The Taste of Seduction

"M-Meredith…" Sofia said, combing her messy hair with her hand. It seemed only a moment ago that she wondered where her best friend is, and here she is--seeing her in an awkward situation. "Since when have you been here?"

Meredith didn\'t answer Sofia for a moment. As she crossed her arms in front of her chest, she arched a brow at her as well, a small smile coming to her face.

"Long enough to surprise you two when you finally saw us in the room," she answered, Sofia looking at Aaron with an apologetic smile.

"Sorry, lil tyke… you had to see that," she said, Aaron letting out a scoff.

"Don\'t call me lil tyke, I\'m turning 15 this year," he replied, Meredith playfully ruffling her little brother\'s hair.

"To us, you\'re still our lil bro," she said, now looking back at Sofia. "You do have a lot to tell me," she added, now Sofia rolling her eyes at her best friend.

"You\'re one to talk," she said, gesturing her hand to her. "You left for almost a year, or a year… without updating me. And you\'re suddenly here like you didn\'t even leave," she added, now walking past her to leave the room.

"Where are you going?"

"Come on, you two," Sofia ordered, Meredith and Aaron following her in tow. "As if we\'re going to talk and spill teas without actual teas and snacks. To the kitchen, duh!"

"Ooh! Sofia, can we have pizza?"

Meredith immediately hit the back of his head. "We might eat outside! Why order pizza?"

Aaron narrowed his eyes at his older sister. "I know you just got back home… but why do you have to act obnoxiously like you always do?"

Even though he said that in almost a whisper, Sofia and Meredith laughed at his statement as they could still hear it. However, Sofia sided with him this time, agreeing to Aaron\'s suggestion.

"Well, I am up for pizza now that he suggested it."

Meredith widened her eyes. "But Atlas and I were planning to have to eat out with you later on."

"Bah…" Sofia brushed her hand up in the air, dismissing the suggestion. "It\'s nice to catch up here at home. Besides, he probably went off with Ace to catch up with him just now, too. I\'ll message Ace that he ask the maid to make them some snacks as well."

Sofia got her phone from her pocket. As she looked for Ace\'s name, she texted him to ask for the maid to prepare some snacks as well. As Meredith peered over her shoulder, she could only see Sofia sending long messages and then Ace replying with emojis or just one or a few words.

He really is a man of a few words, and Sofia doesn\'t seem to be too much bothered about it…

"Since when did you and Ace become a thing?"

"Ha!" Sofia exclaimed, as if her best friend said something very stupid. "He and I aren\'t a thing."

"So it\'s just a fling, you and him? Like fuck buddies?"

Sofia and Meredith looked at Aaron as they stopped walking to the kitchen for a moment. With them not believing what they heard from him, he shrugged his shoulders, not understanding why the two looked at him with incredulity.

"What? Isn\'t that the term?"

"What made me and Sofia look is the fact that you know what those are," Meredith replied, a scoff coming from Sofia.

"Come on, Meredith," she started, the three of them continuing to walk towards the kitchen to make some tea then order some pizza. "Your little brother is not that little anymore. He ain\'t gonna be a child forever. He\'s a teenager, for Pete\'s sake. Of course he\'s bound to learn about that."

Aaron grinned, comparing her and Meredith. "She\'s cooler as a big sister than you, I guess."

"Oh, shut up," Meredith replied, narrowing her eyes at her. By this time, they have already reached the kitchen, the two of them sitting on a chair as Sofia started preparing tea. "Who was it that immediately hugged me when he saw me, saying he misses me?"

Aaron didn\'t answer and just rolled his eyes at her. Sofia laughed at the two, going back to the conversation.

"Anyway… just like as Aaron said, it\'s just that. A fling--just fucking."

"I see…" Meredith nodded slowly, slightly not believing the situation. "Well, I should comment more about it, but considering that you know what may happen, like possibly developing feelings for him, then I won\'t warn you about it. You prolly warned yourself before agreeing to this situation."

"Yeah, good girl," Sofia said, giving them a wink. "Anyway, we\'ll have girl talk next time. Considering that you and Atlas are here, you may be just visiting for a short time."

"Yeah… we\'re going to leave tomorrow," she answered, Sofia letting out a sigh. "But this time, since contacting you would be easier, I\'ll try my best to message you and Aaron from time to time. I promise."

"You better, Meredith," Aaron said, a little pout coming from him. "Even Sofia wonders what took you so long to come back."

This time, Sofia came to them, serving them tea. As she already ordered via phone application their pizza, they only have to wait for their snack to arrive.

"Now let\'s talk. Atlas and Ace can come when they\'re done talking to each other. Of course, they\'d also have their own chitchat with us uninvolved," Sofia said, propping a hand under her chin.

"So you up for dinner later?" Meredith asked, Sofia nodding to answer her question.

"Fuck yeah! Who wouldn\'t?"

Meredith looked at her little brother. "Aaron, care to join us?"

"Nah," he said, shaking his head to say no. "I\'ll catch up with you while we\'re here. I have some homework to do the last minute later this evening."

"So it\'s a double date later this evening, then," Sofia said, the three of them already catching up as they drink their tea, waiting for their pizza snack.