Chapter 1: Mother Knows Best
It is a truth universally acknowledged that one must never bother a woman who is running her last lap on the treadmill. Yet, apparently, someone in the universe did not get the memo, because Effie Trinket's phone had been ringing incessantly for the last twenty minutes. With a sigh, she stepped away from the exercise machine, and picked up her phone, much to the dismay of the young men lifting weights behind her. She either did not take notice of them or she simply did not care for them, as she walked away nonchalantly. But really, it was probably the latter.
"Portia, this better be important." Effie griped, struggling to untie her shoelaces, while balancing her phone between her shoulder and her cheek.
"It is. Come back to the office as soon as you can. Please."
"What's the matter?" Effie frowned, not at all used to the frantic tone her assistant was using. "Is it the Snow vs Coin case? I told you, Plutarch knows what he's doing. I have already prepared the case files and..."
"No, no, Effie," Portia cut her off, "it's to do with Isla Everdeen."
Effie froze, "Isla Everdeen? What about her?"
The last time Effie had spoken to Isla, she had promised to visit her and her girls again soon. Soon turned out to be never, as the Snow vs Coin case emerged and Effie was plunged back into working overtime at the law firm. The Everdeen family was the last thing on her mind that morning.
Isla Everdeen was a client of Effie Trinket. Or rather, Effie Trinket was assigned to be Isla Everdeen's lawyer. When Dalon Everdeen passed away in a tragic bombing incident in Afghanistan, the Army hired Heavensbee & Cardew to settle his will and last affairs. The young widow was a total mess after her husband's death, and Effie could not help but pity the grieving family. Her already frequent visits to the Everdeen's home to finalise the compensation from the Army increased, and she soon found herself buying groceries and driving the Everdeen girls to school. Most of the time though, she sat by Isla Everdeen silently, listening to the woman's earnest but slightly psychotic ramblings about her late husband. Of course, once all the documents had been settled, and the new court case came in, Effie no longer had the luxury of time to visit the poor woman.
"Effie, Isla Everdeen attempted suicide this morning."
Effie sucked in a breath. It felt very cold all of a sudden.
"How...what...how is she?" Effie finally replied, closing her eyes to prepare for the worst. She could not imagine going back to the Everdeen's house and telling the two young girls that their mother was dead. It had barely been a year since their father's death. It would be too cruel, too painful, too unfair.
"She's in the intensive care, but her condition's stable." Portia announced.
Effie let out a breath she did not know she had been holding.
Portia continued, "The thing is social service has caught wind of it, and they deem Isla Everdeen too unstable to take care of the girls."
"And where are the girls now?" Effie asked, packing her belongings to head back to the office as quickly as possible.
"With a neighbour. Effie, the reason I called is because," Portia paused, trying her best to break the news to Effie. "In her suicide note, Isla Everdeen named you as the legal guardian to her children."
There was a long pause and Portia only heard some shuffling and the start of an engine.
"I'm coming back."
The clicking of high heels on the marble tile signified that Heavensbee & Cardew's top lawyer was back for business. Effie Trinket swept past her nosy colleagues, intent only on finding her assistant.
"What are my options?" Effie asked, once she caught sight of Portia.
The young legal assistant placed three stacks of documents on Effie's table and started reeling off her findings.
"It's simple, really. You can either take the girls in, or they'll be off to foster care. You have 30 days to decide. Once the time period is over, social service will have complete control over the fates of the girls. They can't guarantee Katniss and Primrose will be kept together."
Effie flipped through the documents and sighed. Everyone in this industry knew how bad it can get in foster care.
"Surely there are other options. Relatives? Or friends? How about the neighbour they are staying with?"
"I've checked, they have no living relatives and the neighbour they're staying with now doesn't want to take them in for the long term. Basically, it's all down to you." Portia shrugged, placing a hand on Effie's shoulder.
"You know I can't. I'm not prepared for this. There's still the Snow case, and I need to head to Berlin next week to meet Coin's associates. And the Webberson's divorce, there was a change in agreement, I'll email you the updated settlement...I…I can't...I can't take care of two children, Portia." Effie finally admitted, hoping that her assistant will understand the dilemma she was in.
"Not to mention your wedding next month...don't tell me you forgot about that!" Portia shook her head as Effie blushed.
"Alright, I saw something in the files I thought you should know. But I can't guarantee it will fix everything." Portia flipped through the notes until she reached Dalon Everdeen's will.
Suddenly, Effie knew where this was heading towards.
"Haymitch Abernathy." She breathed. She had thought she had heard the last of him, but apparently not. The man was determined to be a thorn in her flesh, whether he knew it or not.
"Exactly!" Portia replied, pointing to a specific line on the paper. "In the event Isla and I are unable to be there for our children, I'd like Haymitch Abernathy to be their legal guardian."
"But...but Haymitch Abernathy is a rude, foul man who shouldn't be put in charge of children!"
