Page 118 of Merciless Sinner

All I can say toward that is that I'm trying. I'm doing my utmost best,

but it's just one of those things that's going to be hard.

I think she has to accept it, and so do I. But in the spirit of trying, I nod.

“Sure,” I say. “I could do with brushing my hair. I flick the ends of my hair.”

I have my hair down today. As I didn't fully know if I was going to see her, I allowed it to air dry when I came out of the shower this morning.

“Mine too.” Amelia inclines her head so the ends of her ponytail brushes over her shoulder.

“Let's go to the ground floor bathroom,” she suggests.

We go down there. It's one of the bathrooms we prefer because it has a bigger section of full length mirrors. I find my usual spot and take out my brush to run it through my hair. Amelia joins me, fixing her hair too. When she's done, she turns to look at me, giving me a pensive stare.

“Are you okay, Olivia?” She checks. I look at her, wishing she wouldn't ask me such a thing, when she most likely knows the answer is no.

“I'm not too bad,” I decide to say.

“Thank you so much for coming out today. I really thought you wouldn't make it. I was actually preparing for it.”

I pull in a deep breath. “I’m willing to give our friendship a shot. I felt that even though I don't remember you and the past we shared, we've been in each other's lives for far too long to throw it away.”

The hope in her eyes blooms into positivity. “It means a lot you thought about that, especially when you have more important things to worry about regarding your parents.”

“Virgo pointed out that you're important to me too.”

“You're important to me too. I just wish I could do more for you.” She touches her cheek. “I wish I could've done more for your family as well. When I think of how they were killed over a memory stick, it cuts my soul.”

I start to nod. Then I realize something.

Something that crashes into my mind. I never told Amelia about the memory stick. So how would she know about it?

“What?” She asks.

“How did you know about the memory stick?” My voice trembles.

She blinks and narrows her eyes. “You told me,” she replies, sounding as if the answer is simple.

I shake my head. “No, I didn't tell you.”

“Then maybe Virgo told me. Someone did.”

Again I shake my head, because I know Virgo wouldn’t have done that.

“Virgo told me not to tell you anything. Neither of us wanted to put you in danger, so how could you have known? I can't imagine anybody telling you.”

Her lips part. And she pauses in thought for a moment, then surprises me with a little laugh.

“You know what? I guess I slipped up.” She throws her hands up in the air, as if she's just remembered something. “So, whoops!” She giggles, and it's like I'm talking to someone else.

“What do you mean?”

She steps forward, coming to close the distance between us, and brushes her hand over my arm. Something stings me and I pull back.

“What was that?” I gasp.

“Calm down, Olivia. You're always such a drama queen. And a very confused bitch.”