Still with you

Chapter3

Blaire's arms are crossed as she glares at Lisa standing at the door, the door to her bedroom that she shares with Mark.

Lisa has a slight smirk on her face, Archie by her left side and three boxes by her right.

“If I remember correctly Mark told you that the guest room is on the other side, so, what are you doing here?” Blaire says, her face stoic, her voice rigid as she tries not to blow up in anger.

“Well, I thought I deserved to stay with Mark, besides I have a child for him” she responds with fake innocence, the smirk not leaving her face.

Blaire tries everything in her power not to slap the smirk off her face.

“No one cares about what you deserve, just go to where you were shown”. She says, determined to stand her ground.

“Now why would I…”.

“Lisa?, I showed you to your room, why are you here?” Mark interrupts her as he stands between her and Blaire, his face showing his exhaustion over her tactics.

“I just wanted to be close to you, so you can easily see Archie and..”.

“Go to your room, you must not stay with me for me to spend time with my son”. His voice stern as he interrupts her, not in the mood to argue.

Blaire feels her heart break a bit at Mark saying ‘my son' but she didn't have the strength to dwell on it, just relieved that Mark is still on her side.

Lisa releases a sigh “Fine, I'll go, but I got a reservation for us to go for dinner tomorrow, for the three of us for some family bonding, you'll be there right?” She says as she bats her eyelashes, mustering the most pitiful expression she could, slightly pouting her lips.

Mark releases a breath, trying not to visibly cringe at her poor attempt at being cute, he glances at the quiet boy beside her, as he looks up at him innocently, unaware of the extent of their conversation.

He closes his eyes, not liking the answer he is about to give, “I'll be there, just leave”. He says in one breath not wanting to see his fiance's reaction.

“Great!, I'll be looking forward to it” she exclaims with a smile as she drags her box and son away.

With one swift motion he turns and hugs Blaire who holds him just as tight.

“I promise nothing will change between us” he says in a whisper, loud enough for her to hear and as much as she wants to believe his words, the doubts still fill her thoughts.

“Oops”.

Blaire stands in the living room, her eyes wide in disbelief as she looks down at the once white couch and rug now stained bright red, a chipped glass jug on the tiled floor and a large red stain on her light blue gown.

Her eyes twitch at the mess around her, the culprit standing a few feet away suppressing a grin, one look at her face revealing that she tipped the jug over on purpose.

“I'm so sorry, the rug was due to be changed anyways, plus I'm sure your gown is not original so you should be fine”. Lisa says, feigning innocence, her enunciation exaggerated as her lips curled upwards and her hands on her hips.

Blaire slowly looks up at her, her jaw clenched in anger at the half assed apology for the amount of property ruined, holding herself back from lunging at the smirking woman.

“What is wrong with you?” Her voice low and aggressive, her hands in a fist.

“Calm down, it was just an accident” she responds nonchalantly as she walks over to the counter, pours herself a drink and takes a sip.

“Well your fake ass apology proved otherwise” Blaire folds her arms, already feeling exhausted at the other woman's antics.

“Whatever, if you can't accept it then cry me a damn river”. She slams her cup on the counter as she turns to her, showing her lack of concern.

Blaire sees red as she takes long strides towards Lisa, getting all up in her face.

“Look you gold digger, I have had enough of your stupid antics, you will not come into my house and display your Idiocracy to……”.

“What is happening here?”. A male voice booms in the room.

They both turn to the door to see Mr and Mrs Friar, with confused looks on their faces at the scene before them.

In a swift change of mood, Lisa's face morphs into that of fear.

“Oh thank goodness, I am so glad that you are here to save me from her” Lisa cries out, her facial expression scared as she runs to hug the people at the door.

Blaire's eyes blow wide open at her sneaky move.

“What do you mean?”. Mr Friar asks, his eyes moving from the sobbing girl on his shoulder to the woman standing a distance, glaring at them.

“She… she tried to hit me, just.. just because I mistakenly spilled wine on her”. Her voice breaks as she stumbles over her words, choking down the sobs.

