"Elizabeth, you are grounded! You hear me? No Pop's or hanging out with your friends for two weeks!", Alice huffed as she put on her coat that was hanging by the front door.
"That is completely unfair!", Betty barked back. "You had no right to go through my diary! And so what if I snuck out to see Jug? It's not that big of a deal, at least I'm not out doing Jingle Jangle or robbing a bank!"
"I have every right to know what my teenage daughter is up to, do you want to end up like Polly? Is that what you want?", she grabbed her keys and purse from a nearby table. "We'll discuss this later, I'm going to be late for book club."
Alice opened the red front door, turning to look back at Betty. "Don't even bother trying to sneak out again, I've let Fred know under no circumstance you are to leave this house."
Alice slammed the door behind her before Betty could try to get the last word in. To be quite honest, it wasn't that she was mad, she was scared. Her daughter sneaking out to meet a Jones boy was all too familiar to her. She wanted to keep her safe, after all, with Polly off living at some farm and never getting to raise Charles, Betty was all she had left.
She walked down the walkway to her car, getting in and taking a deep breath. She hated fighting with Betty just as much as she hated lying to her. She wondered when the day would come where all her secrets would be exposed and she'd have to come face to face with all the trauma she never dealt with. Before she could fall down a rabbit hole of her own thoughts, she started the car and made the journey to the hotel. .
Alice knew this drive so well, she could do it with her eyes closed. It had been almost four years since they'd met up at the hotel for the first time. She'd been apprehensive at first, afraid Betty or Hal would catch on that she had been lying about being a part of a book club. But they never questioned it, not even when she stopped bringing a book with her.
She parked at the inn, smiling as she noticed the familiar truck parked right beside their usual room. She had mentioned plenty of times how dirty she felt meeting at a shady hotel at the south end of town, but they both knew it was the only place they could meet in private.
Alice got out of her car and knocked on room number 6, checking her surroundings as she waited for a response. It was only seconds before FP Jones opened the door, running a hand through his pushed by brown hair.
"For a second I thought you weren't gonna show", he opened the door wider to let her in, she dropped her purse on the little table in the corner.
"FP, I'm 10 minutes late, since when did you become such a stickler on time?", she took off her coat, laying it on an arm chair pushed against the wall.
"Since this became the highlight of my week", FP smiled and walked over to her. "And you're never late, I got worried."
"Yeah?", she smiled back at him, gently putting her hands on the sides of his face before pressing a kiss to his lips.
He reciprocated, moving his hands slowly down her body, stopping at her waist to pull her closer. Alice wrapped her arms around him and he twirled her, moving her towards the bed to push her gently onto the mattress.
"Not wasting any time are we?", she raised an eyebrow playfully as she started slowly unbuttoning her blouse.
"What can I say? I can't get enough of you", FP said in a low husky tone before hovering over her.
--
They laid wrapped up in each other's arms, entangled in the sheets. Alice lightly stroked his arm as they both stayed silent for a moment to catch their breaths.
"So, what book did you tell Hal the 'book club' was reading this week?", FP nudged her playfully.
She laughed, "I told him it was a book about women empowerment and he stopped listening."
"He doesn't care, I'm sure he's screwing Penelope while I'm off at 'book club' anyways", she shrugged. "I'm glad she gets to be the unfulfilled one for once."
"And what about Betty? I know you said on the phone earlier that you found out she's been sneaking out to see Jughead, you seemed really upset", FP ran a hand through Alice's slightly messy blonde hair.
Alice looked away and sighed, "I grounded her, Fred is on sneak out watch."
"Alice, come on, they're kids", he said softly. "We did the same thing as teenagers, hell, we did a lot worse."
"I screwed up with Polly, I don't want to screw up with Betty too, I'm running out of kids to parent."
"Did you and Betty get into a fight? Is that why you were a little late?"
"She's mad at me because I went through her diaries", Alice didn't want to admit it, she knew going through her daughter's diary was maybe not the best idea.
FP gave her a disapproving look.
"I know, I know", she sighed. "We got into a pretty big fight before I left, she claims I'm trying to make her perfect like me."
She looked down at FP's hands, "She has no idea what I've dealt with or how I grew up, I've been covering my Serpent tattoo since Polly was born."
"Then let her in, let her know your past", he sat up, the bed sheet falling down from his chest.
Alice sat up as well, "I have too many skeletons in my closet FP, I'm afrai-"
There was a knock on the door.
Alice heard a familiar voice but in a higher tone, "Room service!"
She turned to FP, "Did you order something?", Alice grabbed a hotel robe and walked to the door.
FP shook his head, "Maybe we're getting a free meal since we're regulars here."
Alice rolled her eyes at him before opening the door, expecting to see a hotel worker, but instead it was her daughter with the familiar red-headed neighborhood boy.
"Elizabeth Cooper, what in God's name are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same question", Betty responded.
Part 3 coming soon!
