ONE PROBLEM DOWN

"Hello, ma'am Gia! How are you? Is there a problem?" The specialist speaks from the other end.

"Ah, yes. Hi, doc! Can you come to the house right now? I have an urgent situation." I say.

"Sure. I'll just finish with the patient I am attending to, then I will head over there. Is that alright, or is it so urgent? I can send one of my colleagues there right now." She adds.

"No, doc. I'll wait for you." I say.

"Okay. I'll make it there in an hour." He says.

"That's alright. Thank you." I end the call and stare out of the window.

I feel bad enough to even look at her. I hate to see her feeling so defeated. I hate the fact that I have failed to help her without having to result in this. I hate that I had to result in this: "Sorry!"

Echoes of pulley silence fill the room!

Am I dreaming?

Where did that faint voice come from? In this room, and behind me? It's only the two of us here, and she is not talking. She hasn't spoken a word in almost three weeks now. Is she... "I am sorry, sissy. Please forgive me!" I turn around at a supersonic speed.

She is… I run to her, unbelieving of what I am seeing or hearing. She is standing, tears rolling down her cheeks. "Grace?" I cupped her face. She tries to speak, but I shush her, pulling her for a hug. For me, her reaction is much more important than her words. Snapping out of her statue state means a lot more than her explanations. My heart is throbbing with echoes of joy and gratitude. I am shedding tears of pure joy over a hope that was lost.

"Aren't you angry for what I made you go through? You don't hate me?" She asks when we will pull away.

I take her face into my hands as we both continue to sob. "How can I hate my sister, huh? The only person I share blood with? I can never hate you." I wipe the tears from her eyes.

"But I did and said so many terrible things to you, Gia. I don't deserve your forgiveness or your love." She pleads with so much guilt and remorse.

"Don't say that. I would give anything to know what I did that made you hate me the way I do, but it's alright if you don't want to talk about it, Grace. What's important is you being okay." I say.

She looks away for a minute and clears her throat. "You did nothing wrong, Gia. I was just so stupid to fall for Ejay's lies and blackmail. And when I realized that I could have been blaming you for nothing, I had already gone too far with my hatred and jealousy. All I wanted was to convince myself to believe in the lies of Ejay, because I couldn't accept the fact that I was so damn wrong to not believe you from the beginning. I should have believed my sister instead of a stranger who had his own selfish motives, but what did I do? I didn't even help you in the fight against attaining justice for our parents. What kind of sister am I?" She cries really hard.

"Hey.."

"No, Gia. Let me finish, please. I feel horrible. I feel useless and stupid. I am the worst sister anyone could ever have. And I had to be your older sister? I am not deserving of you, Gia. I should have died instead of my parents because they could have helped you, unlike me, who did nothing. I look at you and feel nothing but hatred towards myself. I feel like mere garbage, a burden for you when I don't even deserve your mercy. You should be hating me.

"That's enough now, Grace. I don't blame you at all, and I don't hold any grudges against you. I once almost fell for Ejay's deceit. But you know what? He is out of our lives now. It doesn't matter who did it; what matters is that he paid for taking our mother and father out of our lives. Well, we really can’t be so sure about our father, but in the meantime, we have got none but each other, Grace. You and I should live the happy life that our parents dreamed of for us. Let's not waste this chance. Let's honour our mother’s memories in this way, please." I plead.

"You have a heart of gold, Gia. I don't think I can ever forgive myself for what I did to you. Mom must be cursing me at her grave. And if at all dad is alive, then I doubt he would ever want to see me after what I have put you through." She says. She was beating herself way too hard.

"They loved us so much to lay a curse on any of us, Grace, or to not want us despite our flaws and failures. I am sure all they want is for us to be happy together. And you have nothing to forgive yourself for, because I am not angry at you. I apologize for not trying hard to understand you and for those hurtful words I said to you last time. Please forgive me, sis." I plead.

"No, sissy. I deserved all that and much more for being such a stupid bitch. Actually, thank you, because that served as my wake-up call and my turning point. The anger I saw in you that day made me realize how far I had gone with my baseless accusations, and I knew there and then that I had crossed your limits. You had taken so much crap from me, and you deserved none of it. I'm sorry, and I will never get tired of apologizing to you." She says.

"Well, let's put this nightmare behind us now, sis, can we?" I ask.

"Before then, please tell me something, and don't lie to me, please." She says this, her face turning serious again.

"What is it?" I ask with the utmost curiosity.

"Ejay. Please tell me you never slept with him. Tell me that nothing happened between you two—you were never his woman; you two had nothing going on, right?" She is almost breaking down again, saying this.

"Where did you get all that crap from?" I ask.

"That's what he told me. That you had been living with him as his queen, and that you knew where I was all along."

The hell? What a manipulating, lying jerk! Seriously? That is the weapon he used to pin us against each other? Rotten jerk! I would kill him a thousand times if given the chance.

"All those are nothing but lies. That monster and I never got intimate, apart from some stupid, meaningless kisses. I needed to play along with him to accomplish my mission, but that's as far as we went. So don't feel bad about it." I say.

"It means a lot that I didn't sleep with the same man who went to bed with my very own sister too. Well, I am still a rotten bitch for allowing him to use me. I am not just as strong as you, Gia. But I guess I can work on myself for the better. Sisters' huh?"

But why not? I think the cab driver was my lucky charm today. I am smiling—a genuine smile. One problem is solved. One problem is down! The quagmire is loosening, huh? I still have more to think about, but this day, I am dedicating it to us—my sister and me. I will keep this smile today.