(ARIELLE’S POV)
Jared and I paused, exchanging surprised glances.
“What’s that sound?” I asked, fear now crawling into my features.
“I don’t know-” Jared started to say, but paused like he recalled something. And then he was sprinting into the house, yelling “Sofia!”
I was stunned for a moment, but followed suit. We ran until we got to the sitting room, panting, and there was Sofia, lazily draped on the couch, watching a movie.
“Have you lost it, Sofia?” I bellowed before I could stop myself. “What was the screaming for?”
She didn’t utter a word, instead she sized me up before returning her gaze to the TV. She didn’t acknowledge Jared’s presence too, I guess she was still mad at him for turning her down in the morning.
“Sofia, you’re being spoken to.” Jared began, his voice bearing a tinge of irritation. “Why will you scream that loudly?”
Sofia finally looked at Jared, her gaze scornful. “And what does it matter to you?”
“You made us fear for your safety -Arielle and I,” Jared responded, pointing to himself and I.
Sofia scoffed. “Oh spare me that forced concern. You know, I’ve finally come to the realization that you don’t care for me as you claim, despite knowing each other for twenty years. You’re probably being nice to me because of my mother’s good to your mother in the past -” “Sofia, don’t speak like that -” Jared said, his voice losing its initial irritation.
“I will speak in what manner I deem fit, Jared. You are concerned about a scream, but didn’t have the decency to grant my request of driving me to the hospital today,” Sofia said.
I was right after all, she was still grieved about the event of the morning.
“I had an appointment, and you had my driver to drive you there. What difference would my presence make if I took you?” Jared defended.
“A lot! Going there with you comes with a feeling of safety, because I would be more comfortable with you than your driver. And in case you’ve forgotten, you wield so much influence that the medical practitioners would have given me preferential treatment if you were there!”
I scoffed, and she shot me a glare. So she was more concerned about the attention and respect being in Jared’s company brought, than actually having her and her baby’s health checked?
“But that was not reason enough to scream that loud to scare us,” Jared persisted. “Did you think about the neighbors? You probably disrupted their peace too.”
“I don’t care about some shitty neighbors. As for the scream,” Sofia pointed at the television. “I’m seeing a horror movie and it got to a really scary part, and I couldn’t help the scream.”
“Then you shouldn’t be watching one, if you can’t stand it!” I retorted.
I knew Sofia was lying. She must have heard Jared’s car drive in, and decided to put up some show to get attention to herself. I’m not surprised at all, Sofia likes attention and would do anything to get it. “Excuse me, I wasn’t talking to you,” Sofia said, shooting me an angry look.
I rolled my eyes. “Of course, you weren’t.” It was at that moment, I took a good look at the house. Wait, why was the house still dirty? Didn’t the cleaning agency come to clean the house like I instructed? “Ummm, Sofia, did the cleaning agency come to the house today?” I asked, unable to hold my curiosity.
“Oh, they did,” she responded.
“They did!” I asked. “Wfy us the house still dirty then?”
“That’s because they didn’t clean the house,” Sofia said. And then quickly, she added, “Because I told them not to,” when she saw the look of surprise on my face.
My eyes dimmed at her revelation. “Yiy what? Why did you do that?”
“I’m pregnant, Arielle. I couldn’t stand the smell of cleaning materials, and the sound of the vacuum cleaner. They can come some other time when I’m not
home. Besides, if Jared had agreed to drive me to the hospital, I wouldn’t be home to get in the way of their job,” Sofia said nonchalantly,
crossing her legs at the ankle.
I was livid, as I pressed my fingers deeply into my palms that I feared I might draw blood. The guts of her to turn my employers away without my consent.
“Well, as you turned them away, I hope you plan on doing the cleaning yourself? I mean, you messed the house so it would be honourable to clean your mess,” I finally managed my words through gritted teeth.
Sofia tore her gaze to glare at me like I said something incredulous. “Have you no shame, Arielle? How can you suggest that a pregnant woman cleans?”
“A pregnant woman who messes a house like a toddler, should know how to clean, don’t you think?”
“I will do no such thing! If the house
is messed up, then you should do the cleaning. Tell me, why are you
married to Jared if you can’t keep t
his home clean? Or, is marriage to you just about spending money and living in luxury? You can’t give him children, you should at least do the chores to compensate for that.”
That was it, I decided as I approached her menacingly. “How dare you?”
“Arielle, stop it. She’s pregnant,” Jared said, and stepped in front of me.
“Oh now she’s pregnant? But you didn’t stop her when she said those awful things to me!”
“Arielle ” Jared tried to say.
“No, let her be, Jared. She should lay as much as a finger on my pregnant self and watch herself rot in jail,” Sofia insulted.
I paused and exhaled sharply. Then I turned to Jared, “You know, you should have let me stay back at Ashley’s place.” “Arielle -“
“Good night,” I said and walked off.
I returned to the room, and
surprisingly I didn’t feel as angry as I
was downstairs. It felt like walking up the stairs helped dissipate the anger. Now all I felt was numbness, and the urge to get under the duvet and sleep. But I needed to bathe, so I sauntered into the bathroom for a cold shower, willing myself not to think about the exchange
downstairs.
I got back to the room, slipped into a sleeping cloth and got under the duvet. I wasn’t hungry, and for a moment, I thought about Jared. He was still downstairs with Sofia, and I wondered what they were talking about.
The creaking of the door alerted me of Jared’s presence and I quickly shut my eyes. I was in no mood to talk.
“Arielle?” He called.
Silence.
“I know you’re awake. Since you won’t talk to me, you can listen at least. My set in high school is having a get-together reunion party, and we were asked to come with our spouses. It’s tomorrow, and I want you to come with me. I’m sorry for the short notice, I’m just hearing about it myself –
“I’m not going with you…” I blurted, before I could stop myself.
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