The Pain Of The Pleasure

TWENTY-TWO - RYTH

"THAT LOOKS WONDERFUL. What do you think?" Mom stood back, looking at the dress now that it'd been tucked and pinned. "Will you have it ready in time?" "Of course, Mrs. Banks," the seamstress nodded and smiled. "Mrs. Banks," I repeated. "Already?" I turned to her, finding darkness creeping in outside over her shoulder.

It was getting late, and the bridal shop was staying open, just for us. I guess it was just another one of the perks of being Mrs. Banks. And she loved it, loved her new friends, loved her new lifestyle. One so completely different from the one she'd had with me. Her phone beeped again for the eighth time in the last five minutes. "Just trying it on," Mom shrugged, laughing at some message from one of her new friends, who were actually the wives of Creed's friends. "I'll be using it for good in another week." I ground my teeth at the words.

She even looked different. Gone was her natural brown hair, the same shade as mine. Now she was a honey-ash blonde with highlights. Even her clothes were different. I stared at her nudecolored, mid-thigh, strapless dress and heels that drew your attention to her long legs and small waist. She was dressed to party. I guessed that was her life now. Parties and a brand new husband. The only thing that stayed the same was me. I opened my mouth to ask about dad and the lawyers, but she looked so happy in that moment...and I didn't want to ruin that. "You like him, right?" Mom narrowed in on the flare of my jaw.

"I mean, he's been kind." "Yeah." I stared away, avoiding her gaze. "Creed has been cool." "And you like living there, in the house?" My stomach was in knots as I reached up to the zipper at my back before the seamstress hurried forward and tugged, pulling it down. "I like the house just fine, mom." "And the boys seem to have taken a liking to you. Creed said how proud he was how they've taken you under their wing."

And into their bed. The words resounded in my head. "Which is why I'm not so worried about leaving you for the week." I stopped, then spun to face her. "Leaving? Why?" She smiled, letting out a small bark of laughter as she lifted her third glass of champagne. "Ryth...for my honeymoon, silly. You didn't think I was going to get married and not want to celebrate it, did you?" Her honeymoon... Her goddamn honeymoon.

Blood rushed from my face as my pulse spiked. I hadn't thought about that. I'd been so busy. You have until the wedding, Ryth. Tobias' warning pushed into my head. "You're okay with that, right?" Mom asked as my phone went beep. I didn't answer, I couldn't speak. My heart was in the back of my throat as I picked up my phone and stared at the message from Gio. Hey, just seeing if you're still keen on our date? "A date?" mom asked over my shoulder. "Gio, huh? Someone from school?" I flinched and went to pull the phone away, but then I stopped.

Gio... Gio could be my way out of this. I could use him, pretend he was my boyfriend. It'd give me time to figure this out. That's all I needed. Time...to figure out what the fuck I was going to do. "Yeah," I answered as I typed out a reply to him. I can't tonight. Next time? I waited for an answer. Gio: Your mom? I smiled and typed. Yeah. Hen's night. He sent back a thumbs up, which made me wince. Christ, I hated those. Three little dots appeared when he started typing. I waited for the message as mom drained her glass behind me.

"This is really nice, Clarissa." "Another, Mrs. Banks?" she asked as I still waited for Gio's reply. "Sure," Mom responded. "Why the hell not? I'm going to be Mrs. Goddamn Banks in a week." I stared at the screen as those dots scrolled over and over. Hurry the fuck up, Gio.

Then the dots faded, leaving me staring at an empty screen as the door to the bridal shop opened and a piercing female squeal sounded. "There you are!" I winced at the sound and headed for the dressing rooms, swiping a glass of champagne from the tray as I went. "Oh my God, this place is sttuuunnnnning!" mom's new friend groaned. I downed the champagne as I stepped into the dressing room, then I stopped and lifted my gaze. And as always, I found that ugly mark on my cheek...it wouldn't matter how my life changed, that would always be the constant.