Portia raised one perfectly drawn eyebrow. "He's also a good man, you said so yourself. It's better than foster care in any case."
"I did not say he was a good man, I simply said he wasn't a bad one." Effie refuted. "But yes, I see where you're coming from. Shall we arrange a meeting with him and his lawyer?"
"Done. I called Cinna before you arrived." Portia winked, "looking forward to seeing Abernathy?"
"Absolutely not!" Effie huffed, settling back into her chair. It was going to be a long, long week.
Seneca Crane leaned casually on his palm as he watched Effie put on her earrings at the dressing table. He was still lying naked in bed, half-drunk on post coital bliss.
"Seneca, dear, would you hurry please? Caesar is expecting us at seven." Effie complained, turning to glare at the man.
She had been gradually feeling more and more irritated by Seneca as their wedding approached, which really did not make any sense. Seneca had been a perfect gentleman and he had been extremely patient with Effie's busy schedule, taking the initiative to plan the wedding and to send the invites. Seneca was nice and smart and rich, and really, he was perfect in every sense of the word. Their imminent wedding was the talk of the town but still…Effie felt hollow, and the looming wedding bells only served to make the ache feel even more apparent. The sex was good, but not wonderful. He made her smile, but not laugh. In essence, Effie realised with a certain clarity, Seneca made her feel…lukewarm.
"It's good that Portia found that loophole with Abernathy. Can you imagine me with children?" Seneca spat the last word with disgust, tossing aside the blanket to stand up.
Effie startled and dropped her eyeliner. She chided herself silently for daring to think those thoughts about Seneca. She blamed that good-for-nothing Haymitch Abernathy. He always found a way to worm into her thoughts and make her feel dissatisfied. Wasn't it Haymitch that had first made her doubt her engagement to Seneca?
"My new Fendi Kesa settee will be destroyed with those grimy hands touching it. My, my, I bet those little monsters won't even be able to differentiate between a Fendi Kesa masterpiece and some trash from IKEA." Seneca smirked in a self-congratulatory way, and continued to boast about his expensive furniture.
Effie rolled her eyes. Seneca could be so pretentious at times. She could practically hear Haymitch snorting and calling Seneca a very rude word.
"In any case, darling, you are hardly a maternal figure." Seneca laughed.
Effie turned her head at once, staring at Seneca, with her lipstick in her hand.
"I'm sorry, what do you mean by that?" she spoke coldly, but it seemed as though Seneca was oblivious to her annoyance.
"It's obvious, isn't it? Effie, you have no maternal instincts at all. Zilch!" Seneca clapped his hands together to emphasise his point.
"Why, I do believe I am capable of raising a child, maybe not right now, but eventually. So thank you very much for having the faith in me, Seneca." Effie snapped, standing up to face her fiancé.
Seneca simply responded by raising an eyebrow and uttering a condescending "of course, dear."
That was it for Effie.
"You know what, Seneca, I am done with you. I am done with listening to you boast about your stupid furniture and cars. I am done with lousy orgasms and boring conversations and scheduled sex." Effie poked Seneca not so gently in the chest.
A few months ago, when Effie had announced her engagement to Isla Everdeen, Haymitch Abernathy had also happened to be there to hear the good news.
"Congrats sweetheart," Haymitch had said, "finally found someone to marry you."
"Speak for yourself," Effie had replied, "Seneca is a perfect gentleman, unlike someone in this room."
Haymitch had then snorted, lumbered up to her and placed his lips right next to her ear. "Bet he can't make you feel good. You two probably have scheduled sex."
Effie had immediately whacked Haymitch on the shoulder and announced how improper it was for him to talk about her personal life. But the damage was done, Haymitch knew, and Effie quickly fled the house in embarrassment, convincing herself that there was absolutely nothing wrong with scheduled sex. After all, both Seneca and she were busy people, unlike a certain Mr. Abernathy.
Effie shook her head. Why in the world was she thinking about that alcoholic again? She looked up and glared at Seneca, grabbed her purse and headed toward the door. Her legs felt wobbly but she knew she could not afford to look weak at that particular moment.
"We are over, Seneca. Cancel the wedding, everything. And you know what, I am going to adopt the kids and I am going to be a good maternal figure to them. Goodbye Seneca, I do not wish to see you again." With those last words, and her head held high, Effie walked out of the apartment and stumbled into her car.
"Hello Portia," she croaked into her phone, "I want to fight for the kids. And by the way, can you come over to my apartment with some wine and ice-cream? I think I just broke up with Seneca."
Author's Notes: Hello, thank you for reading the first chapter of Under One Roof. I am really unsure if I should continue this story, so please tell me how you feel about it! As you probably have known already, I took the liberty to name Mr and Mrs Everdeen and I hope you like the names I came up with. I tried to give the names a District 12 feel, but I don't know if it works. Please leave a comment, I will really appreciate it! Have a nice day :-)