Heart of Glass [ON HOLD]

Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Arielle

Elizabeth and I stayed talking in my room for what seemed like hours. It wasn't anything deep. We just talked. She told me about her life growing up, and I told her about mine. What amazed me was how much she opened up to someone she had only just met. Around noon, my mother called me downstairs for lunch. There was a variety of tea sandwiches and fruit laid out on the dining room table. My father was nowhere in sight. He was probably drowning himself in paperwork. 

"Arielle, why don't you go get your father?" my mother asked me. "Katherine, sweetheart, sit down and eat something."

"She likes to be called Elizabeth." Your mother responded, obviously displeased with Elizabeth's preference for another name.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and glared. "I don't see why that should be a problem."

"Oh, of course it isn't. It isn't a problem that you don't want the name I gave you."

My mother and I stood in an awkward silence before your father turned to me. 

"Darling, could you please show me to the bathroom?" he asked politely.

I consented and led him to the bathroom, which was a few doors down from the study. My dad was busy doing paperwork and hadn't actually come out since the Pierces were over. 

"Dad, Mom's calling you out to have lunch," I said softly. 

He looked up at me as though seeing me for the first time. It was heartbreaking to see the sadness in his tear-filled eyes. I couldn't imagine what he was feeling, but it probably couldn't have been any better than what I was feeling currently. My dad sniffed and nodded.

"I'll be right out."

I wanted to stay with him, but I did as he said. When I finally got to the dining room, your mother was sipping on coffee while Elizabeth picked at her chicken. My mom smiled at me awkwardly. The tension in the room could have been cut with a knife. 

"Any idea when Micah and Victoria will be here?" my mom asked, trying to make conversation. 

"I think their flight is at six-fifteen. They should be here by eight-thirty, then," Elizabeth replied. 

Your mother stayed silent. I played with my nails for a bit before my mother caught my eye. 

"Arielle, sweetheart, why don't you get something to eat? You have a dress fitting soon," she said. 

I grabbed a plate and started piling food on it. I knew I should have been watching what I ate, but I didn't see the point in starving myself for a wedding that I didn't even want. After I was done heaping my plate with food, I invited Elizabeth to sit with me on the patio outside. 

"I'm sorry about my mom, by the way," she apologized. "She can be...a handful."

"I don't know what you're talking about," I lied. "Your mother seems like a wonderful lady."

Elizabeth snorted into her salad. "My dad says that it's because of the wedding, but she's always been like this. He's just been too busy with his work to actually notice. Now that Micah's taking charge of the company, he's home more often. Now he's starting to see what she's really like."

I paused. Why was she telling me this? 

"Oh." That was all I could really say in a situation like this. 

Elizabeth smiled at me. "Are you upset about moving away?"

I shrugged. "I'm just nervous, I guess. Adjusting to a city like that's going to be hard. At least I'll have one friendly face, right?"

"Who's your one friendly face?" Elizabeth asked, genuinely suprised. 

I was taken aback. "You."

She widened her eyes at the apparent misunderstanding. "I don't live in New York. I live in Detroit with Victoria."

Well, that was awkward. "That's great. I get to live in a completely new city with a stranger that I get to call my husband."

"It won't be that bad. Sure, Micah will be such an ass that he'll probably make you want to shoot yourself in the face at first, but he'll warm up to you. Like I said, he's not a bad guy."

I leaned back in my chair and stared at the Olympic-sized pool in our backyard. This wasn't the life I wanted. I wanted to go to Sorbonne to study art. What girl wanted to get married before graduation? I wanted to go and live my own life. Sorbonne would have given me the chance to finally do something with my art. I didn't want art to be my hobby, I wanted it to be something that I did for the rest of my life. I guess I just wanted to be remembered in some way after I was gone. 

So sorry for the super-short chapter! I've had a lot of crap going on, so it's been hard to keep updating, but I swear I'll try to be better at this. Review, please! <3 <3 <3