Heartbeat || A Good Girls Fanfic

Chapter 1

It shouldn't have been this way.

It never should have gotten to this point.

But being part of the Marks family had always come with its fair share of problems. From sibling rivalry to fending for themselves when their mother was... incapacitated. Somehow the three Marks sisters had been through it all together.

Beth, Annie, and Charlotte Marks had always been inseparable. Not even the stretched age gap between them had worked to put a strain on their relationship. At times there seemed to be nothing in the world that could come between them.

"I still don't understand why I had to come with you to get a wax," Charlotte complained. She held her sister's hand with a look of disgust painted on her face. "There are a thousand things I'd rather be doing on my only day off, you know."

"You're here because you're my sister and you love me," she smiled sweetly. Beth was on all fours, letting out a small laugh to masquerade the panic she was feeling as the technician ripped another strip of wax from her lower half. "A-and, you needed a ride while your car is in the shop so stop complaining."

Charlotte swallowed down a laugh as her sister bit back on a scream, crushing her little sister's hand in the process. "Maybe you shouldn't do a full Brazilian?"

"Oh, a Brazilian would put her in the hospital," the girl said. "This is just brush control."

"Yeah, I probably don't get in here as much as I used to."

"No," she retorted sarcastically.

"My husband and I haven't been having a lot of S-E-X, lately."

"Maybe he can't find it," Charlotte snorted."

"Charlie," Beth threatened, earning a wince from the girl as she crushed her hand. "The kids are in school. I'm swamped and he's always working late. Plus, there's so much on the DVR it's really hard to schedule..."

A rip bounced through the room followed by a reactive scream from Beth, earning another chuckle from the young Marks. If she was forced to be there, she would enjoy the hell out of seeing her sister in pain.

"Mrs. Boland?" Another girl entered the room, a plastic card in her hand and an apologetic look on her face. "Your card was declined."

"Are you sure?"

"I ran it twice."

"I'm sure he just forgot to pay the bill," she explained. "He's been very distracted lately."

"Well, I'm sorry, Mrs. Boland. We won't be able to complete the service without payment," the girl said with a fake smile on her face. "We'll leave you to get dressed now. And we'd be happy to finish once we had another method of payment. Have a nice day!"

The two technicians left the tiny room as the woman quickly put on her clothing. Charlie could only stare at her sister as she processed what had happened. It didn't take a genius to put the pieces together. The younger girl grabbed pieces from her sister's conversation – she and Dean hadn't been having relations, he was always working late, and he had been distracted as of lately. You know what they say, if he's not getting it at home, he's getting it from somewhere else.

But she could not voice her concerns to her sister. As Beth looked blankly forward, buttoning her pink blouse slowly, Charlie knew all the things that were definitely running through her head.

"I'm sure it's a misunderstanding," Charlotte said to break the silence in the car. "It could be the bank putting the account on hold due to suspicious activity."

"Check the records," Beth responded, handing her sister her phone, the bank app already open. "He maxed the card at some lingerie store."

"It could be a present for you," she defended. Not because she liked Dean – she'd always despised the man – but to appease her sister's rampant mind. "Maybe he wants to spice things up for you."