Better The Devil You Know

Let's Disappoint Each Other

Aurora sat in her wardrobe, staring into her vanity. Curling her lashes, she let out a huge sigh.
'Tell me why must it be that everything happens in the space of 24 hours? I hadn't even slept with him this time yesterday and now we're having babies?!'

Lucy and Samantha gave her pitying eyes through her laptop.
'Do you want a baby? Right now? Are you ready?' Lucy was tucking into Chinese whilst Samantha was painting her nails.

'Sure, I want a baby. I knew we were going to have kids. But I'd stupidly hoped that, you know, we would be... Closer. When we had kids that is. And frankly, I'm not sure I'm comfortable bring a child into this world just because we're at war, in fact, that's a reason not to!'

Samantha chipped in, 'Then don't. Just lie. Say you can't come off birth control for a couple of months, and then just take the pill without him knowing.'

'He's made me transfer doctor! He wants to look at my files! I can't take paracetamol without him knowing!'

'Come back here and anonymously get a coil thingy put in! Then nobody will know!'

'And if he finds out? If he wonders why I'm still not pregnant? That's my one way ticket to death, I'm not even kidding.'

Samantha looks at her friend who was now putting on a nude lipstick. 'Then you might just have to go with it.'

Aurora huffed loudly, 'Uggggghhhh. How do they look?' She gestured at the multiple hickeys along her collar bone, all covered in thick layers of concealer.

'Like you're as innocent as the day you were born.' Lucy gives a thumbs up, noodles stuffed in her mouth.

Rolling her eyes, Aurora blew a kiss, 'if only,' before hanging up.

🖤

Throwing a trench coat over her dress, Aurora felt stunning. She was wearing a gold sequinned mini dress with nude platform heels, fully prepared to get absolutely wasted. Before getting married she could not understand how one became an addict, but before 6 months had gone by, she'd already thrown the towel in and become one.

Walking out of the vanity room, Aurora jumped in fright at seeing Nathan sat on her bed, flicking through the latest Vogue, clearly unimpressed. 'You're late.'

'How can I be late if you never gave me a time?'

'Because you're always late. You ready?' Nathan threw the magazine to one side and held his arm out.

'Lets goooo.'

🖤

In the cold winter air, all was dark and still, the only noise being Aurora's heels as the couple ambled down the street. On any other occasion Aurora would be terrified of being out late at night, casually walking past potential murderers or worst. With Nathanial by her side though, Aurora feared for anybody that tried to so much as touch them. Her arm was linked through his and through the thin layer of her coat she could feel the gun in his chest pocket.
Strangely enough, it no longer terrified her, she felt indifferent. Like it was no longer a threat, no longer a weapon for either defence or attack, but simply a necessity. Simply a thing that had to be here just as much as a pack of gum or her phone. And for the life of her Aurora could not decide which was worse, terror or indifference.