**Personal Diary Entry**
I went to collect my things from my ex today, only to find my sister standing there in a dressing gown.
**”What do you even know about love?!”** My voice cracked as my phone nearly slipped from my trembling grip. **”Three months of restaurants and flowers, and then you vanished like it meant nothing!”**
James sighed, infuriatingly calm. **”Listen, I never promised you forever. We had funthats all it was.”**
**”Fun?”** I exhaled sharply, fighting the shake in my voice. **”Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. You know what? Ill come by tomorrow to get my things. And you wont see me again.”**
**”Tomorrow wont work. Ive got plans.”**
**”What plans? Another date with some clueless girl?”**
**”Emily, dont start. Im busy till evening. Come after eight.”**
**”No. Ill be there at noon. I dont care about your plans. Itll take ten minutes, and then you can go back to your perfect little life.”**
I hung up before he could reply, tossing my phone onto the sofa and burying my face in my hands. The tears Id held back all week finally spilled over. Why did this always happen? Why did I keep choosing men who treated me like a temporary distraction?
A soft knock at the door. **”Emily, love, are you all right?”** Mum peeked in, holding a steaming cup of tea.
**”Fine,”** I muttered, hastily wiping my cheeks. **”Just tired.”**
She set the tea down and sat beside me, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. **”I heard. Was that James again?”**
I nodded, too choked up to speak.
**”Oh, sweetheart how long are you going to let him hurt you? Four months of pining over someone who doesnt deserve you.”**
**”Im not pining,”** I snapped. **”I just want my things so I can move on.”**
**”Whats left there, really? A few books? A jumper?”**
**”My favourite perfume, two blouses, and Grans photo album. I cant just leave them.”**
Mum stroked my hair. **”Let me fetch them. Or Charlotte?”**
At the mention of my older sister, I tensed. **”Dont drag Charlotte into this! Were not exactly on speaking terms.”**
**”Goodness, what now?”**
**”Nothing. She just thinks she knows how I should live. Said James was a waste of time. Bet shes thrilled to be right.”**
**”She only wants whats best for you,”** Mum said gently.
I shook my head. Charlotte had always been the golden childtop grades, a first-class degree, a successful career, the perfect marriage. Easy for her to lecture from her pedestal. Meanwhile, at thirty-two, I had a broken heart, a rented flat, and a job I hated.
**”Ill get my things myself,”** I said firmly. **”And close this chapter for good.”**
The next morning, I woke with a pounding headache, having barely slept. I rehearsed the conversation in my head, determined to look flawlesslet him regret losing me. I applied my makeup carefully, slipped into a new dress, and stepped into my heels.
As the cab wound through familiar streets, I mentally prepared my cold, composed script. No tears. No accusations. Grab my things and walk away with my head high.
Jamess building was eerily quiet. The lift carried me to the seventh floor, and my heart hammered so loudly I swore the neighbours could hear. I took a shaky breath and rang the bell.
Silence. No answer. Maybe hed actually left for his “plans.” I pressed the buzzer again, longer this time. Footsteps approached, and I straightened, bracing myself.
The door swung openand I froze.
Charlotte stood there. **My sister.** In a dressing gown, her hair damp, her face stunned.
**”Emily?”** She stepped back. **”What are you doing here?”**
I couldnt speak. Fragments of thoughts collided, none forming a coherent explanation.
**”What are *you* doing here?”** I finally managed. **”In a dressing gown. In my exs flat.”**
She dragged a hand over her face. **”Its not what you”**
**”Who is it, Char?”** James appeared behind her, buttoning his shirt. His expression flickered between surprise and annoyance when he saw me. **”Oh. You. I said after eight.”**
My gaze darted between them. Something inside me snapped.
**”Are you together?”** My voice trembled. **”My sister and my ex?”**
Charlotte stepped forward. **”Emily, lets talk. Not here”**
**”Talk? About what? How youve been laughing behind my back?”** Nausea rose in my throat. **”How long has this been going on? Were you seeing him while we were still together?”**
James crossed his arms. **”Nothing happened when we were dating. Charlotte and I met by chance after”**
**”By *chance*?”** I let out a bitter laugh. **”Did you *accidentally* end up in bed?”**
**”Stop,”** Charlotte said sharply. **”Youve got this all wrong.”**
**”Then explain it to me!”** My voice cracked. **”Because I dont know how else to interpret my sister in a dressing gown in the home of a man I was with until recently!”**
I couldnt finish. My throat closed like a fist. Spinning on my heel, I bolted for the lift, jamming the button as if urgency could erase what Id seen.
**”Emily, wait!”** Charlotte chased after me, clutching her gown. **”Let me explain!”**
**”Dont touch me!”** I recoiled. **”I saw everything. What explanation could there possibly be?”**
The lift doors opened, and I hurled myself inside, stabbing the ground-floor button. The last thing I saw before the doors shut was Charlottes devastated faceand Jamess hand on her shoulder.
Outside, the sunlight felt like a cruel joke. I stumbled down the pavement, blind to where I was going. My phone buzzed incessantly in my bagCharlotte, no doubt. I wouldnt answer. **Ever.**
I ducked into the first café I saw, ordering a coffee I had no intention of drinking. I just needed to sit before my legs gave out. My hands shook so badly I had to clamp them between my knees.
