A Conflict of Interest

                  Lili packed her bags, getting herself and her supplies ready for the journey the next day. Lili felt a sense of excitement today. She enjoyed getting outdoors, and she enjoyed drawing, and the job Jonas offered provided her with both. Lili especially looked forward to the view from the top of the mountain, a perspective she never witnessed before. She couldn’t wait to see the world from a different view.

                  Lili peacefully made progress when her sister came into their room and began packing her bags with clothes, sleeping gear and other preparations. Leila said nothing, although she didn’t have to. Her actions alone annoyed Lili. Lili figured her sister wanted to compete with her. She figured Leila planned her own little adventure, so that Lili didn’t look special in any way. Lili assuming Leila prepared for something different asked to clarify.

                  “Um, Leila, what are you doing?”

                  Leila looked up, looked at her gear, then back up at her sister with a facial expression stating the obvious. “I’m packing. What are you doing?”

                  “I know you’re packing, but what for? Where are you going?”

                  “For our expedition up the mountain, the one we are taking tomorrow.”

                  This surprised Lili, although she had no reason to doubt her own sister or believe that Leila would lie to her. Lili felt blindsided by the news and craved an explanation.

                  “So, uh, what did Jonas hire you for?”

                  “Oh, he hasn’t hired me yet, but if Ella is going, then I’m going too.”

                  Lili gave an annoyed smile trying to be kind, but flustered by her sister’s response, “I don’t think Ella is going, when I talked to Jonas this morning, he said he was hiring a Guild trained fighter, plus I don’t think Ella is qualified enough.”

                  “Believe me, she will find a way. She always does.” Leila said.

                  “Not always!” Lili usually kept her emotions repressed, but the anger began to surface. It annoyed her that Ella brags all the time and ends up getting what she wants. Lili tried to refute the reality she faced.

                  “Why do you even want to go? You don’t even like the outdoors?” Lili grew more defensive. She did not do well when emotionally flustered.
                  Leila relished in the awkward discomfort. She saw it as a cat-and-mouse game she enjoyed far too much. “Oh, I don’t now, just for fun. Maybe so I can hang out with Ella. Keep watch over you.”

                  Lili grew more and more furious with her sister. What bothered her the most is that Leila wanted to spend time with Ella. Lili and Leila used to be best friends when they were young. They did everything together. Growing up seemed to pull them apart. She loved her sister and wished she could be around her more, but it seemed like everything Lili did was never good enough for Leila. Leila was the smarter one, the funnier one. She did everything better than Lili, and it hurt not being accepted by her own sister. Lili felt her sister always got her way, and got all the attention for it, and it fueled an anger and frustration deep within her mind.

                  Leila overshadowed much of Lili’s life. Lili wanted just one moment where she would be admired or praised. Her artistic abilities impressed Jonas, which gave her positive attention she rarely got at home. The attention boosted Lili’s confidence. She felt good about the person she was and what she had to offer.

                  If Leila came on the journey, she would find some way to overshadow Lili’s talents. She never thinks it’s possible, yet it always happens. Whatever it is or how Leila does it, is a mystery in the mind of Lili, but Leila seems to garnish all the attention. For just a couple of days, Lili looked forward to living without that shadow. Lili decided she had to learn to stand up to her sister.

                  “Look, you don’t always get what you want. Sometimes you have to wait. Sometimes it’s not meant to be!” Lili said, doing her best to stand up to the bold personality of her sister.

                  “Whoa, calm down!” Leila kept packing her gear.

                  “I AM CALM! Look, you don’t get to wander around and do whatever you want whenever you want. There are others that are affected, you know. There are rules in place. You have to follow them, and if Jonas did not hire you to join, then you just have to deal with it.”

                  “Sure, we’ll see.”

                  Lili’s frustrations surged. “You’re just jealous that I got hired, and you didn’t!”

                  Leila paused for a moment, thinking to herself. “Hmmm, no, I’m not jealous at all. I’m excited that we get to go on this journey together.” Leila smiled an arrogant smile.

                  “Jonas will not hire you. There is no way he needs you on his journey. He hired me because I have a skill that he is looking for. He doesn’t need anything you have!” Lili tried to be as mean as she could.

                  “We’ll see” Leila kept her cool as Lili’s frustrations took over.

                  “Ggggggrrrrrrgggggghhhh!” Lili clinched her fists with a scowl, not knowing how to express her feelings. Lili’s surface emotions were a rare occurrence as she bottles up her frustrations and anger that she doesn’t know how to express verbally. She finished gathering her things in a huff and left to meet up with Enok and Torben.

                  Leila ever so calmly followed thereafter.