After Thanksgiving and my quasi-drunk confession to Harriet's brother, I have been seriously planning on meeting up with Olivia. I may not be able to speak to my own siblings, but that doesn't mean that I can't try to mend things with my one sibling on this side. However, even though I am sure that this meeting needs to happen, I'm also terrified about it.
I talked to Harriet, and we both agreed that if there is anyone who is going to notice I am not Olivia, it's her sister. I don't even know her name. Since Olivia has her saved as something mean in her phone. I can only assume that tensions between them have always been there.
Her sister texted yet again, but this time it was to ask me if I was going to Aunt Bi's house for Christmas. I let her know that I had plans for Christmas Day, but I wanted to meet up with her before. We planned on meeting a few days before Christmas. Now I just had to mentally prepare for the meeting.
It has been causing me serious anxiety. I haven't been nearly as playful with Mateo lately. He felt the shift and responded with his own. He asked how my date went, and I didn't know what to respond to that. There is just so much I can't tell him. I don't know how he would react. Mateo is pretty emotional about things.
When I told Harriet the truth, it went very poorly. And she is much more level headed that Mateo. I mean, I told Mateo a part of the truth, but there is so much more to my story. I don't have any interest in Ji-hoon, but I need him. I don't know how to communicate that without explaining how desperate my situation is.
I also know that we are going to Mateo's for Christmas, and Harriet has made sure I know that people exchange gifts for Christmas, so I should bring something for Mateo's mom, dad, and Mateo. I have been going out shopping and trying to come up with a good gift for people whom I have never met. It's harder than I anticipated. But I found Mateo's gift right away. I hope he likes it.
So I prepared for the meeting with Olivia's sister. Harriet and I did something that I hadn't done yet, but we logged into Olivia's socials to get a better idea about who she was. I spent at least two hours on both Instagram and TikTok trying to make sense of everything she posted there. Olivia took lots of pictures of her food, her adventures outside, and going out. I searched for people who appeared in multiple pictures, but there weren't that many. Ninety percent of Olivia's pictures and videos were of her alone.
Harriet and I talked about all the things she had done. She had pictures of her climbing a mountain, hiking, going to the beach, running, and kayaking. She clearly spent most of her free time outdoors. The other large portion of her pictures was of her ready to go out for a night out. Her hair is done perfectly, and her makeup. I had never looked like that version of Olivia. She also wore very revealing clothes. Lots of men commented on her pictures, talking about her beauty.
I hadn't really thought about it, but Olivia was stunning. I began to think about whether or not Matteo would have befriended me if I were in my own body. Anaphalia was definitely not a traditional beauty. It's probably why Ji-hoon didn't immediately turn me away. I got lucky to end up in her body. People treat her differently. But that also meant that people like Nolan approached me.
Thinking about Nolan makes my heart stop. I never really had a chance to talk to anyone about him. But as soon as I think about him, I want to puke. It's a reaction I'm still unable to control. I guess there are perks to being less obviously beautiful.
I walk into my meeting with Olivia's sister unprepared. Social media gave me nothing. We planned on meeting up in a bar. I tried to match the same level of look that Olivia had on social media, but as soon as I had on one of Harriet's shirts that was so revealing, I felt uncomfortable. I kept trying to pull it down, up, sideways.
After a few minutes, Harriet told me to go change because it was too obvious that I was uncomfortable. I opted for a T-shirt and jeans, but with my hair and makeup done. It had taken an hour to get ready, but I marched out of my apartment on my way to meet my...I mean Olivia's sister.
Olivia's sister was short, just like Olivia. She was also thin like Olivia. But unlike Olivia's dark brown hair, her sister was blonde. She had blue eyes instead of brown. We definitely didn't seem like sisters standing next to each other. But it had been that way with Raella, too. We met up at the bar and started with some small talk. She asked me about moving and my new job. I felt comfortable filling her in because those were parts that I knew about.
