After logging out from Virtual Connection, Ricardo left the VR machine in a hurry; it was late and Amelia would be coming soon. He had to at least change clothes, and put his hair in an acceptable state–by now he badly needed a haircut. Next week, sometime next week for sure.
Ricardo put on a white T-shirt, the jeans that were hanging from his chair, and tried to fix his hair. It was a mess to start, that the comb made even messier; like a nest made of cotton candy.
He left his room for the bathroom. It was occupied. He went to the first floor's, also occupied. He entered the kitchen and closed the door behind him. He wet his hair in the sink, finally putting it in order with the comb. Or so he thought, he didn't have a mirror available.
Ricardo heard the doorbell as he was drying his hair with a paper towel. This much should be alright. It needed to, he couldn't leave without passing by the front door.
When Ricardo left the kitchen, Amelia was already inside the house; her small hands–nails done in the pastel yellow hex–pressing against mom's back.
“Hello!” exclaimed Amelia, disentangling from mom.
“Hi,” said Ricardo, making eye contact with her by accident. She stepped forward, him lowering his glance first; Amelia's yellow dress had white feather prints.
“I'll check on Minerva,” said mom, leaving them alone.
Amelia closed the remaining distance, kissing him on the cheek, and leaving a trail of citrus perfume on her way. “How was your date?”
“Good, as usual,” answered Ricardo.
“He's good.”
“I know.”
They remained silent for a couple of seconds, before hearing steps on the stairs. Ricardo turned around–standing next to Amelia–when Minerva made her appearance.
After two weeks, his sister was finally out of her gym clothes. Black sneakers, skinny jeans, green top, a bit of make up, high ponytail tied with a ribbon; not her best, but acceptable for the occasion.
“Hello,” said Amelia, smiling.
“Hi,” said Minerva, looking at them in turn. “Did you think I would stand you up?”
Ricardo had thought there was a chance–not a big one, since they had been to the mall twice already. Regardless, he was relieved. Amelia ignored Minerva's words, following her as she picked up her keys from the rack at the entrance.
“Shall we call a cab?” asked Ricardo.
“It's just the mall, we can walk,” answered Minerva, opening her handbag to store her keys. It was the hexagon-patterned one Amelia and him had given her for Christmas.
They walked their usual road, passing by the same buildings, and listening to the mostly typical Saturday traffic noise. Ricardo unconsciously erased it all from his mind, looking ahead at his companions.
The girls were walking at a brisk pace, side by side, overtaking the other people in the street. He couldn't help noticing how Amelia expertly moved in her heeled sandals, keeping the taller Minerva's rhythm.
“Do you know what are you ordering?” asked Amelia, taking the chance while they were stopped at a red light.
“I guess the same as always, it's the mall's food court,” answered Ricardo. He usually liked to try new places, but they went so often there that he had ran out of options years ago.
“Me too,” said Minerva, not showing much excitement.
Amelia closed her mouth as the light turned to green; Minerva had already started walking.
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“That cake must have more calories than my hamburger,” said Ricardo, looking at Minerva's tray.
“Definitely,” said Amelia, pretending to whisper to Ricardo's ear. “It surely defeats the purpose of having salad for lunch.”
The three of them were sitting in a small round table–which was obviously meant for two–their elbows touching as they ate. Saturday afternoon, lots of people around; they had been lucky to find a table at all.
“I eat cake because I had salad for lunch,” said Minerva, defensively, while cutting a small piece of her whipped cream-covered, marmalade-filled chocolate cake.
“Staying beautiful is all about making compromises,” continued Minerva, in an sagely voice.
“Yes sensei,” deadpanned Amelia.
“Now you know,” said Minerva, breaking into laughter.
They kept talking as they finished with their desserts, the food court gradually emptying as the minutes passed by.
“Did you finally get lucky with the wand?” asked Minerva, while scooping the last bits of cake from her plate.
