Disclaimer: Maleficent and its characters belong to Disney.
Note:
mal·e·dic·tion
(n.) a curse; imprecation
It had taken a long time, maybe hours, for Aurora to fall asleep the previous night because of the very short conversation with her father. She hadn't even eaten dinner and went to the kitchen in the middle of the night, her stomach grumbling so loudly it kept her awake. So all she does when she hears her phone buzzing is roll to her side and hide under her blanket to muffle the noise. It finally stops and she relaxes, sighing and closing her eyes to go back to sleep. She feels herself slowly drifting toward unconsciousness again. She startles. Her phone is buzzing once more. Aurora groans and rolls to the other side of her bed so she can get her phone from the nightstand. She swipes a finger over the screen without opening an eye - it can only be her mother calling this early in the morning.
"Mom, I'll call you back later, okay?"
There is a small snort that doesn't anything like her mother and Aurora stiffens.
"I am afraid it will not be possible for you to call later. I have a busy schedule."
The voice is deep, soft and really soothing. Aurora is certain this voice would be enough to help her find sleep. Mal's voice. Aurora sits up quickly in a mess of blankets and tangled golden hair.
"Mal! I'm sorry! I didn't look who was calling! I-"
"Don't worry, Aurora. It's all right. I was only calling to ask if you would be free for a date tonight."
Aurora nervously runs a hand through her hair. She opens her mouth and closes it to bite down on her lip. As much as she enjoys spending time with Mal, going to all these fancy restaurants isn't her thing - she prefers ordering pizzas and watching a movie, comfortably sitting on a couch. Should she tell Mal that?
"Aurora?"
Aurora apologizes for her silence, stuttering a little as she repeats the same words again and again.
"You can say no if you already have plans."
"No! I mean, yes! Maybe...?" Aurora pauses to take a deep breath, unable to stop herself from giggling when she hears Mal's mocking laugh. "I don't have anything planned..."
"But?"
Mal seems to have noticed the fact Aurora's voice had trailed off in hesitation. She must be used to noticing all these little details, it is without a doubt a useful skill for such a powerful businesswoman, Aurora thinks.
"Do we have to go to a restaurant again?"
Aurora's question is only met by silence, so, assuming Mal is expecting more, she continues talking.
"I know going to these luxurious restaurants is normal for you. But we're supposed to be a... harmonious couple, aren't we? Maybe we could do something casual, something part of my daily life?"
Mal hums in what sounds like approval and a smile appears on Aurora's exhausted features.
"What do you propose we do?"
"We could go to the movies and order takeout afterward..."
Diaval is laughing so much he can feel his cheeks starting to hurt. He tries to control himself by breathing slowly but the look on his boss' face is too much to handle and he falls into another fit of laughter each time he looks at her. It is only when Mal throws a pen at him, scolding him for being unreasonably immature, that he finally manages to calm down. He sits up properly in the chair and clears his throat under Mal's stare.
"You're not going to survive this," Diaval says.
Mal arches an eyebrow questioningly before sighing and looking back down at the papers scattered over her desk.
"You hate not knowing exactly what you're eating. And the most recent movie you've watched is probably The Breakfast Club. Probably the last one you watched in a theater."
The glare Mal gives him makes Diaval tremble. No matter how much time he spends with her, he will most probably never stop being afraid of that look. His boss is the most terrifying person he knows, that's for sure - not even Stefan and his constant shouting can beat her.
"Going to the theater appears to be necessary to make our relationship believable. And I will not eat..." Mal pauses, frowning a little, and flicks her hand dismissively. "Whatever Aurora orders."
Diaval scoffs, immediately regretting it as another pen flies in his direction. It misses him not even by an inch. Mal really needs to stop throwing stuff at him; it is becoming more dangerous by the day to work for her. Not that he'd tell her. Maybe he should ask Aurora to mention it to Mal for him. Asking Aurora to be his messenger for dangerous subjects could be a great idea; Mal likes the girl more than she'd care to admit - it is obvious - and would, maybe if he is lucky enough, forget to scold him. He smirks and rubs his hands together.
"You can go back to your desk and pretend to work now."
Diaval places a hand over his heart and gives an exaggerated gasp.
"I am truly offended, boss. After everything I've done for you, this is how you treat me?"
He rises to his feet, hand still on his chest.
"Try not to break your chair again." Mal says as she looks back down at her papers, shaking her head.
Diaval walks away but stops at the open doors of his boss' office, grinning widely.
"When you decide to stop pretending that you're not trying to organize your wedding, tell me, and I'll help you!"
He sees Mal reaching for her stapler and immediately closes the glass doors. One day, she will admit that she doesn't hate this wedding as much as she says she does. Diaval sighs as he sits at his desk. He's always known Mal never liked talking about her feelings, but it's gotten even worse ever since Stefan barged into her office two weeks ago. If the father was the reason for Mal hide herself behind walls, the daughter might be the one to break them down. Diaval smiles and nods to himself.
It is already noon but Aurora is still wearing her pajamas. Her father is at work and her nannies aren't here because Phillip will most certainly not be allowed back in the apartment any time soon. She closes the nearly empty fridge, a slice of pizza - leftovers from the weekend - in one hand and a can of soda in the other. She takes a first bite of her cold pizza and puts down the can as she takes a look at the groceries list on the kitchen table. A word written in her father's scrawl has been underlined three times. Beer. Aurora sighs. She will have to go groceries shopping soon, knowing all too well how her father wants his beers when he comes back from a weekend at his girlfriend's. For a moment, she wonders if Stefan even knows the woman's name. He never told her.
