Chance, Phone Call with Sofia

[Olivia White]

Talking to Sofia was so frustrating! Why couldn't she just be understanding and supportive? Isn't that what big sisters were supposed to do? She didn't know jack shit about her relationship, yet here she was, trying to convince her that she shouldn't waste her life on Cain. Olivia was really glad that they weren't having this conversation face-to-face. It was so much easier to be honest with Sofia and tell her like it was when she wasn't looking at her.

She just wished that Sofia could see how Cain was with her. How well he treated her. Sure, the love of her life ran an assassin agency, but she knew damn well that Sofia had killed her share of people...and whether it was to survive or not, it still happened. It was, perhaps, the only thing about Cain, that Olivia didn't love, but she could look past it. She had to. She already knew how from the past few months how miserable her life was without Cain in it, she couldn't bear the thought of living 50+ years without him.

She drew shapes in the air with her feet as Sofia scolded her again, calling her idea terrible and mentioning how she could have kids. Did she honestly believe that hadn't crossed Olivia's mind? Hell, it been part of the reason she and Cain broke up last time...but in the end, being with Cain was much more of a priority. Sofia then continued, explaining that there were things she wished she could do, but can't now that was a vampire, then asked if Cain was worth it.

Of course he was worth it. If he wasn't, she'd have moved back to Maine and started back working at The Morning Tide again. Instead, she chose to permanently move to London and live with him, and she wanted to marry him. "Yes," she said firmly. "He's worth every minute I waste on him, as you so kindly put it." She sighed and shifted her position again, nearly falling off the couch as dropped her legs to one side.

"You want me to leave him...you're so sure that I'd find love somewhere else...with someone that can give me what I've been dreaming of since I was 5...but I'm not sure of that," she sniffed a little bit, ignoring the few tears falling down her cheeks. "I don't think I'd ever find someone who loved me and respected me and treated me like Cain does. He makes me feel like a princess...like everything I do is perfect, even though you and I both know that's not true. He loves me no matter what...when I have good days and bad. Even when I'm pissed off for no reason at all, he somehow manages to make things better. Every night I wonder what I did to deserve such an amazing man," she smiled through her tears. "Do you understand how great it feels to wake up every night and know that you're the luckiest girl in the world?"

[Sofia Knight]

Even Sofia, persistent and determined to fight all she could if it meant steering Olivia away from Cain, could recognize that this was getting nowhere. It had been years of fighting now. Years without the girl she'd considered her sister once upon a time and Olivia's call wasn't to tell Sofia that she finally broke up with Cain. It was an affirmation and no matter what Sofia said or did Olivia defended the man and her love for him. Skeptical as Sofia was, it was all starting to sound sadly, disappointingly... legitimate.

On the other end of the phone call, Olivia firmly protested that Cain was worth all of the lost opportunities that Sofia explained she might have. Sofia wanted to tell her honestly of the things she herself missed. If she wasn't a vampire wouldn't she be at home now with her children instead of working in the lab? But of course, she might not have had Gideon...

"You want me to leave him... you're so sure that I'd find love somewhere else... with someone that can give me what I've been dreaming of since I was 5... but I'm not sure of that."

Sofia pushed herself upwards again off of the table and ran a hand through her hair. Olivia was sniffing on the call... She was crying, wasn't she? Sofia paced while Olivia went on and on. In her own way, Sofia was sort of proud of Olivia for sticking up for herself repeatedly this way. No, she really was proud of her, just unwilling to say so right now... At least Sofia had successfully forced Olivia to explain everything to her now and so passionately. Cain made her feel like a princess, she said, and he loved her no matter what she did. Cain sounded so amazing when Olivia described him... And yet Sofia knew him to be a monster. But, as Olivia had pointed out, with Gideon --

"Do you understand how great it feels to wake up every night and know that you're the luckiest girl in the world?"

Sofia stopped thinking about Cain and Gideon and thought only about Gideon. The luckiest girl in the world... Every night when Sofia woke and found Gideon beside her she certainly did think she was the luckiest girl. And every moment of the evening right up until they lie back down to sleep together... Olivia had her beat, didn't she? She felt that way about Cain...

"I do..." Sofia replied simply and took a deep, exhausting breath that Olivia could clearly hear on the other side of the conversation. Sofia put her fingers to her forehead and began to massage her temples, shutting her eyes. There was just nothing she could say... Maybe, there wasn't anything that should have been said. Olivia might have been right... "If you love him this much... and if you're absolutely sure than it's what you want... Then," Sofia didn't want to say it. She really didn't. "I approve, Olivia. I'm happy for you. I'm happy my little sister found love..."

