In Drunken Matrimony ✔️

Eighteen - Skepticism And Sincerity

I have had literally no time to write. This weekend is going to be a major binge so chapters are
Prewritten for next weeks update.

Oʟɪᴠᴇʀ

I dress today, just in case Hallie returns from work and decides to take me on another romantic meal - hopefully this time excluding the terse conversation involving the ex boyfriend and the deep set paranoia issues that engulfed her. Otherwise, the night, company, and food, was wonderful.

The jeans I wear - I had forgotten just how uncomfortable they were - cup me slightly, and as I waddle to the door, I try to spare my suffocating balls of the clinging fabric. Thankfully, I complete such before I round the corner into the foyer, because I sincerely doubt that Helena - the figure beyond the glass panel door - would be much impressed by such an uncivilised display. Though, maybe it would encourage her to leave before I had to bother opening the said door to greet her with a disingenuous smile.

Mentally, I note to mention to Hallie that we should perhaps get a wooden door, so that guests - unwanted guests like this one - won't see our approach, and then we can choose to ignore those that we see fit without insulting them. Not that I would mind insulting Helena, for the sake of my sisters damaged esteem, but for Hallie, I promised pleasantness. The perfect husband is what I intend to be.

"Helena," I greet as I open the door. She marches past me, heels clipping on the wooden floor as she strains to look past the soft corners of the interior. "Please; come in."

"Is Hallie here?" I frown at the question.

"No; she's at work. But shouldn't you know that?" She turns to me, arms folded over her chest - one barely covered by the stooping body suit she wears, clipped beneath a pair of distressed denim shorts. The minimalistic approach to her clothing is countered but the wildly oversized jacket she wears, marred with so many colours and quotes and pictures. It's quite the statement piece, and I can't help but grin as I imagine her stood beside the Kardashian clan, trying tirelessly and desperately to fit in - perhaps even crying beneath the large sunglasses she currently has sat on her straight blonde hair.

"Of course I knew that," she begins exasperatedly. "It's just, daddy called and said that Daniel popped in to discuss a business collaboration - taking shared stock of a liquidating business - but I won't bore you with the details; and I wondered if she's seen him." For a moment, she sounds genuinely concerned, but then, the fleeting lapse of judgement passes as I remember Helena raised no qualms in berating her sister and ex lover to prove a point to my sister.

"I'm sure she would have rang you were she drowning in emotional turmoil." I say, earning an eyeroll in return. So, she can recognise sarcasm.

"Yeah, sure," she drawls, and once more, I'm washed with surprise at the odd casual aura that hangs over her. Not the snobbish rich model personality she so immaculately presents. "I was going to go to the office, but here is on the way, so I just figured I'd see that she wasn't home first."

Perhaps that might be a smart decision, but it doesn't seem all that sincere, considering Hallie's absence has been agreed, and yet here Helena stays. "Yeah, well," I trail, edging slightly towards the door in the hopes that she receives the hint.

"She never really got over his betrayal you know." She tells me. Then, when she begins her way toward the back room, I supress a groan. So she is here to stay - sister-in-law bonding time it is. "She really loved him, and he left her."

She sits herself on the sofa, folding one leg over the other as she watches me intently. I perch on the arm of the sofa opposite, hoping naively that my off-standish demeanour will encourage her quick departure. "Hallie told me they split on mutual terms." I decide to divulge.