A Sudden Engagement
Julia let out a long slow sigh. It was time to tell Tulip that she was getting married to a man. This was going to be rough. Julia fully expected a nasty breakup to occur. They had been dating and having sex for a while now. Julia much preferred Tulip's company to anyone else's.
That said, this kind of setup usually ended badly when she moved on to her next target. It wasn't like she could say "I'm a black widow, just wait, we can keep going during the marriage and after he dies." Even when she could, most women who got with her weren't fond of the reality of the whole black widow ordeal. Which was marrying men and killing them for their money. Julia just hoped that there would be no teacup throwing. Replacing a teacup in a set was always harder than one expected.
Tulip walked in and glanced at her hand. "Engaged already?"
Julia looked at Tulip through her lashes. Tulip looked almost impassive. It was times like these that Julia wondered why she always went for the intelligent and hard-to-read ones. "I am. I hope-"
"That we can be friends? Yes."
Julia figured that they were past the main danger of teacup throwing. An awkward breakup was better than a lot of the reactions.
"Are you sure you want to marry him?"
Julia blinked. They were usually gone by now. Nobody had ever asked that before. Except maybe her mother before her first marriage. It was what people expected, really. A pretty woman marries a much older rich man. Practically a requirement. "Fairly."
Tulip was giving her an extremely dubious look. Perhaps she should have laid it on thick? Then again, Tulip would have seen through that. Julia couldn't blame her. It was a bit suspicious to have three husbands dying on her.
"You don't sound all that enthusiastic."
Julia looked at her. Hmph. Enthusiastic. There was something she didn't do very often. Her gaze returned to the other woman. Tulip's arms were folded. Her brow was creased. She was wearing a skirt, for once. "I'm sure it'll be better once the planning is over. It's all very stressful, you know. I don't even know the difference between all these doilies, for one."
Tulip's incredibly skeptical look was not encouraging. Why did she have to be concerned?!
Julia had gotten engaged behind her back and everything. There was even a giant sparkly diamond ring on her finger to add insult to injury. And yet, Tulip seemed more worried about this marriage than she was. Quit her job and have children? Julia thought not. He was going off the balcony the first chance she got.
"Do me a favor and take the ring off."
Julia shrugged and slid the ring off her finger. It was surprisingly heavy. Her hand already felt lighter. At this rate, she was just going to do what it took to appease Tulip. Tulip walked over and gently cupped the side of her face. Julia wondered if Tulip was going to kiss her. Wait, did Tulip just not care about-
"You're already looking better. Why are you doing this?"
Julia was unable to speak. There wasn't a way she could explain it all without sounding horrid. She wanted to say something awful to scare Tulip away. The words caught in her throat.
Julia felt her lips part but no sweet lies left the opening. How could she explain the deep, deep, emptiness that growing up with nothing and her parents ignoring her had left a void? A void that felt like it would eat her alive. She couldn't go back. She just needed one more. One more husband for security. That was all.
"Julia? Are you okay?"
Julia shook herself out of…whatever that was. Tulip was gently holding her hands. "Yes, fine."
Julia knew that her voice sounded a touch robotic. Tulip squeezed her hands. She felt a bit cold. "I'm sorry if I startled you. You do know that forced marriage is a cri-"
Oh. Oh. Oh, dear. Julia pulled Tulip into a hug. There was a wave of warmth in her chest. Tulip was adorable. And somehow thought she was innocent. Tulip's arms were gently wrapped around her. Julia felt somewhere between laughing and crying. "I'll be fine, Tulip. You'll see. Why don't you meet Eustace tonight? I'm sure he'd let me bring you over."
Tulip looked at her. There were better names to have, she would admit. Okay, it was funny. Julia giggled slightly. "You're marrying a man named Eustace? Eustace."
Julia started laughing. The name was hilarious and so dreadfully out of fashion. Tulip was laughing as well. "His last name is Fendley."
Tulip smirked slightly. It was only then that Julia realized what that sentence sounded like. "I'm sure he is. Now, what's his real last name so I can background check him?"
Julia cackled. She gasped for breath as Tulip just looked at her somewhat grumpily. Look, she was trying very hard to take Tulip's concerns seriously. It was just that she was Julia Rothman, black widow extraordinaire. "It's Fendley. You spell it F-E-N-D-L-E-Y."
Tulip gave her a probably well-deserved scathing look. Julia was still tempted to keep laughing. It was funny. "Congratulations, soon-to-be Mrs. Eustance Fondly."
Julia rolled her eyes. Tulip was just being petty now. Then again, Julia was marrying him instead of living with her. Petty was probably warranted. Tulip did work for MI6. There was a lot she could do to make obtaining a marriage license difficult. "It's Eustace Fendley, Tulip. Please try to get it right during dinner."
Tulip's eyes took on an unholy gleam. Julia felt a slight chill go down her spine. Perhaps dinner was a bad idea. Especially with Tulip in a rather…civil disobedience kind of mood.
"Oh, I will. Don't you worry."
Julia was not entirely reassured as Tulip left. Hopefully, she wouldn't prematurely poison Eustace. That would be unfortunate. Julia hadn't had to try very hard but there had still been some work put in. The trap was set. Now all she needed to do was reel her prey in.
Fin
Based on a prompt by Zyzyax (see story summary). This is the 283rd work in the Winds of Change 2022 Alex Rider Prompt event, where a new prompt (plus a short 1-3K work) is posted every day. For more details, see the AO3 collection. We have an index of all the prompts used in this event so far and going forwards - join the discord to get access to the online index (and to take part in our events, chat about everything and anything, and meet a load of awesome people!
