|| Arabella ||
I had never scrubbed my hair harder than this day. I shampooed my hair again and again until the neon green color came off.
It was the day of Thanksgiving. I didn't want to look like a broccoli. Apparently, Theo and Wyatt shared the same feeling.
Also, it was decided that the dinner would take place at our apartment.
At the moment, Wyatt was out to meet Coral and to give her support since she was going to have dinner with her not-so-great dad. Ian would drop by around three.
So, Theo and I were chatting about random things while preparing the feast.
"You know, you could seriously consider being a sous-chef," I said.
"What makes you think I would want to be under you?" Theo retorted.
"Just the fact that we make a great team," I chimed. "I mean, think about it. We made Wyatt and Coral almost a couple, and we work so great in the kitchen together."
"Would be ironic if we were soulmates," he said in the midst of sliding some tomatoes.
"But I don't believe in soulmates," I said while dressing the dessert salad.
"Really? That's shocking. I thought you were one of those girls who dreamed of getting married to their soulmate with doves, rainbows, and unicorns."
I chuckled. "I'll be happy with a simple wedding."
"Setting aside the unicorns, doesn't every girl have a dream wedding?"
"Yeah. But as I grew up I realized that's such a waste of money. I would be happier making a donation or saving up for my kids in the future with that money."
"You're starting to sound more and more like my dream g—" Just then the microwave tinged.
Once I took out the turkey, I asked, "You were saying?"
"Nothing."
I gave him a confused look but didn't ask more. As I started to garnish the turkey, I realized that I had used up all the fruits.
"Shall I go buy some?" Theo offered.
"That would be great. Thanks." I took up Theo's part while he went to grab his jacket and left the apartment.
I was working diligently when the calling bell rang up.
"Did Ian come early?" I checked the time to find it was only half-past two. I wiped my hands on my apron and rushed to get to the door.
From the peephole camera, I saw it was a beautiful sand blonde woman in her early forties.
I opened the door with a smile and asked, "Hello. How can I help you?"
"Who are you?" she asked rudely.
"Uh, I'm Arabella."
She looked oddly familiar. Her face resembled someone I knew, but I couldn't put my finger on that person. "And what are you doing here?"
"I live here." I hesitated to open the door widely, but she pushed her way in.
"What? Now he's living with a high schooler? I can't believe this! Once a cheater, always a cheater!" she yelled.
What the hell is she talking about?
"Um, if you don't mind me asking, who are you?"
"I'm the wife of the person who owns this apartment, Skylar!"
"But none of them are married—" Oh, wait, she said the owner of this apartment. "You're talking about Ian?" No wonder she looked familiar. I saw a photo of her in Wyatt's room.
"Who else would I be talking about, you whore?" Skylar shouted.
"Ex-excuse me?"
What's wrong with this woman?
She ran her fingers through her hair in frustration. "Get out."
"Come again?" I was shocked at what she was saying. She was telling me to get out when I should be the one kicking her out. But she was Wyatt's mom, so I had to keep my calm. "Mrs. Reeves, I live here."
"And you don't anymore. Get out."
"W-why?" She was starting to scare me.
"Because my son lives here too. I don't want you tainting my baby with your filthy presence. Do you sluts ever wonder how you wreck a family? Do you think about how you affect other people? How low can you stoop money to be sleeping around with someone of your father's age?"
I had totally lost her. But I did understand that she was assuming Ian was cheating on her with me, which I had no idea where it originated from.
I took a deep breath and said, "Mrs. Reeves, I think you're mistaken. I'm not who you think I am. I just live here with—"
"I said get out!" She raised her voice so loud, I flinched.
I had never been yelled at like this, and the look on her was really scary. It was as if she wanted to kill me just with her eyes.
"Will you please listen to— ah!" I was cut off by the sharp pang of a leather bag hitting my face.
"Shut up! I don't want to listen to you!" She grabbed a vase and smashed it on the ground.
Someone… Theo, please come back.
My eyes widened when Skylar grabbed a showpiece. Was she going to throw this one at me?
"Please hear me out—"
"Oh, my God, Aunt, what are you doing?" Theo hollered from the doorframe. He dropped the grocery bags and ran to stand in front of me.
"Are you okay?" he asked me.
Relief washed me over, and I nodded. I clutched a fistful of his jacket, pressing my front to his back, hiding myself from the glaring eyes of Skylar.
"Theo, sweetie. How have you been?" Skylar's voice changed remarkably.
"I've been well. What are you doing here, though?" Theo asked cautiously.
"I came to see Wyatt, but instead I found this whore who has been sleeping with Ian." Her voice angered again, and I felt Theo shudder. Even he was scared of her.
"No, no, you're mistaken. She's not like that. She's not sleeping—"
"What do you know? You drove your mom to suicide," Skylar spat out.
What…?
"That wasn't— it's pointless to say anything to you when you get like this. But please put that thing down. It's sharp," Theo tried to talk, though I felt the tremor in his voice.
Please, someone needs to come to save us.
"No, move out, Theo. That bitch is going to pay for cheating with my husband—"
"Mom?"
