a/n: well this is new for me, publicly posting fresh things. I'm a bit stumped about how modern this should be...
I thank those of you for the feedback!
"Howl's Love Advice"
Chapter 2: Sisters and Scones
Sophie set her teacup down with a gentle clink and smoothed the edges of the newspaper called the Market Review.
"Dog catcher, education officer," she murmured, running her finger along the letters. "... house nanny?"
She bit her lip, tapping that last one. After a moment, she picked up a pen and slowly circled it. The ink soaked into the newspaper and dimly glistened in the early morning shadows.
An alarm blared upstairs. Sophie heard movement coming from the loft, and soon a sleepy teenager wearing a pink nightgown stumbled into her tiny kitchen.
"G'morning, Sophie," her half-sister muttered, plopping down on a stool across from her.
Sophie smiled. "Good morning." She watched as Lettie lay her head of tousled yellow curls onto the newspaper-graced table. "I thought you were sleeping in?"
"I wanted to see you before you went to work," came Lettie's mumbled reply. She squinted a sleep-puffed eye at the tiny words besides her cheek. "Looking for prospects again?"
Sophie sighed. She flicked a crumb towards Lettie's nose and laughed at the pathetic pout sent her way. "I made you some tea and warm scones."
"You angel!" Lettie cried, leaping up to kiss her cheek. Sophie reached out to rescue her teacup from being swiped off the table as her sister made a mad dash all of three feet away to her stove.
"See, this is why I spend my school holidays with you!" Lettie cheered, sounding like a remarkably different person. Her sister was sweet by nature, but food brought out a wildness in her. She began helping herself using one of Sophie's three ceramic plates. "You want one?"
"Haha, no thanks... Actually, I'd better be off."
Sophie stood and began flipping the newspaper pages over to the fashion section, which she knew encompassed her sister's main interests. Her fingers trailed to a pause when she read the headline, "HOWL'S LOVE ADVICE. Professional Love Advice from Dr. Howl Jenkins Pendragon."
Lettie peered over her shoulder. "Ooh la la, Miss Sophie. What is that?"
"Pure rubbish," Sophie snorted, snatching up the paper from Lettie's gray-blue sights. She kissed her little sister's cheek twice before waving farewell and heading off to her peculiar job at the four-story building called Suliman, Corp.