Monachopsis

Chapter 17: The Party- Part 2: Belittlement

It takes some encouragement to find my way back downstairs to join the rest of the guests. Riley and I stand off to the side of the room, talking among ourselves. I observe the room more closely to see who is here. My parents invited three pairs of their married friends over. The first being Shirley and her husband, Henry, who is standing next to my mom. Henry does not have the boisterous personality that his wife has. He's rather reserved unless it comes to sports and politics. I don't think we've ever spoken past a few words despite seeing him throughout most of my childhood.

Sat on the couch is who I'd consider being my mom's best friend, Audrey. Shirley is a gullible woman who follows the herd, but Audrey is the only woman I know capable of making my mother cower. Born into wealth, Audrey became privileged and entitled at a young age. Keeping anyone in her life for long periods has never been of importance to her. In fact, with the number of friends Audrey has shuffled through, I'm surprised my mom is still in her life.

I've heard countless stories of the cruel treatment of her staff. Many employees end up quitting, not wanting to endure that environment even if it meant losing a hefty paycheck. A girl I once knew from school worked for her for the summer after high school graduation. She was only there a couple of months when I heard that she was sent to the hospital after Audrey threw a pot of boiling water on her. Her reason being that her lunch was late.

I was horrified when I found out what she did to that poor girl. Even more so, when Audrey mentioned it so casually the day after it happened to my mom and me, she explained that she did it as character building for the girl and a life lesson for time management. Audrey left her with scars on her face and shrugged it off like it was nothing.

Unfortunately, this was not a one-time occurrence of her cruelty.

As much as I despised how my mom treated me, I always found a small amount of solace in knowing she would never purposely cause physical harm to me.

The last couple is chatting with my dad, thoroughly enjoying their conversation. Olive and Archie have been my favorite of my parent's friends. Unlike the others, they are as sweet as could be. Their sweetness is almost a little too forgiving of their friend's spiteful morals. Olive is the local librarian, and Archie is an insurance salesman. I enjoyed going to the library to see Olive growing up. She loved to recommend books to me, hoping to get me to read as many books as possible. I think I read a least a hundred books just by her recommendation alone.

Catching my gaze towards them, Olive excuses herself and walks towards us. She smiles wide, "I haven't seen your kind face in ages!"

Archie walks up behind her, placing his hand on her waist, "Hey, kiddo. Who's this?" He smiles at Riley.

"I'm Riley," she reaches her hand out, "Emily's girlfriend."

Riley's eagerness to address herself as my girlfriend as often as possible makes me blush. Honestly, I'm not sure which one of us is more excited about being in a relationship.

Archie shakes her hand, "Girlfriend?"

I can almost see the wheels turning in his head, attempting to determine if I mean a friendship or relationship. Possibly even comprehending that although Riley is very androgynous in appearance, she is, in fact, a woman.

"That is so sweet!" Olive interrupts, "You must feel lucky to have a girl like Emily. She's always been a sweetheart."

Riley places her hand on my lower back, her thumb grazing back and forth. She looks down at me for a moment, "I certainly do."

"Riley, this is Olive and Archie," I smile back at them.

Our small talk is brief before Archie pulls Riley into a conversation over insurance stuff. Apparently, she has some small experience in insurance companies. I try to keep up with their rambling, but I get lost early in their discussion.