“Not yet,” answered Ricardo, standing up. “Our rogue couldn't log today, we did trolls instead.”
“But I don't care that much about it; I have been fine playing with the basic staff,” added Ricardo, picking up the empty containers from the table.
Minerva looked at him, taking a pause. “I'll give you mine.”
Ricardo froze in his place for a second.
“I can log in after we return home.”
“Don't worry; we'll keep farming that boss for a while,” answered Ricardo, looking sideways. “And as I have said before, I'm just a casual gamer; it isn't like I need it.”
Minerva had been insistently curious about Virtual Connection lately, so Ricardo had seen it coming. At some point he would have to meet his sister in-game, but the later the better.
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After their meal, the three of them walked around window shopping, wasting time until their 5pm movie.
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The local mall was older than Ricardo; it was like it had always been there. He heard from dad that it was originally only the ground floor, being designed as rows of stores along a roofless, pedestrian path. As it began growing, they just added more floors to what existed before; and erected new buildings over the parking lots, which were moved to the basement levels.
Now they had three floors over a seemingly narrow walkway, which made it feel claustrophobic at times. It was a true mishmash of a design, where profit maximization had triumphed over any kind of aesthetics.
The girls went ahead, stopping occasionally when they noticed something of interest, mostly clothes and shoes. Ricardo felt kinda like a guardian, not having much to add to the girls' dynamics. He wondered what would Ilaria do in his place; Amy would surely be using her as a dress-up doll by now.
“Can we enter for a bit?” asked Amelia, in front of a women clothes boutique.
“Don't mind me, we still have time,” answered Ricardo, checking his cellphone. He paced outside, following them after a bit of deliberation.
The store was decorated following a bright greens and yellows color scheme, which went along with the items on sale–mostly short summer dresses. A bright instrumental tune–flutes and chimes–played in the background.
It was the most Amelia-like place Ricardo had ever been to. He could even pretend it had the chamomile and citrus aroma, despite it smelling to chlorine and plastic like every other store.
“Amelia's in the changing room,” said Minerva, pointing to the back.
“I see.”
Minerva was lazily checking the dresses in a rack. From what Ricardo knew, those weren't his sister's style at all. She did wear skirts sometimes, but mostly in dark colors, to go with bold printed tops.
“Thank you,” said Minerva, in a low voice.
Ricardo didn't know what she was talking about at first. He lowered his gaze, looking at the handbag that his sister was holding in front of her.
“I was worried, after all...”
“No, I like it,” interrupted Minerva, smiling. “I chose it in VC for a reason.”
“I'm glad then.”
A couple of minutes later, Amelia came back from the changing room. She was wearing a whole-colored aquamarine dress, with a textured pattern that Ricardo couldn't identify at the distance.
“Do you like it?” asked Amelia, making a twirl.
“It looks nice,” said Minerva. “I like it more than the yellow one.”
“It figures,” said Amelia, flashing a smile before going back to the changing room.
His eyes followed Amelia's retreating figure, her dress flowing with every step, its pattern reflecting the light in an unpredictable way. As he turned around, he could feel Minerva's stare on him.
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The movie had been okay–which was more than he had expected from it–being a typical superhero blockbuster. The girls were entertained, that was what mattered. And he didn't imagine it, Minerva had been staring at him whenever she thought she could get away with it.
“It's still early, wanna do something else?” asked Amelia, after they left the movie theater.
“Something like what?” said Minerva, looking like she was actually considering it.
“Karaoke?” said Amelia, looking at Ricardo.
“Sounds good,” said Ricardo.
Most probably it wouldn't really sound good–Ricardo not having any singing talent–but it was something to do that didn't require sharing personal space with strangers. They could just rent a box for an hour, and it would be like being at home without actually being there.
Amelia led them in a fast pace–zigzagging across the people milling around–maybe fearing they would change their minds. Ricardo walked next to Minerva for the first time in the afternoon–his sister silently sneaking glances at him–like she was pondering a question.