Despite her shame, a little smile touched Sofia's lips that helped it all. Her little sister... Right. Her Livvy. It felt better already. It would be alright - sucking up her pride - if it meant Sofia could have Olivia back again.

[Olivia White]

Olivia was running out of things to say to convince Sofia that she was 100% serious about her love for Cain. There were only so many things she could come up with in hopes that Sofia would finally understand, and it was starting to look like she wouldn't be successful...again. She didn't want to lose Sofia. She still cared about the woman. But she also wasn't going to give up her relationship for her, because honestly, she highly doubted the woman would do the same for her.

She'd given Sofia all she had, explaining how she didn't think she'd ever find someone who loved and treated her like Cain did. What if she gave everything up and was miserable and alone the rest of her life? So she'd have to make some sacrifices...sometimes it was worth it for love. Didn't Sofia understand what it was like to wake up every night and know she was the luckiest girl in the world?

Apparently she did.

Hearing Sofia's words, Olivia fell from her odd position on the couch onto the floor, letting out a soft oof as she dropped her phone. She quickly scrambled to pick it back up, deciding to just sit on the floor for now. It was safer there.. She beamed as Sofia finally gave her approval, squealing into the phone. "Seriously? OH MY GOD, SOFIA!" Okay...this was too exciting to stay on the floor. She stood up, jumping up and down a little bit. "You have no idea how happy that makes me! I promise you that this is what I want!" She was a bit winded as she spoke, but it didn't matter. Sofia approved. Which meant she and Sofia could go back to where they left off. Being sisters.

[Sofia Knight]

Sofia was happy and ashamed all at the same time. She didn't want to just give in... But was anything going to be solved anyway? They'd been fighting over this for years without hardly saying anything at all. And now Olivia had called her and it was possible that they could be happy again. Like sisters again... right?

Something happened on the other end. There was a sound like potatoes hitting a kitchen floor that made Sofia nervous. The phone hit the floor and Sofia looked concerned while it rustled and fingers grabbed for it again. Soon enough, however, the rustling turned over into a blood-curdling squeal that made Sofia curse and hold the phone far from her ear, face contorted in pain.

"Seriously? OH MY GOD, SOFIA!"

So... Olivia was happy? Sofia allowed herself another smile and brought the phone back, comfortable with Olivia's happiness now. Her heart felt like it had been doused in cool, calming water all of a sudden. No more worries.

"No, I think I know... I'm really happy too." Sofia's voice was more placid of course but she was grinning now and Olivia could probably hear that in her tone. Sofia chuckled, actually, and ran fingers through her hair, pushing stray locks behind her ear. She looked out the window of her lab and felt surprisingly good considering she'd given in to Cain in some ways... But there would be time to fight with him later. For now, Sofia had made her little sister happy! And that was good. Sofia needed a sister again... This was already so good. She felt good. It was all good.

"I love you... I want to see you now. Come someplace with me and we'll... catch up. I'll see where you live."

[Olivia White]

The fact that Sofia finally gave her approval of her relationship with Cain was a huge accomplishment in her eyes. She remembered back when she had first told Sofia about Cain...how Sofia was so wary of her befriending such an old vampire. And she asked Sofia to trust her judgment. Of course, then, she had no idea that things would ever develop the way that they did. She never imagined she and Cain would fall in love with each other, but they had, and still, she wanted Sofia to trust her judgment. And she would.

It seemed like finally things would work out for them. Once Sofia swallowed her pride and realized that what Olivia felt towards Cain was real, the woman admitted she was happy for her. Olivia certainly hadn't been expecting to hear that, so once she did, she couldn't help but squeal and jump around. Once again, it was probably good that Cain was still at work with the way she was screaming and dancing around the living room.

"YES! We need to see each other! You have to see where we live! Cain's got this penthouse. And It's so amazing here. And, oh my God, I want to meet the kids again! They are so cute! I wanna play with them! Oh, I finally picked a major! I'm in my last semester of school! I want to be a kindergarten teacher! Do you want to meet tonight? I don't have any plans. I could meet you somewhere? Or we could do it another night. God, can you just teleport here so I can give you a hug?"

