Sane

13

Once I arrived to the home I grew up in I rang the doorbell and waited patiently until Rose the housekeeper answered politely.
To anyone else she would probably greet them or ask what they're there for. With me, she just simply bowed her head and moved out of the way so I could enter. Immediately the smell of food wafted to my nose and although it smelled delicious so many things were going on within my head that I didn't have much of an appetite.
I made my way to the dining table, noticing the soft classical music playing in the background. Sounds like something my mother would do; you can definitely tell she out does herself anytime she plans these little get together's.

"Hey sweetie, your father is on his way and the food will be done in just a minute. Go ahead and make yourself comfortable." She leaned in for a hug and planted a small kiss on my cheek, before making her way out of the room and upstairs to probably change into one of her many extravagant dresses.
I sat down at the expensive glass table and took out my phone to preoccupy myself until my ass of a father shows up.
I was scrolling through social media when a message popped up from an unknown number.

"💋"

I quirked my brow in confusion before sending a message asking who they were, then continued scrolling until I heard my mother coming down the stairs. I'm not going to lie, my mother is drop dead gorgeous and it's not hard to see why my father charmed her. She was wearing a silver shimmering long dress that touched the floor and a pair of matching diamond dangle earrings that complemented her round face. I get a lot of my looks from her, from my dark curly hair to my bronzed skin. My inner qualities like my voice and personality are more like my father (according to her anyways).

"So, your father said we are going to be having company..." She sighed as she walked. Her heels clicked with each step she took as she made her way over to the dining table. She proceeded to pick up a wine glass and grip the neck of a wine bottle, pour it half full, and knock it back in record time before pouring another one.

"Why can't we just have family time?" She more along the lines of asked herself out loud, her voice sounding disappointed. She sat down in the seat across from me and called Rose who appeared quickly after and told her something along the lines of making sure there's food for four people.

"Who exactly is it?" I asked with growing curiosity.

"It's that-" before she could ever finish her sentence the front door opened and closed with a soft click, my mother breathed, cleared her throat and composed herself. Within seconds my father walked through the arch threshold that led to the dining room and once I had seen who he was with anger boiled inside me.

"Hey Nicky." Maddie joked as she flipped her blond long hair off of her shoulder. Of course her being her, she was wearing a short black dress with tall black red bottom heels. I sent an unamused look her way and muttered a simple "Hello nurse Cort."
Immediately my mother sensed the tension in the room and tried her best to make sure no one would make a scene.

"Ah, it's very nice to meet you um...Maddie was it?" My mother raised her hand and the younger woman shook it lightly.

"It's nice to meet you too. Actually, Dean suggested this since I did get a big promotion recently. He said I deserved a nice dinner." She looked towards my father, eyeing every inch of his face closely...a little too closely.
My mother watched with a smile that didn't quite meet her eyes.
Although I hate to admit it, hearing her even mention the promotion out loud for everyone almost made it seem like his decision for her was sealed. Resentment and jealousy bubbled in my chest and the room suddenly felt hot.

"Ohhh...is that so..." Instead of me making a scene I could see my composed mother slowly start to lose confidence. She sent me a look, knowing full well it should have been me getting the promotion. She see's through a lot of my fathers crap and this just so happens to be something small compared to what he's done in the past, but that doesn't make her feel any better.
The duo both took a seat with Dean sitting next to my mother who was already sitting across from me, and Maddie who sat next to me across from my father.

"Did you tell Rose to make enough for one more?" Asked Dean as he picked up the wine bottle my mother had previously been drinking on and poured his own glass a fix. He then made a sarcastic comment about how my mother is gonna drink everything before the food is served to which she just rolled her eyes and brushed it off.

"And yes, Rosa is aware." She had her elbow on the table and her hand was placed underneath her chin to hold her head up. Her once excited face now looked bored and if you know her like I do then you could see the pain in her eyes.
For a minute it was awkwardly quiet. No one really said anything and if so it would only result in a small reply before growing quiet again.

"Sorry for the delay I had already started cooking when you told me to make enough for four people." Rose walked into the dining room carrying platters of food. She went back and fourth from the kitchen until everyone had a plate of food in front of their faces then left us the privacy of our dinner after my father demanded another bottle of aged wine.

"You're probably wondering why I gave Ms. Cort the promotion." My father's deep voice almost seemed like it echoed from how quiet it was and the little high pitched noise from silence left for a split second. He picked up his fork and began eating slowly on the grilled asparagus Rose had perfected time after time. I chose to pick at my food while my mother continued pouring glasses and knocking them back.

"Maddie is an exceptional nurse and has proven herself to be very focused in the medical field." He locked eyes with Maddie as she picked up her glass and slowly sipped on it while smiling. I wanted so badly to kick her out so I wouldn't worry about ever having to see it again.

After drinking the most of her fourth glass my mother gulped the last bit down before wiping the corner of her mouth. She looked dead at Maddie with an expressionless face.

"You must think I'm utterly stupid if you don't think I know you two are sleeping with each other..."

All silverware was dropped on plates and Maddie choked on her drink.