A/N: Oh-kay. For those of my readers that do not like Arianna, beware. This short-ish chapter is Ari-centric.
Chapter 6 - A Blast From The Past
Arianna Ashdown Capello was chewing on a pen as she sat at one of the outdoor coffee shops at the Holbrook train station. Her eyes kept flicking up periodically to check the time on a giant clock that hung over the main entrance. It was a quarter to one, and she was beginning to grow weary of waiting. Impatience was one of her (many) flaws.
She was here to pick up a wealthy industrialist who had gotten involved in the latest series of burglaries and mysterious disappearances around the town and its neighbouring hamlets. The businessman had a sprawling mansion in one of Holbrook's richest and least inhabited neighbourhoods. He had personally asked Arianna to take his interview, because he knew that she was the only one who would keep his identity anonymous and provide a (fairly) objective version of his side of the story. Well, right now, Arianna had a good mind to go back to her office and write a scathing article stripping bare all the dirty secrets that this certain tycoon kept in his closet full of skeletons. Calm down, she needed to calm down. Her temper always got the better of her.
A train from New York City pulled in, the fifth that she had seen, and she hoped that this one was the one her source had decided to travel by. He was taking the train to preserve his anonymity, as he'd felt sure that certain 'stalkers' would follow his car (which was probably a limo or something just as flashy) everywhere. Sure enough, she could make out a tall man with salt and pepper hair, a long overcoat (although it was getting hot already), and clad in an obviously tailor-made three piece suit. Well, at least the man had style. She prized good dressing sense, in men and women, and this helped ease some (not all) of her irritation. She got up from her seat, abandoning her half-drunk cup of coffee, laid down a few dollar bills, and hurried down the platform, waving her hand to get his attention.
The crowd thinned as the passengers exited through the gates and Arianna found herself face-to-face with not one, but two figures. One of them, she knew. She'd been expecting him. The other one looked so familiar that her heart lurched.
Jesus Christ. It couldn't be, could it? But she'd never met her before. How would she know?
"Ms. Ashdown!", the man (who must not be named) boomed, clapping Arianna hard on the back as some sort of primeval greeting that most probably would leave her with a bruise. "Shall we get down to business?", he asked, taking out a cigar and lighting it. "You don't mind if we do it here, right? At some discreet little cafe? My treat", he chortled, and started walking towards the coffee shop that Arianna had spent the better part of the day at.
"I brought my friend's daughter along. She needed a change of scenery, and had to get her nose out of those thick textbooks. I hope you don't mind. I trust her with all my secrets, it's not like she'll go and tell on me. Will you, Danielle?", he laughed, messing up the brunette locks of the girl who had accompanied him. The same girl who was staring at Arianna as if she'd seen a ghost (or someone out of a half-forgotten dream.)
"No, Uncle Jack", the girl named Danielle replied, forcing a smile.
This was too much of a coincidence. (Or perhaps, it was proof that Arianna didn't need.)
"Shall we start?", 'Uncle Jack' asked, once they'd settled in at a table for three and ordered their coffees. (Arianna wanted to drown in caffeine, maybe then her stupid delusions would clear. It couldn't be her. Could it?)
"Yes", Arianna replied, taking out her notepad and slim recorder, her hands shaking. She couldn't mess this up. She wouldn't. Certainly not because of someone who could be the girl that had run away with her heart more than eight years ago.
Emily had just gotten home when she heard the front door open slowly, hesitantly. She set her bag full of swimming gear down on the floor, expecting her girlfriend to come inside and fill up the room with her personality. She knew the drill. Arianna would exclaim with surprise, as if she still hadn't gotten used to seeing Emily around in her house, then she would attack her with kisses, all the while murmuring things like how much she had missed her.
But things weren't going to happen that way today. A scowling Arianna walked in, her features twisted with some unreadable emotion. She didn't even seem to notice Emily, and instead tossed her satchel on the couch, and started to make her way upstairs.
"Hey, babe. How was work today?", Emily trilled, her eyebrows knitted with confusion. What the hell was going on?
