True Identity

Chapter 11

Chapter 11. Properly double figures!

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We ate our breakfast and left quite quickly as we were aware how long this Friends marathon would take so we were back at his apartment by noon with snacks Mary had prepared for us for later and Netflix ready to go. Apart from a few breaks for pizza and toilet breaks we had finished the whole season by around ten at night and proceeded to watch a few of the most iconic episodes until we fell asleep on the sofa.

We woke up by ourselves around nine thirty the next morning and lounged around getting some breakfast of cereal and toast. We were dancing in the kitchen with the music up as loud as possible when we heard a loud cough from across the bar into the living room. We both turned and saw Leila standing there with suitcase and handbag, looking at us with sickly sweet smile she clearly didn't mean.

"Leila!" Archer said, in shock, quickly moving over to her and hugging her, noticeably avoiding a kiss.

"You're back early." I said, standing awkwardly in the kitchen. She turned her head quickly at me and glared.

"It's my home and I wanted to see my boyfriend. Is that a problem for you?" She said, turning with her hands on her hips and my brother standing behind her.

"No problem." I said, holding my hands up. "I was surprised, is all"

"Cool it, girls. We only have an hour to get along." Archer said, grabbing a mug to pour Leila some coffee.

"No, we have five minutes." I corrected, I wasn't sticking around here with her when I have a day planned with Eli that he promises will be a lot of fun. "I'll get out of your hair. I'm sure you'll want some alone time...to talk."

"You told her!?" she screeched, wiping her head round like an owl spotting her prey.

"She's my sister and technically Mary told her." He said, not seeing how angry his girlfriend was, he was a bit oblivious to that kind of thing and often put his foot in it with girls.

"The waitress knows! Archer!" She screamed, stomping her foot like a small child.

"Coral is family and I can tell her whatever I want. Mary is like family." He said, trying not to get angry. It was clear he didn't like it when they fought but it was also clear it happened a lot by his stature. Defensive but calm. He knew how to get around her. "It doesn't matter. We do need to talk though."

"There's nothing to talk about." She said, crossing her arms and turning away from him. He pushed his fingers through his hair and leaning on the countertop. We all stood there in silence until I realised I said I was going to leave.

"I'm gonna go so you can continue this without me here." I said, making various gestures with my hands and squeezing past them to get to my suitcase and handbag collecting my possessions that were dotted around the apartment.

"Good, go. You caused this, leave." She said, placing herself down on the sofa, anything less than gracefully.

"Leila!" Archer said, clearly annoyed at her words. He still wouldn't break up with her though. He cares about his family but confrontation wasn't his thing. In high school, he was liked because he didn't tell anyone the true opinion he had of them. He was nice but he could hold his own on the football field and could still say no to things.

"No, Archie." I said, stopping him. I had just called an Uber and texted Eli saying I'd be early because that was the nice thing to do when you were unexpected somewhere. "We all know her opinion of me and the others and I don't want this confrontation. I have plans with Eli so I'll see you soon. Before my birthday I'd hope." I said, hugging him quickly and opening the door to the hallway with my suitcase behind me.