Only Once

Chapter Five: The Discomfited Third Wheel

Chapter Five: The Discomfited Third Wheel

Erika walked through her house's stylishly decorated great room and made her way to the dining room where the second meeting with the wedding planner was taking place.

Casually poking her head in, Erika watched as the wedding planner sat across both Diana and Bruce. Diana was talking animatedly, probably explaining another one of her obtuse ideas, while Bruce was watching her admiringly. Ignoring them, Erika waited for her mother to look up and notice her.

After what seemed like an eternity, Mrs. Russo looked up and saw her daughter standing by the French doors. Excusing herself, Mrs. Russo made her way to Erika.

"Yes?" she asked when they were safely standing outside the dining room.

Erika looked down at her hands as she tried to come up with the best way to ask her question.

"Erika, what is it?" Mrs. Russo was starting to get impatient, a trait that Erika had inherited.

"Could I please go to the movies with Chade tonight?" she finally asked, still looking down at her hands.

"Absolutely not," Mrs. Russo replied without missing a beat. "With that sixty-four percent you got in English, as well as dropping your physics class without first consulting your father and I, you won't be going anywhere for a long while."

Erika's head snapped up.

"Except..." she tried to say but Mrs. Russo simply shook her head, disregarding her daughter's wishes.

"Besides, it's Thursday. You have school tomorrow." Mrs. Russo pointed out as she ran her fingers through her short, professionally cut blonde hair. "I don't see why you don't go out with him tomorrow."

"Because I have to go to rehearsal tomorrow," Erika informed her mother. "I'm the director of the school play...remember?"

"Right, right," Mrs. Russo recalled and nodded her head. "Well I guess you could see a movie with him over the weekend or something. Anyway, I have to get back to them. With Bruce here, who knows what kind of suggestion Diana's going to make."

Erika gave a defeated sigh as she made her way to the kitchen. Whenever she was upset in anyway, Erika tended to eat.

Opening the fridge, Erika's eyes skimmed over everything until she found something to her liking. Pulling out the chocolate cheesecake, Erika made her way to one of the stools set by the kitchen island and starting eating.

The cake tasted glorious. The thick, smooth cheese covered in the syrupy chocolate eased down her throat as she wolfed the cake up.

When she was done, Erika put the dirty plate in the dishwasher before running to the bathroom where she purged the cake, a regular habit of hers. After brushing her teeth to get rid of the dire taste, Erika left the bathroom to find her dad leaning against the kitchen.

"There you are!" Mr. Russo said enthusiastically.

"Hi dad," Erika said as she went up to him. She decided to ask the obvious. "Do you need me for something?"

"Do you think you could maybe make me a cup of coffee?" he asked with a gawky laugh.

"Sure." Erika easily replied and with that said, she got to work.

"I don't know why, but your coffees turn out really good!" Mr. Russo said after Erika was done meticulously preparing it and pressed the on button on the coffeemaker.

"It's because I measure everything accurately," she simply replied.

"True..." Mr. Russo's voice trailed off and it got quiet. Erika didn't make a move to speak. While Erika wasn't normally a big fan of silence, she didn't mind the silent when she with her dad (and Chade) seeing as it wasn't uncomfortable in anyway.