Only silence answered her, and then a loud bang. Their bedroom door. She heard drawers being opened upstairs, followed by several more bangs. It sounded like a tornado had hit her house. Emily sighed, and ran upstairs, pausing at their door which had probably rebounded off the frame and opened again. Inside, she saw opened wardrobes, clothes all over the floor, sheets of paper tossed as if by a storm, and an empty rucksack on the bed.
"Ari, what's wrong?", Emily whispered hesitantly, fearing the onslaught of Arianna's infamous anger. Again, the stoic silence taunted her.
Arianna ignored her and started stuffing her clothes into the backpack, a muscle twitching in her jaw. Her face was impassive, but her eyes looked like black, stormy waves caught up in a deadly whirlpool. Emily ached to reach out to her and comfort her, but she was scared. She had never seen this side of her girlfriend. Silence was something one never expected from Arianna Ashdown Capello. When the two had first met, Arianna had come off as a shy, introverted girl who seemed to be anything but social. Emily had assumed that finally she'd met someone just like herself. But the more she got to know her, the more she realized that Ari was only shy to people she didn't know. As soon as she got familiar with somebody, there was no stopping her. She was opinionated, and she always felt the need to voice her opinions (even if they were inappropriate or hurtful).
"You have to talk to me. You can't ignore me forever, you know", Emily tried to be the voice of reason, hoping that her compassion showed in her voice. She couldn't understand the taller girl's behaviour. What could have gotten her in such a bad mood? Another fight with Aaron? Some stupid socio-economic issue?
Arianna froze, a gray jacket dangling from her hand, and looked up at her. When their gazes locked, Emily felt an uncomfortable sensation slither down her backbone. Her girlfriend's eyes were brimming with a silent plea. Stop. Talking.
When Arianna finished packing, she picked up her bag, grabbed an armful of old novels from the shelves lining the walls, and strode past Emily as if she were nothing but a piece of furniture. Not even a second glance. Nothing.
Resentment bubbled up inside Emily. She couldn't help feeling it, and she felt a voice screaming inside her head. She was her girlfriend, for god's sake! How could Arianna just pack up and leave like she was nothing? She was being treated worse than some pet. That's when she noticed a bright yellow Post-It stuck to the mirror. It had been scrawled over, with a hasty hand, with Emily's favourite lipstick (that had been tossed to the floor, open). It read:
Be back in few days. Something came up. Don't fret. -A
The familiar letter still managed to send a chill down Emily's spine but she ignored that. The note was so impersonal. Clinical. Robotic. (No goodbyes, no 'I'll explain later's, no 'I love you's.)
She was sick of this. She heard an engine revving, and the squeal of tires on asphalt. Emily scrunched up the note, tossed it over her shoulder as she bounded downstairs and raced outside, slamming the front door behind her. Arianna's black SUV was backing out of their garage with reckless speed, but Emily was fearless. She ran to the driver's side of the car and smacked her palm against the glass. "Get out! We need to talk. You can't just run away", she yelled, ignoring the stares from the couples that were walking past. A dog barked somewhere in the distance.
Arianna didn't even glance in her direction, and instead reversed the big vehicle with surprising speed and agility, forcing Emily to jog to keep up with her. Emily kept banging on the window, hoping to get her attention, as she kept yelling. "Please, stop! Ari!"
The car accelerated, almost knocking her over as it drove away. "You can't just leave! I'm your fucking girlfriend!", Emily screamed, not noticing the fact that she was cursing (she rarely ever used swear words), not noticing the curious looks from old ladies out on a pleasant evening stroll. She didn't even see the BMW X6 that slowly moved to the wrong side of the road and stopped beside her. All she saw was red. The world was scarlet.
The bang of a car door broke her out of her frozen state. She looked up and saw Spencer in front of her. Her best friend was clad in a tailored suit and a fitted pencil skirt, looking very serious and business-like. She had clearly been on her way home. Emily suddenly felt self conscious. Had Spencer seen her break down? She wondered what the brunette thought, and felt herself growing hot with embarrassment over her earlier lack of self-control.
"Emily? Are you okay? I heard you...yelling. And who was driving that car like crazy? It almost hit me", Spencer grinned. Her smile fell once she understood the gravity of the situation. "You know what? Get in."
