Happily Never After

Chapter 4

The car ride home from work with Zoe felt a little intense. Neither of us spoke after she went on a rant about Carter's brother, Landon. I really wanted to tell her about Carter but decided against it because I didn't know how she would react. She treated his brother like dirt, even though it was only a few words, but I still didn't want to chance it.

We finally arrived back home at five thirty and moved quickly from the warmth of the car, through the coldness of the night and into the warmth of the house.

"Jordan, are you home?" Zoe shouts through the silent house.

"Kitchen!" Jordan responds, the kitchen light coming on and brightening up the hallway so we could see a little bit more.

"You better be making dinner," Zoe says, following the light to the kitchen.

"I said I would."

"No you didn't. I told you to make it because we were out working."

"I was going to- stop eating the cheese I just put out! There won't be enough now!"

I laugh at the pointless brother and sister argument as I walk up the stairs to my bedroom to get changed. When those two were around each other, you didn't need a television for entertainment. They provided it all.

I arrive back downstairs to the smell of dinner, or at least I hope it's dinner I could smell. I walk into the bright kitchen and watch Zoe and Jordan try to dodge each other as they moved around the island.

Every time Jordan put something in a pot and moved away, Zoe would taste it and either scrunch up her nose in disgust or add more herbs to give it some flavour.

"Will you stop ruining dinner!" Jordan screams when he caught her putting more salt into the biggest pot that sat on the cooker.

"I don't want poor Sarah to end up getting food poising from your cooking," she smirks. "She hasn't tasted your cooking but I have and I don't want her dying on me."

"I'm not going to poison anyone! If anything, you'll poison me and then where would you be?"

"Eating a takeaway," Zoe smiles, taking a seat at the breakfast bar.

I laugh and sit down next to her. "What are we having anyway?"

"Pasta bake with garlic bread ," Jordan tells me, getting the plates and cutlery out of the cupboards and drawers.

"Oh, really hard work for a guy." Zoe mocks.

"If you can do any better, please try for once in your life." Jordan whispers to Zoe before moving to set the table.

"He got you there," I agree.

"What is it with you today?" Zoe snaps, standing up and staring at me. "That's twice today that you've stuck up for someone who isn't me!"

Jordan stops setting the table and looks at Zoe. I turn slightly and look at her. "What the hell is your problem?"

"My problem is that no one backs me up! Don't any of you see that I need help? I was there for both of you when you went through terrible break ups but you aren't there for me when I'm going through one!"

I slightly look over at Jordan who was just looking at her, face blank with no expression being shown.

"I thought my best friend would have noticed that I was going through a break up but clearly not. Not everyone can have a perfect life like you!"

I get off the stool I sat on and grab her arm before she had the chance to walk away. "You think I have a perfect life? You should know by now that I don't. My life has never been perfect. Far from it."

Her green eyes blink a few times before she tugs her arm free from my grasp. "Go and tell it to someone who cares, Sarah."

She turns and storms out of the room, casting a blanket of silence over the house and its occupants. The sound of her running up the stairs, along the hall and her bedroom door slamming closed was the only sound made from within the house.

"If she didn't want any of the food I cooked, she just had to say. I would have ordered a takeaway if it was such a big deal," Jordan says, breaking the eerie silence.

I fix the bottom of my white t-shirt so it sat neatly over the top of my jeans and sigh. "Not the time to joke, Jordan."

"I was only saying."

"Well, it's not the time." I walk over to the dining table and grip the back of one of the chairs. "Just put the dinner out so we can eat."

"Are you sure you don't want me to just order a takeaway?" He asks, unsure as to what to do.

"Jordan, put the dinner out!" I snap.

He nods and starts putting the food on the three plates he sat out at the table moments ago. I pull the chair I grip, out from under the table and sat down to eat.

"I'll go and take this up to her," Jordan barley whispers, picking up a plate and taking it up the stairs for Zoe. I just nod and start eating.

I didn't know if it was Jordan's cooking or the herbs and salt Zoe added to the food, but dinner was really good. It was either one of those or I was just really hungry as I barley left any of the food on my plate when I finished eating.

After spending a couple of hours watching TV with Jordan once we finished eating dinner, I decided to call it a night and go to bed. The walk towards my bedroom was silent. Zoe's bedroom door was firmly shut and silent as I walked past it on my way to my bedroom.

My bedroom had a hint of coldness to it as I enter but the door handle was ice cold when I held it to close the door back over. Crossing to my bed and picking up my pyjamas, I move swiftly to the en-suite bathroom to get changed.

I changed quickly so my body wouldn't get accustomed to the cold air the hung around in the en-suite. The marble flooring and tiles made the coldness linger for longer as the radiators weren't on. I open the door to go back into the bedroom when a shiver goes down my back, causing me to stop and shake a little till it passed.

I drape my jeans and t-shirt over the chair that sat by the door and crawl into the bed. The cold sheets warmed up quickly as I snuggled deeper into the bed for warmth. After tonight, tomorrow will be an interesting day.