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Chapter 11 - A Crack In The Mold

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"David Marquis has been spotted around Monaco the past few weeks, to which is owed to newly wedded Mrs. Mariah Marquis, and it has sparked heated speculations whether such a swift return to attend his star-crossed lover's wedding was an attempt to reclaim her heart. Because as we know it, she was the last woman he was ever seen having intimate relations with in the longest time."

"But isn't it a bit late for that, though? Staying away does indeed make the heart grow fonder towards a partner, Mr. Marquis, but not a 4-year long departure!"

"Take notes, Mr. Darcy, sir, because clearly, you do not know the basics of romancing your own Elizabeth Bennet!"

The talk show hosts began to giggle like a crowd of giddy high school girls.

Ew.

"I do hope our new Mrs. Marquis is enjoying her much-deserved romantic getaway on her tropical-themed honeymoon."

"She had better! And don't you dare leave an ounce of space for the thought of Mr. David—keep that action going with your man ALL NIGHT!"

They giggled again. Ugh! It was sooo infuriating!

"I can't bear to listen to that hot garbage anymore!" My eyes burned with utter rage. "Turn it off! Turn off the TV!" But the girls kept going like I hadn't even peeped a word. The audacity!

"I SAID TURN IT OFF, WOULD YOU!"

"Okay! Okay, Beyonce!" Elena did the honors, and Blaze questioned. "Do you have any more nails to chew? You've been doing that for the past hour now..."

I gasped, taking notice, switching to tapping my feet fervently into the ground. But they hadn't liked that option much either.

"I much preferred you biting your nails," Elena groused. "The ground did nothing to deserve that."

"Oh for crying out loud! I can't help it! Louis' been gone forever and that jerk-brother of his has been doing nothing but chasing the skirt of an ex-lover instead of looking for someone to actually marry, settle down with, and have the god-forsaken heir their parents want so badly!"

Damn. I should be a rapper. I've got good air capacity.

"Ruby!" They bellowed at my harsh use of words.

"I'm sorry, okay..." and I really was, but Blaze saw fit to exacerbate the stinking feeling.

"As you should be!"

"I'm just really impatient... quite frankly, worried about the whole thing, too." Yet in hoping they would reach out to me in my pitiful state of woe, they chose to go dead silent.

Silent!

Whether they felt bad for me or were at a loss for words, I didn't know. And how could I when they persisted on keeping shut like stubborn freshwater clams! This whole "giving me some space" ritual they were practicing religiously was panning out too long and I wasn't appreciating it. I needed authentic opinions on the matter—some real, solid advice other than the usual "it's okay," or "just trust Louis," or "as long as you love each other, everything will all work out" cliches! I wanted a solid course of action that set things straight, despite if it spiraled off its rails—I wouldn't dare blame them if that was what tormented them, either!

"Then screw him!"

Our heads turned in uniform to apprehend Rouge Auclair entering my apartment. Yes, she was a regular visitor, but no, she couldn't afford to muddle things up with Elena further, knowing how petty the woman could be.

"Fuck Louis and tie him down as your baby daddy," she continued, and I couldn't help but hack out a chuckle.

"I'd be the scum of the earth if I did that. And worse, a mistress!"

Although my words came out heavy, my face cracked a dichotomy. Upon seeing my most favorite girlfriend in the world, I couldn't help but sigh a breath of relief. My savior had finally arrived! She was simply too her... to not be her.

"You'll still keep him, won't you--?" Rouge argued back with a cheeky smile splattered across her beautifully crafted heart-shaped face. Her harsh words weren't doing it any justice. I know her up-down and inside-out to take her seriously at times, though. But! it was a start for ideas.

"Yes," I agreed, "And no—"

"You're not helping!" Elena bellowed across the room. Her inner bitch had officially been unleashed. "And what are you doing here? You weren't invited!"

"I don't need to be," Rouge sassed, sashaying across the room to my side at the couch. "We all know Ruby's apartment is our official hang-out spot. Plus, it is her house—if it wasn't obvious enough. So If you don't like me, or those hard facts in your face, hun, scram!"

And Elena did it. She actually scrammed.

"What was that about? I thought this self-proclaimed war would've ended by now and you two would be chummy as before!"

