The Periods of Being

Chapter VIII

Chapter VIII

     Her biggest sin committed was cheating on her husband with her sister's husband. It always will be the blackest sin she'll commit. It's the reason why she believes she is being punished and the reason behind the what-ifs and the reality of her painful, heaving sobs. She never saw herself to cheat. In her favorite— yet tainted— book, the lovers were always faithful. She longed for that and is what she found in Mark and their relationship. When he left, she does admit to being lonely. He was her everything and her best friend.

     So, when Andrew needed a place to stay while he was traveling to London one weekend, she said yes, but in regards to having someone to eat meals with, someone to talk to. Not someone to sleep with.

     The visions are still too hard to bear even with almost a year in-between the suffering lust crime she committed to.

     She couldn't find herself to walk back into the estate in fear she'll run into Freya and have to talk to her after Andrew's confession of still thinking back at that night. After just running away from one conversation, she didn't want to find herself into another, so instead of walking inside like she told Andrew she would, she finds her feet guiding her toward the back of the manor. To the maze. The high hedges call her name in a whisper she remembers all too well.

      When she was little, she and Freya would run through this maze all day. Their parents always worried about them getting lost, but when the dinner gong struck, they were always in the drawing-room without delay, dressed and ready for dinner.

     Olive hasn't been through the labyrinth in so long she now worries, as she stares ahead at the entrance, that she would get lost this time around. Despite the whispering, she walks away. She is already lost in her mind. She can't get herself lost in a maze as well, but as she turns to walk away she meets up with Freya, who is all smiles. Olive expects it's because of Andrew being home.

     She is wearing a similar dress to Olive's, but her sleeves stop by her elbow while Olive's sleeves drape down her tiny wrists. Apart from Olive, Freya walks with pride and beauty while Olive walks with low shoulders and wrinkles of a frown. She grips her book to her chest as she watches Freya walk over to her.

     "Do you want to go in the maze with me; like old times?" Freya gestures. Olive is ready to shake her head and venture toward the house with her book in hand, but going into the maze with Freya will be better than going inside, even when she was certain on avoiding conversation with her just moment's ago. She might run into Andrew in the house, and she couldn't have another conversation with him, even if they spoke casually. She wouldn't be able to handle it.

     "We won't get lost, right?" Olive tries to joke as she turns around and walks beside her sister. "I don't want to miss dinner tonight."

     Freya waves a hand at her jokes and lets out a laugh.

      "I promise we won't. Remember, I have a great sense of direction," she digs her thumb in her chest with a proud smile, one that reminds Olive of all the times that they did, in fact, almost get lost with the help of her great sense of direction. But they never did miss dinner, she remembers again.

      "That's not what I remember," Olive teases. Her shoulders rose to a great height with each second she walked and talked with her sister. Freya has a way of making the air light and easy to breathe.

     "Oh, hush, you have the memory of a fish."

      She knows that is wrong, but Olive says nothing.

     They walk beside each other as they enter the maze. They turn left and walk ahead, starting the journey to the middle.

     "Are you feeling better today? I know grief doesn't go away instantly, but I hope I helped last night." Freya speaks up. Olive was sure with the smile on Freya's face just moments ago that they wouldn't talk about last night, but as they go deeper into the maze, she understands the reasoning behind wanting to go inside: she wanted to talk.