All of our attention turned to the door to find Wyatt there. He had a horrified look on his face.
"Oh, honey." I saw Skylar run to him to hug him tightly while Wyatt stood frozen. "How have you been, sweetie?"
Wyatt stayed silent for a few minutes as she gushed over him. I had never seen him like that. "I… I need you to get out of here," Wyatt murmured.
"What? What are you saying? Is it because you don't want me to see that whore? But I have already seen her. I know Ian is cheat—"
"Dad doesn't live here anymore, and she's my roommate, not a whore." With that, Wyatt took a hold of her hand and started dragging her out.
Once they left, I slumped on my knees in exhaustion. I lost a few years of my life from that fright.
"What the hell just happened?" I breathed out.
"Some soap opera drama that I'm sorry for," Theo said and knelt in front of me. He raised my chin and mumbled, "Your forehead is turning purple. Let me get some first aid."
When he came with the first aid box, I asked, "What was her deal?"
"I don't know how to say it nicely, but she's a crazy lady. She's under a restraining order not to see Uncle Ian."
"What? Why?"
Theo put some antiseptic cream on my forehead while saying, "She's super insecure and has severe trust issues. She always used to doubt Uncle Ian was cheating on her. He tolerated her for years for Wyatt's sake until he couldn't anymore and divorced her."
"But she still seems to think that Ian is her husband?" I let out in confusion.
Theo nodded. "If you ask her how old Wyatt is, she will say eleven. Because that's the last she remembers of him properly."
I nodded in understanding. Although Skylar should be sent to the hospital for treatment, that would seem rude to say directly.
Once he was done with the first aid, he raised me to my feet.
I got a burning smell. My eyes widened like saucers, and I ran to the kitchen with Theo. Thankfully, it was just the lasagna. Everything else was okay.
Theo went to pick up the groceries he dropped at the front door and came back. I cleaned up the broken vase pieces carefully, wearing rubber gloves.
As we continued to work, I couldn't get something that Skylar said out of my mind.
Around three, Ian arrived and Theo told him what happened. He apologized to me sincerely, and Wyatt did too when he came back. They were ashamed of Skylar's behavior. I just gave them a hug in return as it wasn't their fault.
But nothing was the same. A heavy air hung around the dinner table. No one was in the mood to have fun anymore.
Around eight, we bid goodbye to Ian. Right after that, Coral came. She looked like she ran her way here.
"Where's Wyatt?" she asked, panting.
"He's in his room," I told her, and she dashed to his room without another word.
I smiled at her care for him. Wyatt must have told her about what happened and she came running to check up on him.
I was about to close the door when I remembered that there was someone I wanted to run to as well. So I stepped out of the apartment and went to the elevator, pressing the highest floor button.
I had never been to the rooftop before here, but Theo said he was going to get some fresh air from there, so I decided to go to him.
I found him standing at the corner, leaning against the railing and looking down.
I silently approached him and stood beside him. I didn't say a word, just giving him the silence he needed.
After what felt like an eternity, he spoke up, "I'm sure you want to ask about what Aunt Skylar said."
I nodded.
Theo sighed and bumped his hand with mine which was dangling in the air, slowly grabbing it. "I'm sorry. You told me so much about you, and I have told you nothing about me."
"It's okay. It must be hard for you," I said, and he smiled at me softly.
His smile faded as he looked down at the cityscape and started talking, "What Aunt Skylar said, it was mostly true. My mom did commit suicide, and that too, because of me."
I gave his hand a squeeze, giving him the boost to continue.
"My dad was, well, an asshole. He used to beat up my mom every day. Mom used to take his beatings too." Why didn't she leave him then? "You must be wondering why she didn't leave him. Trust me, I wonder the same. Her books say it's for love, but I say it's bullshit."
I hummed. I had read the first half of his mom's first book that became a bestseller. It was beautiful with no mention of torture yet.
"What sort of sick love makes you want to put your loved one through the rag to test it out, instead of cherishing them? That bastard didn't love us, not at all. If he did, he wouldn't have pushed me down the stairs either."
"What? How?" I couldn't help but gasp.
"It was a big fight. I was just coming back from school and he took his rage out on me. I had to be hospitalized for five months, and that period was the toughest for my mom since Dad kept blaming my condition on her. The day I was released from the hospital, I came home to find her lifeless body on the bed. When I got closer, her wrist was—" he squeezed his eyes shut.
I wrapped my free arm over his shoulder. "I'm sorry to hear that." I rubbed my thumb in circles over his hand. "But I don't understand how any of that is your fault."
Theo chuckled bitterly. "It's because I was born that Mom had to keep loving that man." He lowered his head and bit his lips. "I… I was the worst mistake of her life."
"No, no, that mustn't have been true. I'm sure she loved you."
"She didn't. She hated me. She wrote it in her suicide note, Ara."
As he uttered my name, I forgot what I was going to say as the number of emotions that surged through my body was insane. I couldn't have asked for a better place for him to say my name for the first time.
At the rooftop, under the moonlight, sharing his trauma with me. I felt more connected to him than ever and the desire to be with him only increased further.
