A Year At The Opera

Chapter 14: A Busy Week, Part 1

A/N: Sorry it's so late. Logistics and multiple storylines take time to fully work out. But, it is here nonetheless (well, Part 1 of a planned 4 at least. Still working on those. They might take a little while too) and I hope you enjoy it!!

WC: 4700 words

Thea

Thea arrived home around 4pm. Like every day before, she headed straight for the kitchen. She opened the fridge and grabbed the triple chocolate ice cream cake sitting right in front. She'd eaten half of it last night and she intended to finish the rest today. She opened one of the drawers, grabbed a spoon and took a bite.

As it slowly dissolved in her mouth, she wandered into the living room, waltzed over to the thermostat and lowered the temperature to 50F before taking a seat on the couch. She stretched out her feet on the center table and let herself drown in the cold comfort of the leather as she took another bite of the cake.

As Theadora continued to reminisce on her day today, the door opened and her step-mother stepped in.

Ah, Haley Rockwell, retired actress now turned real estate agent, married her co-star Nicolas Belfry about ten years ago and had since then been the bane of Thea's existence. Haley Rockwell had everything Thea hated in a person: her holier-than-thou attitude, her complete lack of self awareness, her perfect figure, her 'love' for Thea's dad. Most of all, Thea hated that her dad seemed to love Haley more.

Thea swore Haley had just married her father for the money but Nicolas refused to hear it.

"Eating again, are we?" Haley remarked coldly as she slipped out of her trench coat and gently placed her St. Louis purse on the couch.

Haley loved that purse more than her own life. On occasion Thea had considered burning it or trashing it as payback for ruining her life but had stayed her hand for the appropriate time. She didn't want to waste the opportunity if she could avoid it.

"What do you care, anyway?" Thea replied just as coldly, barely bothering to turn her attention away from the plate of cake in her hand.

She took another bite and faked a moan. She held the cake out to Haley. "Want some?" Thea asked, putting on her best baby voice and puppy dog eyes.

Haley scowled, walked over and slapped Thea. Thea barely flinched. This was nothing new. No, this was practically routine.

Haley turned around and grabbed her phone from her coat.

"Guess that's a no, then." Thea smiled cheekily.

She knew Haley couldn't have the cake anyway. Poor little lactose intolerant Haley.

"I've had an incredibly stressful day, I do not need your fucking sass, Thea."

"Oh, why don't you ask dad to buy you something then?" Thea replied.

Another slap. This one hit harder. Blood pooled under Thea's cheeks and her skin felt warm.

"Well, at least you're getting better at something in life." Thea said, taking another bite of her cake.

Haley groaned angrily. "Is this the fucking antartic? Why is it freezing in here?" She walked over to the thermostat.

"It's hot out." Thea replied.

"Do you want me to get frostbite?"

"It's 50 degrees. You literally can't get frostbite."

"Oh, you're so smart, aren't you?" Haley grit her teeth.