Chapter 7: Chapter 6
Chapter 6
"He fell into despair and lost all hope. For who could ever learn to love a beast?" ~Narrator/Enchantress (1991)
Francesca
By the time the girls stirred in their blissful sleep, I had regained my composure and taken a shower to hide the fact that I had been crying. I had also already gotten dressed for the day and made the breakfast for the three of us. Certainly, hungover girls that laid soundlessly in my bed would be hungry. I didn't dare turn on a light or open the curtains as I would usually do when I was getting ready in the morning. That would be pure torture to my friends...I heard Alexandra's voice first and it was only to mumble a few curse words; ones that I wouldn't ever repeat.
" Come, on Alex. It can't be that bad. At least you aren't a lightweight like Vic, but that also means you drank a lot more than her...never mind there really is no bright side to this, but if you get up right now you can eat the amazing pancakes I made," I said as I tried to bribe her from under the beautiful place that was a comforter.
" Leave me alone, Francesca...I feel like death," she replied very quietly, probably because of a pounding headache that she most likely had right now.
I had been in her shoes many times before I decided to get my life together...well before Elle pulled my sorry little ass out of the gutter I was living in. She gave me the kick in the pants I needed to make something of myself.
" It is only going to get worse as the day goes by, but if you get up and eat something you can take some pain pills, which will definitely help with a pounding headache," I say softly hoping not to aggravate the throbbing in her cranial cavity.
I heard her groan softly, then she slowly made her way into a sitting position. It seemed like hours had passed by the time she was standing next to the bed. She began to walk sluggishly over to the couch, but she had yet to let go of the comforter, so it followed her all the way there. I watched as the lavender blanket fell from the bed, revealing Victoria's skin to the outside elements. Victoria started to squirm around on the bed, searching for the warmth that had been stolen from her.
When obviously she couldn't find the comforter, Victoria began to groan. She mumbled something that sounded like "I hate alcohol" and turned over putting her face in a pillow. I decided to give the lightweight a few more minutes to get used to the life of an alcohol consumer and walked over to the couch where Alexandra sat slowly munching on the pancakes. I sat down next to her, picked up one of the buttery goodies in my hands and silently eat it. I only ate a few of them since I had made them for the girls. Besides, I had already eaten a large stack that I had made for myself. Eventually, Victoria got used to the sensitivity to light and the pounding headache that she definitely had, and joined us on the couch. She was silent which wasn't unlike her, but Alexandra hadn't said a word to me since I woke her up and that was surprising. She was the one to start a conversation; she was the most talkative one in our little group and she has said...nothing.
" How come you are fine?" Victoria asked me incredulously.
" I didn't drink anything last night. I wanted to make sure that you guys didn't kill yourselves so I guess you could say...I was the designated sober one," I said with a small smile. She looked at me shocked since I was the one that came up with the idea to have a party in the first place.
We fell back into a comfortable silence; I just sat there adding details in my sketchbook that I had brought down with me last night. I was putting the finishing touches on the sketch of Victoria's dress. I had gotten quite a bit of work done last night on the "bones" of the dress. All I had to do was double-check the measurements that I made and then I could begin stitching the dress together. I had to get started soon since that lace would definitely take extra time due to its daintiness and texture.
When the girls had finished eating, they went to their respective rooms to get ready for the day ahead. I gathered all the dishes together and pushed them and the cart back downstairs into the kitchen, where I hand washed them. Soon after I finished the dishes, Alexandra and Victoria stumbled into the kitchen. They kept walking until they got into the living room and flopped down onto the couches. I slightly laughed at their hungover selves and walked into the living behind them. I sat down in the armchair and slipped my slippers off. I pulled my knees up and wrapped my arms around them keeping them close to my body. I looked out the french doors that the armchair was sat beside and just stared. Not looking at anything specific, just wanting to occupy my mind.
When I was sure that I had looked at everything that I could see from the position I was in, I turned and looked at the girls that were currently suffering in utter silence. They had put pillows over their faces to block the small amount of light that was shining in through the doors. But this was Scotland, so there wasn't much light for as sunny as the day was. It was either raining and chilly or it was unbelievably hot and sunny. I had found from the numerous vacations in various parts of the UK that you either wanted to go outside and dance in the rain or hide inside hoping to get some relief from the heat. I wanted to laugh at them, but I just couldn't muster the energy to. I guess not sleeping tends to take a toll on a human body…
I don't really know how long we sat in the living room just relaxing, but the rain had stopped and the pain pills had finally taken effect. Their complaining about the pounding headaches had ceased for the time being so they were a bit more functional. They were able to remove the pillows from their faces and sit up without admitablely feeling as if they were about to puke any second so...progress. They were now sitting up on the couches that they have claimed and talking quietly to each other...very quietly.
