Solitary Confinement

The Monroe's

My shoulders slowly relaxed as I shakily released the breath I'd been holding in. Wiping my sweaty palms on the sides of my wrinkled, gray dress shirt, I tried pressing out every crease visible. One would think after how many times I'd been through this that I would be used to it by now. Unfortunately, that hadn't been the case. My heart started racing, my hands got all shaky, and my legs felt like they were going to give out from underneath me. Not realizing I'd been pacing, my footsteps came to a holt as I heard the doorknob to the mediation room turn.

Charlotte entered the room, a bleached blonde infant with blue eyes attached to her hip. Following behind her, a tall, dark skinned man who looked to be in his mid forties wore a fancy, untattered suit with a dark blue tie strapped and fastened around his neck. I looked him up and down. His charcoal dress shoes looked more expensive than my entire wardrobe back at Cloverfield. When his eyes landed on me, his lips pulled back into a wide grin.

"I'm so excited to finally meet you Olive! My name is-" he began to speak.

"Mr. Monroe, I've read the files. And my name is Olivia, not Olive," I interjected Mr. Monroe.

Awkward silence filled the room, which seemed to be a little bit smaller than it had been when I first came it. Mr. Monroe nervously let out a chuckle and began again.

"Right, sorry about that. I just thought it would be a nice ice breaker. Please, call me Evan." Mr. Monroe held out his hand, waiting for me to shake it. Realizing I didn't show any interest in accepting his kind gesture, he stiffly adjusted his tie and smoothed out his jacket in an attempt to relieve the tension.

"Excuse me Evan, move to the side. I want to see her," came a cheery voice from behind Mr. Monroe. Suddenly, a thin woman stepped into my line of sight. Her bright eyes and rosy cheeks caught my attention. Without warning, mystery woman walked hastily towards me and pulled me into a tight embrace.

Well, this is awkward. What do I do? Am I supposed to push her away? No Olivia, that's rude. I can't just let her hug me, this is so weird. She doesn't even know me. I could have lice or something!

"Uh, hi," happened to be the idiotic response that sounded through my lips. "My name is-"

"Olivia, your name is Olivia. Of course I know who you are darling. We've been so excited to meet you! Haven't we dear?" Mystery woman, whom I'm assuming was Mrs. Monroe, turned her head towards her husband. Mr. Monroe shook his head, nodding in agreement with his wife. She spun her attention back to me, rubbing my shoulders in what seemed to be affection.

"Please excuse my forwardness. I hope you don't mind!" Charlotte's face squeezed upward in excitement. Her lips pulled back into yet again, another big smile. Doesn't this woman ever get tired of smiling?

"No, don't mind at all," I nonchalantly replied, almost as if her invading my personal space didn't matter at all. Why would it? I sarcastically thought to myself. She didn't seem to pick up on my sarcasm though. Just then, I heard a coo from the baby Charlotte had attached herself to. She peered directly at me, smiling from cheek to cheek.

"Oh, this is Emberly. She is, or I hope to be, your new sister. Can you say 'Hi' to Olivia, Emberly?" Mrs. Monroe addressed her daughter. Emberly blinked a few times in confusion towards her mother, and then let out a slight giggle. She was kinda cute. I couldn't deny that. I did know one thing, where she got her cheery disposition from. I side glanced at Mrs. Monroe and watched her and her daughter interact with one another. Mrs. Monroe and her daughter giggled with one another. Emberly let out a shrill shriek as Mrs. Monroe blew raspberries on her stomach and played peekaboo behind her hands. Suddenly, a pit of jealousy started burning deep within my stomach as I watched them laugh and smile. Without realizing it, Mrs. Monroe, who now looked in my direction, stared at me in expectancy.

"I'm sorry. Did you say something?" Blankly, I responded.

Disregarding what I said, she must have noticed me staring at Emberly. Mrs. Monroe went on, "She's exquisite, isn't she? I stared at her for hours the night I gave birth to her. I don't think I got even one hour of sleep."

"Uh, yeah. She's beautiful," came my dispiriting response.

"So, let's all sit down and talk this whole thing out. Shall we?" Charlotte suggested. Without a second thought, I aggressively forced the wooden chair at the furthest end of the table in my direction. Slouching immediately after my butt hit the cushion on the chair, I glanced up at the family around me. They seemed like the ideal American family. So why did they need me? I would just ruin the harmony between them, I thought to myself.

"Okay, should we start with you telling us a little bit about yourself?" Mrs. Monroe enthusiastically suggested.

After sighing and rolling my eyes, I spoke, "You read everything that you need to know in my personal file Charlotte gave you. You did read the file, didn't you?" I questioned.

"Well, yeah, but I wa-" Mrs. Monroe began to speak from across the table before I interrupted, yet again.

"Then you know everything I'd be willing to share with you."

An unsettling silence filled the room from corner to corner. It isn't that I tried to be hostile towards them. The truth is, there hadn't been anything else that would interest them that Charlotte didn't put in that file. I've had everything, but an interesting life. Why bore them with the gory details? I could tell how uncomfortable the Monroe's were beginning to feel. Both of their hands were rested on the table in a fist. Mr. Monroe had his hand tightly fitted together, and kept wringing them. His knuckles began to turn a pale white color. Mrs. Monroe spun her wedding ring around her ring finger to distract her from the situation.

I looked towards Charlotte across the room in a plea for help. When my gaze met hers, I could see the pleading in her eyes towards me. She mouthed, "Please try." I rolled my eyes and focused back on the poster family in front of me. Finally, Mrs. Monroe let out a breath it seemed she'd been holding in, which finally broke the silence that continued to show up today.

"How about we start then, huh?" she spoke to me.

Thank God.