She gets a text from him in the morning, the message's notification waking her up. She opens her eyes just in time to see his name, Monty Navarro, scrawl across her screen before her hand reaches out and punches in her passcode to see what he has written her.
It says:
Hey. Can we go shopping today? I'll pick you up at eleven.
The blonde woman smiles at the message, and bites her lip carefully, wondering how she should reply. She knows that seeing another man while she is married is considered wrong, even in this day and age, but her curiosity and devotion to Monty get the best of her.
She glances over at Lionel, who is dead asleep and quickly types her answer.
Sure. What are we shopping for?
Her heart beats in excitement, ever since Monty had gotten engaged to Phoebe, he had been spending less time with Sibella, which was understandable but the blonde was still hurt by the lack of attention.
She realizes that she has to be careful but lately she misses Monty more than she can say and this text message makes her smile at the anticipation of seeing him again.
She gets up quickly and grabs a shower, the hot water beating down on her makes her realize that the text message is not some imagined fantasy, that it's real and that she's going to see Monty again today.
She's more excited than she should be.
A smile stays across her face as she gets dressed in a pale pink sundress. She puts white heels on her feet, and grabs her sunglasses and purse before reaching for her phone once more.
She glances at the screen while she descends down the stairs into the kitchen.
Jewelry for Phoebe and other stuff. You're the same size as her and I want to surprise her with some gifts for her birthday.
Sibella immediately stops mid stair, nearly tripping and falling down the staircase. Her heart freezes and she feels a lump start to form in her throat.
Phoebe.
Of course, how could she have been so stupid? He's devoted to Phoebe, of course he's going to go shopping for her. He just needs Sibella to try stuff on. He's using her as a model.
Her eyes start to turn misty and she swallows the lump in her throat and wipes at her eyes.
She finishes descending down the stairs and sits down in the kitchen, trying to focus on her breathing. She grips the table hard, hating the fact that she was married to Lionel.
Another text message pops up, distracting her from her anger.
It's from Monty again.
You don't have to if you don't want to. I'd understand.
She stares at it for a few moments, contemplating her answer. On one hand she has half the mind to tell him to shove off and leave her alone, him being so presumptuous to ask her to be his model for Phoebe. On the other, she knows he values her opinion and wants to spend time with her.
She sighs and then types:
No, I'll come. See you in a half an hour.
She leaves it at that, placing her phone face down on the table and goes into the bathroom to do her hair and makeup.
At eleven, she waits on the couch and looks out the window for his car. When he finally arrives she gets up and grabs her purse, leaving a note for Lionel on the table that reads:
Out shopping. Will be back for dinner. Sibella.
She opens the door and then locks it, afterwards making her way to the car. He opens the passenger door for her from inside the car.
"I can't tell you how much I appreciate this, Sibella," he greets her with a smile.
She bites her lip and smiles back reluctantly.
"It's no problem, darling. I'm just glad to spend some time with you," she answers as she gets into the seat and buckles her seatbelt. "Shall we go?"
Monty smiles and they head off to the mall.
"What about this, can you try this one on?" Monty asks her, holding out another necklace.
Sibella whips around and looks at it. "Does Phoebe even like necklaces, darling?" she asks him. She takes the piece of jewelry and clasps it around her neck, admiring it in the mirror.
"I'm not sure," says Monty, he looks befuddled at the whole ordeal of buying jewelry after they had just been through the disastrous fiasco of trying to buy clothes, "She just said she'd like some new jewelry for her birthday."
"It's pretty nevertheless," she remarks as her fingers run across the purple stones, feeling the smoothness of them.
"I don't think it's right for her," he sighs and he takes back the necklace and puts it on the stand. He looks around at the store. "What about rings?"
Sibella's heart freezes at that. She swallows hard and avoids his eyes as she glances at some bracelets in the far corner of the store.
"What?" she asks, pretending that she didn't hear him. She turns around, her skirt spinning as she did so.
"Rings," he repeats looking at her. "Girls like rings right?"
She laughs at his limited knowledge of the female species.
"Most girls like rings. Did she like the one you gave to her when you asked her to marry you?"
"I think so," Monty frowns, "I can't remember exactly."
She scoffs at him, "Men and their selective memories," she walks past him towards the ring section.
He follows her and smiles at her. "Does Lionel have a selective memory?" he asks, and though he does it without knowing it, he hits a cord within her.
Her lips pucker and she feels a stab at her heart.
"Why are you so interested in Lionel?" she asks, as she points out to a salesperson the one she wants to try on.
Her eyes narrow at his sudden interest in her husband.
"Well, he is your husband, and I barely know anything about him other than he's rich, handsome and has an antique motorcar."
Monty smiles at her, trying to tell her that he was just poking good fun.
She does not see it that way, and she bites her lip hard and ignores him while the salesperson gets the ring and slips in on her finger. Her eyes narrow and shine with a dangerous glare that tells him to drop the subject.
She glances at the ring, and her anger vanishes slightly. It really is beautiful. Phoebe would love it, no question asked about that.
She turns and shows Monty, though her face still tells him that she is mad at him.
Her eyes glint with that cold anger in them. She does not want to talk about her husband, not here, not now. She does not want to be reminded that she is married to Lionel.