" So I guess that mixing vodka and wine isn't the greatest idea. At least you learned a new lesson, even if it is a hard one," I said with a small smile and Alexandra glared at me.
" I wish you could've maybe taught us this lesson last night before we did it," she said. I knew she wanted to yell that at me, but yelling would only result in the return of her headache.
" Then it wouldn't have been a lesson and wouldn't be quite as much fun," I said again with a smirk. My comment even got a glare out of Victoria.
" Oh come on guys...how about we just take it easy today and spend the rest of the day looking at place-setting options?" I say.
Victoria groans and flops down onto her back and covered her head with a blanket.
" I don't wanna do anything today," Victoria says; her voice muffled by the blanket.
"Ok, how about we have another movie marathon in my room?" I offer.
Victoria sits up slowly and nods her head. Alexandra hasn't moved since she sat down on the couch, but she asked.
" With the curtains be closed?"
" Yes, of course," I say with a giggle, then she nods to.
Scott
The swirl of amber liquid and the clink of ice against the glass is my only solace. For two days, I haven't moved from my study reliving every word I had with Jasper. An open bottle of prized whiskey sat open on my desk in front of. Almost halfway gone, but still, nothing would numb the pain in my chest. Nothing will take the damn pictures of her out of my mind. Every single one of her smiles and the sound of her laugh was churning in my head...taunting me. Reminding me that nobody, not even her family will ever see her again and it is all because I was dumb enough to think I could protect her.
Looking into the amber liquid, as it circled the glasses' rim, wasn't helping anymore. Its monogram of S.A.J only reminding me of the person who bought it for me. I downed its contents and with a passing glance, I threw it at the wall. It shattered into a thousand tiny shards that dotted the ground. Its crystal making a loud, high pitch sound as it smeared the ground with quickly melting ice. I stood from my chair and stared out the window into the ironically sunny day, remembering what started this descent into drunkenness.
" This is Jasper Thatch. We need to talk," a man's voice said over the phone.
I immediately recognized the voice, so I quickly walked away from Spencer. Once alone, I replied to the man.
" What happened, Jasper?" I asked.
"Your father's men came poking around my shop again. Asking a whole bunch of questions about...that night," he said.
" Well, did you answer them?" I asked.
" No, of course not. I know that I'm not supposed to know what happened in the field," he paused, " Scott...you said that this would be over. That I wouldn't ever have to relive that night. That you would take of this. That I could finally move on after all these years, but my baby sister," he stopped and I could hear his muffled cries in the background.
" Jasper...I'm sorry I couldn't take care of her," I said and then hung up.
I pressed my hand, with my phone in it, into my desk, until my knuckles turned white and the sickening sound of shattering glass came. I would keep in the tears. I didn't deserve to grieve her; I didn't deserve to feel any release of this god awful pain...I would hold it in till it killed me.
I sucked in a shaky breath and pushed my nails into my palms. I will not cry...I closed my eyelids tightly and clenched my jaw shut, grinding my teeth in pain. I opened my eyes. Through the slightly wet lens, I saw the thriving rose garden. In a small oak planters' box where he buried it. Where he burned everything that she loved...where he made me watch all her art burn, even the ones of my me...where he burned every picture of her. Under her favorite flowers was the very thing that ended her life...
Pink roses...an accidental mismatch, much like the two of us, of red and white. Her favorite flowers; they used to grow in my mother's greenhouse, in the planters' box outside of her window. She wore their scent, painted them somewhere in every painting, wore them in her hair, sewn them into her patterned clothes, and they used to permanently be strewn around the house in my mother's vases.
He planted them there so I could watch them grow from the ashes of our love. Said that my growth would reflect theirs. A reminder that he would do everything in his power to make sure that I never had a spare moment to think about her. The piles of work and formalities for taking over the law firm, the countless cases, the depositions, the traveling, the lying, the cheating, and the constant harassment of anyone that I got close to ensured that I wouldn't have a moment to think about her.
Spencer was the only person that I had let into my life since I lost her. He was the only other person that I confided everything in. He knew everything that happened that night and everything that he had on me that had kept me quiet all these years. He hated that this was the way I had always lived my life, even as a child, and that I chose to not let myself grieve. He valued family and love pretty much, above all else so he hated that I had neither. That they had both been ripped away from me. But he wasn't there...he doesn't know what I did. What it felt like to just stand there and do nothing as you watch your own father-
I came out of my thoughts and stepped away from the window, and went back to my desk and pulled out the last thing I had of hers. The only picture that he couldn't find to destroy…the last picture we took together a mere day before I lost her... It was at her parents' house and shining on Claire's ring finger was my mother's ring. We were smiling and her eyes were puffy from the tears of joy that she had cried just before the photo was taken, my arm was around her waist and her hand was on my chest displaying the ring. She is gone because I loved her and I would never make that mistake again. Besides, my father has always said that love is for the weak...
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