Luckily, the bar asked for our IDs when we ordered drinks. I pulled out mine and casually put out my hand to Olivia's sister and said I would hand them both over. I had a second to look at her sister's name. It was Serena Hearst. Confusion flooded my mind. Why did they have different last names if they were siblings? Did she get married, perhaps? Or maybe Oliviva had? It was a puzzle, but I at least had a name to call her.
"Serena, let me get us the first round of drinks. Since I have been so hard to get a hold of lately. This is how I will make it up to you." Serena laughs, "You would try to solve the problems between us with a drink." I felt bad, but as I had assumed, these sisters were not close. Maybe that was a good thing. Otherwise, she would be asking me what happened to the real Olivia.
After a few more minutes of talk about my new apartment and me asking about how her job was going, things got a little awkward. I didn't know what to say. But I remembered what Martin said: as the eldest, I can set an example to make things better.
I looked to her and asked, "Is there any way that we could find a way to make our relationship better?" Serena looked over to me with a shocked expression on her face. She instantly started crying. I didn't know how to react, but if it had been Raella who started crying, I would have hugged her, so that's what I did. Serena's body went limp. She started to hug me back.
With tears falling down her cheeks, she squeaked out, "You're all I have. After Mom died. But you decided to drink away your feelings instead of talking to me. I know that we had a healthy bit of competition for Mom's favorite growing up, but I felt like you didn't trust me to confide in me." I sat in the booth, frozen.
Olivia had some deep things happen in her life. She was going through so much. It was taking a minute for my brain to process this information. This is my first time learning about Olivia. Something that couldn't be put on social media. The sadness of her life hit me like a brick. I started crying.
It was now Serena's turn to hug me. I cried and cried. For someone who wasn't me. For someone who wasn't my family. But it was so sad. It made Olivia more of a person, not just some empty shell. After a few more minutes, both Serena and I stopped crying. She asks, "Can I please see you more than once a year? I miss you. I wish you were coming to Christmas with Aunt Bi."
I apologize quietly. I already have plans. Suddenly, like she was hit by lightning, she remembers something. "Aunt Bi keeps asking for Gigi's ring. Mom had it. But she wasn't buried with it. Aunt Bi apparently went through Mom's things and never found it. She assumed that one of us had taken it. I didn't. So she thinks you have it. Do you?"
It was making more sense. Gigi must be the name of a family member. I explained, "I don't have it either." I start to think about Olivia's things. The only thing I had kept was her wallet and her phone. I started to think about the wallet. It did have a zipper part that I used for coins.
I pulled out the wallet with Serena watching, and I opened up the zipper. It wasn't inside. I then noticed that inside the zipper part was an even smaller zipper compartment. I had never once opened it up. I opened it up, and inside was a beautiful ring.
It dropped out on the table. Olivia had kept it. It had clearly meant a lot to her. I look at it just sitting on the counter. I look up and see tears returning to Serena's eyes. But they seem to be happy tears this time. She gasps, "You did have it. I didn't realize you were the sentimental type. You kept something of Mom's. Let's just lie to Aunt Bi and say you don't have it. I think you should keep it. You are the older sibling anyway. It's only fair. It's just as much yours as hers."
She gets a smile on her face. The weight of the ring on the table feels heavy all of a sudden. I don't want it back. If it's that important to Olivia's family, someone actually from the family should have it. I reach out and pick it up. I hand it across the booth to Serena.
I say, "You should keep it for a while. I think we should both have a chance to remember Mom." Serena is speechless. She turns the ring over in her hand for a minute. She puts it on her ring finger, but it's a little too big. She says, "I guess I will add a chain, and then I can wear it as a necklace. I...thank you. I don't know what else to say except thank you.
I nod with a smile on my face. It just seems right. It's almost like a peace offering to try to smooth things over between the two. As we are getting up to leave, I make plans with Serena again. After Christmas. I'm going to do everything I can to bridge this divide between them. I missed having a sister so much.