Chapter 5 Adeline

• ADELINE
• “Its’s either you’re beginning to go mad and hallucinating talking dishes with interesting things to say or you’re just going mad.”
• I spun on my heel, still stuck in my head. It was Kris and she had the most mocking smirk on.
• I forced a smile on my face at the sight of her, it was always unsettling how so alike she was to Jay, it was like I had been caught by Jay himself.
• I felt horrible hiding things from him, especially now that I was crashing at his place, but there was no point telling him. It wasn’t like he could suddenly give me back the five years of my life I had wasted at the Archer’s residence. He was probably going to start a fight he could not finish. It’s been a week since Grayson came to my school, since he reminded me what or rather who I was leaving behind.
• “You’re spacing out again.” Kris drawled, a worried look taking over the playful one.
• I shook my head, and hopefully the thought with it. “Sorry what was that?” I asked again.
• She raised a brow at me, “You good?” She asked, concern etched on my face.
• I nodded and placed the last of the dishes carefully on the dishrack. I wiped my hand on my pants, “Yeah, just still a little shocked about everything is all.” I told her, at least that was part of it.
• “I guess that’s expected, you have been through a lot.” She agreed and leaned against the open door to the kitchen.
• Just when I finally relaxed that she wasn’t pushing it like I expected her to, her eyes lit up in that way that meant I should probably make a run for it while I could.
• I’d barely taken one step when she opened her mouth, “I have an idea!”
• Well, its not like it was written all over her face or anything. I wanted to tease, but kept my mouth shut, I’d rather escape whatever she had going on in her head in one piece.
• I knew I would regret it before I even opened my mouth to speak, but curiosity won. “What?”
• “So I was at work and this new intern, Tricia kept going on and on about how she met her boyfriend of two years,” I knew where her little story was going and I already knew I didn’t like it, but interrupting Kris was as useless as the pineapples on pineapple pizza. “It sounded wish-washy until I saw her boyfriend!” She gasped like she just saw him again, her jaw almost on the floor, her eyes dreamy.
• “Kris?” I chuckled, not even surprised. Kris had always been like that, more dramatic than anything and sadly a part of me enjoyed it, maybe a little too much.
• “Oh sorry, he was just Greek god type of fine, nothing too dreamy.” She waved it off, barely able to keep the smile off her face.
• “Why are you telling me this again? Planning to snatch him up?” I wiggled my brows at her. Shouldn’t be too hard for her, she had the face of a goddess and the body of a model, even I would find it hard to resist her.
• She swatted my shoulders instead of answering, but the red staining her cheeks was a dead giveaway. So she did like the guy. Interesting.
• “Anyways, that’s not why I brought this up, stop distracting me,” She was quick to draw the attention away from herself. “The point is she discovered him on this popular dating site. I was thinking we sign you up since you just got out of the most toxic relationship known to man.”
• I could not help the laughter that rushed out of my lips, “God forbid we actually count that as an actual relationship.” I rolled my eyes, the thought of it alone was absurd.
• “True, okay, situautionship then.” She waved it off. “Point is, we’re signing you up, you need to experience life outside whatever that was! I mean, look at you!” She said with her eyes pinned on my larger than normal backside.
• I shook my head, “Thanks for the offer, but I think I would rather just stay off everything male related for at least a decade.” I could not even imagine having to entertain another man’s needs over mine anymore. If there was anything the thing with Grayson and the other obnoxious Archers had taught me it was to avoid men, especially the proud ones that came with obnoxious, larger than life types of families. Who knew what kind of men lurked on dating sites like the one Kris was suggesting.
• “Hey, don’t be that girl”
• Confused, I asked, “What girl?”
• “You know, those girls that start the ‘men are scum’ mantra after one experience with one bad guy”
• I balled my hands into fist, unable to not be angry at the words leaving her mouth. It wasn’t what she was saying, but the way she was saying it, like me emphasizing on it was me overreacting. She had not even the slightest idea what that family put me through, what that man made me put up with, but nothing hurt as much as making me form a bond with Johnny only to tell him the moment he could understand that I was not his mother. Fine I was not his mother, but the least he could have done was let me tell Johnny myself. I hated him. So much so that the mere thought of him was enough to ruin my day. I needed to sleep.
• It wasn’t even Kris’s fault. She wasn’t the one who gambled her life and mine away and she didn’t know the full story.
• “I need to get some rest.” I was already walking out the kitchen, all the energy I thought I had gone just as quickly as it had been to sign away my life to Grayson.
• I half expected Kris to stop me halfway or call me back, but thankfully she didn’t. I still could not wrap my head around the fact that I had actually gone ahead with it. I divorced the robot with metal for a heart. I escaped. So why did the pitting feeling in my chest remain, why did it feel like I was giving something away.
• I really just needed a reset and sleep was the only escape I knew. I wrapped myself up to my jaw and welcomed it with tightly shut eyes.
• The ringing wouldn’t stop. I reached for my nightstand but nothing and still the ringing continued. The ringtone was black bird by Nina Simone so I knew it was mine, but for the life of me I couldn’t even remember where I left it.
• “Addie your phone has been buzzing non-stop!” Kris voice snapped the last thin thread I was holding onto to stay asleep.
• “What?” I asked, my voice still heavy with sleep.
• “Your phone.” She pulled the small device to her face and smirked. “Who’s Damian Cross?”
• “No. It’s not even remotely close to what you’re thinking.”
• The smirk stretched even wider, “What am I thinking?”
• I rolled my eyes, “The phone.” I demanded just as the phone started ringing again.
• “Someone’s impatient.” She teased but tossed the phone my way regardless.
• I caught it easily, “Hello?”
• “Hey, I’ve been trying to reach you!”
• “Why?” I asked, sounding a little more defensive than I intended to. I was married to Grayson, his best friend for over five years and in all that time I could count the number we’ve interacted on one hand and calls between us was non-existent.
• “It’s Grayson” Of course. I would be surprised if it wasn’t somehow related to him.
• “What has he done this time?”
• “He’s drunk, almost passed out drunk. He needs your help to get home.” The nerve of these people. All those years I had been with Grayson, not once had he called to check up on me. I mean, he wasn’t the worst person in the mix, he did show the traits of a decent human being all the times we had interacted, but not once had he called. I thought he didn’t even have my number.
• “Okay, he’s drunk. Get him a cab or something. Better still, why don’t you drive him home yourself?” I tried, I really did, but my voice came out snappy still. Just when I let myself believe there was no other way the family could belittle me, they show me they could go even lower, get even more disrespectful.
• “I would but I’m currently swamped with work, plus you’ve done this a lot of times before, I’m sur one more time wouldn’t hurt.” Matter of fact, it would. It would hurt very much.
• “I don’t know what ideas Mr Archer may have planted in your head, but I am not a driver, and definitely not his. Goodnight.” I didn’t wait for his response before slamming harder than necessary on the end icon.
• Kris eyes were wide with shock, “Well that was harsh.”
• They’ve done enough. I’ve had it up to my neck with the constant disrespect and what made things worse was the stupid hopeful feeling in my chest whenever I thought he was going to surprise me with remotely good behaviour. Crazy, but a part of me actually hoped Damian was going to say Grayson had gotten drunk because of me, because he missed me, but surprise! It was just because they needed a free chauffeur they could humiliate.
• “Kris, the dating profile,” I began, meeting her confused gaze, “set it up.”
• A wide ass smile stretched across her lips, mirroring mine. Enough with the bullshit from Grayson.