The way I see you - Masterminds #1, Chapter 9
Ray had been delaying this for too long, therefore it had to be fate that finally pushed Harry to be introduced to Heila... his supposedly long-lost twin sister.
Note from the author: I just wanted to wish you all a Happy Chinese New Year, whether you celebrate it or now. Here, it’s a big deal for my family, friends and me; I’m sorry it took a little longer to publish this chapter. Enjoy!
It’s been almost a year since Ray met Harry at that bar.
And it’s been over six months since they were officially in a relationship.
Soon afterwards, Ray moved out of the penthouse to everyone’s surprise to live with Harry.
He promised that he would still attend his training sessions with Dany but that he felt he needed some space, now that he was an adult. After the initial shock, it all went quite smoothly: he was even congratulated on finally meeting someone he was serious about.
They probably didn’t give it too much thought since they knew that Harry was ‘one of them’. Ray had told them that he was a Witch…
Yet, to this day, he hadn’t officially introduced him to them. No one had met Harry.
The reason was what Harry had told him before…
Heila, the one Heila he knew, was his sister, or so he claimed.
He hated to admit it but… the more he spent time with him, the more he saw the resemblance. And the more reluctant he became when it came to introducing Harry to the others. Would they all see it right away? Would Heila see it? How obvious was it that they both looked alike?
After one year, he couldn’t tell anymore. He wasn’t sure.
And that was why he still had not given Harry the chance to meet his twin sister. It had come to a point in their relationship where he knew that he wasn’t being lied to… but the right moment never seemed to present itself.
Ray was nervous about everything that could go wrong: would Heila recognise him right away? They looked similar… but how similar, should they be in the same room? And what about the others? Dany, Nya, Ash… What would they think?
These were the thoughts that haunted them every day.
They often fought about it too. As much as this was a delicate matter, Harry was losing his patience.
There would never be a perfect opportunity anyway. Ray knew that Harry wanted to act now, now or never. He knew that he had to see her… and she had to know the truth about her past.
Then, that night came.
The night Ray received a call from Judy, Heila’s mentor.
Heila had been on the brink of death. She had somehow ended up in a fight where she was led to cut her own wrists open and was now bedridden.
“Ray, I can treat her wounds. I can help. Let me go and see her.”
And so they agreed. Because of Heila’s nature of work, it would be best if she were not admitted to a hospital. It would be too complicated to explain.
Thus, Harry would be their doctor in residence.
And their Witch.
The entire penthouse already knew him by name… but it would be the first time he would meet any of them.
And what a turn of events. It was now unavoidable that Harry would finally meet his long-lost sister, the person he had been looking for all this time.
Sometimes Ray wondered whether Harry really did love him or whether he was sticking with him to get what he wanted… Maybe both. Hopefully. He didn’t care anymore. He didn’t want to think about it.
Because Ray ended up falling for him entirely. Of course, physically Harry was his type, but he was also the most gentle, kind and considerate person he had ever met.
How fitting for a doctor.
Eventually, Ray had to let him go to attend to Heila. Besides, when they considered the state that she was in, they both knew that Harry could not tell her about him yet… not right away. Her recovery was the number one priority.
He could only wish for everything to go smoothly… for no one to realise who Harry really was and what his true intentions for getting close to them were.
As he still had the keys to the penthouse, despite having moved out, Ray decided to accompany Harry. Thus, the day after the attack, they both arrived early in the morning.
Harry wasn’t surprised at how modern and clean the entire apartment was, especially since Ray had told him that it was fully funded by The Oracles. It couldn’t be compared to the one-bedroom apartment he had managed to rent off of his entry-level salary.
“I can’t believe you left this to come and live with me.”
Ray locked his arm around his.
“I don’t care about having a fancy house. I just like to be with you all the time. You’re my home.”
Harry looked away as his pale cheeks reddened. Ray smirked.
“So, uh, where is she?”
“Upstairs. I’ll show you.”
Ray decided not to follow him inside Heila’s room. He felt it was best for a doctor and his patient to have the space to themselves. Besides… it would be the first time that brother and sister would be reunited, even though Heila would probably not recognise him as such unless she noticed the resemblance…
Therefore, he lounged around in the living room, like old times. Even though it was the weekend, there was no one else around. Although, he guessed that Nya was probably training with Dany… As for Ash, he knew that he had gone abroad for his university studies so he wouldn’t be anywhere nearby.
It didn’t take too long. The moment Harry returned, he told him all about what had happened…
~
When Harry entered the master bedroom, Heila was lying down peacefully.
It was still early and the sun had just come up. He noticed how the first few rays of sunlight shone on her brown hair… the way his hair did every morning when he looked at himself in the mirror before going to work.
The resemblance was striking.
But only to him.
She slowly opened her eyes.
It shone like emerald stones, piercing through his soul.
It felt like he was staring back at himself.
“Morning,” he managed to say. “I’m sorry if I woke you up.”
He walked over to the bedside table and started unpacking. Was everything here? He had brought bandages, alcohol…
“Morning. Harry, is that it?”
“That’s right, I’m…”
“Ray’s boyfriend… and a Witch too. A proper doctor for people like us.”
He couldn’t help but smile.
Heila tried to sit up. He hurried over and helped her. The skin at the back of her neck was warm and slightly sweaty. Was she running a fever? He placed his hand on her forehead.
No, not yet at least. He sighed.
“I’m sorry we had to meet in these circumstances,” she said. “I’ve been pestering Ray about bringing you home so we could get to know you more…” She chuckled. “But I didn’t mean it in that way. I know you two were taking your time…”
“Don’t worry about it.” He carefully removed her stained bandages so that he could replace them with fresh ones. “Right now, my job is to make sure your wounds heal properly, without the risk of any infection.”
She smiled. It suddenly reminded him of his mother…
Their mother…
“Thanks for coming all this way so early in the morning to help with this, even when you haven’t properly met us before. I really appreciate it.”
He shrugged it off, although deep inside he was struggling to stay calm.
He wanted to cry and shout and tell her everything he knew about her…
“That’s what I do. I’m a Witch at heart after all. And besides, we would have met sooner or later. For people like us, it seems that circumstances don’t matter. I’m glad I could at least see a glimpse of Ray’s former home… and the people who supported him along the way.”
Heila nodded.
“That’s true. And now he has you. I’m glad that it all turned out to be this way for him. Please promise me you’ll treat him well.”
He couldn’t help but hold her hand in his, wrapping his fingers tightly around hers.
He stared at her with his emerald eyes… in the hopes that she would see… herself… the way he saw himself in her eyes.
“I promise. And I promise I won’t let you down either.”
He knew she was lost for words. He let it be.
Soon, he would reveal himself to her.
D. K. Waye