The waitress set down the cup, eyeing my pallor with concern. **”You all right, love?”**
**”Fine, thanks,”** I forced a smile. **”Just didnt sleep well.”**
Alone, I stared into the coffee, watching ripples form from my unsteady grip. How was this possible? Charlottethe paragon of virtue, the one who lectured me on choosing the right menwas with *James*?
My phone rang again. I nearly ignored it, but Mums name flashed on the screen. Reluctantly, I answered.
**”Emily?”** Her voice was strained. **”Whats happened? Charlotte called me in tears”**
**”What did she tell you?”** I interrupted.
**”That youd had a misunderstanding. That youd jumped to conclusions”**
**”A *misunderstanding*?”** I barely stifled a scream. **”I walked in on my sister in a dressing gown in Jamess flat! What part of that is unclear?”**
Silence. Then, quietly: **”Charlotte said she was helping you.”**
**”Helping?”** I barked a laugh, drawing stares. **”By sleeping with him?”**
**”She asked you to hear her out. Said it wasnt what it looked like.”**
**”I dont want to hear it.”** I hung up and turned off my phone.
I couldnt face homeMum would be waiting to mediate. Or worse, Charlotte herself. Instead, I went to my friend Lucys, the one whod warned me from the start: *”I dont trust that James. Somethings off about him.”*
Lucy pulled me into a hug the second she saw me. **”Christ, you look awful. What happened?”**
Through jagged breaths, I spilled everything. Lucy listened, murmuring sympathetically, her frown deepening.
**”I just cant believe it,”** I finished. **”Charlottethe woman who preached about integrityis with *him*?”**
Lucy stirred her tea thoughtfully. **”You sure there isnt another explanation? This doesnt sound like her.”**
**”Youre taking *her* side?”** I bristled.
**”Im on *your* side,”** she said gently. **”But hear her out. If its true, you can cut ties. But what if its not?”**
I stayed the night, still too raw to face my family. By morning, I had to turn my phone onwork needed calling. Dozens of missed calls from Charlotte, a few from Mum, and one text from James.
*”Emily, youve got it wrong. Charlotte was trying to help. Let her explain.”*
I deleted it. What else could he say? What lie had they concocted?
I took the day off, spending it on Lucys sofa, numbly watching old films. But my mind kept circling back: Charlotte in that gown, James buttoning his shirt
That evening, the doorbell rang. Lucy answered, and I heard *her* voice:
**”Is Emily here? I need to talk to her.”**
**Charlotte.** Lucy glanced at me questioningly. I shook my head.
**”She doesnt want to speak right now,”** Lucy said gently.
**”Please,”** Charlottes voice broke. **”Its important. She needs to know the truth.”**
**”The truth?”** I stormed to the door. **”I *saw* the truth!”**
Charlotte stood on the threshold, pale, her eyes red-raw. A far cry from the poised older sister I knew.
**”Can I come in?”** she whispered.
I wanted to refuse. But Lucy stepped aside.
In the living room, Charlotte perched on the sofas edge, twisting her bag strap. **”Ill explain. Just hear me out.”**
I crossed my arms. **”Go on.”**
**”Im not with James. I never was.”**
**”Then why were you in his flat? In a dressing gown?”**
She took a shaky breath. **”I went to get your things.”**
I scoffed. **”And that required a shower?”**
**”It wasnt *his* gown. It was *yours*.”** Her voice was barely audible. **”The silk one you left there.”**
I remembereda pale blue gown with embroidered birds. A birthday gift.
**”That doesnt explain why you were wet.”**
Charlotte looked down. **”James spilled coffee on me.”**
**”What?”**
**”I went to see him last night. After you told Mum you were fetching your things. I wanted to talk to him. Understand why he hurt you.”**
**”Why?”** I snapped.
**”Because youre my sister,”** she said simply. **”And I couldnt watch you suffer.”**
She explained: James had reluctantly let her in. Over coffee, hed admitted he wasnt ready for commitment. Then, as they gathered my things, hed knocked his cupdrenching her.
**”He offered me your gown while mine dried,”** she said. **”Id just showered when you arrived.”**
I studied her. The story was absurd yet *plausible*. Charlotte had never lied to me.
**”And you expect me to believe this?”**
Tears spilled down her cheeks. **”Its the truth. Id never betray you. *Never*.”**
From her bag, she produced a carrier bagmy perfume, blouses, the album. And the gown.
The fight drained out of me. All this time, Id assumed the worst. And shed just been trying to spare me pain.
**”Im sorry,”** I whispered.
We talked for hours. Charlotte confessed her own strugglesher near-divorce last year, the façade of perfection. **”No ones flawless,”** she admitted. **”I just didnt want you to see me fail.”**
By dawn, the rift had mended. Back home, Mum hugged us both, exasperated but relieved. **”Honestly, youre grown women!”**
Over tea, I unpacked my things. The gowns embroidery glinted in the light.
**”Maybe its for the best,”** Charlotte said softly. **”Now you know James isnt worth another tear.”**
I nodded. **”And that Ive got a sister wholl fight for me. Even when Im being an idiot.”**
**”Especially then,”** she teased.
I smiled. Funny how life teaches you. Id gone to reclaim possessions and found something far more precious instead.
