And Scene [H.S]

scene twelve

AVIE STYLES

As Harry had promised us, he stuck to his word about treating us to a family day out. It was a promise that I was almost certain he was going to break, especially after he stumbled in last night stinking of alcohol, but he surprised me with this one and kept his promise. He had planned a whole day out for our family, Effie included. It was the first time in a long time that we had done something like this.

Though when I woke up this morning to an empty bed, my heart had sunk with disappointment once again as I was sure I had gotten my hopes up. I was expecting to trudge downstairs to see an empty house and Harry's car no longer in the driveway. I thought he had left once again to do whatever it was that he kept excusing himself for, but I was pleasantly surprised when I headed down the stairs with sleep still in my eyes to find both Harry and Scout in the kitchen, Billy Joel softly playing as Harry mumbles along to the words whilst pouring out milk into a sippy cup for Scout.

I swore I hadn't seen him like that in so long. It almost felt odd to see him so domestic, carrying out daily tasks like making our son breakfast and humming along to Tell Her About It. For a moment I was convinced that I was still in some sort of hazy dream where everything was just perfect. I found it hard to believe that the Harry who stumbled in in the early hours of this morning was the same Harry who was up at the crack of dawn, making breakfast and singing along to Billy Joel with our son.

Unless I had dreamt the whole thing. Unless I had fallen asleep long before Harry even came home and the smell of whiskey on his breath was merely part of my excessive imagination. I stood in the doorway of the kitchen for at least a few minutes, struggling to decipher if I had made the whole thing up or if Harry really had come home at unsociable hours, tripping over his own feet as he slurred out some sort of apology.

He must've only had a few hours sleep and even so, he must still have the alcohol lurking in his system. I was surprised he didn't have a banging headache and a churning stomach. Though he could always handle his alcohol better than I could, I could barely handle one drink without my vision going fuzzy.

"Mummy!" Scout blows my cover, happily clapping his hands as he calls out my name.

Harry of course, spins around in his seat the moment that Scout spots me in the doorway, and for a second there I was half expecting him to stand up and take me into his arms like he always would. I was expecting a kiss upon my forehead or something of the sorts, and I wasn't really sure why I was so disappointed when Harry didn't stand from his seat at all.

"Avie" he breathes out my name, perhaps a sliver of a smile on his lips, though I was finding it hard to figure out if it was genuine. Especially considering the fact he had been lying to me. I didn't know what to trust anymore.

"Hi" I find myself almost struggling to to speak to my husband after what I had learnt yesterday. He didn't know that I knew, and I wasn't sure how to tell him that I knew he had been lying through his teeth, but it didn't take a rocket scientist to realise that something was wrong.

I immediately give my undivided attention to Scout before the awkward cold air ate me alive. The tension was so thick, I mentally couldn't deal with it at this time in the morning. I just needed to pretend that everything was fine for the sake of my own sanity, but I would only be fooling myself in the long run.

"I uh- I made you some tea and there's cereal on the side- I didn't put the milk in because it would be soggy.." Harry speaks before I even got the chance to greet my little boy who was grinning up at me with a face full of yoghurt.