The Last We Fell

00. 𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔏𝔞𝔰𝔱 𝔓𝔯𝔬𝔩𝔬𝔤𝔲𝔢

A faceless house in the beautiful neighbourhood loomed at the end of the dim-lit street. Everything from the evenly-spaced lamps, to the perfectly trimmed grass and hedges contributed to a picture of serene elegance and sophistication that I realized have been exactly the same for the past ten years. You couldn't tell apart one house from the next if not for the subtle change of the numbers written on the post boxes. Owners are like their houses; It's still difficult to remember if the woman driving a sleek black car down the street is my nosey next-door neighbour or the high-school headmaster's wife. They all look, and behave, quite the same. And I never had cause to fill up precious headspace with insignificant faces and information.

The sheer jacket I donned in a hurry did very little to ward off the chill of the evening, and I didn't take into account the changing weather of early august into account. Less than one year away from this miserable city was enough to make me archive everything about it into the darkest recesses of my mind, but alas, my hopes had to be quashed faster than I could spell the word 'free'. Now here I am, in this miserable place once again trudging with my suitcase in tow to the house I spent most of my time planning to escape... What great fucking luck.

"Is that you dear Lilianne?" The all too annoying voice of my middle-aged divorcé neighbour sounded with a creak of her front door. I sighed. Guess it was the headmaster's wife I'd seen earlier then.

Slowly I turned my head towards her, trying not to glare. Her once strawberry-blonde hair was now blood-red, and she wore one of those frilly pink ornate robes that you only see in pre two-thousands cinema. Was she just creeping out her window waiting for me to get close enough? I gave her a tight smile- or, I tried.

"Oh dear, you've been gone for quite awhile haven't you?" She spoke in a cutesy warm voice that raised hairs on my skin. "Your family must have missed you a lot, dear. Your dear father even came all the way to welcome you back. A busy man, dropping work for you." She sighed dreamily.

Ah, this is what she's after. My single father whom she'd barely seen a handful of times in the whole of ten years came home, certainly not to welcome me back. I bit the inside of my cheek and endured the pain. That's a habit I tried and failed to break, chewing the insides of my cheeks to the point it hurt. "The more reason not to keep him waiting, Mrs. Newton."

"It's Ms. Newall." She corrected, annoyed. I took advantage and climbed up the few steps to the entrance. The woman could talk nonsense for hours. She would have been slightly tolerable if her voice were a little less high-pitched. Upon second thought, even that wouldn't make her tolerable at all. What was I thinking? I shook my head and quietly opened the front door.

Leaving my suitcase and keys in the foyer, I was about to announce my presence before the sound of an argument stopped me in my track. This was unusual considering the fact that the only occupants of this house was my older sister Emilia and her stuck-up hubsand Ian, and they were never home at this hour on weekends. That, and the fact that they never have cause to argue since Emilia is such a dutiful obedient little wife who could never argue with her husband like that.

"Be reasonable. You cannot refuse him, are we clear?" A firm cool voice ordered. So confident it would inspire total submission. So certain it would be heeded without second-thought. Only a man who believed he held absolute power and influence could sound like that. The voice belonged to none other than my dearest father.

I crossed my arms and leaned against the wall, not making a sound. It seemed like they were in the main guestroom a left turn from the foyer. I couldn't move closer if I wanted to remain unseen.

"Emilia." Ian's wannabe domineering voice sounded. "Listen to your father darling. You cannot fool with a man like that. Plus, think about it, with or without you he could make it happen. If you refuse, it will only make our lives complicated. You don't want that do you?"