TWO

It was six o'clock in the evening, and the office was as good as empty. Most employees had gone home, while Starr's head was still stuck in paperwork. There was a pile of them on her desk. Starr sighed as she lifted her head from the paper in front of her, pressing and rubbing the bridge of her nose to try to relieve herself from the slight headache she was feeling. She didn't give herself time to calm down as she picked up her iPad, and her attention was quickly shifted to her emails. She went through them and replied to a few. Amber had replied to some of the fan emails for her and was still attending to them. She only replied to business emails she was interested in and family emails.

After replying to the emails, she let herself slide down in her rotating chair to get really comfortable as she spun around gently. She sighed as she shut her eyes for a while. Then, something struck her mind. She hadn't done her personal digging about Mr. Chariton. She sat up quickly, grabbed her iPad, and went straight to G****e. Immediately, she typed his name; all his information came up. She couldn't help but gasp at his age. He was really young, yet so mature. He had won the ‘most eligible bachelor’ three years in a row, including that very year. He was from a family of three, making him the only child. He had also lost his parents in a shipwreck. Starr didn't know why, but a wave of pity rushed into her, and she began to feel so much pity for him. “He's still so young,” she murmured to herself as she sighed and decided to watch a couple of his interviews. He was so fun, jovial, and truly charming. Starr couldn't help but smile while watching his interviews. He was very funny and always had a smile on his face.

Starr's favourite was the interview he attended the day after his break-up with his ex-girlfriend. As usual, he was asked what inspired him to write ‘Love Is The Key’. And as usual, he replied, ‘Love’. Unlike he did for her, he didn't explain further. The interviewer was confused, so she asked him about the breakup, how he felt, and whether she was the love who inspired the novel. His smile didn't disappear as he made a joke out of the entire situation. Not in a ditzy manner. He kept it serious yet fun. He was so direct as he spoke to the woman, ensuring he wasn't coy about anything. He confirmed that his ex was one of the reasons he wrote the book, and that he had been dating her for six years. Also, he knew what true love meant. That it was his understanding of true love that mostly motivated him to write whatever book he wrote. He also attested to the fact that he was truly hurt by the breakup, but he had to move on and not mope about it. He had a career to pursue.

Starr couldn't help but smile at his aspiration and determination. She kept on watching more and more of his interviews. And the more she watched, the more interested she was. She was mistakenly letting his charms get to her.

After watching a lot of his interviews, she bumped into another that she loved. In that one, he was asked how he kept his smile on, no matter the horrible things that happened to him. He told the interviewer that he simply didn't let anything get to him. He said he reassured himself daily that all would be well, put horrible things behind him, and loved. That loving everyone, no matter what or who they are, also gave him unexpected joy. Before the interviewer knew it, his sentimentality had gotten to her as she began to blush and laugh excessively at his jokes.

Starr chuckled as she said, “He got the charm, though.”

Her words were followed by a soft knock on her door. She looked up and saw it was Amber. She nodded and signalled with her hand that Amber could come in. Amber quickly got in. “I'm done with the paperwork, and I've sent it to Mr. Chariton’s email,” she informed Star, making her nod at her words.

“That's alright. You can head home now,” she replied to her as she checked her time. It was already almost nine o'clock.

She groaned to herself as Amber stepped out of her office. She had lost track of time. She dropped her iPad on her desk as she lazily stood up from her desk and stretched. Her back made cracking sounds, and she felt relief from the cramp she was feeling. She began to move around, kicking and stomping her feet, trying to relieve herself of the pain she felt in her legs from the excessive sitting. Her ankle made cracking sounds also, relieving her from the slight shocks she felt and the pains as well. She immediately began to clear her table as she grabbed her bag and ordered an Uber. Luckily for her, it was three minutes away. She didn't wait in her office but instead began to make her way outside. By the time she was on the ground floor, the driver called her. “I'll be out there in a sec,” she informed him and cut the call before he could say anything.

The Uber was directly in front of her office. She cross-checked the plate number before she got in. She didn't say a word to the driver as she plugged her earphone into her phone and inserted it into her ear. She began to listen to classics, shutting her eyes to savour it.

***

Starr was dozing by the time the car arrived at her house, but the almost silent screeching of the car tyres woke her up. Immediately she opened her eyes and realized she was in front of her house, she got out of the vehicle without saying a word to the driver, knowing fully well that her Uber rides are paid directly from her personal bank account.

She sighed to herself tiredly as she opened the door to her apartment and got in. She immediately stepped out of her heels and slipped her legs into her indoor flip-flops, relieving herself of the cramps she was feeling in her heels. The first place she went to was her sitting room. She didn't want to miss her night news session. But she didn't get to sit down as she began to hear the sound of dishes from her kitchen. “Ugh,” Starr groaned out loud, immediately knowing who it could be. She began to quickly make her way to her kitchen.  But, before she could get to the kitchen, her sister walked out. “What's the meaning of this trash, Sorcha?” she complained as she groaned and began to make her way back to her sitting room, knowing fully well that her sister was going to be following behind her.

“Wines aren't trash, and I'm making your favourite pasta,” Sorcha tried to bribe Starr.

But Starr truly didn't enjoy the company of family or anyone. She loved her peace and quiet. “I told you to stop collecting my house key from Mom. It's only for emergencies!” Her voice began to rise. “You have to stop this trash, Sorcha. I do not like it, and I can never like it,” she stated to Sorcha angrily.

Sorcha couldn't deny the fact that she was really pained by Starr's words. But, Starr couldn't care less. She had warned her countless times. “But I was just super happy and wanted to share it with my only elder sister. I had no one else to go to,” she tried to convince Starr as tears began to form in her eyes. "Solace was really happy for me, but he doesn't give me the same joy you give me when I tell you. He doesn't understand the height of happiness. I remember how you used to take me to-”

“That was then, this is now,” Starr cut her off in the middle of her sentence. “Forget the past and move on. Dwelling on the past will only continue to bring you pain.”

Sorcha nodded, allowing her mid-length blue curls to bounce here and there, but deep down, she knew she wasn't going to throw the past away. They were the only happy moments she had of Starr. She couldn't let them go like that.

“So, what's the happy news?” Starr asked, finally looking into her light brown eyes for the first time that day, and she couldn't deny that she felt the pain too. She wanted to go back to the nice old Starr, but she had made a vow with her new self. She wasn't going back.

Sorcha smiled as she sat down on Starr's black leather couch and said, “I've found love again.”

A flood of annoyance rushed through Starr. “In the end, you'll both part ways. He doesn't care about you, and it is not love,” she said in a cold and plain manner, before picking her bag and phone from the couch as she began to make her way upstairs to her room.

“You're cold, Starr. It's not fair!” Sorcha shouted in a sad yet loud tone. “You're hurting the people that care about you, Starr. You are!”

Starr felt she was speaking from experience, so she didn't care. She knew it was right to tell her the truth at that point in time, rather than let her wallow in her fantasy.

“I wish someone would break that stupid wall you've created around yourself, and take you on the roller coaster of love once again!” 

Star still didn't answer her as she got to the door of her room and walked in. She could hear Sorcha break down to tears as she walked into her room. She sighed to herself as she shut her door right behind her. Her room was filled with different shades of teal, which brought a certain calmness to her. She first went to hang her handbag on her rack before coming back to land on her queen-sized bed. She landed on it with her back, as it bounced her up and down a little. She dropped her phone on her nightstand. She sighed and muttered ‘Life’ to herself, curling up to form a ball.

She missed her old self.