บท 4: Chapter Four - Coffee

Lara got up and dressed for the outing; soon, she was at the coffee shop. When she entered the shop, she was welcomed with the smell of coffee and pastries. She saw Amira seated at their usual spot when she climbed the steps to the second floor.

"Good day, Miss Brown" a waiter greeted as she passed by her. Lara smiled in response to her, which made the waiter shake his head, trying to figure out whether he was imaginating or not.

Upon seeing Amira, her anger and resentment of her past life rushed forward, and she fought back the urge to strangle her.

Reigning her emotions in she plastered a fake smile and took the seat facing Amira. "Hey," Amira spoke out and blew her a kiss.

"How is your hangover?" Amira asked, using a hand to massage Lara's forehead, seemingly concerned.

Lara fought the urge to move her head back and clenched her hand below the table.

"It's better. I could barely get up this morning, and my dad thought it wise to shout at me this early morning," Lara said, faking a groan.

Amira pursed her lips and said, " he might just be concerned," biting her bottom lips as if she were forced to say it.

Lara saw her slight actions and remembered that this was the same trick Amira had pulled the last life; back then, she had bought into her presence and probed her until she 'unwillingly' said her 'true' thought.

A waiter served Lara a cup of decaf coffee, she raised the cup and covered her smirk with the cup. She took a sip and put the cup down; at this time, Lara was already into her role.

She placed a hand on Amira's elbow and asked her what she was keeping.

Feigning a struggling look, Amira put her cup down and sat up straight. "I didn't want to sow discord, but…. um". She started and then started stuttering.

Lara tightened her grip on Amira's elbow and said, "Speak!!" in an inquiring tone and locked eyes with her.

Amira put on a few more seconds of resistance and then sighed as if she didn't want to but had no choice. Lara observed her expressions and sneered inwardly.

"Your father didn't react like that when your mother..." she started, and Lara glared at her, making her change her words.

"… your father's wife wasn't around, right? what if…." Amira continued and then stopped midsentence insinuating something but not explicitly saying it out loud.

Lara narrowed her eyes and thought that if this was her in her past life, her strong temper would've made her blame her stepmother for this.

Considering that in her past life, she hadn't apologized for her behavior and acted civil, but got into an argument with her father, so he blocked her credit cards without her knowledge. So when she attempted to pay for their coffee and her cards declined, her rage was fueled, and hence, she went home to cause a scene.

Not wanting Amira to suspect anything she pretended to be mad and broke the cup her coffee was in.

The ever-considerate Amira got up and apologized on her behalf and told the waiter to add the cost of destruction to their bill.

Looking at Amira's white lotus act, Lara wanted to laugh out loud and thought that Amira would win so many Oscars if she put this much effort into her acting.

"Lara, I'm not saying that it's such but rather…. It was just a speculation," Amira spoke, pre-rendering to soothe Lara.

Lara ignored Amira for a second and asked if the cakes she ordered were ready. Receiving a signal, a waitress bought out two packages of cakes and handed them to Lara.

"Thanks for the treat, Amira. My head still hurts. I'll go and have some more sleep now," Lara said tired of putting up with Amira's fake behavior.

"Good bye" Amira replied and gave her a side hug. "Don't forget to meet tomorrow night at the club," Amira whispered to her.

Leaving Amira behind, she walked out of the coffee shop; the waitress followed her and asked if they should put the bill on her tab. She shook her head and told the waitress that Amira was paying.

Walking into the parking lot, Lara burst out laughing. Normally on their outings, she was always the one to pay even for the tiniest of things.

Once Amira had even taken fancy to a very expensive necklace and had placed a bidding on it. After winning the bid, there just happened to be a problem with her bank and Lara has ended up paying for her. Five million dollars just like that. Their coffee and the two cakes she took out might not cost anywhere near that, but that was just a starter for Amira. From that moment on, she had better prepare herself for she would now cough up every single cent she had scammed or fooled out of Lara's hand.

Lara got into her car and drove off; halfway home, she received a call from Amira. No doubt it was to ask about the bill. Lara listened to her phone ring and even sang along to the song. Her ringing tone was her favorite pop song, so she was having a blast.

Amira continued to call her until she reached home. Lara packed her car in the garage and saw her phone light up once more, she counted to 20 and then picked up the phone.

"Yes ?" Lara replied sounding frustrated.

" Lara, did you perhaps forget to pay for the bill?" Amira asked sounding muffled. She might be hiding somewhere to make this call Lara thought to herself.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you earlier. I tried to pay but all my cards are blocked. I'm so sorry, Mira," Lara replied in a pitiful tone.

"Oh, that's okay then," Amira replied and cut the call.

Lara placed her phone back into her bag, exited the car, and went into the house.

Not wanting to act completely different from before, Lara brushed passed Kiera when she met her in the living room and went up to her room.

"Lara Arabelle Brown!" She had a voice call when she was at the top of the stairs.

She froze and slowly turned around to see the person who called out to her, that very familiar voice.