"Don't look at me! Trust me, I've tried. But she's always 10 yards away like she'd ordered some official legal restraint on me or something." She said all defensive-like while digging into our Chinese beef dumpling orders. "Besides, what did I do that was so offensive?"

"How about, you degraded Louis right to her face," captain obvious—Blaze—said. "Insulted would be an understatement."

"Old news." Rouge retaliated.

"You literally just did it 1 minute ago," I corrected. And it had sucked the ivory right out of her skin.

"Oh."

"'Oh'?!" Me and Blaze confounded.

"I just realized that that 'scram' was the first thing I've said to her since the day we fought... I may have just splattered a bit more oil on the fire."

"'A BIT'!?" me and Blaze tried to make out in unison again but were canceled out by her: "BY ACCIDENT! BY ACCIDENT, OKAY!!"

I sank back into bitting my non-existent nails. "Well, what now?"

"Her parents are, like, carrot farmers! I could send her a basket of carrots!" Rouge fumbled all over for ideas but I wasn't having it right now.

"Not that! What do we do about MY situation?"

"Wow." She replied dryly.

"Can I be honest?" Blaze asked.

"Yes! Of course! That's what I really need—your whole silence thing has been killing me, did you know that?"

"Sorry," she started, "But your situation doesn't exactly give us any creative freedom or wiggle room to think up remotely plausible ideas." Her hands moved to lift her wine glass to her lips for a sip from off the table; as she always did when she was passively judging someone.

Judging it may be, but she was awfully right. I didn't want her to be, either!

"I agree," Rouge chipped in like a dedicated yes-man when suddenly, the front door beeped open to reveal Arian and Gideon with faces alike. I wonder what made them come over to the cove today; they usually spend most of their time at each other's or friends' places rather than mine. Can't blame men for hanging out with men, right?

"Sup," they greeted.

We replied with awfully kittenish hellos; all excluding Blaze, of course. She curtly gave a dry "hi" like she always did. I swear, the girl doesn't know the first thing about loosening up; even despite the possibility that it could save her life.

"Why the heck was Elena running out of here like that?" Arian asked.

"Yeah. We tried to stop her, but she pushed through us like it was nothing."

After Gideon expressed his concern, "Don't tell me you two are still fighting..." Arian, at the sight of his lady love, took to the front side of the table.

"Well, you can thank her for that," Blaze pointed at Rouge as she placed her glass down and got up to grab her frock coat. I really do love its dark purple-iridescent nature.

"Woooow," went Rouge.

"W-where are you going?" Arian speedily asked, about taking her by the hand. So close, Arian! So close!

"To get Elena. Why? Did you need something?"

"I'll join you—"

"NO! No, it's alright; I'll be back posthaste so..." her face barely even showed a sliver of red. Keyword, barely. Red did show, just not to the untrained eye. "You'd better eat some of the dumplings before the dump truck over there finishes them all."

"WOOOOOOW," Rouge baffled again for the third time this evening.

"T-they're really good." She resumed her stoic, mannequin-speak. "I'll have to get going now. Goodbye." Then he just stood there; watching helplessly as she wore her black pumps and headed out the door.

"Make your move, would you, damn it!" Rouge Hollered.

I nodded in vehement agreement.

"That was my move!"

"Pfft! Don't make us laugh—It's really not funny."

"W-what? Nevermind!"

"Yo! They should fight it out in a ring!" Gideon exploded abruptly like an over-enthusiastic fanatic. I'm assuming they picked up on the topic at hand because of the Elena-running-out-furiously issue. Plus, I had already confided in them just a few days after the whole ordeal so they definitely knew what was on my mind for the past few days. Fresh brains and all.

However, coming back to the present, "What?" was the word written on everyone's faces.

"David and his dad, or Louis and his dad?" Rouge scrunched her nose, clearly confused at the rhetoric.

"I was leaning more along the lines of David and Louis."

"Honey, they could rock-paper-scissors that out if they wanted to."

"But it'd be no fun, now will it?"

"What other ideas, guys?" I broke in. I didn't want their fighting taking over my looming predicament.

"Peace is always an option."

