IN MANY PIECES

Chapter 3

I stretch out across the bed and notice Sam is no longer there. Instead, I find a note on his pillow. I pick it up with my left hand to read, the anticipation already clouding my head.
Dear Pookie,
See you tonight for an actual date.

Love, Sam

Somehow the words fill me with energy and i'm happy that my day is already starting out so well.
When I step into the shower all I can think about is the two men in my life who I'm lucky to be adored by. Each not knowing about the relationship I have with the other. Sam of course doesn't know anything about Marcus. Marcus believes that our marriage is on the rocks right now and that we fall asleep in bed with our backs facing each other. I haven't brought myself to tell him otherwise.
"Katherine?" I hear someone call out my name as the bathroom door is knocked upon.
I reply that she can come in but just to verify that it is her I make sure to peek my head out from the shower door.
"You cut your hair. It looks stunning." I compliment Marina and then proceed to turn off the water. "I've delayed your personal meeting with BIA since Mr. Nixon has scheduled a pleasant dinner in the north wing for the two of you tonight. Your new fabrics have arrived. And your dress for tonight made by Leon Kruton himself is being steamed by Sissy outside. " She finishes rambling and then I notice her arm is poking through the shower door opening and she is holding my robe.
"Thank you," I say, grabbing it from her and putting it on. "How are you and Sissy?" When I step out of the shower she's tapping away on her tablet. Her brown, now short hair, covered my view of her eyes. "Marina. How's Sissy?" This time I reach for her shoulder and give her a comforting squeeze, which causes her to look up at me. And when she does a frown forms on her face. She's not looking me in the eyes but she is looking at me.
"When your dad created you in a lab-" She puts down her tablet on a cabinet and starts opening and going through the drawers. "-couldn't he have given you his gene for straight hair?" she pulls out a brush and gently throws it at me. I still manage to miss it and the brush drops onto the floor.
I pick it up quickly before she notices but when I look up again the woman is staring daggers at me with her frightening blue eyes.
"It's a dominant allele. The chances were low."I answer her as I start brushing out my humid hair.
We walk out of the bathroom together and I'm met by the full blast of sunlight beaming through the bedroom's window wall. When Sam and I moved in I despised that window because I had a constant fear that people from the outside would look into our room. We replaced them so it wouldn't show anything from outside
Sissy has hung up a dress for me by the wall. "Good morning Ms. Faye. Your dress for tonight has been steamed." Sissy steps out of the way so I can inspect the garment.

I turn to face both of them who are awkwardly standing feet apart. "What was he thinking?" Once again I was sent a shoulderless dress with a dire slit. Much like the one I was wearing last night. "What happened to my order?"
"Sam ordered this dress for you he would very much like for you to wear it tonight," Sissy explains her voice trembling. I scoff as I investigate the dress even more. It has a corset bodice, which means no sex, Squeezing into this thing will crush my abdomen.
"Sissy, find me my dress." When I order her to do so she nods but as she walks off I see her roll her eyes. When Sissy leaves I glance back at Marina. She's holding her tablet and staring aimlessly at it. "Can't you do two makeup, have sex, so she can be less distant? "
"Katherine." She practically hisses my name. "Breakfast at twenty." She says it in a lighter tone. She leaves my room but I notice that her pale face has turned beet red.
"Sis and Mari, sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S.." The door slams shut. "I-N-G" I finish silently to myself.
...
I walk down the hall in my red knee-high boots. I adore boots, they're comfy and I don't break my ankles every five minutes in them. All my boots are from a private distributor in Germark that BIA orders from. My packages come with polite notes and I frequently check in with them for any new models. These boots aren't new ones since recent events have made it hard to contact my 'boot-ist'
I'm not over the design at all. They're flashy but so what? Everyone around these halls only wears black, white, and gray because somehow a flash of color became outdated. My husband's full-white appearance is the peak model of today's fashion looks. I've never met a man my age who could pull off white hair and eyes.
The walls match my husband. They matched the previous leaders too. When Vincent was elected he had the walls painted a navy blue to represent the baltic sea. Sam's father Owen hated the dark shade and had it repainted as a lighter shade to an Egyptian red. However, all the rooms were different shades of red to differentiate them in a way.
I remember the first time I was to stay over at the Cross when Sam and I had revealed we were dating. I was offered a room that matched my left eye according to Owen. Sky blue. The room was small and didn't have enough hangers to fit my clothes.
I forget I'm walking down the hall until I reach the stairs. I'm late for breakfast and can't wait to hear the new rumours about last night's event from the kitchen staff. All the workers must've heard how I let Vincent give it to me again. I even contemplate if I should skip dinner.