Dangerous Liaisons [✗]

𝟐𝟑 | 𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭𝐲

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄 | 𝐀𝐔𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐘 [PART 1]

MY UNCLE COUGHED UP BLOOD TODAY. Olga was rattled, just as she was whenever anything happened to Alba. I didn't understand why she cared or why she was urging the on-call physician to leave only after stabilising him —he was a nasty piece after all. Still I acknowledged her fret, pale in the face, almost the same colour as her shirt and faded jeans while he watched her wordlessly with those senseless eyes of his.

I understood her loyalty was with me, but it stemmed from a lifetime of spending time with my uncle ever since she came to the States. She had spent years working for him, and he hadn't been particularly nasty to her, a little staunch perhaps; but Priya was selflessly warm towards her. They even shopped together, so it was particularly harrowing when her cancer spread even while she had been in her final trial stage, the medicines rendering Priya immobile and bedridden till her very last moments. 

Her loss was what shaped Alba's actions and vices.

I stood on the sidelines glaring at him, not quite entering the room yet that seemed to be colder than the outside world, which was saying a lot when Terence was currently experiencing freak-storms, blizzards and power outages.

Beneath my leather gloves, my fingers were stiff and underneath my rouge Ushanka hat, my ears were iced over to the extent they were cyan, but I invited the bitter wind optimistically because it tasted delightful on days like this when my insides were ablaze with ire.

Earlier this afternoon, I had gotten into a squabble with my brother after I had spotted my favourite stray cat wandering near the Thayer house. Elyas claimed I was giving him the hard shoulder and would have to quickly fix my act, to which I scoffed.

Then it turned into me having to reveal my sudden plans and him insisting that I shouldn't travel alone, only I was too stubborn to listen to him. He sighed and looked at me with that same scrawl that my father employed at him when he got in trouble at school. I wasn't ever subject to such looks growing up, I was always the golden child, so I shrugged it off like it did me no harm.

Salma calmed him down, and after a few eyebrow raises and murmurs from her, he shut up. It was amusing, how this woman could single-handedly pacify him, and Irena at that too. She was coming down with a bug and he wasn't leaving her side, even when his wife told him he would need to eventually, because the so-called-friends-get-together dinner that fell on a problematic day wasn't going to cook itself. 

"I'm not going to be here." I announced. "I have my own traditions."

"Stop lying." Elyas shook his head. "We need to spend time together as a family."

"Sans others?" I scrunched my nose. "Seriously, I made plans already."

"Cancel them." My brother insisted. "You were caught up with work all week. At least make an effort for a family dinner...with our friends. Don't be a spoilt sport Audrey, time is going by so fast, I'll be back in the UAE before you know it."