How Not To Start Your Marriage

Tick. Tock. Lily stared at the clock, which seemed to be moving slower than usual. She had already finished her work for the day. Memos were sent, meetings were scheduled, pickups were retrieved, and deliveries were delivered. Yet she couldn't go home. Not yet. She had to be ready in case anything else came up. She had a sneaking suspicion she'd been forgotten, however, as the meeting had become more intense. The time supported the theory. The meeting had now run two hours longer than originally intended. She could easily see through the glass wall that the room looked tense. Mrs. Evelyn kept tapping her cane on the floor impatiently and men kept hopping up out of their seats as if their backsides were spring-loaded. She couldn't help but assume someone was getting fired today, but it wasn't her concern, she knew she wasn't the one that screwed up. Tick. Tock. She heaved a sigh. She was supposed to be able to go home an hour ago, but during those meetings, any errands that needed to run were her responsibility. Early in the meeting, she had been kept pretty busy. "Fetch these files, bring in the charts, we need more chairs, schedule a follow-up with so-and-so, here are the lunch orders" At least then she wasn't sitting staring at the clock. Everyone else had already gone home and the office was uncomfortably silent. When she had first started at ThornTech she had imagined a much more stimulating environment. After all, the industry had released so many exciting products and innovations, but it seemed to be no different from any other office job. At least they had desks that converted to standing, so she wasn't just sitting all the time. Tick. Tock. Lily scrolled through her phone. Her family's winter social was near, and she had yet to decide what to wear. Not that it mattered, she was usually forgotten as soon as she was in the door anyway. She considered just grabbing something out of her closet, saving herself from a triple-digit price tag. Surely she had SOMETHING that she could use if she just dressed it up a bit. She powered off the phone and her dark blue doe eyes stared back at her from the black screen before she tucked it back into her pocket. How much longer could this go on for? She spotted Mrs. Thorn's twin daughters whispering among themselves. The girls had identical faces, but the younger twin, Celeste, had dyed her hair bright electric blue, much to the annoyance of their mother. The girl was the company's security specialist, creating the tightest security algorithms in the valley. Cassie, the older twin, was much more reserved, preferring data analysis and creating the types of algorithms that one might use to predict stock market trade. It was safe to assume Benedict was hiding in the sublevels working on his AI, which was to be unveiled in the next few months. The eldest brother, Dorian, never showed up to meetings in person, preferring to attend these conferences by phone. She would guess he didn't like the attention that being the next CEO got him. The door finally opened, and Mrs Thorn was the first to step out, nodding politely to Lily as she dismissed her. " That will be all for today, Miss Bridges", she stated, and the girl wasted no time gathering her things and headed home. She stopped to grab some Italian takeout on the way and shed her heavy coat and scarf as she entered her modest apartment. She opened the takeout container and slumped on her couch, switching on the TV. She ate in silence with only the cheesy sitcom blaring from the television for background noise. She fell asleep there on the couch only to wake up the next morning with a stream of sunlight right in her face. She stumbled around groggily as she showered and ate her breakfast, then opened her closet, then flipped through the garments that hung before her, finally sighing in defeat. She was going to have to buy something for the social after all. She carefully tugged on an olive-green turtle neck sweater and jeans and then grabbed her coat and bag. " Off to the mall we go", she mumbled to herself as she headed out the door. Lily was instantly overwhelmed as she entered the dress shop, the place seemed a jumbled blur of colors, sparkles, and frills. She stood staring at the racks, unsure where to start. A smiling lady in a tailored pantsuit approached, and she was about to wave the woman off and grab the first dress she saw when her phone started ringing. She asked the woman to wait for a moment and swiped the screen to answer. Her mother's voice came from the speaker, cold and stern. " Lillian put some thought into what you will wear tonight, we need you to look your best." Lily couldn't stop. Her eyes rolled and was thankful she wasn't face to face with her mother. "And do something about that wild mess you call hair." " Yes, Mother." Lily managed without betraying too much of her annoyance to her mother, who would never have let her hear the end of it if she had caught the tone. She sighed in defeat once more and looked at the sales assistant, suddenly grateful for her help. The girl nodded and bounced from rack to rack, occasionally holding out a dress for Lily's opinion. She finally settled on a near-midnight blue dress to match her eyes, the bodice was gathered on one side, creating the illusion of a starburst that started at her ribs and spread across her stomach; rhinestones tucked into the folds completed the illusion. The dress was form-fitting, but slit at the other hip and made of a stretch velvet that allowed her to still move and breathe, the off-shoulder neckline was turned down to give a subtle hint at her breasts while still looking modest. She couldn't help but grumble a bit as she paid for the dress, and it was tucked into a protective bag. Why did she care how she looked tonight anyway? She normally just sat in a corner by herself at these events and that was how everyone liked it. She was only even there to hide the fact that the family didn't acknowledge her otherwise. She had been a bit of a surprise to her parents, who had decided it was time to start focusing elsewhere. They hadn't wanted to be tied down to another child when careers and travels were waiting for them. When she was born, they just carried on with their plans like nothing had changed. The majority of her care was delegated to their housekeeper. As she grew, she tried and tried again to earn their acceptance. Perfect attendance and grades in school, perfect looks, impeccable behavior, and paid her own way through college. Somehow, her parents had found flaw in every bit of it. She stepped into her hairdresser, who greeted her with a familiar smile "Hey, Lily, what are we doing today, love ?" Natalie was already ushering her to an empty seat and evaluating her chestnut locks. " Winter Social time" she rolled her eyes"... I think this time I'll go with some ginger highlights, a half undo, and then a subtle glam evening face and whatever French tips you think will look best." By the time she left her salon, the sun was setting, it was time to slip into the dress and head to her family home for the social. She entered expecting a couple of curious glances her way before they turned back to more interesting matters. Had already decided what corner she was going to hide in even. As she walked in the door, however. All eyes were on her.