7.
~ Ariadne felt like there was a whole in her body as she rode the elevator up to her apartment. It was difficult to breath as strange new pain inside her hurt.
She had left her parents after threatening her mother. A strange sort of victory taking hold of her and making her feel oddly better about everything. A belated revenge that didn't seem to satisfy. She had been so happy before. Why had they come back into her life? She had mercifully forgotten about them. Even forgetting about Sammy.
She breathed deeply as her head started to spin. She felt deflated of air somehow. Seeing her mother and father again had taken something out of her. Had wounded her.
'Maybe now they will go away. The sooner we move to New York, the better.' She thought. Maybe she could convince Arthur to move the family right away. He still owned the luxury apartment that he grew up in. He stayed there when he went to the city on business trips.
She sighed in relief as the lift dinged her to the right floor. She had let herself in and didn't take in her surrounding before calling out:
"I'm back, Mrs. Mills! Sorry it took so long. I stayed out later with the girls then I thought."
"Sadie and Sarah called." Arthur's voice came back. "Said you left them over an hour ago. Went to talk to some strange homeless couple on the street and that you left with them."
Ariadne froze. She didn't turn around as her mind raced with how much Arthur knew. How much he thought he knew. How much could she give away. Her delicate web of lies coming undone.
Slowly, she turned around to see her husband. His face was kind and concerned. His dress shirt sleeves rolled up and his tie loosened slightly. He wasn't angry or upset. He was her friend, her lover, her husband.
"The bank called me to. Something about a strange man coming in to cash a very large check sign by you. A check made out to cash. They wanted to let me know about it because it's not like us." He added.
She said nothing as her heart beat faster and faster. Her web coming undone. Unraveling and plunging her down.
"You want to tell me what's going on? Or do you plan to tell me more lies about how the security company charged you four times more then they quoted?" He said curtly.
Ariadne was breathing hard as the pain in her body gripped her tightly and she started seeing black spots before her.
'Don't faint.' She told herself before becoming dizzy. Her world turning upside down as she vaguely heard Arthur calling her name before she hit the floor.
Seven years ago...
~ She was sitting in a lawyer's office. Her adoptive parents funeral was only a few days ago and she was still in shock that the kind, old couple had died so suddenly. A tragic house fire that had burned their lovely little home to the ground while she was out with her new school friends, Sadie and John.
"It seems you have been left more then enough money to finish school with." The lawyer told her at last. He had detailed all of their estate. Much of it going to her and other family members.
The soon to be Architect was weighted down with the guilt that in the past few years, she had not been the loving daughter she had promised herself to be. She had been too independent a teenager. Too bold.
Victoria had cried when she announced she wanted to move out on her own.
"Is this because of some boy?" The old lady had asked. "Because you want to be with him? It's alright. A pretty girl like you should be dating."
"No. It's not because of any boy." Ariadne said and that was the truth.
She hadn't dated much and avoided intimate relations. Her fear of certain things getting the better of her although she never let it show. Never spoke a word about it. Just like Miss Annie said.
"No, I just want to be on my own." She told them.
Her adoptive father had rented her a nice apartment in a trendy and safe part of the city.
"You can walk to the college from here." He told her kissing her forehead sweetly. "I think you grew up too soon, Mouse." He said.
She smiled at the affectionate nick name he called her. No doubt recalling the times she sneaked into the kitchen for food when she first came to live with them. Always scared they would be mad if she ate their food, she took small portions of things so they wouldn't notice. Hugo catching her one night and sitting down with her. Cutting up cheese for her to eat and claiming they thought they had an oddly cleaver little mouse.
Ariadne burst out crying at the memory. Right their in the lawyer's office. No one would call her 'Mouse' again.
~ Sadie and John had comforted her a great deal. Always dragging her to places to have fun. Always introducing her to new people. The leggy spider woman working hard to keep the future Architect from pulling inside herself too much. Something for which she always remained grateful.
~ She kept her grades up. She was Miles' prized pupil and the two of them would have long talks after class about anything. Miles reminding her of Hugo. The teacher telling her that her parents must be so proud of her.
Ariadne saying nothing.
~ Then one day, Ariadne was rushing from class to see Miles beckoning her. A man she had never seen before by his side. He introduced her to Mr. Cobb and her journey into dreams began.
Her intellect was challenged in a way it had never been before. The men around her treated her well and she found her mind and imagination stretched to the point she didn't think she could embrace any more new ideas.
Then, there was Arthur. He challenged her and taught her the dream world. She found herself trusting him. He would listen to her in that quite, easy way of his. Everything about their relationship was easy.
She had meant what she said about not knowing sex could be so wonderful. To her, sex had always been uncomfortable and unpleasant. Their remaining week on the first level of the dream had been an eye opener. She had never been with a man like this. Never devoted herself to making love all day.
Her body reveling in the sheer, addictive joy of it.
How easy it was to be with him. To trust him, to love him.
The lies started almost at once. She had lied when she told him that she had a boyfriend who she had slept with before him. The reality was, Ariadne had never had a boyfriend. The entire world of romantic love new to her.
Present Day...
~ "Ariadne?" Arthur's voice came to her.
Her eyes fluttered open as she was looking at a ceiling. The glaring, white ceiling of a hospital.
"What happened?" She croaked weakly. Her body felt drained and sedated.
"You passed out." He whispered. He took a deep breath and held her hand. "You started bleeding and I had the ambulance take you to the hospital. I was worried you were having a miscarriage."
"Oh, God!" She cried trying to sit up. "The baby?"
"The baby is fine." He told her holding her hand tightly. "I had them check him. The doctor want's you on bed rest for a few days. Says your under too much stress."
She cried then as her husband rubbed her back. The Point Man climbing into the hospital bed with her. Whispering sweet things in her ear. Chasing the specters away.