MARRIED TO MY EX FATHER IN LAW

NOT PATHETIC

WILLOW'S POV

I'm folding laundry in the utility room when Lola walks in looking like someone just kicked her puppy.

Again.

This is the third time this week I've seen that expression on her face. And I know exactly what's causing it.

Willow f*****g Hart.

"Okay, that's it." I drop the towel I'm folding and turn to face Lola. "We need to talk."

"About what?"

"About the fact that you've been moping around this house like a sad ghost ever since that woman showed up."

Lola sits down on the bench by the window. "I'm not moping."

"You are absolutely moping. You barely eat. You avoid Ocean even more than you were already avoiding him. You jump every time someone mentions Willow's name." I sit down next to her. "Talk to me. What's going on?"

"Nothing. I'm fine."

"Lola, I love you, but you're a terrible liar." I take her hand. "What did Willow say to you?"

"She didn't say anything. She's been perfectly nice."

"Bullshit. That woman is a snake. I can see it from a mile away."

Lola looks at me with those big sad eyes. "She hasn't done anything wrong. She's just being friendly."

"Friendly." I snort. "Is that what we're calling it? Lola, I've seen the way she talks to you. The way she looks at you. That's not friendly. That's calculated."

"You're being paranoid."

"I'm not being paranoid. I'm being observant." I squeeze her hand. "What has she said to you? And don't tell me nothing because I know better."

Lola is quiet for a long moment. Then she says quietly, "She just makes observations. About how young I am. How inexperienced. How complicated my situation is with Ethan and Ocean. How I don't really understand Ocean's world."

"See? That's exactly what I'm talking about. Those aren't innocent observations. She's trying to get in your head."

"But she's not wrong." Lola pulls her hand away. "I am young. I am inexperienced. I don't understand Ocean's world. Everything she says is true."

"So what? You think being young means you don't deserve to be here?"

"I think being young means I don't belong here. There's a difference."

I want to shake her. Want to make her see what I see. But I know that won't help.

"Listen to me very carefully," I say instead. "Willow is threatened by you. That's why she's doing this."

"Threatened by me? Hannah, look at her and look at me. She's beautiful, sophisticated, successful. She knows Ocean's world inside and out. She has history with him. Why would she be threatened by me?"

"Because Ocean chose you. Not her."

"He didn't choose me. He married me to save my life. That's not the same thing."

"Isn't it though? He could have found other ways to protect you. He could have sent you away somewhere safe. He could have paid someone else to marry you. But he didn't. He married you himself. That means something."

Lola shakes her head. "It means he felt responsible. That's all."

God, this girl is frustrating sometimes.

"Okay, let me ask you something. When you're with Ocean, how does he treat you?"

"He's kind. Protective."

"And how does he look at you?"

Lola's cheeks flush slightly. "I don't know what you mean."

"Yes you do. I've seen the way that man looks at you when he thinks no one is watching. Like you're the only person in the room. Like you're something precious he's afraid to break." I lean forward. "That's not how someone looks at a responsibility. That's how someone looks at a person they care about."

"You're seeing what you want to see."

"And you're refusing to see what's right in front of you because you're too busy listening to Willow's poison."

Lola stands up abruptly. "She's not poisoning me. She's just being honest about things everyone else is too polite to say out loud."

"No, she's being manipulative. There's a difference." I stand up too. "Lola, please. Don't let that woman get in your head. She wants Ocean back and she sees you as an obstacle. So she's trying to make you feel small enough that you'll remove yourself. Can't you see that?"

"Maybe I should remove myself. Maybe everyone would be better off."

"Oh for f**k's sake." I rarely curse but this situation calls for it. "You really think Ocean would be better off with Willow? A woman who left him without a word five years ago because she couldn't handle his life? A woman who only came back because she heard he got married and suddenly wants him again?"

"She understands his world. She fits in it."

"She ran away from his world. You're the one who's stayed." I grab Lola's shoulders. "You're the one who's here. Who sees him every day. Who cares about him enough to be hurt when he pushes you away. That matters. That means something."

Tears are forming in Lola's eyes. "I just feel so inadequate all the time. Like I'm playing a role I'm not qualified for. And then Willow shows up and she's everything I'm not and it just confirms what I already knew. That I don't belong here."

"That's exactly what she wants you to think. Don't you see? She wins if you believe that."

"Maybe she should win. Maybe she's better for Ocean than I am."

I want to scream. Want to shake some sense into this girl.

But instead I just pull her into a hug.

"Listen to me," I say into her hair. "You are not inadequate. You are not too young or too damaged or too anything. You are exactly who you are and that's enough. More than enough."

Lola cries into my shoulder. These quiet, broken sobs that break my heart.

"I love him so much," she whispers. "And he doesn't love me back. And now Willow is here and she's perfect for him and I just... I can't compete with that."

"You're not competing with anyone. This isn't a competition."

"It feels like one."

"Only because Willow is making it feel that way. But Ocean isn't a prize to be won. He's a person who gets to make his own choices. And he chose to marry you. Not her."

"Because I needed saving."

"Maybe. Or maybe because he wanted to. Maybe because even then, before either of you realized what you felt, he wanted you in his life."

Lola pulls back and wipes her eyes. "You're such a romantic."

"I'm a realist. And the reality is that Willow Hart is a manipulative snake who's trying to get back something she threw away. Don't let her win by believing her bullshit."

"I don't know how to stop believing it. Everything she says feels true."

"Then talk to Ocean. Tell him how you're feeling. Tell him what Willow is doing."

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because then I'll sound jealous and insecure. Which I am. But I don't want him to know that."

I sigh. This girl is going to drive me crazy.

"Lola, Ocean needs to know what's going on. He needs to know that Willow is getting to you."

"What if he tells me she's right? What if he agrees that I'm too young and inexperienced and that someone like Willow would be better for him?"

"He won't."

"How do you know?"

"Because I've seen the way he looks at you. Trust me on this. That man is completely gone for you. He's just too stupid and scared to admit it."

Lola gives me a watery smile. "You think everyone is in love."

"No, I think you and Ocean are in love and you're both idiots about it." I grab her face gently. "Promise me you won't let Willow make you feel like you're not enough. Promise me you'll fight for what you want instead of just giving up."

"I don't know how to fight for it."

"Then learn. Because that woman is fighting for Ocean whether you see it or not. And if you just step aside and let her win without even trying, you're going to regret it for the rest of your life."

Lola is quiet for a long moment. Then she nods slowly.

"Okay."

"Okay what?"

"Okay, I'll try. I'll try not to let her get to me. I'll try to... I don't know. Be less pathetic about this whole thing."

"You're not pathetic. You're human. There's a difference." I hug her again. "And for the record, I'm Team Lola all the way. Willow can go back to Paris or wherever the hell she came from."

That gets a real smile out of her. Small, but real.

"Thanks, Hannah."

"That's what I'm here for. Well, that and doing laundry apparently." I gesture to the pile of towels. "Now help me fold these and tell me everything Willow has said to you so I can properly hate her."

Lola laughs and picks up a towel.

And for the first time in days, she looks a little bit lighter.

Not completely better. Not healed from all the doubt Willow has planted.

But a little bit better.

It's a start.

Now I just need to figure out how to make Ocean pull his head out of his ass and tell Lola how he really feels.

Before Willow convinces her to give up completely.