Façade

Lull

When Elise woke the room was dark and through the window, she could see dawn break, flooding the sky with blue, pink and purple.

She sat up in bed, wondering why she was still dressed in her day clothes just before a headache slammed into her along with the memories of the day before and Elise, so overwhelmed with grief, laid back down in bed and cried herself to sleep feeling empty.

.•° ✿ °•.

Polly arrived at Arrow House at eight am sharp, she had been on edge since she had gotten the call from Tommy's housekeeper the night before and had come at her earliest convenience.

As soon as she stepped into the house she could tell something had happened, Mary looked like she was moments away from crying and the aura of the house was dark. The clicks of her heels were the only sounds in the house as she made her way to Tommy's office where she quickly knocked on the door and stepped in.

Tommy looked like shit. He was slumped in his seat, his clothes rumpled, dark circles rested underneath his eyes and Polly couldn't be sure but it looked like there was dried blood around his nose.

"What the hell happened?" Polly asked as she walked towards him.

Tommy flinched in surprise, not hearing her coming in, he pushed himself away from his desk and made his way to the trolly that held alcohol. He poured himself a glass of whiskey before he turned around and offered one to Polly.

"Want one?"

Polly gaped at her nephew, "Thomas, it's eight am. What happened?"

Tommy made his way back to his desk and faced his aunt,

"Last night a woman from child services took Maeve from Elise. She said her biological father now has complete and total custody of her"

Polly was stunned into silence, her thoughts immediately racing to the memory of when her own children were taken from her and she knew the pain that Elise was going through.

"You are the only person who knows what she's going through, you don't need to speak to her if you can't but I need something, advice or whatever to help her."

Though it brought up a lot of unpleasant memories, Tommy was right. Polly was the only person who had been through what Elise was going through and she remembered the feeling of hopelessness and loss of will to live when her children were taken and the last thing she wanted was for Elise to feel the same way.

"Where is she?"

Tommy gave her a grateful look, unable to muster up a smile and lead her to her room.

"Thank you" Tommy thanked her before he left her alone at the door to Elise's bedroom.

Polly stepped into the room and looked around, the curtains were open letting in the morning light and then she could see a body slumped on the bed, obviously Elise's. Not wanting to wake her up, Polly went back downstairs to pick up a book and a tray of tea before making her way back up and taking a seat in the corner of the room, waiting for Elise to wake up in her own time.

.•° ✿ °•.

When Elise woke up the second time, she let out a sob, wishing she could go back to sleep and experience nothingness, to float and drift along without having to deal with the real world but unfortunately for her, the real world did not want to wait.

She wasn't alone when she woke up and at first, she thought it was Tommy or one of the housekeepers so when she saw Polly in the corner sipping on some tea, her mind went blank as tried to figure out what she was doing in her bedroom.