Sweet Billionaire Stepbrother(3)
As if she felt my gaze on her, Taylor looked up from her magazine with a concerned expression on her face.
“Hey, I’ve been meaning to ask. How is that little girl you were telling me about? Is she any better yet?”
Taylor could come up with the strangest things at the most random times, but I liked that she’d taken an interest in my young patient. “Carmen? She’s doing really well actually. She’s able to walk a short distance by herself.”
“You really are amazing, you know? Helping people like Carmen become mobile again after an accident, it must be so amazing and overwhelming.”
My smile beamed back at her. “It is. Nothing beats the look of pride and joy on a person’s face when they achieve something the rest of us take for granted every day.”
“I know. You must feel so proud too, seeing her achieve that. ‘Specially after the doctors said she may never walk again.”
My eyes misted up. It had been a long and hard struggle to get Carmen to this point. “Well, if there is one lesson I’ve learned, it’s to never give up. Persistence pays. And Carmen’s parents were incredibly supportive too. That’s crucial in a case like this. Miracles happen if we believe in them, you know.”
“You’re such a softie, Layla. The world is so much better for having you in it.”
The sincerity in her voice and her beautiful words choked me up even more. “I’m just doing my job, baby girl. Helping other people is what I do best. It makes me happy.”
“When I grow up I want to be just like you!” The passion in her voice surprised me. I felt humbled yet slightly embarrassed that she thought so highly of me.
“Haha,” I laughed. “You’re going to be spectacular in your own right. Just find something you love and it won’t feel like work at all. But talking of work, I’ve got to get back to this assignment, missy, it’s not going to finish itself.”
“Oh, okay. Sorry for distracting you.”
“No worries. It’s nice of you to care enough about Carmen’s progress to ask after her. But the due date on this is looming and I still need to write a crapload of pages. So let me get back to work okay?”
She nodded and went back to her reading.
This was my last assignment before graduation and I wanted to give it my best shot. Once it was done, I could move to the next stage of my life. I couldn’t wait to finish university and start my career.
Another half hour passed before Taylor looked up from the magazine again. This time she removed the earphones from her head. It was a wonder her eardrums hadn’t burst because I could hear the music pound through that small device all the way to where I sat at my desk across the room.
Her eyes shone as she held up the magazine. “Wow, look at these awesome hairstyles. Do you think Mum would let me color my hair blue or purple and cut it into one of these rad styles?”
Just a little annoyed by the interruption of my thoughts, I swiveled my chair to face her. “Um, what’s that, love?” I asked absentmindedly. My brain was still working on the next paragraph of the conclusion of my paper.
She pointed to a picture of what I could only describe as a God-awful-scary-as-hell goth looking girl with black, purple and blue hair that stood up out from her head as if she’d just been electrocuted. Maybe she had, because her eyes were wide and she was sticking her tongue out; it was pierced with angry looking spikes. Wrinkling my nose, I shuddered and looked back at my gorgeous stepsister. I'd kill to have hair like hers and she wanted to change it to that? Seriously?
I laughed. “You’re kidding right?”
She shook her head, her bottom lip pouting. “I’m serious. One of the girls at school is totally rocking this look. The boys are all over her.”
Yeah, probably because she’s giving them more than a weird hairdo.
“Sweetheart, there’s nothing wrong with the hairstyle . . . but I think you’re a bit young for that. Mum would freak out if she even thought you’d wanna do that to your hair.”
“That’s because Mum was Miss Teen Australia and she wants me to follow in her footsteps. I may look similar to what she did at my age, but beauty pageants and all that crap is the furthest thing from what I like.” she wailed. “You gotta help me. I don’t wanna be dragged into that shit.”
I clucked my tongue. “Language, young lady.” I couldn’t help admiring her sassiness though. Did all beautiful people have natural charm and charisma exude from them? It was as if the world sat up and took notice when my mother or any one of my stepfamily walked into a room. I found it amusing that most people thought Taylor was Mum’s daughter and I was the stepsister.
Maybe that was why I fitted in so well with my stepfamily—they were all stunning, like my mother, and I wasn’t any competition for them. I was happy for Taylor to take the limelight and she reveled in it.
As for me, I was a geeky nerd. Plain Jane and happy to be so. The only thing I’d strived for when I was Taylor’s age was the highest grades in school so I could win a scholarship. I’d inherited my Dad’s average Joe looks and was the simple girl-next-door type with a nondescript face. I didn’t mind though—it meant I blended in just perfectly without most people noticing me. Just the way I liked it.
“Neither shit nor crap are swear words, they’re bodily functions and therefore perfectly fine words.”