Unhinged

Chapter 1

Mom always said,"Marry the man that loves you more than you love them." Alexis spent most days repeating the same routine. She went to work, came home, opened a bottle of wine and plopped herself on the couch. Her husband, Elijah, spent most of his hours away from home, and in his absence she found a sort of serenity, not because they were having a disagreeable marriage but because the couple were more in comfort than in love. Everything had fallen into routine.

"Oh, you're home." Alexis addresses her husband as he walks into the door gripping bags of groceries. "Another bottle of wine? What's that? The third one this week?" Alexis returned to look at the television even though there wasn't anything she was particularly focused on.

"Mia is coming tomorrow." Completely disregarding Elijah's questions which came off more as condescending sentences. "What are the both of you going to do?" As Elijah unloads eggs into the fridge. "I don't know yet but she mentioned something about getting fabrics in the area so I thought I would drive her and we could get some dinner." Gulping down the rest of the wine straight from the bottle.

They had a beautiful home, three levels complete with a collection of knick knacks Elijah obtained from his world travels for work. He spent most of his time on planes, Alexis never really cared for his job; it took time away from her. He would spend hours drumming about trekking around Mount Fuji with his business associates and how the food had been cooked in front of them. The only thing they truly had in common was the fact that they both loved travelling.

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Her morning routines were the same, she would wake up, have her coffee, and that was most important. Everyone knew to leave her alone for her morning coffee. She would then shower and decide if she was up for looking presentable that day. She wore makeup like it was her mask, without it she felt a sense of nakedness, a transparency that she would only allow few to see.

"Rough night?" Alexis sways into work, the wine hit a little harder than it did the day before. "Hi John. No, I had a thing to settle last night. Did you get the first draft about the Women's Shelter?" Alexis got away with coming into work late, only because she was good at her job. "Yes I did, good job, try to get another quote from the lady who runs it." Alexis nods and twirls in her chair, sipping her oat milk vanilla latte.

Knocking on the door of John's office,"Hey John, I was hoping to put in a request for a leave in a couple of weeks." John Carter, only thirty-three had glasses as thick as a magnifying glass, she guessed it must have been due to the extensive amount of hours staring at a screen. "For how long and what's it for?" Alexis seats herself in front of him,"I don't know, maybe a week? I want to go to Virginia to visit my mother." She knew it was a lie, but it was a good enough reason to not get denied. He pulls out a form from his desk,"Fill this up and hand it back to me."

Mia pranced out of the airport but she hadn't known what Alexis' new car looked like, she always moved like she was on a mission. "Mia!" Alexis was genuinely excited to see her, Mia was always the perfect excuse to have too much fun. "What are you packed for? You have enough clothes to stay with me for weeks." Mia giggles, she always did that even though Alexis didn't mean to be funny. "I need options okay, and also we are going out tonight." Loading up the car they drove back to Alexis' place.

Elijah and Mia share a hug,"How have you been?"

"Oh you know how it is, travelling, sewing machines and scolding assistants. Nothing fun." Striding into the kitchen, Mia visited Alexis often enough to know where everything was. "I'm taking your wife out tonight." Elijah frowns,"Where are you guys going?" Mia shrugs.

"Alex, I got some stuff for you, they're designed by yours truly, I tailored them to fit Camille." Mia had a nickname for Alexis' rear region and it had stuck for years. "You can wear this one for tonight." She handed Alexis a shimmery silk dress with a low neckline, chained straps and an even lower back. Alexis and Mia both head off to shower,"I love it, it looks so good." The both of them were dressed and ready.

"I'm leaving now." Elijah looks up from a mountain of blankets,"You look good, love. Let me know if you need me." He always offered to help and Alexis would agree to ask for it but never really did.

They hop into a cab,"So how are you and Mister Brown?"

"We're alright." It was the truth, everything was just fine.

"Alright... Like are things good? You never really have much to say."

Alexis looks over to Mia,"Yeah things are good and that's because there isn't much to say."

Changing the subject, Alexis suggests,"We can go to the fabric store tomorrow, if we don't get too wasted today." Mia nods as they pull up to a well lit bar in Gaslamp. Alexis and Mia always got looked at, they were polar opposites, Alexis was five foot three with tanned olive skin, small in the waist and face but had long curly hair that crowned her. She held a little more meat in the bottom, with thick thighs and a sizeable bum which often looked unrealistic. Mia was tall, her face dotted with light brown freckles, her skin resembled the color of wheat during a morning sunrise, standing at five feet and seven inches, she had a slim frame but was blessed with a bustier chest, it could be described as a supermodel physique. She was usually wrapped by her long brown hair but she changed up her hair so often there was no way to keep up.

"Tequila shots." Alexis always shed inhibitions when she drank tequila, shaking her head with the look of fear,"No, no tequila. No." Mia completely ignores her ordering six shots."You look like you need it." Alexis could never turn down a good time.

"Looks like we've got a couple of models in the house." A drunk man slurred the compliment at them leaning over the table. "I'm married and she's not interested." He looked displeased and continued to bother another woman standing in the street.

"So now that I've got you a little tipsy, speak. You and Elijah? What is going on?" Mia pressed.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, things are fine. Why do you think there's something going on?"

"I don't know, when I saw you a few months ago you were less... sad."

"I'm not sad, it's just..." Alexis faded off.

"It's just... Everything has become a routine, our dates, spending time together, the sex."

Mia nods Alexis on,"We don't do anything fun really." Mia prepares her response and in the near distance someone calls out to Alexis.

"Alex! I didn't know you were going to be downtown." Nora Lopez approaches the table, not yet noticing the person sitting across from Alexis. "Oh it's Mia, hi." Mia and Nora never really got along, they did not have a lot in common to begin with but they were civil.

"You girls have fun! I'll text you tomorrow Alex." She didn't want to stay around Mia for long.

"She still doesn't like me huh?" Alexis laughed it off, she was close to the both of them but it was obvious that she preferred Mia.