Bittersweet

Chapter 8 - Sonia

"We should forgive our enemies, but not before they are hanged." ~Heinrich Heine

Victoria's POV

"No!" I had said quite abruptly, causing a questioning frown to appear on James' face. "I mean, there don't worry about it, I can get home just fine, I'm sure you've got better things to do than-"

"Nonsense! I'm driving you back, that's final" he declared, clapping his hands together, a smirk still present on his face. "I'm gonna grab my coat and I'll meet you by the back entrance" he then commented, walking out of the room.

I released a frustrated sigh after he left, pulling my phone out to inform my sister of the unexpected situation. Then, I proceeded to get myself out of the palace, ready to begin my worst nightmare.

As promised, James was waiting for me in his car by the back gate, his shades hanging on his nose as he watched me get into the passenger seat of his car.

"Are you sure you want to drop me? I can walk back you know?"

"Are you hiding something from me?" he questioned as he began pulling out of the palace. My heart rate increased for a mere second before I managed to relax myself to comprehend his joke.

"Of course not"

"Great, then I'm hoping you can offer me some coffee back at your house" Oh for fuck's sake leave me the fuck alone already!

"Don't you have work to do?"I blurted accidentally, regretting my poor choice of words immediately. He, however, didn't seem to care one bit, he chuckled next to me, glancing at me for a brief second before focusing back on the road.

"I do, actually, but I like to take my mind off it every once in a while" I kept silent as he drove, not wanting to get into a conversation with him. "Tell me about yourself" He said out of the blue after a few minutes of silence.

"What do you want to know?" I questioned, not seeming interested at all.

"You live alone?"

"Nope, I have a younger sister" I leaned my arms against the arm rest, looking out the window as I answered.

"So there's more of you" he commented, mostly to himself.

A few moments later, James pulled up into my driveway, causing a breath of relief to escape me. It was then that I remembered his request for coffee.

James exited the vehicle with me, following me up the steps to my house.

I pulled out my keys, unlocking the door before walking inside, James following right behind me.

"Eva, you home?" I yelled out, calling my sister by her 'public'name, needing a source of escape. In less than a second, Eva popped out of the kitchen to where I stood, her mouth about to open to say something until her eyes fell on James, and she shut up.

"Hey" she said instead, walking slowly towards me. I embraced her into a short, warm hug before turning back around.

"Eva, this is James Holland, James this is my sister Eva" I introduced. James' figure seemed to have tense beside mine, as he wordlessly picked up my sisters hand and placed a small kiss on it before releasing it, all the while his eyes bored into hers in an admiring way, making me feel absolutely uncomfortable. First me and then my sister, what a fucker.

"You are gorgeous" he blurted, his eyes still on her. My sister blushed, most probably involuntarily as he said so.

"Thank you" she replied, and then the room turned silent.