Oceans [A.Shelby]

THIRTY-FIVE

THE WEEKS WERE ROLLING BY, Lillian couldn't help but think. The wedding was less then a month away as well as the pending birth of her child.

The blonde was out for a lunch with her mother, Faith and Faith's mother, named Mary. She was truly a lovely, devoting mother to her daughter but of course, Faith was an only child so received all of her mothers attention.

"And shall you make it for the wedding dear? By that stage surely you shouldn't be on your feet," Mary asked Lillian who smiled as she sipped her tea delicately. Like the prim and proper lady she was raised to be.

"Of course, I would never forgive myself if I missed the wedding! I'm the one who set these two up in the first place I think I deserve a little credit," Lillian joked, the table erupting into laughed as Lillian rested her hand on her large stomach of which she tried to fashionably conceal however it was becoming more difficult by the day.

Yet, as she sat and listened to the chatter amongst the women something didn't feel quite right. She felt unsettled and she had felt so since the Eden Club takeover. It wasn't often she saw her husband despite him residing in London 80% of the time at present and that unsettled her further.

She had started to realise that despite them both wanting a child for so long, Arthur would probably be an unavailable father, at least until they had grown. Lillian so hoped she would be proved wrong but each day it seemed more realistic. With each day he leant towards Tokyo for comfort instead of his wife. And what Lillian did know, was that he leant towards other women.

"You must excuse me, I'm feeling a little.. off," Lillian lied, Dora looking to her in concern.

"Shall we go home and phone a doctor dear?" Dora grabbed her daughters hand as she stood.

"No, no. You continue your lunch it's just a headache is all. I will instruct the drive to come back for you. My apologies."

"Don't apologise dear, you can't help feeling under the weather."

Of course, Lillian felt off, but not because of a headache. Although she was sure in half hour she might just have one.

She instructed the driver towards the Eden Club, he glanced at the woman but didn't argue.

Once she had arrived, Lillian stepped out of the car and into the club, a blinder she wasn't so familiar with allowing her past.

"Arth" Lillian called as her heels clicked along the floor of the Eden Club. Her eyes roamed around the large room and extravagant furnishings, it was a Sabini club that much she could tell just by the look of it. With no sign of her husband, she followed noise instead.

The noise she heard became more intriguing but a sense of foreboding overshadowed her. She was not stupid, not in the slightest.

Once she found the source, she needn't open the door for she could see everything, her husbands betrayal right in front of her eyes and nausea risen up through her body.

There he was in an empty bathtub entangled with two women, the noise she heard being the grunts escaping their lips.

Arthur noticed his wife far too late, for he stilled and the women giggled on as Lillian clicked her tongue.

"Oh you bastard," The blonde's voice was as soft and light as a feather, the words effortlessly escaping her lips and leaving a trace upon Arthur's mind. Yet, shock wasn't evident on her face. Not in the slightest.

"Lillian," Arthur spoke her name in surprise, he had been caught, the drugs and the alcohol running through his system but they were not an excuse. There was no excuses.

"I'm done," She spoke softly at first, before her voice hardened, "I'm done with you Arthur. Finally."

She left him there, she didn't allow any excuses or words to leave his lips, instead she fiddled with her wedding ring and stopped at a nearby table.

She didn't drop the ring, or throw it across the room for nobody to ever find it. She pulled it off so delicately and held it between two fingers, the inside incredibly worn and the outside polished like a treasured prize. There wasn't an inch of reluctance for that had been and gone, many times. But she did question herself as she placed it down, she felt guilty almost, guilty taking what now felt like a worthless piece of metal off her finger.

And that was how she left it, her marriage left lying on the table for her husband to gamble with as he had been doing for an incredibly long time.

Her heels clicked along the floor, and the woman tried her very best to walk with her held held high but her shoulders were slumped and her hand cupped under her stomach for dear life as it felt ten times heavier.

The woman didn't dare cry, not publicly. She stepped into the car and instructed the driver to take her home. That was when a tear screamed in silence as it slipped slowly down her cheek.

Arthur didn't chase after her, once the workers had left he was in a slump of drugs and alcohol and regret and anger. The drugs made Arthur angry at Lillian, they made him think that she shouldn't have left. That he needed another chance, like he'd had numerous before.

When he sobered up, he realised he was alone and that's the way it would always be if he carried on chipping away at his wife until she cracked. The marriage felt a little like a china doll, and there wasn't much left to play with.

TBC