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Ava nodded, still smiling, then turned to walk down the driveway to her car. Benjamin looked after her, all the way until she disappeared behind a line of trees. This actually wasn’t too bad of a morning.Was it possible that they could just be civil with one another for the next few months?So far, he thought that his marriage with Ava was going to be all about building sturdy forts and launching insults after insults. But maybe it didn’t have to be that way…
Ava lay on the bed staring at the ceiling. It had been six weeks since she had moved in and although it had seemed for a while that things were getting better after the car incident, she still felt like she was fighting on multiple fronts. Lucy was definitely out to get her, and Benjamin was not always around to help. Everything Ava did or said was wrong and worthless in the eyes of Lucy Radcliff, and she found herself under the constant attacks of that dragon.
One time she had the audacity to call a meeting when Benjamin had to work late. When Ava had shown up for it, she announced that the house was starting to smell like homeless people and that Ava was expected to change her clothes and shower before she entered the house. Ava was about to quit right there and then, tell Lucy all she had on her mind, when Lorena stepped forward and told Lucy that they had found a dead mouse in the wall in the library. Any decent person would have apologized to Ava, but not Lucy. Oh no. She had stormed off to plan her next attack, hating Ava even more.
“At least Benjamin is on your side,” her father had said to her in an attempt to encourage her. Strangely enough, the thought of Benjamin helping actually did calm her. Filled her with hope and energy to keep going. The dinners with him were going a lot better. They did not insult one another any longer and even laughed here and there. Topics were kept superficial, nothing deep; but who cared, as long as it was peaceful?
Suddenly, music in the far distance tore Ava away from her thoughts. She rubbed her forehead, listening. The sounds—screams, laughter, loud music, and cheers--seemed to increase. The voices drifting high and low, as if from wandering ghosts. She peeked at her phone. 9 P.M.
“What’s going on out there?” she muttered, walking over to the door and opened it slightly. She peeked down the hallway but only saw shadows that matched the cheerful voices coming from the entrance hall downstairs. She walked up to the stairway and leaned over the dark, oak railing. There were people moving around dancing and drinking.
“A party? Seriously?” She was about to go back into the safety of her room when her eyes spotted Lucy Radcliff. She was dressed like she was at the Oscars, sharing an artificial laugh over something the two women standing with her had said. The two women also looked extremely overdressed and were about Lucy’s age. One of them seemed to have noticed Ava and looked over. Lucy now also noticed her. That fake laugh vanished as her brows shot together. She hectically waved at Ava to demand that she return to her room immediately.
Oh…you don’t want me here, huh?Ava lay back on the bed and considered her options. Laughter rose from beyond the door and for some reason brought up the memory of Lucy embarrassing her in front of the whole staff, demanding that she shower before entering the house. Ava got up and changed into one of her summer dresses. It was white with little flowers on it. Nothing compared to the gowns the other women here wore, of course, but still pretty in its own way.
“Let’s party,” Ava grinned as she left the room.
Most of the people were moving about in the living room. Rich people, from the look of their clothes and from the array of gleaming cars parked outside. They were all laughing and having a good time, each one looking more important than the other.
“Oh boy,” she sighed as she glanced at herself in the one of the tall mirrors above one of the fireplaces. The very dress that looked cute to her moments ago now seemed quite plain.
I’m gonna stick out like a sore thumb, she thought and feverishly ran her hand through her hair, wrapping a few strands around her finger as she did whenever she felt uneasy. Calm down. You’re a confident woman; who cares if a group of spoiled people thinks you’re different?
She marched down the hallway and into the ballroom that always reminded her of a period drama. The room was filled with strangers, all of which were obviously from an upper-class section of society. At the end of the ballroom was a band playing live music with a few brave souls dancing to it. Not far from the band she found Lucy who without a second to waste made eye contact with her. Even from this far Ava could see Lucy’s eyes narrow. With a huge grin, Ava grabbed a glass of champagne from a server who walked by and held it up to cheers Lucy. The look on her face was priceless. Worth a billion dollars. Ava turned before Lucy could try to get to her and end her life right there and then.
As she walked back into the hallways, she noticed how people peeked over to her than turned away to whisper to each other. It was clear that the partygoers were gossiping about her.Of course, her sham marriage would be the talk of night.
Ava started looking for Benjamin. Somehow deep down, she knew that having him around would make her feel more comfortable; that he would make some jokes to put her at ease. She was about to walk out into the garden to look for him there when she felt a hand on her shoulder. With a bigger smile on her lips than she would have liked, she turned.
“I wasn’t looking for you,” she joked. Her smile vanished. In front of her wasn’t Benjamin, but some guy in his late twenties. He was wearing a tux and had blonde, short hair. Some would consider him handsome, but Ava was by no means in the mood for whatever this guy wanted from her.
“Why not?” the man said replacing her empty glass of champagne with a full one.
Benjamin walked out of the kitchen followed by two ladies who looked like supermodels. He must have been saying something funny because they threw their heads back and laughed a little too loud, their huge breasts (probably implants) shaking, their cleavage displayed to dramatic effect with plunging necklines. He had tried to get rid of them, but they clung to him like paint to a wall. He looked up to the stairway towards the direction of Ava’s room.
Ever since the car incident, things had been going better. Not great either, but at least they were able to share some dinners together without constantly putting each other down and fighting over the tiniest of things.
He was wondering if he should get her. Not that this party was anything special—just another Radcliff gathering his mother had thrown together. He actually had totally forgotten about it as his mind was occupied with other things these days—mostly his wife, it seemed. Too often he was lost in the depths of his mind, just to pull out of it and suddenly find himself somewhere he didn’t remember walking to. Just like now when he realized that he was already standing in front of Ava’s room. He knocked.
“Ava?”
Nothing. He waited a moment than knocked again. “Are you awake?”
Maybe she was already asleep. He returned to the party, thinking she was not missing out on much anyways as he walked by a group of older women and overheard them talking about the most expensive purses in the world. He found his mother standing close to the garden entrance, elegantly leaning against the wide-open glass doors that would lead outside.
“If it’s okay with you I will now retire,” he said to her returning the smile of the older woman who were talking to her.
“What? already? The party has barely started. We will have a raffle at ten.”
Benjamin smirked. “I think I will survive without being there for that.”
His mother frowned. “Fine, but don’t forget that you have promised to keep an open mind about the barbeque at Anne’s this Sunday.”
Great. Another event with old, rich ladies drinking too much and talking about their money.
“An open mind…” He reassured her not promising anything more than that. Ben was about to leave when he felt his mother’s nail burry into his arm. Ben’s face grimaced as a painful moan almost escaped his lungs. Gosh dang, were those tiger claws?
“Oh…my…God…” his mother whispered; her eyes torn open wide. Ben followed her gaze out the veranda doors and into the garden. There was Ava—with a man.
