

"Why does it look like you're avoiding me?"

"Look, I'm not avoiding you! I need my space," she said, folding her arms across her chest.

"Your space for what?"

"To recollect my thoughts about this whole thing," she answered.

"What thing?" I asked, not genuinely feeling ignorant, but I did not want to make any assumptions.

"Oh, so you don't even know what you did wrong!" she said, unfolding her arms. "Jace, you and I need a break, okay. I can't believe you attempted to read my thoughts."

"Brielle, I just felt it would be a fun thing to do! I was willing to share mine too. What would I do if I found out you didn't love me or loved me? I saw a fun opportunity to play god, and I hopped on it."

She paused as if to think. "So it had nothing to do with the fact that you're domineering?"

"What? No! I just... look, it was supposed to be a rather fun thing to do. Share our thoughts and feelings. It was supposed to affect us positively."

"Oh, I thought you wanted to search for a hint out of my mind. I turned down your proposal. I wanted you to respect my answer."

I laughed. "Well, it's true. I wanted to know if you were telling me the truth or just making up excuses. You asked me to ask you again, but I felt probably that was just a cover-up. I got scared that you didn't love me, and I needed to know your thoughts."

"Right! You see, and that's the problem," she said to me, scowling. "Just because you have what it takes to read my mind doesn't guarantee that you should attempt. Did you even tell me what we were going to do? You drove me straight up to the lab like I was your guinea pig-"

"Lab rat," I fit in with a chuckle. "Lab rat suits you more. Pigs are ugly."

Her scowl deepened. "You're just so impossible to change."

"I'm not easily susceptible to change, Brielle. I have principles of my own that I live by. I dedicated years to building myself in a certain way, most of which I consider good. So I'm sorry if I seem rigid to you."

"Well then, I'm leaving now, and please, I need my space!" she said with an air of finality and got up to leave.

"Brielle, wait!" I said sharply, and she paused at the door. "There's someone that wants me to introduce you to her. It's urgent, and it will determine a lot of things."

"Who?"

"My sister Hermione. She's around, and she asked that you oblige to a visit this evening or so."

"I'll think about it, but don't count on it."

With Brielle gone, I tried to assess whether she was overreacting or if I had indeed done something terrible. The inner debate did nothing to help because I was too stubborn to see things from her point of view. I needed a third party, so I decided to call my brother, Enrique. Aside from my intentions of discussing Brielle with him, there were other things I needed to inform him about.

"Enrique, trust you're having a good day?" I said.

"Um, I guess, what's up?" he said in his usual carefree manner.

"A whole lot," I said.

"Hmm, got into any troubles?"

"It depends, but firstly I have hypoglycemia, and I have been drinking orange juice."

He laughed. "Beats me! You're so strict on staying away from sugar, and I'm glad you have hypoglycemia. You'll be fine, so what's next?"

"Next, let's see. Sister is around, and she's about to spend thirteen more days with me."

"Oh, you're damn lucky, I swear!" Enrique said.

"Don't you mean I've run out of luck?"

"Nope, I mean, you're lucky. So did she say the reason why she was around?"

"Well, it has to do with the discrepancy with mother, and I have concerning whom I wish to be with."

"Oh, I see. And what's her opinion?"

"Nothing, she asked me to bring Brielle over."

"Then bring her over," Enrique said encouragingly.

"Brielle and I are on good terms right now. I may need your assistance with understanding a problem."

There was a pause on the line. "I'm sorry, recap!"

I repeated what I said, but only this time, I added all the details at once and ended with, "So what do you think? Did I do anything wrong?"

"Kinda. I'll speak to her! I gotta go now."

"Wait, what do you mean kinda?" I tried to ask, but he was gone. "Fuck!"

Anyways, at least there was hope that Brielle would be coming later this evening. I stayed in the office all day and consumed two more orange juice boxes. The last one was taken a right before I left the office, making an embarrassing slurping sound. Thankfully, I was the only one left. Brielle had avoided me like a flea, and as soon as we rounded up, I could see her flee.