[Sofia Knight]

Olivia had lost her mind. Sofia spoke fairly calmly, still not entirely comfortable with this, of course, but Olivia was chatting away at half a million kilometers an hour. Sofia was happy that she agreed to see her. Something about a penthouse… Cain was such an asshole that he would live in a penthouse! But at least her little sister wouldn’t go wanting… The children would be happy to see Olivia again. That made Sofia smile once more and she was excited to hear that Olivia had picked a major as well. Kindergarten teacher? Of all of the worthless fucking career ---

Alright, Sofia would just be happy for her. She took a big breath and told herself that, letting Olivia go on. They’d meet up… And Sofia would get a hug. For that promise she grinned even alone in the lab.

”Tonight? I can’t tonight… I’m working in the lab. But… tomorrow? I think… Hold on.”

Sofia hurried down the lab bench to her brief case and stuck a hand in, pulling notebooks and binders out until she found her planner. She couldn’t remember all of her engagements on her own… Flipping wildly through until she found the next day’s date, Sofia put her finger on it and considered.

”Yes, I can get out of work for a couple of hours tomorrow. I’d like to see where you live… And get a hug, of course.” Sofia actually laughed and it felt good. She felt better already just to let a little laugh loose. Maybe more would make her feel even better than that…! "I can see you at 10. Where?”

[Olivia White]

Olivia had practically turned into a squealing teenager once everything fell into place and she realized that Sofia wanted to be her friend again. For someone who didn't know the situation, it might seem a bit overdramatic, but they had no idea what she and Sofia had been through. And now finally they could go back to the way things were before either of them had men in their lives.

She wanted to see Sofia so bad. She wanted to hug her and let her hold her like old times. She wanted to meet the kids officially and play with them. And she wanted to show her everything that they had missed in the past 3 years. There was so much catching up to do! They should get together soon! Oh! Or tonight!

She frowned a bit when Sofia said she couldn't at the moment, sitting down and taking a much needed breath while the woman shuffled through papers on the other end of the phone, obviously looking for something. It didn't really matter when Sofia wanted to do this, she'd make herself available on that day. And it seemed like tomorrow would be that day. She grinned as she sat there, bouncing up and down as she spoke. "Yes, tomorrow! 10 is great! Um...we could meet somewhere for coffee first? Can you still drink weak tea?"

[Sofia Knight]

How strange was it that just a short couple of years ago a girl had walked into her lab from the United States needing an internship and now, years later, they were repairing their relationship as sisters. Sofia wasn't sure how she'd gotten so lucky. She was born with half-a-dozen sisters and although Sofia loved them they'd never truly connected. Isabel had loved her in her way and Sofia loved her back... But Isabel was gone now. Olivia wanted Sofia to be her sister again and that was good enough. Good enough to make Sofia want to jump out of her skin with happiness, anyway! Sofia needed to see her and she hadn't even known it before. It would mean so much to get another hug...

"Yes, tomorrow! 10 is great! Um... we could meet somewhere for coffee first? Can you still drink weak tea?"

Sofia had the feeling that everything would be "great" to Olivia. She missed that happiness and how Olivia could just smile and be cheerful for anyone at all. Maybe she really would make a good Kindergarten teacher, even if Sofia was going to have a hard time listening to stories about it without saying something sarcastic. She'd work on that before they met up. Olivia was smart and capable. If she wanted to marry an ancient asshole and teach children for a living then so-be-it. It was her decision and she wanted to be Sofia's sister still. Sofia would have to live with it.

"Tea... maybe." Sofia smirked to herself while she wrote in on her calendar, "OLIVIA," at 10pm. "It makes me a little sick but I don't really care... I just want to see you. Name the shop and I'll be there at 10pm."

[Olivia White]

It was probably best that they meet somewhere in public first. Just in case things don't go well. Not that she was planning for things to go poorly, because really, she couldn't wait to throw her arms around Sofia and hug her to the point it might just get awkward. It was just easier to meet somewhere they both could find and go elsewhere together. She wasn't even sure Sofia could get to the penthouse with the security they had in the building. So she'd meet her for coffee and tea, then maybe give her the grand tour of her place. And then maybe next time, she could go over Sofia's and meet the kids for real. She'd have to discuss that with Sofia, but she honestly couldn't wait to be officially introduced to her niece and nephews.

She grinned at that thought, her mind whirring with ideas of things they could do together. She had been so much in her own thoughts, she'd barely caught Sofia's question. Shop? Oh...coffee shop. Right. "Uh...there's a place called Higher Grounds. It's a few blocks from here. They've got a pretty decent tea selection. We could meet there? If that's okay? Or we could find another place if that's too far for you."