Blaire almost scoffs at the show Lisa puts on, rolling her eyes at the lies as they flow out of her lips.

Mr Friar suddenly looks up at Blaire, stares at her intensely for a few seconds, then suddenly his deep authoritative voice is heard.

“How dare you lay a finger on her!”.

Blaire's jaw drops, brows furrowed in confusion.

“Excuse me?”. She responds, not believing her ears, he really bought Lisa's horrible acting.

“I won't repeat myself, don't try this ever again, you will not hit the mother of my grandchild”.

And there it was, what she feared most, she has Mark’s parents tied around her fingers now.

She scans their face to see that they truly are pissed at her, she chooses not to look at Lisa knowing that she’ll be met with her signature smirk.

She looks down, feeling the tears pool in her eyes, her hands beginning to tremble.

She can hear Mr and Mrs Friar conversing with Lisa but she can't make out what they are saying as she gets lost in thought, her eyes darting from her intertwined hands to the marble tiles.

She quickly runs to her room, deciding not to give Lisa the satisfaction of seeing her cry.

She plops on the bed, face first into the soft mattress as she sobs into it, fisting the duvet as the tears continue to flow.

Light footsteps approach her, she feels her bed dip beside her.

She looks up and jerks backwards.

Surprised that she is staring at Mrs Friar, a gloom look on her face.

Looking past her to see that her door was wide open, she had left it that way when she came in with tears threatening to fall from her eyes.

She harshly cleans her tears and sits up, her eyes still on the troubled middle aged woman.

“Why?”. Is the only word that comes to her mind to say, her voice hoarse from the earlier crying.

Mrs Friar releases an airy breath, she looks at the object in her hand as she speaks.

“I just wanted to come see if you're ok, and … and to apologize for my husband's behavior”.

Blaire looks at her intently, her eyebrows scrunched in a mixture of shock and confusion as she repeats the question.

“Why?”.

Mrs Friar looks up at her for a few minutes, a bit taken aback by her repeated response.

“I just,... I'm a woman and when I remember what happened, .. I think of how you may feel and it makes me sympathetic cos I know I wouldn't have been able to take it if it were me, you're really strong”.

Mrs Friar's voice wavers a bit, a glimpse of sincerity poking through.

Blaire looks at her like she just grew two heads, but now she thinks about it, it's Mr Friar that has been on the fore front of all this, he’s been unilaterally making all the decisions.

With a sigh she responds, “You don't have to feel sorry for me, besides I'm hopeful that it will turn out just fine, as long as Mark still loves me, I'll be able to take anything”.

“Mark adores you, trust me, he tells me almost everything, just know that although I am not too fond of you, I don't support this”. Mrs Friar says with a small smile, her facial wrinkles on display.

“Thank you, I really appreciate that”. Blaire says slowly as she looks at the woman, genuinely thankful that at least one of her fiance's parents doesn't completely hate her.

Mrs Friar gives her a small nod and a small smile as she walks away.

It's a brand new day as Blaire walks into the studio, taking in the scent of paint as she goes to her station, different art pieces hung on the walls, she settles down, taking a deep breath as she stares at the plain canvas before her.

Recently it has become a sanctuary, a place of escape, she takes a deep breath feeling thankful that she insisted on keeping this part of her life.

She begins to scroll through her phone, swiping as picture after picture pop up, occasionally stopping at a few considering using them as her inspiration.

“Hey you”.

She swiftly turns around at the sound of the echoing voice behind her, a bit startled as she was alone in the studio.

Her eyes widen in surprise as she faces the source of the greeting.

“Wh.. what are you doing here?” She stutters, slowly standing up, her stool pushed back, the shock on her face not wavering.

“Good to see you too”, the man responds in a sarcastic tone. “This place hasn't changed a bit”. He says as he looks around, admiring the art pieces surrounding

him.

“You never answered me, Henry, what. are. you. doing. here?” Blaire repeats, her voice firmer, her arms crossed as she intently stares at the man.