Emily just stared at her, baffled.
Spencer rolled her eyes, smiling. "In the car, I mean. Be a good girl, now". Her tone was slightly bossy, but serious. She took Emily's hand and ushered her into the passenger seat, closing the door behind her. She got in and started the engine, idling for a little while as her mind worked.
"Was that Arianna?", Spencer ventured, hesitant. Emily looked hurt, confused...sad. Spencer wondered how it would feel to run over the journalist's smug face.
"Yeah." A small sound, a weak acceptance. Spencer found herself frowning, and she reached forward and took Emily's hand.
"It's okay if you don't wanna talk about it."
"She just left. We didn't even have a fight or anything. She just got home from work, packed her bags and left. She left a stupid note. Three sentences. I was in the same house as her, but she didn't say a word to me", Emily explained, her words a little slow, her speech halting. The lines of her face were stretched with dismay. Disappointment. Pain.
"Where did she go? Did she mention that?", Spencer questioned, squeezing Emily's hand to let her know that she was there for her. This girlfriend of hers seemed pretty moronic. Who did something like that? She'd never liked Arianna to begin with.
"No. Just that she'll be gone for a few days. I don't understand, Spence. Everything was going so well...and now I just don't know." A defeated sigh. A dejected countenance.
"Do you want to..you know...just forget about it? Let's go on a drive." Spencer's voice was tinged with hope, and suddenly, her mind reverted back to the dream she had had. (No, please, not that. Not again. Not now!)
Emily smiled at Spencer, some of the sadness in her eyes draining away at the kindness in Spencer's voice. "I..I would love that. Yes, please."
"At your service, ma'am", Spencer faked a British accent and doffed an invisible hat, making the tanned girl burst out into giggles. She'd always thought Spencer Hastings was such an English name, and Spencer somehow managed to get the pronunciation just right. Her subservient expression was hilarious, as it seemed so unnatural on the usually bossy girl.
Spencer stepped on the accelerator, and made a u-turn, driving wherever the road took them. (Toby had been erased from her mind like chalk wiped with a wet cloth from a slate.) She never liked unknown things, always preferred journeys that were planned and had a fixed destination. But with Emily by her side, for the first time Spencer felt like maybe, it was the process of getting there that mattered.
A/N: So, don't be disappointed. I know it's short, but I left the actual drive for the next chapter. And yes, Arianna's disappearance does have something to do with the new character. I'm wondering whether I should make Arianna a full-fledged character or not. Suggestions? Maybe later. Sorry for neglecting poor Toby! (And keep the reviews coming! xD)
LaughLoveLiveXx: To Kill A Mockingbird is one of my favourite books as well. (I wish Atticus was real!) Ari is a character that's basically a bundle of contradictions, and her literary choices say a lot about her as a person. Freud is strange, haha. Glad you liked the dream, I was kind of worried about that.
ag: Thanks a lot for the kind comment! x)
Cha: I think I'll include Hanna and Aria in future chapters. And more flashbacks are on the way!
064548 : Haha, while writing the dream sequence, I was all too conscious of Aria's smexy dreams about Jason, so I tried to make it as different as possible. (Although who wouldn't wanna dream about a shirtless Emily?) I think Spencer's confused about what she wants from Emily, but we know better, right? ;)
x-sugarfree-x: Yeah, possessiveness is like a HUGE part of Arianna, which will really cause a lot of problems in the future! Spencer Hastings never settles for second place. xD
spinoza-off: Thanks for the lovely response! The dream was basically a glimpse into Spencer's unfulfilled desires. She's obviously someone who loves having hectic schedules, but she also has a side that craves for an easy life. I made Ari a journalist on purpose, to kind of stress how Ari seems to have the life (and love) that Spencer wants. Arianna's background will be delved into, of course, in the next chapter, I suppose. And the mystery surrounding her abrupt departure as well. Most of her personality is because of her past.
Emily's basically dissatisfied with her life, but unlike Spencer, her unwanted desires aren't that clear to her. She's still struggling with herself as she used to in the past.
anon: Thank you! x)