Chapter 17: SHE FELT UNHAPPY

Emma looked like a young undergraduate in a tracksuit and wore her hair in a high ponytail. The most noticeable thing about her was that she was very beautiful. When she smiled, there were two sweet dimples on her face, which were incredibly attractive. She smiled at Sarah as she walked in and greeted her, "Hello, are you, Miss Tyler? I'm Emma." Her voice was gentle and soft. It made Sarah feel comfortable. Sarah didn't see her as a rival when they first met, but she did sense a great distance between them, from her age to her temperament. No wonder Charles described her as a dream girl, no one could compare to her. Sarah felt a little intimidated, but she dared not to show her insecurity on the surface. She just smiled, "Hello, I'm Sarah. Nice to meet you!" The two girls shook hands, then sat down. Before ordering the meal, they talked to each other for a while. Looking at Sarah, Emma smiled and talked to Charles, "It is so lucky of you to find such a good girlfriend. You should cherish her." Charles laughed and answered, "I'm really lucky to have both a good sister and a good girlfriend!" While Emma and Charles laughed away, Sarah sat beside them, feeling embarrassed as they had so many common interests and happily chatted with such ease. Sarah was so quiet and didn't like to say too much. Furthermore, their happy chat made her even quieter than before. Although they both tried to chat with her so as not to exclude her from their conversation, she still failed to follow their topics. When the waiter came to take their order, they finally stopped talking. Charles passed the menu to Sarah to let her order, and the waiter also gave a menu to Emma. As it happened, Sarah was a little upset when she saw Charles and Emma chatting with each other so excitedly. Therefore, she didn't have much of an appetite. However, Emma seemed to be excited when talking about the dishes on the menu with Charles but never asked Sarah for any suggestions, perhaps just because she saw there was a menu in Sarah's hand. Maybe that was very normal behavior, but Sarah still felt unhappy and uncomfortable. She looked at the menu and decided to order a sweet and sour dish. To her surprise, Emma frowned and said, "I don't eat sour food." Reacting to Emma's complaint, Sarah raised her head and looked at her. Charles asked, "Aren't there many sweet and sour dishes abroad?" Emma covered her nose and said, "The sweet and sour dishes abroad are different from those at home. My dear brother, don't you know it? What's more, I never eat any sour food of any kind; even smelling it would make me want to be sick." With a look of reminiscence, Charles nodded, "Yes, you never could shake that habit. Right, well, we won't order it." He passed the menu to Sarah again and continued, "You can order something else, Emma can't stand sour food." Suddenly, Sarah no longer wanted to eat anything. She wanted to order that dish to stimulate her appetite, but Charles didn't let her order it just because Emma didn't like it. What was she supposed to eat? Emma seemed to feel bad for refusing her order. She passed her menu to Sarah and said, "What about this dish? This one is a western dish, and it's very delicious and healthy." Sarah didn't answer her, so Emma thought she must not like this one. Determined to find one she liked, Emma suggested another one, "Perhaps this? This one is also delicious. Have you eaten it before? Do you want to try it?" Emma was very enthusiastic when introducing the food to Sarah, but Sarah just stared at her indifferently and finally said, "Anything is fine. I don't mind." Charles noticed Sarah's indifference and Emma's enthusiasm and suddenly felt annoyed, "Emma, forget it. She doesn't want to order." At last, they just let the waiter go. Charles didn't want to talk to Sarah anymore and so continued to chat with Emma happily. Since they hadn't seen each other for a long time, they had so many things to talk about, allowing them to forget about Sarah completely. Throughout the meal, Sarah became steadily more embarrassed and upset, but she couldn't express her displeasure, so she just kept silent. After the meal, Charles had said he would take Emma to her apartment, so Sarah said, "Take her back home; I can go home alone." She didn't want to stay with them anymore. Emma looked at her doubtfully. Charles held her hand and said, "Why are you angry again? Can't you just be friendly?" He was angry with her. Sarah couldn't stand it anymore and laughed, "I'm a little uncomfortable. I just want to walk back home, is that okay?" "If you are uncomfortable, you should take the car. Why are you angry?" Charles said coldly. Sarah felt ridiculous and looked at Charles in disbelief. However, when she saw Emma was looking at them, she thought that she couldn't let her laugh at them. Therefore, she sat in the car without saying anything. Then, Charles said to Emma, "Hop in!" Sarah noticed how his tone was so gentle when speaking to Emma as he courteously opened the door for her.