In Drunken Matrimony ✔️

Twenty Three - Busy Business Dinner

The song is def gonna tell you what's coming lmao

Hᴀʟʟɪᴇ

"And he said he was going to come, but it's been a couple of days now and I haven't seen or heard from him."

Bella and Lib both watch me with painfully blank expressions - it is one of the things that irritates me most about the pair of them - they have an unusual skill for blanketing their reactions with practiced stoicism. I say nothing else and only lift my hands from my knees in gesture before my palms clap against the skin of my bare thighs. I had expected quite the explosion following my hour long monologue on what has occurred these past few days, from the party forth. Not this unperturbed silence.

"Ring him." Bella decides which a single shouldered shrug before sinking into the sofa. She allows a finger to find one of tightly coiled pieces of hair on her head which she twirls languidly in thought. "Ask him when he's coming."

"Isn't that needy?" I reply.

Again, she shrugs. "Yeah," my eyes roll on their own accord, "but he knows you're a busy girl with a full schedule and he can't really expect to just drop in and for you to be waiting." I cast my gaze to Liberty who, very much unlike herself, hasn't spoken yet. She only watches, eyes narrowed slightly not in judgement, but in concern.

"What do you think?" I pry.

"I think your mum is an evil twisted bitch and Daniel's certainly gone down in my estimations." She decides, crossing her arms across her chest with a huff of disapproval. Bella views her in her peripheral with a small smile tugging at her lips. It's not often Liberty gets herself into a state like this - between the three of us, she certainly is the most passive. "And speaking of him," she hisses distastefully, "what happens now?"

At that, Arabella sits straight again and rotates her body towards our small friend. "Nothing happens. We leave him right there on that balcony and if we happen to see him on it again, we toss the prick over it." The pads of my fingers lightly squeeze the very top of the bridge of my nose. "Why would anything have to happen?"

"Well, he was quite happy to help your mum in screwing you and Oliver over. If you and Oli both do talk it out and actually do become a real thing, you think he's going to give it up as a bad job?" I lift my vision slowly, and even Bella seems to have recoiled in thought. "And your mum? You think she's just going to let you play happy families too?"

"I didn't," I begin, bottom lip irritated from my teeth that press too firmly into the soft skin.

Bella extends her arms to halt the conversation. "Look, ignore what she just said." Liberty gasps and Bella only offers her a pointed glare. "The last thing we need to do is psych you out before you speak to Oliver. Focus on fixing that first."

I nearly grip the hair at my temples in frustration. "But he hasn't called."

"Oh, for the love of God," Bella mumbles, snatching my mobile from the coffee table against my calls of protest. She has it pressed against her ear before I can even move to grab it from her. She reaches out a foot to push me away, not caring for the heel which presses into my stomach. I slap her foot away just as she grins widely. "Hey sweet cheeks, it's Bella."

"Bella," I plead, but such goes unheard.

"Well, I just haven't seen you for a while, so I was wondering when you were coming back?" She emphatically winks, despite her unsubtly as she broaches the topic. "I, well - have you told your friends?" Her tone quickly sharpens. "Your friends didn't have to know because it makes no - one of them is a footballer?"