Midnight Silpper

Chapter 5

Adrienne

"Adrienne," dad greeted me in the living room of our new home, with soaring high ceilings. Dad and I moved to a bigger house in the same neighborhood. It was much more extravagant than I had expected, boasting five bedrooms and an enormous closet. It was easily one of the biggest houses on the block and I had no idea why he decided that this was enough space for the two of us. "Come into the living room. I want you to meet someone."

"Yeah, what's up, dad—"

It wasn't until I made my way into the living room that I discovered why. A few weeks ago, dad had dropped a major bombshell.

He was getting married.

To a woman with two daughters already.

So it came as no surprise that the strangers in the living room had to be related somehow. It was also no surprise that our move wasn't just coincidental.

There, standing in the middle of the living room, was a woman who looked so picture perfect that I had trouble believing she was real and not some Instagram model. Her platinum blonde locks were full and luscious, cascading down her back and her red lips were off-set by her pale skin. She looked twenty years younger than my dad, but it all looked stiff and unnatural, as if she had worked done.

There were two girls there too, both similar to my age, except one looked younger by a year. They both appraised me as if I was a stranger in my own house. They looked like carbon copies, except the younger one had darker-blonde hair, almost brown. 

"Adrienne, I want you to meet someone special. This is Robin," my father motioned for the woman beside him. "And these are her two daughters, Elaina and Violet."

Elaina was the blonder one, whose smile looked fake. She stepped forward and greeted me, her chin tilted up like she was queen. "Hi, nice to meet you."

"This is my daughter, Adrienne," my father introduced, unaware of the haughty attitude. 

Violet greeted me as well, but her gaze appeared unimpressed. "Hi."

"Hi," I said, unsure of what was happening. I put a smile on however, because I knew it would make dad happy. His gaze looked almost adoring. The last time I had seen that look...

It was towards mom.

A sense of confusion and pain brought everything into sharp clarity.  I quickly shoved it aside because mom's death always brought about a wave of sadness.  I blinked away the moisture that was threatening to gather, lest I lost it.  

Robin stepped forward and once more I was struck by her beauty so forced on her. Her cloying perfume wrapped around me and everything about her was dressed in expensive, designer clothing that even in my thirteen-year old mind, I understood.

"It's nice to meet you," Robin said, her smile not quite reaching her eyes.  Her blue gaze perused me, but it felt cold, as if she didn't like what she was seeing.  Her gaze shifted, as she smiled at my father who returned it.  

She didn't seem so bad, I thought. In fact, she looked beautiful and if she made dad happy, then she had to be a good person, right?

"I hope you like the place," my dad said shuffling almost nervously. "It's the one you wanted—"

"Oh, sweetheart, I love it," Robin said, as she circled around, marveling at the expanse of space. I had no concept of how much money we had, but it seemed strange that all of a sudden Dad had the money to shell out for such a large place. "Although," she grimaced, her eyes scanning the living room. "It could do with some updated furniture..."