concordia

four

word count: 1.4k

date written: 1.1.19

verse: au, set circa. 2006

-

it was four in the afternoon and, despite having just been woken up from his nap, luca had only one thing on his mind.

"grape time?" he mumbled as elle carried him downstairs, rubbing tiredly at his eyes. grapes were his latest fixation and he refused to eat almost anything else. up until a few days ago, he'd been the same way with oranges, obsessed with watching connie peel them for him.

"grape time," elle echoed back in agreement, heading for the kitchen. but just as they were about to enter, there was a loud knock at the front door that stopped her dead in her tracks. elle sighed, reluctantly turning around and walking back down the hall to answer it.

"no, grape time!" luca demanded as she changed course, making a grabbing motion over her shoulder in the direction of the kitchen with a displeased little scowl. he undoubtedly wasn't happy about being made to wait for his promised snack break.

"in a moment, sweetheart," elle said, tapping the tip of his nose. "mummy has to see who's at the door first." luca continued to frown but didn't repeat himself, knowing he would only get into trouble if he interrupted elle while she was talking to someone. as far as she was aware, they weren't expecting visitors but when she finally opened the door, she found a man in a gray suit stood on the front step.

"can i help you?" she asked, adjusting her hold of luca as she curiously looked the man up and down. he looked familiar but she couldn't quite figure out how or why.

it took the man a moment to overcome his surprise and find his voice. a woman with a toddler on her hip was the last person he'd expected to open the door. "my name's michael," he said. "i'm, uh, looking for connie beauchamp." although he didn't recognize the woman stood before him, connie's car was parked in the driveway so he knew she had to still be living here.

elle relaxed slightly. "you know connie?" she hadn't met many of connie's colleagues yet and was under the impression that he was simply one of them. while she might have been half-right, she was also very wrong. michael stared at her, confused as to how she knew connie. not to mention what she was doing in their house.

"she's my wife," he explained, not entirely surprised that she didn't seem to know who he was, but his answer finally told elle why he looked so familiar. she'd never expected to meet connie's ex, least of all because he'd still been in prison the last time connie had begrudgingly mentioned him, and now that she was face-to-face with the man himself, elle was at an unusual loss for what to say or do. all she knew was that connie didn't want to talk to him, or see him for that matter.

"right, well she's not actually here at the moment," elle lied, making an effort to sound polite. "maybe you should come back later when-"

"why don't i just wait inside?" michael offered, cutting her off, but his tone made it clear his words were more of a demand than a suggestion. it was apparent that he was used to getting his own way and expected to now as well. unfortunately for him, elle had no intention of backing down.

"i don't think that's such a good idea," she said firmly, taking a step back so that she could close the door on him. she jumped slightly when michael slammed his hand against the wood before she could completely do so, forcing the door to remain half open. "hey, what the hell are you doing?"

"i want to see my wife," michael demanded through gritted teeth, voice considerably louder as he began to lose his temper at the situation. "her car's in the driveway so i know she's here. now let me in!"

elle glared at him, jaw clenched. "no."

"you can't stop me from entering my own house!" michael growled. he'd been trying to contact connie for weeks now, and he wasn't about to miss his first real chance just because of some random woman who seemed to think she owned his house. luca's bottom lip quivered in warning as michael only continued to raise his voice, the volume slowly beginning to scare him. "get out of my way!"

despite her heart feeling as though it would beat right out of her chest at any second, elle stood her ground. "i said no!"

"who the hell do you think you are?!" michael snapped, eyes ablaze with anger, and elle was just about to tell him exactly who she was when luca finally burst into tears. in an instant, telling michael to get lost was the last thing on elle's mind, and she tried her best to console luca without moving from the door -- michael's hand was still planted firmly against it, and she had no doubt that if she moved away for even a second, he would only barge inside uninvited.

"luca, it's alright," she cooed, rubbing circles across his back as she held him tighter. "sh, come on, baby, it's okay. nobody's going to hurt you." if looks could kill, the glare she gave michael in that moment would've left him dead on the spot, and she was just about to order him to leave again when a voice from the stairs stopped her before she could.

"elle? is everything okay?"

almost certain he recognized the voice, michael unsuccessfully tried leaning into the house to see who elle had turned to look at. he needn't have bothered. connie stepped into view a few seconds later, her sleeves rolled up above her elbows and a damp patch on her shirt where she'd been splashed with water. with her short hair pulled back into a ponytail that it was gradually escaping from, she looked so... domesticated that it took michael a moment to realize it was really even her.

"connie?" he asked uncertainly before elle could say anything, and connie immediately turned at the sound of her name. for a brief moment, she looked as though she'd seen a ghost, but her expression quickly settled into something much more unreadable instead.

"elle, go upstairs," she said, still staring at michael. she sounded oddly serious all of a sudden and elle frowned, looking between the two of them as she continued trying to soothe luca. he'd quietened down now that the shouting had stopped and connie had come to the rescue but was still sniffling sadly into elle's shoulder.

"but-"

"please," connie said, finally turning back as she reached out to give elle's arm a reassuring squeeze. her voice had softened again but there was still an odd edge to it that wasn't usually present. she almost sounded desperate. "blake's in our room and he needs drying off." elle glanced over at michael again, reluctant to leave connie alone with him.

"are you sure?" she asked uncertainly. she knew all too well what men could be like, especially when they were in such a volatile state. it had been the leading cause of her own divorce after all.

connie smiled gently, trying to put her at ease. "yes. now go on, before he gets cold and starts moaning."

"alright," elle sighed after a moment's deliberation, knowing connie wouldn't ask her to leave without good reason. besides, if she needed her than she was hardly far away, although elle hoped that whatever this was wouldn't escalate far enough for her presence to be necessary.

"i won't be long," connie said, despite not knowing that would be the case, before leaning forward to press a gentle kiss to elle's cheek. still stood on the doorstep, and having somehow managed to stay silent for longer than seemed capable of him, michael failed miserably to hide his sheer confusion and disbelief at the sight, wondering if his mind was suddenly playing tricks on him.

elle spared him another worried glance, still not entirely convinced that her leaving was a good idea but, trusting that connie could handle him herself, did as she'd been asked and hesitantly turned to make her way upstairs. only when she reached the top of the staircase did she pause to look back, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth as she eyed the pair nervously. several seconds passed before she forced herself to turn away again and connie returned the little wave luca gave her over his mother's shoulder as they disappeared from sight.