Evasion

chapter 3

Aleena

As she opened her eyes her head began to throb. Slipping out of bed she went direct to the kitchen to grab some ibuprofen. A plate had been disguarded on the white marble kitchen counter with crumbs and a slight splodge of jam remaining. She was aware that Adam had decided to not wake her to join her for breakfast this morning, instead he had avoided her. This made her feel more alone. Adding a teaspoon of coffee and two full teaspoons of sugar to a cup, she boiled the kettle. Cup in hand, she switched on her laptop and checked her diary for the day. 10am she was due to begin her shift today at the end of life care hospice. Just under two hours to fix herself up and paint on a happy face. Checking her emails and double checking the rest of the weeks shifts she decided to make a call for a new haircut.  In desperate need of a little pampering to feel a little better within herself, she scanned her nails and decided that a nail appointment may help also.
Once dressed for the day she grabbed her bag, lunch from the fridge-freezer and her car keys off the hook. As she headed out the door, Betty, her neighbour approached her on the path. Beautiful, lengthy, bouncing, blonde locks fell about her shoulders. She had skin with a hint of a tan with a natural glow upon her face. Betty was a head turner. "Good morning Aleena, how are you?", Aleena was not in the mood to socialise and felt somewhat inferior when next to Betty. Aleena had mousy hair with natural streaks that had never been touched with a dye or bleach. Her body was curvy with shorter legs than Betty's slim and long ones. "Hey Betty, I am good thanks, just in a bit of a rush" she replied. "Well, I will not keep you long, it's just I am hosting a dinner party this Friday and I hope that you and Adam could join us". Her voice was very 'matter of fact', always straight to the point. "That would be lovely Betty, thank you".
Aleena could never say no, even if that is what she really meant to do.
How relieved she was that the appointment for her hair and nails had been made before Friday. Now there was the added pressure of finding something to wear that she had not already to one of Betty's previous dinner parties.
Jumping in the car and pulling off the drive, one hour until work, she took herself to the supermarket to grab a few bits of food and a new book to cosy up with later in bed.
Salmon and asparagus were her thought for dinner this evening and she proceeded to grab all that she needed.
Once out of the supermarket she headed back home to return her goods before finally setting of to work.
The ibuprofen had not done their best and her head still felt sore. Turning on the radio at a low volume she tried to push aside the thoughts that kept creeping into the forefront of her mind, the fight and abuse of last night.