And I haven’t.
What would be the point?
She knows I’m here for her. If she wants to confide in me, I’ll listen, and I won’t judge.
But I don’t want to talk about my own problems either.
I’d much rather bury them, smile, and pretend everything is fine when in reality I’m falling apart.
A knock at the door pulls me from my thoughts once again.
I place my cup on the coffee table, and head for the door.
The moment I open it, Adelaide strides inside.
She doesn’t say a word. She walks straight past me and throws herself onto the sofa.
“Ah, so you’re having a girls’ night in and I wasn’t invited. I’m wounded.”
I roll my eyes and offer her a small smile before sinking back onto the sofa and pulling the blanket over my legs.
“What are we watching?” she asks as she makes herself comfortable, steals part of the blanket, and drapes it over both of us.
“A film.”
“Clearly, genius.”
Her eyes go to Eleanor, who remains motionless in the armchair as though she can’t hear a word we’re saying.
Adelaide looks at me, her face full of concern.
I offer a small shrug in return, but I suspect my expression mirrors hers. But I can’t help her.
I don’t know.
I have no answers, and Eleanor definitely isn’t going to give us any.
“You girls really are excellent company,” Adelaide says after a while.
The room falls quiet again.
“But I’ll take it. Better than being alone right now.”
The words are so quiet I almost think she’s speaking to herself.
“And I’m sure as hell not going to Ophelia when the other Bellanti is probably lurking somewhere nearby.”
She laughs, but it’s forced.
“You should stop provoking Octavia every chance you get,” I say.
“She’s easy to provoke. Not my fault.”
“You did something to make her hate you that much.”
For a split second, something flashes in Adelaide’s eyes. Something remarkably close to guilt. But it disappears as quicklyas it appears, and her usual resting bitch face falls back into place.
“Moi?” She places a hand over her chest. “You wound me, Piper.”
