In Law

The Way I See Things

Chapter 23: The Way I See Things
Tia

"Do you think I'm crazy?"

"I think you're crazy."

"Impossible. I'm just going through things."

"Yeah. The process of going- ow!- crazy."

Brushing the tweezers off, I turn back to the mirror, continuing to talk to myself.

"Something is definitely wrong with me."

I shake my head before plucking again, wincing in pain.

With my eyes still closed, I pull another hair off my eyebrow, hearing a knock on my door soon after.

"Hey. How are you?" Marinette walks into my room, sitting on the edge of my bed.

"Good. Why?"

"Oh nothing. I just wanted to talk."

She knows. That has to be the only reason she's here right now. Either I lie or I come clean about everything and get myself into trouble.

Actually, lying doesn't sound so bad.

"About what?"

"Damien." My sister pauses to sigh before speaking again. "How was the gala yesterday?"

"Amazing. I had a lot of fun."

"That's nice. Well, about Damien: you have nothing against him right?"

"Me? Hate Damien? Pfft. Of course not, he's amazing." I chuckle nervously, watching Mari nod in agreement.

"I know he is. But he seems off lately. I was wonder if it's because you guys had some bad blood or something."

"Off as in?"

"He doesn't kiss me as often. And when I touch him he tenses up. And a couples of nights ago, when I slept at his house, he kept mumbling someone's name." Marinette lists each thing, sighing again. "Do you think he's cheating on me?"

Hearing her say that, my breath hitches in my throat and my mouth stays agape.

"Cheating? Pfft. Why would he do that?"

"Were you not listening to me?" She states, pouting.

"Look, Mari. Do you even know what he was mumbling? He could have been talking about a client or something."

"Their name started with a 'T'. I didn't hear the full thing."

"Trust me, Marinette. Damien loves you. He would never cheat." I reassure her, making her smile back at me. "Now get out."

My sister laughs before walking away closing my door behind her. Redirecting my attention back to my eyebrows, I scoff to myself.

"Cheat? No. Kiss? Maybe."

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"Kiss kiss! Fall in love!"

"Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey."

"Kiss kiss! Fall in love!" I scream again before hearing Lilian chant again.

"You still didn't tell me what happened after the gala, Tia."  She looks into the screen, giving me a straight face.

"Nothing really," I lie, puffing my cheeks. "We drove to his penthouse and fell asleep. Nothing at all."

"That's how I know you're lying, Tia." Lilian exclaims, throwing her arms up in the air. "Tell me!"

"Girl, listen. I said nothing happened. So it's nothing." Picking up my phone, I stare back at her. "Maybe we baked some cookies. Maybe he ate the raw cake batter. Maybe I threw food at him. Maybe I fell asleep next to him. But seriously, none of that happened, so let it go."

"That was oddly specific. But if you don't want to talk, I'm not forcing you."

"Thank you, Lili."

The two of us stay silent for some time, looking at each other's backgrounds.

"But." She blurts out again. "The way I see things, someone is going to either get hurt. Or end up confused. And alone. And unhappy."

"Yeah. I get that, Lilian."

"Good. Now let's talk about food. I'm starving."