Page 54 of Fractured
I slap the note against my palm and toss it on the bed. Now he’s buying the clothes he wants me to wear. I flick the big red bow on the dress box.
So this is his move: White Knight to E7.
He said he would meet me in the foyer, so he won’t be home again tonight. That suits me just fine. Those boxes will stay wrapped up in their pretty bows until an hour before I have to go to this party.
My move Mr. Russo. Black Knight to F8
After his 'little gift,' I'm too annoyed to paint, so I pace the room and finally decide some fresh air and sometime in the garden might lighten my mood. I change out of my coveralls and into my leggings and a sweater, grab my book and head out to read by the pool.
I settle in the big lounge chair and open my book. Rose brings me tea and some cookies, and I try to immerse myself in the book, but my mind keeps trying to figure out what he’s doing.
I knew that I would have to go to social events with him. I've always known this. So why am I so annoyed at him for buyinga stupid dress? I just feel irritated. Alexander’s buying me a dress to attend this event with him makes me feel... trivial and slightly inadequate. As if he needs to improve my wardrobe in order to be seen with me on his arm.
On our wedding night, he called me beautiful. I didn’t believe him then, and I don’t even believe him now.
Now he's bought me a dress and flowers. I should be more open to his efforts to be nice instead of sitting here wondering if he's really trying to make peace or if it's all a set-up. I bite my nail and blow out a puff of air. The problem with accepting his... whatever he is trying to do, is that it is only a matter of time before he loses his temper with me. I need to make the right moves on the board, and right now, I'm too pissed off to figure out his game.
I shake my head, Oh, get over yourself, Izzy. You’re leaving anyway, so play along. What does any of it matter, anyway? I prop my book up on my knees, finding the spot where I left off reading.
A buzzing noise makes me lift my eyes from the page, and I look around. I hear it again, and I look up, catching the red blinking light that is now facing me on the camera on the patio ceiling.
Someone is watching, making sure I don’t run away or drown myself in the pool. I giggle in my head; I’d like nothing more than to wave or give them the middle finger like Anna would, but if it’s Danny, I don’t want to be mean. So, I’ll just go back to reading, he's only doing his job.
Supper comes and goes. I bathe, put my sleep shorts and t-shirt on, and hug my knees while I watch out the window running my finger down the cold glass. This game is becoming mentally harder than I had thought.
Every hour, every second, he has me at a disadvantage. As hard as I try to keep my thoughts straight and read the chess board,he moves another piece I hadn't calculated in the game and I get confused.
Tomorrow I’ll have to keep my shit together for this event. My stomach flips at the thought of seeing Sebastian if they invited him. We left it all on the dance floor, but I haven’t seen him since, and I want to be his friend if we can.
The glass fogs up when I blow my breath on it. Drawing a scrolled A in the mist, I watch as the water droplets trail down, distorting the image and slowly disappearing. I’m so tired, just tired of it all for one day. My head throbs and my chest hurts so I crawl under the covers and curl up, hugging my pillow.
I’ll take tomorrow one step at a time.
The sun is beaming in my face as I wake up, rubbing my eyes as I look at the table. The shadow is close to the fireplace which means I slept in, not by much but it's later than I usually do.
I sit up and rub my face. My stomach growls and I want a coffee, my stomach gurgles again 'need coffee now'.
"I know, I'm getting it, god." I rub my poor belly and twist on the couch looking for the breakfast tray, and I don’t see it. Empty. That’s weird. I get up and use the washroom. I come back out, and still no breakfast.
Okay, we are all off-schedule today.
So I grab my clothes for the day and shower, get ready, and sit on the couch and wait. Something’s up. The hair on my head is tingling, and I've picked my thumb nail so short it hurts. Sasha should have been here by now.
Five minutes later, Sasha taps quickly and opens the door, stepping part way in. “You have to go to the dining room for your breakfast today.”
I look over the back of the couch, my face scrunching up inconfusion as I looked at her. I wasn’t expecting any company, and nobody told me I should expect any.
Maybe it’s Anna. My excitement grows as I stand up and walked toward her. Maybe I will finally get to see Anna.
Sasha is holding the door open, and I scoot underneath her arm, dashing down the hall. In my eagerness, I hop down the first set of stairs. Grabbing the post with my arm, I swung myself around the banister and jogged down the second set of stairs, heading towards the dining room. I’ve missed her so much, I can’t wait to see her.
I step through the door and freeze.
The room is eerily quiet. Shivers run up my spine as the door slowly closes behind me with a resounding click. For the first time, this place truly feels like a prison. My arms break out in goosebumps and I rub them.
My place setting is set, and I look over at the end of the table and see that Alexander’s place setting is sitting there.
This means that I won’t be seeing Anna. Alexander is here, and he will join me for breakfast. Is this another one of his tactics? He makes me join him so he can play with me, knocking me off balance.
