Ophelia ↠ Frank Castle

08 | illusions

SARAH LIEBERMAN WAS always optimistic. That was a given. Even when the said discussion of blind dating appears and she insists against all chagrin that it went well.

It didn't.

But for the sake of keeping the excited grin on her friend's tired face, Ophelia couldn't help but fabricate the details of the evening, lying about how much she fancied the guy, to Sarah's relief, eyes sparkling with a newfound sense of child-like glee.

It had been two weeks since the tense arrival of Stick in Hell's Kitchen, and since the dreadful date with Mark (she shuddered just thinking of him), and she's dreading the questions that will inevitably be asked. And, truth be told, she wasn't a very good liar to any degree, and being able to uphold a pokerface certainly wasn't going to be added to her list of skills anytime soon, either.

To say she was apprehensive was an understatement. She was filled with a mix of apprehension and excitement. Apprehensive at not wanting to let her friend down, when Sarah was relying on the date's success, but she was also extremely excited to see Zach and Leo again. They were like her second family, dog included.

Sarah is all smiles when she meets her at the door, and hurriedly ushers her in with a relieved sigh.

"Now, you know where everything is and how to manage everything, right?" Sarah asks, worry evaporating from her in waves, despite Ophelia having babysat here far more times than she can count. She knows the house like the back of her hand, and the kids loved her like a second mother. Although, she did have a sneaking suspicion that was due to the unhealthy food she bought them, but Sarah didn't need to know that, she couldn't help but feel sorry for them for the rabbit food they were brought up on.

"Yes", she replies, giving Sarah a slight playful nudge.

"Good, good."

Sarah walks into the kitchen, to which she follows shortly at her heel.

She sets her hands on the counter that is full of packed bags for the short holiday the Lieberman's were going on, neat square bags stacked up in unison, leaving Ophelia wondering just how long Sarah had taken to do it.

Sarah stares at the counter for a second before turning to face her, a serious expression crossing her face. One of doubt, with underlying anxiety.

Ophelia notices that she clears her throat before she talks to ease the worry.

"Ju—just take care of them, yeah? It —It's been a tough couple of months for them, with starting school again and I just want them to be happy."

Ophelia places a steady hand on Sarah's arm. "Hey," she starts softly, "Don't worry about a thing. I'll make sure they're ok. And if my encouraging words don't cut it theres always junk food, right?"

Her attempt to lighten the mood of the conversation didn't entirely work, but some of the weight shifted off of her shoulders when Sarah nodded to herself, seemingly confident in Ophelia's nurturing abilities. Her kids did show her way more affection than to Sarah and David, after all.

Sarah muttered to herself as David clambered down the stairs, looking just like the man she remembered, only this time clad in holiday attire, fit with a set of flip flops and everything.

His face broke out into a smile as he saw her, opening his arms wide as if to imitate an airplane, before he crashed into her with a long-overdue bear hug.

"Hey Philly", he greeted, smiling even wider when her nose wrinkled at the nickname. She side stepped him, but gave a teasing grin as she noticed his choice of apparel.

"Going somewhere fancy?" she hinted with a teasing grin.

"Yup." He moved around the counter and gave his wife a side hug, his hand loosely holding her waist, pulling her close. Her heart melted a little at the sight, her chest pulling tight just enough for her to replay her own marriage in her mind. Unfortunately, the bad moments over shone the blissful ones, and all she felt now was bitter resentment.

"Me and the misses are going away for a little bit of alone time".

She nodded, focusing back on the present, raising her eyebrows slightly, but choosing not to add fuel tot the fire and make mention of his comment.

"Well, rest assured, the kids will be in good hands." She gave them a well-natured salute, which David mocked, puckering his lips into a pout.

David wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, and her stomach dropped, realising what he was going to bring up before he even mentioned it.

"You know," he looked at the floor in false empathy before going in for the kill.

"I wouldn't totally be against the idea of Mark staying here too. I understand if you guys want to get to know each other."

Unfortunately for his wishes, that was the furthest thing on her mind at the moment, seeing as she didn't particularly favour the man to begin with.

"Although not in our bedroom", he added quickly, after a scornful look from his wife, he back peddled swiftly.

"Just, you know," he scratched his hair, "Be responsible." But she didn't miss the gleeful tint on his eye as he winked at her, clearly implying she could disregard his rules. Not that she would anyway, her loathing of the man making her quite sure she wouldn't follow through with the Lieberman couples' desires.

"Guys." She dragged on with false embarrassment, her cheeks reddening slightly pertaining to the lie that just escaped her mouth. She swallowed as nervous laughter filled the silence of the room, her eyes fixating on random objects around the room in an effort to escape the suggestive looks of the couple standing before her.

And with that closing remark, the Lieberman's were off, Leo and Zach each grabbing a handful of bags each and packing it in the car before wrapping both parwnts into a hug.

Ophelia joined them in bidding them goodbye and a sfae trip, the trio standing on the porch, waving their hands frantically back and forth as the happy couple drove off, leaving nothing but a tiny dot in the distance, a spec of light refracting off of Ophelia's glass lenses.

She sighed, breathing in the warm air, and ushered the kids inside, glad to be back in the one place where her parental desires could actually be fulfilled. And just for a second, she wished that the crux of pretending Amy was a daughter-like figure to her could live up to the euphoria of this domestic life.

At last, for this day at least, she could be satisfied of fulfilling her goals of life, leaving a lasting imprint in the minds of the Lieberman children of love and comfort was all that mattered to her in this moment.