"You shouldn't concern yourself with my husband, you know all you need to know about him," she says softly.
He looks up at her and she gives him a small smile, against her will. Her eyes lose their anger.
Every time he looks at her, she melts. She can't help it. She's devoted to him, drawn to him. She can't even stay mad at him for long.
"And yes, he does," she adds, and he smiles back at her, knowing that he is forgiven.
"Have you two picked a date yet?" asks the salesperson from behind the counter. "You are quite the attractive couple," she says, obviously having not been listening to what they were saying earlier.
Both of them blush. Sibella runs a hand through her hair, and glances down at her feet. Monty looks at the salesperson and stammers, "No, no I think you misunderstand we're not- what I mean is-" he fumbles over his words.
Sibella looks up, "We're not together," she states firmly.
The salesperson immediately starts apologizing but they tell her it's fine.
"So what do you think?" asks the blonde, looking at Monty, pretending as though that encounter with the salesgirl never happened.
He glances down at the ring. "It's beautiful," he says softly.
She swallows hard. He takes her hand in his to inspect it closely.
Sibella's heartbeat quickens. She bites her lip again, nearly drawing blood this time. She wishes that they were getting married, she wishes that she could be the one that Monty was buying jewelry for.
She wishes for a lot of things but those involving Monty are the ones she wants to come true the most.
"I'll take it," he says smiling at her.
She forces herself to smile back and return to reality.
Her own wedding ring, the one Lionel gave her, seems to be crushing her finger, weighing her down in that moment. She feels as though it burns her, a constant reminder of the choice, the wrong choice, she made in marrying Lionel.
She takes off the ring for Phoebe and gives it to him, and the next few moments are blurry and out of focus for her as she lets her mind wander, pondering over her fate of being stuck with Lionel.
She wishes she had married Monty in this moment so much, she feels as though it's killing her that she didn't.
Monty embracing her in a hug is what brings her back to the real world. She hugs him back, after the shock wears off, and she finds herself smelling him and closing her eyes as they hug, taking him in.
She wants nothing more than to stay locked in his arms for the rest of her life.
She nearly starts crying.
She's excited for Monty, of course how could she not be. Phoebe's a charming and lovely girl and he is so happy with her. But she hates herself for ruining her chances of happiness over something so stupid as Monty.
She could have been so happy with him. She was always happy with him whenever they spent time together.
He pulls away then and it feels like a slap to her face.
"Are you alright?" he asks her, and she hasn't even realized that he had been looking at her worriedly.
She collects herself and nods.
"I'm fine."
"I can't thank you enough, Sibs," he says as they walk out of the store, the bag in his hand. "I mean it, you're a true friend."
He kisses her cheek, and she wishes he had missed and kissed her lips instead.
She smiles at him, pretending like nothing was wrong.
"Of course, I'm happy to help."
He smiles back at her.
"She's going to love this ring, I would have never have found it on my own, what would I do without you, Sibella?" he asks as he takes her hand in his.
Her heart freezes again and this time when he lets go, she feels a coldness and emptiness in her.
"You probably would have ended up buying that hideous scarf," she says laughing though her laugh is cold and harsh.
He laughs too, and her heart aches at the sound.
"You're probably right, it really was awful wasn't it?" he smiles.
She nods and they finally make it to his spot in the parking lot.
"You're invited to the party, you know?" he adds as he slips into the driver's seat. She sits beside him on the passenger side.
"Oh, I am?" she asks, glancing at her phone as she pulls it out of her purse, trying to avoid looking at him in fear that her heart might actually explode from heartbreak.
"Of course you are, you've been such a help to both of us these past couple of months, and besides, Phoebe has something she wants to ask you." He turns on the engine and starts driving back to her house.
She nearly drops her phone at the last part.
"What?" She looks at him, her stomach in her throat.
"No, no I promised her that I wouldn't give it away, she has to ask you," says Monty firmly, his eyes on the road, though he did glance at her a few times.
"Don't be frightened," he continues, "It's nothing to worry about. I do hope you say yes."
Her heart sinks as she guesses at what the question could be.
"When is the party?" she asks in a soft, hollow voice.
"Next Saturday, our house, one o'clock," he answers.
She nods, absentmindedly, hardly realizing that she was doing so. She spends the rest of the car ride silent and numb, in her own little world.
He drops her off, thanking her once more. She enters the house with her mind running a mile a minute. She feels dizzy, almost sick and she wishes that she had said no this morning to his request.
Lionel glances at her from the couch.
"How was shopping?" he asks but she does not answer him.
Instead she runs upstairs and sits down on her bed, biting back tears.
After a while, she has the gall to look at her phone which is riddled with messages from Monty.
Thanks for the day out, I am in your debt.
Phoebe wants you to come over early for the party to help set up, is that okay?
Should I wrap the box?
Never mind I decided to wrap it.
She glances at all of the messages with a bittersweet smile, and an ache in her heart.
She doesn't answer any of them, and instead she turns over her phone and sets it down by her bedside, determined to deal with it all tomorrow.
She shuts off the light and climbs into bed, pulling up the covers over herself and falls asleep with the lingering hope that maybe when she wakes up she'll be married to Monty and this will have been all a hellish nightmare.
This will have a part two, and possibly a part three if there is enough interest. :)
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