"Arian, they've been trying peace for the last few years; it's no longer a freakin' option!" Maybe I shouldn't have reacted like that, but I couldn't help but explode at the sheer unoriginality his response opined. "What did you think they'd been doing this whole time? Waging war by arms?" And—God forgive me—if they had, I would say my prayers every morning, noon, and night, and pay my tithes habitually. Even go to church every freaking day of the week!

"Sheesh. No need to be so rude," I heard him mutter.

"Honestly..." Rouge sighed ruggedly—probably disappointed the dumplings were all gone; most likely emptied in her stomach. "This is why I've decided to wait out my inlaws death before I dare walk down a wedding aisle. Cranky old people are not in my prerogative."

"What?" Gideon baffled.

"What?" She lit up coyly, probably trying to downplay what she had just said. "I wouldn't feel offended if you thought the same about mine."

His face fumed further. "What!"

"Er, Ruby! Did you come up with any good ideas yourself?" Arian chauffeured the conversation; It didn't take much for those two to spark a verbal wrestling match.

"Actually, I have 2! Option one would be: fly myself to Monaco and give that dying old man a piece of my mind!"

"How I would love to witness that spectacle! Take me with you," Rouge sparked.

"No thanks," I laughed her off again, "Because option 2 would be having a talk with Louis to see our wedding date come sooner rather than later."

"Nice!" "Cool!" "That can work!" They took turns agreeing.

"But the catch is we don't get the stupendous one that we've always dreamed about."

"That seems like a minor issue, doesn't it?" Arian said, buttering it with a, "no offense," probably because of earlier.

Non taken.

"You can always have a grand wedding anniversary party to make up for it," Gideon added.

"I thought of that too, but... this whole thing would mean I'd be forcing Louis to choose between me and his family. And I would hate to bear the brunt of that for the rest of my life. If I were in his shoes, I wouldn't exactly be ecstatic about these options, either."

"You are such a saint, hun. Why not just leave all this drama behind and find some other partner some other place instead? Is this really all worth it?"

Did she just...?

"And how would you feel if I told said those exact same words pertaining to Gideon?" Did this person's insensitivity hold no bounds? "Would you really break up with the love of your life without a second thought?" Love of your life peered up from his meal at my incisive words.

"Well... first of all, I would trust what you're saying came from a place of love. Then secondly, if one truly doted a person, they should learn to let them go."

"So that's how it is, huh?" Gidon got up, red-hot.

"It would be the smart thing to do! And one of us has to pull that weight around here."

"I beg your pardon?"

"'Fighting in a ring'? Surely, you don't think you're the smart one."

What was she doing?! He was chuckling under his breath, but it was clear as day that his eyes were filled with hurt.

"Rouge, that was a bit much." I tried intercepting the hot bullet she shot across the room at lightning speed, "I was just kidding around! You didn't have to answer the question so seriously." But an unimaginably speedy one came faster than its evenly catastrophic predecessor.

"Let's break up."

Shit!

"You're mad at a theoretical situation?" Rouge made incoherent gasping noises before making out: "HOW CHILDISH ARE YOU?" absolutely set ablaze.

"I'm not mad at that. I'm mad at your answer."

"BUT IT'S NOT REAL FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!"

"You seriously think of me as a child, don't you! It doesn't matter if it were or were not; your brazen willingness to toss me, easy, validates everything."

"I don't believe you. You can't leave me if you tried."

"It doesn't matter if you believe it or not. I'm done with us. We're not suitable. We're impractical. And quite frankly, when we're not shouting at each other, we're constantly pretending this whole facade works. We're done, Rouge. I mean it."

Could this day get any worse?!

"C-C'mon Gideon, don't be that way. You guys love each other! I don't know a single couple who has kept it together like you two for the past 6 years! Rouge," I turned to her. "I'm sure he doesn't mean it."

"Or maybe... for once... he actually does."

"W-w-wait a minute—!"

"We aren't meant for one other and we never were," she cut me off. "This thing we were playing at was never love. And as two mature adults, we can agree on that."

"Yes." He brooded.

"Yes," she agreed. Probably at a loss for words at the whole thing. "It feels good you turned out to be right, right?." And just like that, she left.

The bitch actually left!!!!