SITTING PRETTY

Coffee? || Camden & Bella

It was surprisingly cool outside, perfect weather to have coffee. Bella felt a little like a typical teenager, spending too much of her time indoors instead of out there, enjoying what the world had to offer. She shook off the feeling when she spotted Mr. Bowman through the café window, and returned the wave before picking up her pace.

Following her friends advice, Rai settled herself down on a nearby bench, taking deep breathes and regaining herself, “Well typically I’d be at home, but my phone died and it had most of my sheet music so practicing any new pieces on Lucy is out of the question.  Decided to get some air before I’m wrangled back in due to safety precautions.”

"Ugh, that sucks." She slid onto the bench next to her friend and bumped her shoulder companionably. "Well, at least you have company now."

Raini descended from the last step of the flight of stairs she just endured, panting as she placed her hands on her knees.

"Oh, jeez, Rai," she said, torn between concern and reproach. "Take a seat for a few minutes, okay?" 

Roman leaned back in his chair as he witnessed Celine’s defense and her attempts to get some kind of support out of Bella. He knew the routine very well by now: Celine and him began an argument over one thing or another, they bickered for a small amount of time, occasionally one of them won, but more often than not Bella came in and brought peace throughout the land. This ceasefire lasted until one of them provoked the other once more, consequently beginning yet another fight. He cut himself a piece of the meatloaf and bit into it, chewing slowly as he thought over all he had just heard. “And while I may have excused this if it were the first time,” he started, “we all know that is hardly the case. To you, it may be just another stupid event, but to me it’s another stupid event that I didn’t see you at. At this point, the press will start believing that I only have one daughter.” He put down his silverware to take another sip of wine, fixing both of his daughters with a stern look. Then, swallowing and clearing his throat, he began once more with an edge to his voice. “I know that the teenage years are a hard time to go through, especially when you were born into this kind of privilege. But it is inexcusable for either of you to simply disappear without a word, only to leave me wondering where you’ve gone. What if something were to happen to you, and no one was able to alert me? This isn’t one of those episodes from Gossip Girl, where wealth is the equivalent to freedom. Just because you can afford going off does not mean that I allow it. And while I don’t even want to imagine that either of you would, I especially do not want anyone in this household to go sneaking off to places where they are legally not allowed to enter.”

Celine raised both of her eyebrows at Bella’s reluctant and in no way supportive reply, mouthing a silent ‘what’ at the girl’s direction. She’d never liked the so-called middle ground players when it came to arguments and while, in theory, she did understand why Bella wouldn’t want to get on their father’s bad side, she’d still hoped for as much as an unsure ‘I guess’. She shook her head, brushing off both of their arguments with a roll of her eyes. “And of course, we only live to impress the press,” she retorted in clear exasperation, stabbing one of the boiled peas on her plate with a fork. All she could hear was ‘blah-blah-blah’ as Roman continued, rambling on about pathetic modern references and all of the ‘what ifs’ that were never going to happen anyway. “No need to worry, daddy, you still are and forever will be my emergency contact as well as the number one on my speed dial.. and if I died and my body happened to be unrecognizeable, they always have dental records to let you know of my tragic passing,” the sarcastic words rolled over the tip of her tongue in a single venomous breath. “Not that it would ever happen anyway considering that we practically live in a goddamn nunnery.” 

She leaned back in her seat, steeling herself for the oncoming fight. There were a million things she'd rather be doing - curled up in her bedroom, reading, was top on that list. But it was something she found herself doing more and more, whether because of the divorce, or because Celine was going through some kind of rebellious phase. 

Sunday Night Dinner || The Lassalle Family

"Here it comes," Celine muttered under her breath as her father finally cut to the chase and asked the questions that had been lingering in the Lassalle household ever since the Burning Tree’s Annual Slow Painful Death had come to close without the family’s youngest member ever showing her face. "It was a Polo Match, daddy, not the Second Coming of the Christ. Don’t make it sound like something major," she simply retorted, barely meeting her father’s gaze as she reached for her glass. "Besides," Celine paused briefly to take a sip of grape juice, "If you were so worried about the children and the pets, it couldn’t have been that hard to write them a check for another thousand dollars. It would’ve been a win-win situation for everybody - they’d got their money and I’d been spared of dying of boredom and wearing a hat, or rather, dying of boredom while wearing a hat,” she shuddered at the mere thought of it, her finger slipping instinctively over the rim of the glass to rid if from any trace of lipstick. “As for making our family look good, I’m sure Bels and yourself got it covered just fine. Right, Bels?” Her gaze shifted expectantly to her sister, hoping for her support on the matter. 

Bella was coasting along just fine, immersing herself in her meal - Sunday nights had become something of a routine, and it was just a matter of knowing the right time to intervene in a conflict before it descended into a full-on meltdown. She'd had plenty of practice playing the peacemaker. Only this time, Celine tugged her into the fray almost instantly. Bella's gaze went from her sister to her father, and back again; she tried to be responsible and supportive, but she couldn't always do both. She'd stifled a laugh at 'the Second Coming was Christ' - she privately agreed with Celine, but Dad's rebuke was equally reasonable. She couldn't just disappear without explanation. 

Scout waltzed into Cake Fetish bakery, pausing only long enough to slide her sunglasses up her forehead to rest at the crown of her head. She barely scanned the queued and seated patrons before finding herself a space at the counter to enquire about her order. It only took less than five minutes for Scout to begin idly re-arranging the flyers stacked on the counter-top.

"No, no, I asked for two strawberry ones, and two strawberry cheesecake ones. They're different, right?" Bella was pretty certain of it, since she'd scanned the menu at least three times already, but the woman at the counter seemed skeptical. At least she promised to check in the back, which was better than nothing.

Sophia choked on her wine. She tried her best to regain some composure as bursts of soft laughter escaped her mouth. The young girl was frank and honest with how the housewives acted, bringing in an opinion ready to be heard. “You got that right. Makes me wonder what their husbands think of the book.” 

Bella nodded, gracefully accepting praise where due. "If the men around here do read, I wouldn't be surprised if they found it the epitome of high-brow literature."

"That’s up to you," Camden chuckled, "Though I can tell you now that you’ll probably have all the freedom that you need when you go off to college. Hopefully, anyway." He added. 

"Thanks, Mr. Bowman! Ugh, I'm sorry to have to drag you away from this, though." She glanced towards the stage where Brad - something was rapping free verse and interjecting a yo every few lines or so. Ouch, secondhand embarrassment. "Well, I guess you'll be spared that tragedy. I'm ready to leave any time." 

To speak or to be silent was equally an effort, for when they were silent they were keenly conscious of each other’s presence, and yet words were either too trivial or too large.

Sophia smiled as the girl responded without any hint of malice or snark. A refreshing change of pace to talk without having to worry about clever backhanded comments thrown at her. 

She shrugged again, leaning back in her seat and nodding cheerfully. "Yeah, no, she's not exactly essential reading around here. The housewives of Greenwich probably go in for Fifty Shades of Grey, you know, to indulge all that repressed sexual desire." Bella figured she didn't have to mince words with this woman; she was different from the other adults, and she seemed unlikely to gossip about the Lassalle girl's weird habits.