AUTHOR: It took longer than I intended to get this chapter done, mainly because I've been working on other stories for various competitions. And now . . . I've completely forgotten where I was taking this story. Oh well, that gives me the pleasure of coming up with a new plot. Yay! Thank you for reviews on the last chapter.

Chapter 2

Raven-colored hair fell in soft waves, framing a face sweet and serene. The big dark eyes swept briefly across the room before looking over her shoulder to say something to her friend coming behind, the luscious lips curved upwards in a genuine smile. She was clad in the Business school uniform – white shirt under a navy blazer with a grey skirt ending just an inch above the tanned knees. Nick had never seen anything more beautiful. He couldn't take his eyes off her and was sorry to see her head towards the tables while her friend, a blonde slim thing with a sour pout, came over to the register to make their orders. As she approached, her eyes softened into something that gave Nick the creeps.

"One medium vanilla latte, soy milk and no cream on the top, a large Americano and I'll have your phone number to go."

Nick blinked startled. What the . . .

"Howdy Leelee!" Xander shoved Nick out the way and quickly tapped the order into the register. "And how are you today, pretty?"

The disappointment on Leelee's face was tangible. She sighed.

"Bring my coffee to the table. And quickly. I haven't got all day." Her eyes wandered to Nick. "Feel free to send the new guy."

Vida snorted once the blonde was out of earshot.

"I swear, one of these days she will grow fangs and then your half of the population will be in deep, deep trouble."

She took a sip of her own coffee and ignored the puzzled frown on Nick's forehead so Xander had to fill in the gap instead.

"Leelee Pimvare, daughter of Nikki Pimvare. The owner of Vampire. You know, the bar down town?"

"It's amazing," Vida sang, suddenly back from her coffee dreamland. "It's so sexy. All black marble and blood red velvet. They have the best dance floors; the DJs are the best in town and the crowd is well-behaved. Not the sweaty, hands all over kind of crowd but sophisticated and there to have a good time. We should go there!"

"Not her," Nick interrupted, as Xander was about to say something enthusiastically to Vida's suggestion and nodded in the direction of where the raven-haired girl had claimed a table. "Her!"

Xander and Vida followed his gaze theirs and while Vida grunted, Xander smiled.

"Ah, so the new kid falls head over heels for the prettiest girl in town – no offense, Vida. That, my young padawan, is Madison Rocca, daughter of the mayor, but most people would probably know her better as the ice queen."

Nick winced.

"That snobbish, huh?"

"Uh-uh, one might think so but no, Madison is the sweetest person you'll ever know. Never heard a cross word from her mouth, always kind and gentle, and does a lot of charity work."

"Then why the ice queen?"

"Because no suitor has ever been able to thaw her heart," Vida said sarcastically and scoffed. "And trust me, it isn't because of the lack of suitors."

She motioned towards the tables surrounding the mayor's daughter where more than one guy threw longing looks in the ice queen's direction. Madison ignored them with innocent oblivion but Leelee wasn't as graceful.

"What are you looking at?" she snarled at Benny-boy and his crew.

Ben took it as an invitation to approach them rather than the warning it really was. Nick couldn't hear what the guy said but that it was an unwanted compliment was clear judging by the slightly annoyed look on Madison's face. However, like the sweet person Xander had said she was, she replied politely before turning her back to him to show that the conversation was over. Ben failed to take the hint. As he continued talking, Madison looked for a way out and for a brief moment – that felt like an eternity – her eyes met Nick's and his heart skipped a beat.

"It's like she's immune to charm."

"What?" Nick shook off the lingering electric charge Madison's gaze had set off in him.

"Is that what you're doing when you go all creepy scuzzball on me – you're trying to charm me. Wow, for someone bragging to be a Casanova you really suck at it."

Xander shot Vida a glare.

"You're just jealous guys aren't fighting over you, the way they do over lil'sis."

Nick's eyes widened to the size of the extra-large take-away cups.

"You're sisters?"

Vida nodded. "Believe it or not, twin sister actually. I'm older by ten sweet minutes."

Nick looked at Xander for confirmation and was surprised when the Aussie nodded. Twin sisters?

He glanced over at Madison again. Apart from the two girls having big dark eyes, there wasn't much resemblance to speak of. Sure, Vida might have raven-colored hair as well underneath that mop of pink but otherwise the two girls were as similar to each other as day and night. Vida energetic and boyish and Madison serene and feminine. Street smart versus sophistication.

"Why . . ?" Nick couldn't bring himself to form the words to the questions inside his head. Fortunately, he didn't have to. Vida knew what he was thinking.

"You wonder why she didn't greet me when she came in? And why she is attending Briarwood School of Business while I struggle at Briarwood High? That's easy, we don't live together. I live with mom while Maddy stays with dad, that was the agreement when they divorced, along with mom getting absolutely nothing. Apart from occasional bump ins here, Madison and I rarely see each other"

"I'm sorry to hear that," Nick said quietly.

"Don't be. We came to the conclusion long ago that we have nothing in common. She's too much of a do-gooder to hang out with someone like me and I can't stand how perfect and neat everything about her is."

"Still, she's your sister."

Vida shrugged.

A group of customers stepping in through the door at that moment put an end to the conversation. Nick took their orders and payments while in the back of his mind he kept thinking about what Vida had told him. As the only child to parents whose work kept them overseas for long periods of time, Nick found it difficult to understand how two sister – twins at that – could live in the same city and have no relationship with each other, other than the one on paper. He would have loved to a brother, or a sister, to share the feeling of being abandoned by the parents with.

Across the room, Ben had left his band of brother to sit with Madison and Leelee. While Leelee seemed to have softened towards him, Madison had not. Behind a well put together mask, Nick sensed boredom and a feeling of not wanting to be there. She looked . . . sad.