Mallory stepped into the living room to see Bellami having a glass of lemonade with her parents. "Are we hiring new maids?" Mallory asked as she looked at Bellami who only rolled her eyes.
"She wanted to say goodbye before you leave to England" Antoinette defended Bellami. "How kind" Mallory shrugged and left the living room. Mallory stepped outside and decided to head down to the lake. She took a seat on the deck hammock that had a cushion and took her phone out to look at her text and emails.
Mallory turned when she heard the sound of heels to see Bellami removing her heels before stepping on the hammock too. "Can't believe we never use this hammock" Bellami said as she took a seat on the cushion besides Mallory. "Your hair looks horrible" Bellami said as she touched Mallory's hair.
Once Bellami let go of her hair Mallory turned to look at Bellami, "don't you have a child you should be taking care of?" Mallory raised her brow.
"Dimitri took him over to his mothers home. You know his parents finally divorced, you should go console him" Bellami shrugged. "What exactly do you want?" Mallory looked at Bellami.
"I just wanted to catch up with you, you know like we used to do before you took Ezekiel from me. Speaking of Ezekiel, he had his first hearing today" Bellami smiled.
"And of course you were there. Don't you ever get tired of being were you aren't wanted?" Mallory smiled back.
"Hailey and him seem really in love dont you think?" Bellami asked. "Almost like you and Ethan, wait no that one didn't work out. More like you and Matthew, wait that one didn't work out either. No maybe like the relationship you made up in your head of you and Ezekiel. Tell me, how did that one work out?" Mallory smiled.
"Good, you didn't end up with him either" Bellami shrugged. "I didn't have a baby with someone I didn't love either" Mallory smiled.
"He knows you weren't the one who signed those papers" Bellami said and Mallory turned to look at her. "I'm sure you knew it was I who signed, practicing your signature wasn't easy but I managed" Bellami smiled.
"What about the surveillance video?" Mallory asked.
"We used a footage from months before and simply changed the date and time" Bellami said. "You're going to hell you're aware of that right?" Mallory said.
"It's not like being your sister isnt' hell" Bellami shrugged. "Go ahead and run to Zeke to explain" Bellami added.
"I'm sure you would love that, unlike you the men come to me" Mallory said and left the hammock.
"Mallory" Bellami said without turning to look at her. Mallory didn't turn either she just stopped walking. "If he doesn't win this case which is the most obvious, father will make sure he's put in jail without any bail"
"It's a shame he doesn't have the money for a bail anyway" Mallory said and left.
~
Mallory sat on the jet and the entire flight from Chicago to New York all she could think of was Zeke being put in jail. She thought about helping him but she thought he hated her and her help was the last thing he would want.
"Hey" Noelle stepped into the jet and hugged Mallory. "You look amazing?" Mallory smiled.
"You think so? I had no idea what to wear" Noelle said. "It's cute and comfortable, besides it's a seven hour flight" Mallory said.
"I'm excited" Noelle smiled. Mallory liked that her cousin was now owning the life her father had deprived her from. Especially the part where she would now be graduating without any debt.
When they arrived to the airport Mallory's car was waiting for them. They got in and drove to their apartment. They agreed an apartment would be more convenient so they had enough space.
"It looks way better than what it looked like in the pictures" Mallory said as she put her bag on the table besides the entrance.
"How many bedrooms did you say it has?" Noelle asked. "Three" Mallory answered. "We can visit grandma and grandpa any day now" Mallory added.
"I don't think I'd be ready to meet grandpa" Noelle said. "He's not as scary as we make him sound but I totally understand what you mean" Mallory said.
"We should probably choose our rooms and settle in"
~
"Do you want to go out?" Mallory knocked on Noelle's door. "We should probably look for a restaurant so we can eat" Noelle nodded. "Yeah we can ask around for a good place, I'll get changed" Mallory said and went over to her bedroom.
Mallory saw her phone light up to see a text from Colton that wished her good luck now that she would be attending college. She thanked him and began changing. She put on a deep V Saint Laurent latex bodysuit and Halluana crepe flared trousers. She curled her hair and grabbed her judith leiber clutch before leaving with Noelle.
~
Once they were done having dinner Mallory asked Noelle to wait for her because she had to use the restroom before leaving. They agreed to go shopping for their school supplies the following day so they would call it a night and head back to their apartment.
Noelle stepped outside the two story restaurant and waited for Mallory. She took her phone out and sat on the bench besides the entrance.
Mallory was in the restroom waiting for a stall as there was a line. Mallory was considering on paying her grandfather a visit since she hadn't seen him. She took her phone out and began texting her grandmother as she waited.
Meanwhile Noelle was outside already getting impatient since she was in a different country with people who she didn't know surrounding her. However she wasn't scared because she could tell all the people walking in and out of the restaurant were of a high class.
Noelle stood up and bumped into someone's shoulder. "I'm sorry"
"You seem familiar, Noelle right?"
Noelle nodded. "You're Noah, right?" Noelle asked.
"Yeah, it's great to see you especially so far away from home. Are you on vacation?" Noah asked. "Something like that, I'm attending Oxford" Noelle smiled and nodded.
"Really? That's amazing, congrats. How's Mallory doing?" Noah smiled. "She's doing good, I'm actually waiting for her"
"She's here?" Noah smiled. "Yeah, she's actually walking this way now" Noelle pointed as Mallory put her phone into her bag. Mallory raised her head and widened her eyes before smiling when she saw Noah.
"Hey" Noah smiled. "Hi, what a surprise" Mallory said as she stepped closer to hug him. "It's what I was just telling your cousin, small world" Noah said.
"What are you doing here?" Mallory asked. "I was going to have drinks with some friends" Noah pointed to the restaurant. "Do you guys want to join us?" He added.
"We'd love to but we actually have to go back to our apartment to settle in properly " Mallory said. Noelle nodded.
"Settle in?" Noah raised his brow. "Yeah we bought some furniture that's being held in the lobby because we don't have the strength to take it up to our apartment until the workers we hired come tonight" Mallory said.
"I can help you, if you'd like" Noah smiled. "We'd appreciate it" Noelle smiled. Noelle could tell Mallory was nervous as she stood besides Noah and so was he.
Noah however had no idea Mallory would be attending Oxford. He thought she was just helping Noelle move in.
"Give me the address and I'll stop by with a friend so he can help me" Noah smiled. "Same number?" Mallory blushed.
"Same number" Noah nodded.
