A World Alone

Thalia sat on the couch with her mouth opened as she stared at Javier. He was shifting uncomfortably in his seat, but Thalia didn’t know what else to say to him. She didn’t expect him to ever come back, and even if he did, she didn’t expect the reason he came back would be to invite her to his second wedding.

“Are you kidding me?” Thalia snapped. Javier looked taken aback and Theo rested his hand on Thalia’s shoulder to calm her down. “You come back after ten years expecting everything to be alright and the first thing you do is invite us to your wedding?” she yelped.

Thalia shot up from her seat and glared at Javier. “Screw that! You can cross me out of your guest list, because I’m not coming to your stupid wedding.” Thalia snapped before leaving the house in a fury.

-

Leo perked up when he heard someone knocking on his hotel room door. He grinned and swung his legs over the bed and jogged up to the door before pulling it open.

Instead of seeing a happy and cheery Thalia, he was greeted with a sad and upset Thalia. She had tears pooling in her eyes and he could tell that she was trying hard to keep them in.

“What’s wrong, Lia?” he asked. Thalia sighed and rubbed her face, “My dad came to my house today.” She murmured. Leo’s eyes widened and he moved aside to let Thalia in.

Thalia groaned and sat down on Leo’s hotel bed. “What’s happened?” he asked. Thalia shrugged, “He came and invited me to his…wedding.”

Leo tilted his head confusedly, “Wedding? He’s getting remarried?”

Thalia nodded. “Yeah, to some woman I’ve never met before,” she sighed, “Obviously, I lashed out. I told him that he couldn’t just waltz into our lives and act like it’s all normal.”

Leo frowned, “So, you’re not going to the wedding?”

Thalia shrugged. “I don’t know yet.” Thalia opened her mouth to add something to the sentence when her phone blared out her ringtone. She held up a finger to excuse herself and answered the phone.

“Hello?” she answered. “Thalia? It’s Theo.” She heard from the other end. She mentally slapped herself, wishing she never answered the phone. Theo was going to lecture her and she was in no mood to get an earful from her baby brother.

“Padre invited us to dinner tonight,” he said instead of a whole speech on how Thalia should be more polite, “It’s at his place. He wants us to meet his new…family.” Theo trailed off. “Please come, Thalia. I can’t do this without you.”

Thalia frowned, she knew how hard the divorce was on Theo. He was always closer to their father than their mother and he was really hurt when his father never came back or called.

“Fine.” Thalia finally agreed.
-

Thalia bit her lip as she pulled up in front of the medium sized house. She glanced at Theo who was sitting in the passenger seat beside her. “You ready, Theo?” Thalia asked him softly. Theo took a deep breath before nodding, they got out and walked over to the front door.

Theo knocked on the door and Thalia took a moment to take a deep breath. Was she really ready for this? She was applying salt to the newly opened wound, and all she wanted was for it to be stitched up like it was before.

After a while, the door opened and Javier showed up with a smile on his face. “You guys made it! Come on in.” he said cheerily. Thalia had to force back a hiss at the tone of his voice. How could he be so happy when they just had an argument not even 12 hours ago?

Thalia and Theo followed Javier into the house. Thalia looked around the house, it was warm and happy—everything a family house should feel like. Pictures decorated the walls nicely, pictures of Javier and his fiancée. They looked happy, which sent a sad feeling to Thalia’s gut.

It pained her just to think this could’ve been her future if only Javier didn’t leave her mother.

Javier led them into the living room where a woman was sitting on the couch, reading a magazine. “Sofia? They’re here.” He said. Looking up from the magazine, the woman—Sofia—smiled and stood up.

She was at least Javier’s age with golden blonde hair and icy blue eyes. She walked over to Theo and Thalia and grinned at the both of them, “Hello, you must be Thalia and Theo.” She said, “My name is Sofia, and I’m your father’s fiancée.”

Thalia grit her teeth but shot her a fake smile anyway. “Nice to meet you.” She said, shaking Sofia’s hand. “It’s great to finally meet you, your father can’t shut up about you.” Sofia chuckled, leaning back into Javier’s embrace.

Thalia was about to make a snarky comeback when she felt Theo’s hand on her forearm. She looked at him confusedly and he shot her a look, Theo knew her too well for his own good.

“Oh, you’ve got to meet my daughters! They’re about your age.” Sofia said excitedly. “Gabriella! Anna! Come down here, we have guests!”

Shortly after, two girls walked down the stairs. They had the exact same golden blonde hair and crystal blue eyes. Thalia didn’t have to look to know that Theo’s jaw was on the floor.

“Gabby, Anna, say hi to Theo and Thalia.” Sofia said in a friendly tone. Gabriella walked over to Thalia and Theo first with a big smile on her face, “It’s nice to meet you. I have a feeling we’re going to be great, great, siblings.” She said with a loud giggle.

Oh boy, Thalia thought, this is going to be a long night.