Sufferable Acceptance

Twenty Six

Theo

I stood behind the mirror and watched as Amelia spoke to the man in the chair. She was calm and patient with the man. I tried figuring out her next move, but she gave no hint as to what she was going to do to him. I heard Dominic's name and Amelia's name get mentioned a few times. After speaking to the man, and extending a hand the man sat up and spat at Amelia. He had upset her, and the patience she had when she walked into that room was gone.

They continued speaking in Russian, and then Amelia went to grab a knife. She held his bicep down as she slowly cut. I had spent hours cutting this man up, but it was the first time he'd given a response. After cutting, Amelia hung the man's tattoo in front of his face.

"Jesus." Marcus said. He grabbed at the tattoo's on his arms. "Remind me never to piss off Amelia."

Amelia spoke again to the man and he broke down. Something she said struck a nerve with him. She stood and listened to his begging. After a while she walked back into the room. She told Dad about the distribution center.

Something that man said must have made her angry. I considered going back in there and killing him myself for what he might have said to her, but I was distracted by Amelia leaving the basement.

Amelia had been quiet the last two days. I think the man in the basement upset her. I heard her last night complaining to Alfie about Dominic. Afraid of running into her when she was upset I had gone out both nights. I was gone all day, and wouldn't come home until early in the morning.

That was the plan again tonight. Going out with Marcus, and coming back drunk was the only way I got any sleep. I ran into Amelia in the kitchen as she sat with Sophia. I heard plans for a movie night, but couldn't sit and listen because the guys were ready to go. Staring at Amelia one more time before leaving I headed to the car.

It was getting harder and harder to get Amelia out of my mind. The drinks weren't working. I sat at our table thinking about her back at the house. I knew she had had a tough week, and even though I didn't want to be, I found myself worrying about her. Not wanting to waste my time on Amelia anymore I headed to the club's floor to find a distraction.

*****

Amelia

Theo had been avoiding me, which I was grateful for. Maybe he finally figured out it was better for the two of us to keep our distance. I was helping Sofia make some desserts for a movie night. Lorenzo had been strict on her going out so I planned for a few friends to come over to the house. Sophia hadn't been able to go out in a while, so she was excited.

Theo entered the kitchen as he left with Marcus. Glad he was leaving the house again, I relaxed.

Sophia's friends showed up shortly after Theo left. I was unsure about joining Sophia. I didn't have any friends growing up, and even now my only real friend was Alfie. I hadn't done a movie night before. I was going to call it a night after I helped Sophia with dinner, but she insisted I stay. After her friends found out I hadn't ever been to a movie night sleep over they all insisted they turned the night into one. They said it wasn't optional, and I had to stay for the movies.

I gave in to their begging, and started working on dinner. We made pasta, and while the girls were in the living room hanging out I set up a dessert and ice cream bar. Sophia and her friends were determined to binge watch chick-flicks all through the night. They decided since it was my first movie night that it was mandatory we watched the classics.

It was almost 2 in the morning and the girls were falling asleep. We were half an hour into Clueless, and Sophia was getting ready to call it a night. They had turned the whole living room into a giant fort full of pillows, blankets, and sleeping beds. There were times throughout the night I thought the whole thing was a bit childish for a bunch of twenty somethings to do, but I knew they were doing it for me. Sophia couldn't go out, and I had never had a girls night in before so they did everything they could to make it a fun night. It was really quite sweet of them.

Sophia and I saw almost everyone asleep so she turned off the tv and got up to turn the lights off. Before she made it to the lights we heard Theo and Marcus crash through the front door. I looked at Sophia annoyed. Theo coming home woke everyone up. We could hear Theo's laugh through the hallway followed by another voice. Sophia looked up at me, knowing what was about to happen.

I turned my gaze to the hallway, and saw Theo and another girl drunkenly walking past the living room. This girl was all over him. She clung to him as they walked past us. Theo was kissing on her neck, making her laugh. They had almost made it past the living room, but stopped when they saw all of us staring at them.

I can't believe this. Theo was standing in front of me clinging to another girl. I thought I was going to be sick. I had been trying to avoid Theo at the risk of getting in a fight with him these past few days, but seeing him with another girl... that made me want to beat the shit out of somebody.

"What the fuck Theo!" Sophia yelled at her brother.

Theo looked away from the girl he was with and searched around the room for Sophia. He was too drunk to even stand, let alone find where Sophia's voice was coming from. He found Sophia in the room and laughed. His laughing stopped when he found me standing next to Sophia. He immediately pulled himself away from the girl and locked eyes with me.

He looked at me with guilt in his eyes. It looked like he hadn't thought this through. Did he think I would be happy to see him bringing home a girl? Ya know what? No, Theo does not deserve anymore of my energy. I deserve more than the man standing in front of me. The Theo standing in the hallway was pathetic. I had to get out of that room before I said something nasty to him.

I dropped the pillow I was holding and walked across the living room. I walked up to Theo and his date, and waited for them to stumble out of my way. I stared Theo down as I walked past him. I hope he feels like shit right now. Getting to my room I slammed my door shut, and crawled into bed.