Lily sighed and broke the silence. “So, what do you want to talk about?

It was Richard’s turn to get lost in thought. He wasn’t sure which question to ask first without coming across as creepy. An uneasy pit bubbled in his stomach as his mind went blank, scrambling for ideas until he thought up what to ask.

“So, what’s your relationship with Mindy like? What caused you two to have such a rift?”

“What kind of question is that?”

“Oh, did I say something wrong? Sorry if I stepped out of line.”

“No, I should apologize, I went too far.”

“It’s fine.” Richard chuckled to himself. “It seems you’re not like Mindy at all.” His smile faded as he turned back to face her. “I—I didn’t mean it in a bad way though.”

“It’s alright, I can see why you think that.” Lily closed her eyes as her hair flowed in the breeze. If one could tune out the white noise, you could hear the soft piano playing from downstairs. The two stayed silent as the music continued to play. The performance should be ending soon. She pushed herself from the handlebar and turned around.

“Hey, where are you going?” Richard asked. “What about—?”

“Look, I don’t have all night. I just want to relax and have some time for myself before the performance is over. You should leave too.” She told him and moved her hand towards the doorknob.

“Wait!” Richard exclaimed without thinking. “I know what it’s like!”

Lily’s hand stopped before she touched the knob. Her eyes widened as she turned to face him.

“What do you mean by that?”

“I was also the unfavorite child in the family...”

“Really?”

“Yeah… how do I put this?” Richard bit his lip and squinted his eyes, nearly on the brink of tears. “I was the older brother, though. My younger brother had all the attention and glory. Reginald’s a gifted prodigy, he’s talented and good-looking, everybody loved him, including my father.” He muttered, lowering his head.

“And no one paid attention to you?”

“No matter how hard I tried. Almost like...”

“You don’t exist, think things would be better if you weren’t there.”

Richard squeezed his arm. His eyes glanced at the floor. “Yeah, you got me.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Lily said, walking back to the front of the balcony. “But, if you don’t mind me asking, why are you telling me this?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never said this to anyone before. I guess I needed to let this out of my chest. I held these feelings back for so long.” He glanced at her. “Since you were also an unfavorite child in the family, I thought you’d understand.”

Richard…

“Although, to be fair, I deserved what I got. I was a selfish and spoiled brat. I don’t know what your situation is though. You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

A light shade of red escaped her cheeks. She didn’t know whether to feel embarrassed or cry. Lily never would’ve imagined someone like her sharing something in common with a person like him, much less bond over it. Normally, she was good at reading people’s faces, detecting their lies. But, despite what happened prior, he was different. His eyes, body language, even tone of voice, all appear to be honest.

She never met Richard before, yet somehow Mindy wrapped him around her finger. Lily had to be on the lookout for any signs. It would be difficult, but how much was he in on this, if at all? Time seemed to slow down for both of them.

“So, um...” Lily broke the silence as she looked down at her feet. “I want to ask you a question in return, if you don’t mind.”

“Oh, not at all, ask away.”

“You know my sister, Mindy, right? She works in the same place as that sleazy guy.”

Sleazy, who?

“Anyway, what do you know about me, from her?” She asked, twirling a strand of her hair. “What did you tell you? Be honest with me.”

“Hmm, I don’t think she said anything about you, good or bad.”

“R-Really?”

“Yeah, I did take note of her expressions when mentioning you. Judging from her eyes, I couldn’t tell if they were resentment or regret. Or a mix of both.” Her heart nearly dropped. Did she hear that right? “Now, I might be wrong, but the way I see it, Mindy doesn’t hate you as much as you think.”

She... doesn’t? “You’re not lying to me, are you?”

“Like I said, I could be looking too deep into this. After all, I don’t know what your relationship was like. Don’t take my word for it.”

Lily paused and took a moment to recollect herself. Was that true? It didn’t sound like he was lying to her. While thinking about it, a few memories resurfaced from the back of her mind. She remembered those times when Mindy helped her with homework, read her a bedtime story, and even stood up to her from a bully with glasses. Lily looked away, her eyes brimming with tears. The bad outweighed the good, but how could she have forgotten those good times?