There is a knock at the door. It's probably just the triplets again; knocking on random doors and running away is their latest game. Her slice of pizza still between her teeth, Aurora goes to open the door.
"Very elegant of you."
The pizza almost falls from Aurora's mouth. She never expected her mother to come to Stefan's apartment ever again. But here she is, standing in front of her, a big smile on her lips.
"Sorry, mom. I tend to let myself go when I'm alone."
Leila's smile becomes even brighter.
"I know, sweetheart. I raised you, remember?"
Aurora nods, mirroring her mother's smile as they stare at each other in a complete silence.
"Aren't you going to invite me in?"
"Oh! Please, come in!" Aurora exclaims as she moves away from the door to let her mother walk inside the apartment.
An uncomfortable silence settles in as soon as Leila walks into the kitchen to take a seat. It has been years since the last time she came here. She doesn't seem lost, though.
"It's like going to my mother's. I know the place by heart but I don't want to be there."
Aurora sits down on the opposite side of the table, finishing the last bites of her pizza as quickly as she can without looking like a pig, aware of how disgusted her mother is by people not using utensils to eat - Stefan often called her stuck-up for that reason.
"Do you want to drink anything?"
"No, thank you, sweetheart," Leila answers, her voice turning into a whisper as her gaze falls on the grocery list.
She averts her eyes, but not without rolling them. Aurora smiles, hoping to take her mother's mind off of the list that mostly consists of unhealthy food and seemingly useless things Stefan likes to add from time to time.
"You probably already guessed that I didn't come here just to see you. So I won't waste more time with small talk. Are you sure you want to marry this woman?"
"Yes, mom, I'm sure. I already told you that she makes me happy. Isn't it the most important?"
Leila nods and sighs.
"Your father used to make me happy too, you know? We got married, things were fine for some time and you know how everything ended. It might be too early."
Her mother is being hypocritical, but Aurora knows she only wants to protect her from making the same mistakes. God, Aurora wishes she could tell her the truth about the wedding. But she is already too deep in the lies around her relationship with Mal, she can't just go back now. She has to keep lying. At least, that's what she tells herself to forget about the guilt.
"Mal and I have been together for almost a year. We've been talking about getting married for quite some time. We know what we're doing, mom, trust me."
Aurora takes in long and deep breaths as she grabs Leila's hand. It's not nervousness she feels, but rather disgust and fear. She used to be unable to tell the simplest lie and yet, in a few days, lying to the people she loves the most has become natural. What if it turns into an habit, something she can't stop herself from doing?
"Sweetheart? Daydreaming again?"
Aurora startles. She feels her cheeks reddening with shame so she tilts her head to hide behind her hair. Leila giggles softly, making Aurora look up at her.
"You haven't changed a bit. Your father and Moore are taking better care of you than I expected, it seems."
Leila's phone starts ringing so she takes it out of her handbag to answer the call. Despite the interruption, Aurora keeps smiling. Her mother has still kept the same ringtone for all these years, the same as hers: Once Upon A Dream.
"I'm coming, Mike. Stop panicking, Stefan isn't here."
She hangs up and rises to her feet under Aurora's confused gaze.
"Sorry, sweetheart, but I have to go. Mike is taking me to a restaurant for lunch."
Aurora follows her mother to the door. Leila wraps an arm around Aurora's shoulders and kisses the side of her head.
"I'll see you soon, I promise... Oh! And don't forget to call me as soon as you have a date for the wedding. I need to be sure that Mike and I will be able to attend it... Moving in back to New York is much more of a mess than anything we expected."
Moving back here? Aurora frowns and opens her mouth to ask about it but Leila is speaking again.
"Our apartment in Boston is too small for a family. And I wanted to see you more often. I'll tell you all about it later, okay?"
Aurora doesn't have time to say anything; her mother has already turned her back to her and is walking away as quickly as her high heels allow her to.
"No," Diaval simply says as Mal walks down the stairs.
"I didn't even say anything, bird brains."
Diaval sighs and shakes his head. Examining his boss' outfit from head to toe again, he lets out another sigh, leaning back in the couch just for a second before standing up.
"You're going to the movies with a college student. Not a seminary."
"Are you ever going to be content with the way I dress?"
"Not until you learn that the business look is only for work!"
Mal gives Diaval a slap at the top of his head, smirking proudly when he winces and takes a few steps back to get out of her reach. To think Diaval used to shut up and shake in fear any time she just looked at him when they first met...
"I haven't been on dates in years. The appropriate way to dress for one is not part of my knowledge anymore."
"Nice way to admit that you don't know something, oh almighty boss!"
The glare Mal gives him is enough to make him step back even more. Good thing there is nothing she can throw at him, or he would have had to run away.
"Anyway!" He claps his hands together. "You need to look gorgeous, devilishly sexy. To make Aurora's jaw drop to the ground-"
"This is not some idiotic romance movie, Diaval. We are not going to fall in love with each other."
Diaval stares at Mal as she climbs the stairs to go back to her bedroom and find something else to wear. Too late, he thinks. No matter how much Mal denies it, the truth is she got attached to Aurora after only a few days. He knows that soon, there will only be a blurred line between affection and love. But all he can do is pray for Mal to realize that there is nothing wrong with loving someone, not even a twenty year-old woman. Aurora's sweetness, generosity and constant happiness are exactly what she needs.
"What are you doing, Diaval? Move your backside upstairs!"