06: fragile porcelain

Sally’s POV:

After Derek left to his study, I made myself a cup of tea. The calming chamomile tea did nothing to quell the anger inside me.

I gripped the teacup so hard I feared I would shatter the delicate china. My face burned with anger, and I could swear I was about to erupt like a volcano. My thoughts flitted back to the question I asked Derek about his relationship with Anna. It had ended a long time ago, there’s no relationship between us and we’re just friends.

Is she really just a friend?

The shrill sound of the doorbell interrupted my thoughts. I walked to the door and opened it.

Anna stood on the other end, looking as ethereal as ever. She waved and smiled, like we were long lost friends. It made my hands clench into fist at my sides.

“Sally!” she said, her voice cloying like caked dunked in. “Pardon me showing up this late. But I simply had to. I saw how terrible you looked in the theater, and I am here especially on behalf of my father to care about you.”

I opened the door and moved to the side. “Come in.”

She walked in, her shoulder bumping mine even though there was enough space for her to get through just fine. She walked in, aweing about how the paintings and interior decoration hadn’t changed at all. Then she walked right to the sofa and perched on it like a delicate fairy, her legs crossed and her hands folded in her lap. She sat like she owned the place.

My eyes narrowed at that. She seems too familiar with this place. I left and fetched Derek.

“So why did you come?”

“Derek, could you please make some coffee for us to drink?” Anna asked in a tone that dripped honey.

His sharp eyes moved between me and Anna. “Right now?”

“Yes.”

He showed some hesitation before he walked off to the kitchen joined to the living room. I walked to the sofa and sat down at a distance from Anna. She came up to my side as if nothing had happened. Her eyes moved to something behind me. Following her gaze I noticed she was staring at the porcelain ornament of ballet shoes.

That was a gift to me from Derek, and there was only one pair of it in the entire world. I felt pride bloom in my heart like a flower, a tiny voice whispering that I had something that Anna didn’t have. The next words from her shattered that pride.

"I didn't expect Derek to still have this decoration.” Anna stared at the ornament, her tone so gentle, as if lost in memory. “It should have been my birthday present that year if I hadn't insisted on leaving... You know, a 22-year-old girl is too naive and doesn't know what she wants at all.”

Her words felt like a hot slap to my face, knocking the wind out of my lungs. I only now know that words can really kill people.

Anna turned to me, the smile on her face froze; I knew I must look very bad, but I didn't have the strength to hide it. I could only watch her approach me and hug my arm: "Sally, are you okay? I didn't mean to say this, it’s just…suddenly returning to a familiar environment…I'm a little sentimental. Please don't mind.”

She rubbed the back of my hands and I looked down. Her polished nails resembled claws ready to sink into my flesh at any time and draw blood. Familiar environment? My head turned on its own and I glanced in Derek’s direction. He had his lowered as he made the coffee, his eyes so serious one would think the poor coffee grounds annoyed him.

The way he moved around the kitchen effortlessly, he didn’t even ask Anna how she liked her coffee. He just made it. Like he knew it by heart. Like he had made her coffee countless times in the past. Anna followed my gaze and laughed softly.

“After dance training back then, I would always be the first to go looking for Derek, and he would always, without fail, make me a cup of coffee to eliminate my fatigue.”

The decorum I had managed to keep plastered on my face shattered. Shock replaced my calm on hearing her mention dance training. It must have been for some other dance, right?

“I was also a ballet dancer before modeling, didn't Derek tell you?” Anna asked, her brows furrowed as if she was genuinely surprised.

My ears filled with a loud buzzing noise and my vision tunneled. I had no idea that I and Anna had so many similarities. It began to strike me just how much of my life was already filled by Anna.

And I knew absolutely nothing!

Anna continued to speak but I could scarcely hear her over the thumping of my heart and the buzzing in my ears. I felt like I was in a trance, like nothing around me was real. Anna shook my arm, making me snap out of my daze and turn to her.

“I was asking if I can take a look at the ornament?”

My mouth moved in confirmation but I wasn’t sure what I had said. I got up and walked over to the ornament and handed it over to her. My actions felt like I was being controlled and someone I couldn’t see held the remote control.

Anna reached out to take the ornament, I let go, and it slipped to the ground. The delicate porcelain shattered on impact into tiny pieces. My eyes went wide, unable to move and do anything.

“Sally!” Anna screamed, her voice high pitched. “I just want to see this ornament! If you don’t want to, you can refuse. Why do you want to hit me with it, and even destroy it?! Don’t you know how precious it is?!”

Is she serious right now?! She let it fall to the ground and now she’s yelling at me?!

I looked down at the shattered debris at her feet, pieces of the ornament that I doubt can ever be repaired again. Anna fell to her knees, her hand covering her mouth and her eyes wide in shock at something behind me.

I turned slowly, coming face to face with Derek. He held two cups of coffee in his hands, staring at me with an expression as cold as death.