The Stone-Hearted

Talindra was happy to see Opal. He was a person in her life whom she liked and loved talking to. She helped him however she could.

"Come on, just two phone calls, means nothing. They got the rightful position with their talent, I just opened the gate for them," she was not ready to take the credit.

"That's true all the gates are shut for us poor people," said Opal in a sad voice.

"Don't say that. As long as I am here, no gates will be shut for you," said Talindra.

"You are too kind."

"You dedicated your life to me. Whatever I do will be nothing compared to that. Have you thought of retiring?" she asked.

"Do you not like my driving?" he teased.

"I didn't mean it that way," she smiled at him.

"Let me serve you for some more years."

"As you wish." She softly bowed at him.

The car became silent. She opened her laptop and got busy with her work. They reached home after an hour. The traffic was a headache. The road from the airport to their huge house in Brown City was busy with cars. The car commute was a pain in the ass.

The moment the car stopped at the door of the house Talilia, her sister came running to greet Talindra, "Welcome sis!"

She hugged beautiful Talilia with all her emotions. She was seeing her after a year. Talilia used to live with Talindra but then she wanted her freedom, so Talindra sent her to Dainava under Drelduin's responsibility. After she was done hugging her, she looked at her and then pulled her ears instantly.

"Ow! Ow! What did I do now?" cried Talilia with pain.

"This is for the mistakes you made over the past year," said Talindra and raised one eyebrow to emphasize her point.

"What? What about Drel's punishment?" shouted Talilia while caressing her ear to ease the pain.

"He will get that in the evening. He will receive punishment for the past five years," said Talindra, casually.

"Then it's okay. Let's go inside," said Talilia. Talindra hesitated for a minute. Talilia understood what was bugging her. She said, "Dad is not here. Are you seriously going to avoid him?"

"Yes, and I am not going to stay here. I have already brought a villa in Center Environs," informed Talindra.

"You will not stay with us?" Talilia was shocked.

"I cannot stay in this house. I just came to see you and pick up my things from my room," explained Talindra.

"You are shifting today?" Talilia was beyond shock at this point. "You just arrived!!"

"Yes, you are welcome to stay with me," said Talindra.

"But… but Dad needs someone to stay with him," contrasted Talilia.

"And that someone will never be me," shouted Talindra immediately. She closed her eyes and calmed herself down. "Look, I am sorry, but you have to decide where you want to stay. If you want to stay with him, that is fine, if you want to stay with me that too is fine. But it must be your decision. You have to choose one. One thing is for sure, I am not staying in this house. Period."

"But Tali…"

Talindra placed her hands softly on Talilia's shoulder and said, "Lili! My decision is not going to change. I am never going to stay in this house. No matter what happens."

Talilia jerked her hands away and shouted, "but why? Why do you hate Dad? Why do you hate this house, our house? Why do you hate Dainava? What happened to you?"

"Nothing you should concern yourself with," said Talindra stoically and went inside.

She spent a few minutes inside, brought a few items from her room and sat in the car leaving Talilia perplexed, standing outside the house.

"Tali! Please listen to me," shouted Talilia after Talindra but her car drove away.

"What the hell happened in this house? What happened to my happy sister? What made her stone-hearted? No one would tell me. Why would no one tell me? Maybe I could help her. Maybe I could get my sister back," Talilia started crying.

She ran inside and jumped on her bed. She buried her face in her pillow and after screaming in the pillow for several minutes, she cried her heart out. Her sister was a helicopter parent. When she stayed with her, she never let out of her sight and now she was back in Dainava and wanted nothing to do with her.

She had to beg her, plead with her to send her to Dainava and now Talindra had no concern where Talilia would live. What was the thing that made Talindra hate her own house, her own father? She would rarely talk to him and that too only about business. She had seen Talindra disconnecting the phone whenever Galhad would ask her about her day or how she was doing.

If he would talk about business, she always listened, any small talk and she would disconnect the phone. What did he do to her? No one was there to share her pain. She kept crying and crying. Maybe she could talk to Drelduin and ask him, but he never talked about it before so why would he start talking now?

In the evening, Talilia stood in front of the mirror. Her eyes were slightly swollen from crying. She touched around her eyes with her forefinger. She took a deep breath and exhaled heavily. She took her angled brush in her hand and applied concealer around her eyes. She then put on some setting powder over it to get rid of her puffy eyes.

She didn't want to go to the party, but it was for her father and her sister and she would get to see Othorion, Baraion's younger brother, her lover, and he would take away her pain for sure.

She applied pink lipstick and mascara but her hand dropped, and she looked at herself with a heavy heart. She was getting ready for the party but after talking with Talindra she didn't want to go. Then again, she promised Othorion that she would be there. Her heart was in dilemma. She wanted to go and meet Othorion but was distraught because of Talindra. She had so many questions for Talindra, but she never answered them. She was slightly afraid of her too. Well, everyone was afraid of her.

She met with her sister after a year. She wanted to talk to her, hear her stories but she came and ran away from the house within minutes. She didn't even care about Talilia. She just offered her to live with her and never asked how she was, or what she did for a year. She had turned completely stone-hearted.