𝐁𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐄 | 𝟏𝟖+

I

Eudora

I sat, mouth agape as I stared unashamedly at the mansion that sat in front of me.

Perhaps the word castle would better fit

The blooming thing was 3 stories high and was composed entirely of ivory brick. Large windows allowed multitudes of sunlight to pour into the house.

Not that there was much of it in excess, the house was in west London

I had just come off the back of a 3 hour car drive from where my grandmother had been residing in Kent, to the Mansion that my mother's new husband had so graciously gotten her as an early engagement present, almost as it would absolve the obvious hostility between the pair.

It was a painful sight for anyone who knew either member of the pair well enough to recognise how they would have genuinely displayed affection.

I had joked with my friend Mina that the chances of Stevie Wonder correctly pointing towards the north star were higher than the chances that the day would come where I would ever be able to look my new found ¨father¨ in the eye and ever understand what he saw in my mother ; easy to say the joke was short lived as Mina and I both remembered that her grandmother was legally blind.

Not like anyone could really be illegally blind

Honestly I hadn't felt that bad about the joke which had so tragically ended up unintentionally referencing Mina's grandmother, and while that may make me sound like a bitch, all things considered I had been the one to remind her that her grandmother was hard of seeing in the first place.

After she had busted her gut laughing first, of course.

Its not that I dislike my mothers new found lover, however I didn't particularly like him either, and I had been starting to think that maybe was where the issue had been stemming from.

Maybe, just maybe.

I had met him just once prior to him deciding to make the ever so tiny gesture of purchasing half the borough of Kensington and Chelsea literally to house just three inhabitants, in a city which wasn't even the most residing stop for my mother due to her line of work.

Talk about first impressions

My mothers pride and joy was her company, specializing in what exactly?

Interior Design

Ah yes, the ever so competitive field of marble counter tops and overpriced light fixtures, large sofas that take up the space of half a room but are almost never sat on.

That's the one thing I had realized about those who had used my mothers services. It would be those that were often too rich to even put thought into decorating their own homes, that eventually lead to just being overpriced, overdecorated buildings that only saw the light of human life during the likes of a baby shower, or engagement party, much like that house I sat outside, gawking at.

To celebrate my mothers third engagement her and her lovely fiancé had decided to throw an engagement party, on the same day that I moved in with them.

As can be easily deducted, there was a conflict of interest , as it was the day that I was moving in, but due to the lack of said interest from the opposite party about the date scheduled for my moving in coinciding with the engagement party, the conflict of interest was really just me wondering if my mother actually gave a shit about my existence.

Easy to say that thought passed over quickly with the answer being painfully clear.

A heavy cough broke me out of my mid day haze and I pulled myself out of the car swiftly before dusting down my dress.

It's not like there was any dust on it, I'm just extra in that way.

As my heels clicks were muted between my transition of gravel to matt tile the front door of the house was opened, acting as a partition between this new world against my old one which I hoped so dearly to be able to cling on to.

Music was playing softly inside and I could already see a peak of the champagne coloured balloons dancing down the marble staircase, as family and friends alike stood conversing inside.

My mother stood under the door frame, the arm of her soon to be husband slung loosely around her shoulder as he looked me up and down before she rushed out to grant me a hug.

The few times that she was around, and I mean the very few, she was a decent mother.

I pulled away from her softly, my lips in a thin line as I cast my gaze over to the man that stood to the right of her, scanning my face inquisitively.

He extended an arm before cocking his head to the side, in a careful manner before speaking.

"Adora?"

My lips pulled into a tight smile as I met his hand with my own before pulling it away almost as fast, bit not before correcting him on his mistake.

"Eudora, but thanks Josiah"

After making my way into the house I turned back to where the pair stood, at the entryway of the house, my mother already fuming.

I mocked his earlier movement of cocking his head to the side inquisitively before I snapped my fingers together and pointed back at him.

"Oh how could I have forgotten, that was mum's last Fiancé."

Checkmate Bitch.