The Space Between Us | L.S

Twisted

"Can you be any more of a bitch?" Sam huffed stomping her foot.

"What a miserable thing to do." Bonnie scolded in a hushed whisper towards Lucy as if I had disappeared into the kitchen floor tiles. Something I could only dream of doing at this point. 

But also I felt awful. Not because of what Lucy said but because she was being ridiculed because of me. I opened my mouth to say something in defence of Lucy but the young girl rolled her eyes dramatically and stormed past the group, and out the back door. My eyes followed her retreating back into the backyard, until the door finally swung with a shut. 

"I am terribly sorry about her Wendy, dear." Bonnie said, shaking her head. Her cheeks were flushed and she looked almost embarrassed by her granddaughter.

"No worries, I get it." I attempted to physically and emotionally shrug off Lucy's words by reminding myself I was here to support Louis. 

"She's normally not like this," Sam included, "it's just today is a tricky day for all of us."

"No, I get it. Trust me, I get why she would be angry with me." Just as I finished my sentence, Louis came through the door and immediately slowed his step. Could he feel the tension still looming in the air? 

"What's going on er'?" he asked as his eyes traveled to mine. I sucked in my lips before turning back to the table, picking up a clove of garlic and juggling it between my fingers. 

"How do you spell awkward?" Oscar said softly beside me. 

As soon as Bonnie gave him a rundown of the vents that just took place, Louis swiftly excused himself and walked out the same door his sister had previously. I looked down at the glove of garlic that I had been playing with for the past few moments. I debated following Louis to tell him turn around but I knew better than to get involved with family conflicts. I would hate it if Louis stepped in to interfere with my mother and I's seasonal blowouts. 

Bonnie padded over to me and placed a bowl of tomatoes in front of me, "Wendy, would you mind slicing these up?" I met her eyes, and it was like she knew I needed something to do to preoccupy my mind. If this was a family function as my home, my mother would probe further refusing to drop the subject or scold me for causing another conflict. 

But let's be honest with ourselves, I would have been the one telling everyone off and storming out. Maybe that is why I sympathize with Lucy, I am her in my own family. 

Oscar and I worked as a team in our assembly line, me chopping and him practicing his throws into another wooden bowl. Bonnie or Sam coming over to place another vegetable on our table and before long we had chopped up every vegetable known to man. I was so engrossed in chopping the last of my mushrooms that I hadn't noticed Louis walk back in and take a seat next to Oscar. 

I looked up for a brief moment acknowledging his existence and silently begging him with my eyes to leave me ignorant and not inform me of any details of what went down in the backyard. He obliged but rose from his seat and sat down in the chair beside me. 

As I was standing, his fingers snaked to grasp right above my knee, and gave me a reassuring squeeze before loosening his grip. 

Before I knew it, it was dinner time and I sat beside Louis at a long oak table in the family's backyard. As I shoveled a bit of salad onto my plate, admiring my handiwork of the sliced tomatoes, I passed it on to Louis before another bowl was put into my hands. I could feel Lucy's eyes on me and my hands gripped the bowl with unease. 

I shoveled a heaping spoonful of pasta salad into the mouth, avoiding her stare. 

"Before we start eating I would like to make a toast," Gerry said and I almost choked on a piece of penne as I swallowed roughly. Louis glanced at me from the side, and gave me a cheeky half-smile half-smirk.