Two escalators and a 50m passageway later, they finally arrived to the karaoke bar. Ricardo and Minerva followed Amelia into a small reception room–which betrayed the real size of the establishment–the doors to the soundproofed boxes all along a long corridor in the back. To the left there was a bigger, heavier-looking black door; separating them from the open bar side.
Amelia went to the counter, luckily getting a box without issue. Normally you would need to reserve in advance, at least that's what Ricardo had done the few other times he had been there.
“Here we are,” said Amelia, opening the door number 7 ahead of the group.
Minerva stepped into the room before him, Ricardo catching their reflexions in the mirror that covered most of the far wall. He hadn't realized it before, but his sister had a resemblance to Ilaria, specially her side profile. If they ever got into VC together, he would be able to say they were siblings with a straight face.
Am I even considering it? I must be crazy.
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“I'll alleviate the suffering, that makes you cry,” sang Ricardo, the instrumentals fading out after him. He had gone for one of his go-to songs–sung by a former heartthrob with an unremarkable voice–thus perfect for him to not ridicule himself.
Ricardo was next to Amelia in the couch in front of the screen, each of them holding a microphone; Minerva sat alone on the side. The later had bought a bottle of water from the vending machine in the hallway, with which she occupied her hands.
“Bravo!” exclaimed Amelia, clapping. “That actor is so dreamy.”
“Isn't he like 70?” asked Minerva, mockingly.
“He's just around 40.” answered Amelia, indignation in her voice.
“It's the same thing,” said Minerva, taking a gulp of her water, as if signaling the end of the argument.
Amelia and Ricardo had been trading songs all along, Minerva not checking the catalog even once. His sister seemed to be content just listening and nitpicking.
That's not fair, is it?
“Amelia and I have sung enough.” said Ricardo, putting the microphone on the low table, in front of Minerva. “Your turn.”
“I guess I should,” said Minerva in a small voice, taking out her cellphone to go through the song list. She didn't take much time to decide, quickly sending it to the karaoke machine.
“Oh my god,” whispered Amelia, as the first notes of the song started playing.
“Shut down my heart, can't sense a thing, when will I learn...”
Minerva proceeded to perform a downright awful rendition of a break-up power ballad. She began with a small off key voice, getting louder as she went along. When she got to the belting, she started crying as she sang. Ricardo stared at his sister, not knowing what to do.
Amelia, always understanding Amelia; she was already next to Minerva by the time the song finished. She held her best friend as she sobbed on her chest, patting her in the back as a mother would do.
The weep gradually subsided, Amelia raising her gaze towards Ricardo; giving him a reassuring smile. Minerva straightened herself soon after, wiping her tears with a paper napkin.
“Sorry about your dress,” said Minerva, staring at the make up stains on Amelia's chest.
“Don't worry about that. It was kinda ugly anyway,” said Amelia, laughing.
“Yeah.” Minerva smiled despite herself.
They stayed seated still awhile.
“I guess we should call it...” Ricardo broke the silence after a couple of minutes.
“No, we have time for one last song,” interrupted Amelia, smiling saintly. “Let's sing together.”
“Yeah, I'm okay now,” said Minerva, squeezing Amelia's hand.
Amelia looked up the song and passed one mic to Ricardo–keeping the other one with her–while side-hugging Minerva.
“Love is like this, since before the flowers bloomed...” started singing Amelia, exchanging a glance with Ricardo.
I guess I'm singing the male verses.
After Amelia finished the first verse, she signaled to Ricardo with a nod.
“Love is like this, since before the rain fell...” continued Ricardo, getting into character.
The song progressively picked up. When they got to the chorus, Minerva starting singing too, finishing with the three of them in unison.
As they were leaving the mall, Minerva walked next to Ricardo, holding his hand for an instant. He didn't have time to startle before feeling the warmth of a half-air, half-sound whisper in his ear.
“Thank you.”