Coffee & Biscuits

21|jealousy

There was a time and place for surprises but mornings were never it, at least not for Aria and Catherine. As they were multitasking breakfast making with getting ready for school and work an ominous presence oozed from the hallway, when the door shut close. Catherine who'd been frying bacon froze in her spot and Aria put down her foundation brush. Since Catherine had served divorce papers to John he had been calling off and on to discuss the matter and the few times Aria had heard them talk it had been more of a screaming match. Ignoring John couldn't last forever and apparently he was tired of being ignored and had decided to come home to have the fight face to face. 

"Mom--" Aria said but was immediately silenced by her hand.

" Go up to your room and stay there--"

"No, I think it's better if you're all here." A voice spoke out.

John was dressed in a fancy suit but didn't look as fancy as it required. He had grown out his stubble and his eyes were blood shot from the lack of sleep, or perhaps tears. Aria could clearly see that the news about the divorce had hit him hard which was unexpected. She had expected him to feel some type of relief that he was no longer bound to a waiting family at home but was now a single  man with no obligations, but that's not the man that stood before them now.

"John; what are you doing here? I thought you were in New York for a settlement." Catherine mumbled while continuing to fry bacon.

"It finished early so I thought I'd come home and talk with the two of you, about what has happened." John stated quietly.

Catherine served up bacon next to the eggs and hash browns on the plates and nodded to Aria to eat her breakfast. Aria moved soundless over the floor to grab her plate and have a seat. As appealing as the food looked Aria couldn't focus on anything else but her parents strained faces as they looked at each other. Her mother's eyes were tired and defeated but John's were still sparked with hope, it was unfortunate that there was little to hope for now.

"I don't have much to say so why don't you start talking." Catherine murmured and poked among the food on her plate.

John dumped his computer bag on the counter top and Aria noticed how out of place it looked there. Anything belonging to John didn't seem to belong in this house which might be the reason he never stayed for long. There were no new family pictures and the few ones they had were off Aria as a young child where both John and Catherine looked younger and happier. Nowadays Aria had grown used to only seeing individual pictures of herself and a few of her mother, not to mention the absentee of her father being shown at the cafe - to the outside it looked like they were already divorced.

"I'm not going to say I was surprised to hear how unhappy you've been about my work situation lately, but to ask for a divorce--Catherine I know we can fix this if we just confront the problems head on. We can see a counselor once a month or go to a family therapist, I'm open to it all!" John's voice boomed loudly in the kitchen.

Aria ate to keep busy but wasn't the least bit hungry. Catherine hadn't even touched her plate yet and instead focused on the computer bag on the counter top. 

"A counselor had been great a few months ago, heck maybe even a year ago, but we're just not in that place anymore John. I have been trying to reach out to you for quite some time now, to communicate our problems to you, but you haven't listened - not until now." Catherine shook her head while speaking.

"Catherine; I've been busy with work! I think it's a tad unfair to accuse me of being absent when I'm working to support this family." John frowned.

"You can support this family from the office in town but you choose to be away from us. Had you at least shown that you wanted to be here with us I would've known there was hope for you, but hope is gone. I'm sorry it has to be this way but the divorce is final." Catherine said sternly.