Intrusion

He never imagined that it would end up this way. She knew that there was no other choice. They were inseperable, but the situation they faced only had one possible result. They had to go their separate ways. It was the same old story they had heard and talked about constantly, parents disapproving of their daughters suitors. They always used to secretly feel sorry for people that had to go through that because they were positive that they would never have that problem.

He was a charmer, everyone who knew him loved him and the people who didn't always heard about how kind he was. He was the eldest son and took care of the family business, they were well off and was fortunate enough to have a family where modesty ran in their genes. The family had authority, on others and on himself. They cared about their reputation, apparently more than they cared for their son.

She was the perfect daughter, intelligent and mature for her age. Determined and ambitious, everyone thought she was tough as nails; whatever she wanted she would get. Little did they know that she was just like a snail, hard on the outside just because she was too soft on the inside. She fed on independence and never really cared what people thought of her. As long as she treated her family with respect and represented herself with what she perceives as acceptable, she was safe.

Society however begged to differ.

She remembers the incident as if it was a scene from a movie she watched a million times. It rewinds and plays over and over again. It wasn't the first time they had gone to the movies together, on the contrary, it had begun to be a weekly ritual they both looked forward to. They were both old enough to have a cup of coffee together without looking suspicious and could glance at each other across the boardroom while the others busily jotted down notes that they would discard when they get back to their offices. No one ever noticed anything more than a platonic friendship between them just like no one in the boardroom noticed that most of the people there were passing their time doodling on their notepads.

She was tilting her head waiting to feel his shoulder accomodating her while she yawned ever so slowly. She wasn't into sci-fi movies, so she was fighting to stay awake though the whole ordeal. She found it amusing to see how enthralled he was, the bright lights picking up on his features while she would catch a hint of a smirk or his eyebrows wrinkling to form a frown as the plot thickens and the sound becomes deafening. She laughed outloud, the scenes on his face were a movie on their own. It was an afternoon movie and the theatre was almost empty, except for a couple of girls and a few families scattered around, she felt comfortable and at ease. No one would notice they were there.

"I know that laugh!" she heard a girl say. She didn't think it had anything to do with her, so she kept chuckling to herself. She noticed that a girl four rows ahead of her turning around and scanning the rest of the people, her head was darting left and right and stopped in her direction. She felt anxious and tensed up waiting for the girl to turn around, but she didn't. She tried making out who the girl was but she could only see the outline of her body and head. The credits rolled a few seconds later and the lights slowly dimmed in. The girls eyes were locked on to her. She tried focusing again and noticed that this girl wasn't a stranger.

It was her sister.