"God fucking dammit, Snooki. Can you be any drunker?"
When it wasn't Odette's team up to something weird or stupid, her mother always picked up the slack-when she was home, at least. She'd only been back in Kalos since Sunday night, and she was taking every possible moment after to enjoy her leisure time. Vienna Cinq-Mars wasn't a subtle woman by any means—if she wanted to sit home all day and scream at her reality TV shows, that's what she did. And if she didn't want to wear pants while she was doing that…well, she didn't.
As Odette walked through from her bedroom to the kitchen, she scrunched her eyebrows at the sight of her mother cradling a bowl of nachos like a newly laid Pokemon egg while she yelled at the orange Unovans on their TV screen. At least she had the common decency to put on a pair of granny panties rather than of one of the thongs she managed to leave all over the house during laundry days.
Vienna's longtime partner, Thea-a quiet and observant gardevoir-sat beside her, knitting and looking completely unfazed by everything happening around her. As she usually did.
"You could at least watch something fulfilling, like a horror movie," Odette commented.
"Or quite literally anything else," Solene chirped. She shuffled over to the couch and sat down next to Thea. Ever the punctual one, she was already ready to go. She decided to pass the time by watching Thea with her needles. Isaur, Ange, Enora, and Loïc were still hanging out in their balls back in Odette's bedroom, so none of them were out and about to keep her company.
"What's more horrific than that spray tan? I swear, I got better color just climbing up the side of Coronet in the middle of a blizzard," Vienna said. She then threw one of the chips in her mouth. "The Unovans really know what they're doing with their TV."
"Agree to disagree," Odette said.
She fanned her wet eyeliner as she pulled open the fridge. Her eyes fell on the last available water bottle, and she grabbed it in one quick motion. She hadn't even left for her outing with Dorien yet, and she already felt like she was going to explode.
It had been a week since she had reluctantly approached him in class again and "apologized" for her foul attitude after their battle. She chalked it up to a bad rehearsal week, and he seemed more than willing to forgive her. When she offered that they "hang out after class," he took every opportunity to treat her to extravagant excursions. Private jet flight from Lumiose to Gloire one day, a limousine ride to the movies the next. The plan for the day was a trip to a fancy restaurant on a private man-made island off the coast of Avignon Town, where apparently a cup of soup cost more than she made in an hour's work. She only knew that much because she'd searched up the menu out of morbid curiosity.
She felt idiotic getting as dressed up as she was. It was already a pain in the ass to wake up every morning to straighten her hair and do her full seven-step skincare routine, but adding on a full face of makeup and a nude, loose-fitting cocktail dress that hadn't seen the light of day since her first college party somehow made it all harder.
She didn't want to make herself look that good for Dorien; he didn't deserve to see her in such a state. However, since the restaurant they were going to seemed so high-end, she'd be cutting off her nose to spite her own face if she decided to roll up in a tracksuit instead. Prettying up was a necessary evil here. She'd have to deal with his stupid goo-goo eyes and try not to gouge them out in the process.
She began chugging the water, hoping it would do something to ease her mind for the time being.
"Easy there, you're going to choke," Vienna warned over the noise coming from the TV.
Once she'd managed to down half of it, she relented. "That's always the goal," she said sarcastically.
"You should really try training up your gag reflex then. Trust me, it's worth it."
She could thank her lucky stars she wasn't drinking at that moment because she'd have spit everything out.
"Maman," she sputtered. "You're disgusting."
"I'll say!" Solene said.
"Gods almighty, Vienna, really?" Thea whined, sending a deadpan look toward Vienna, who snickered and covered her mouth.
"Whoops."
Odette had to take a second to compose herself before she stormed back out to the living room. "I know it's not your thing, but you need something holy in your life. Church might be the answer," she jeered.
"No, I've resigned myself to the fact that I am a filthy sinner. I've found that all religion is good for is furthering my studies," Vienna chided, waving her hand dismissively. "Besides, Arcean services stopped being interesting when you barfing into my lap became a staple of us visiting."
They'd never been a religious family by any means. Vienna's specialty as a licensed Pokemon Professor had her dabbling in all walks of the occult sciences, so she was never one to focus on any one religion, and thankfully, didn't expect Odette to either.
However, that never stopped them from attending a few holiday services at the local Arcean church back in the day. But, the visits always ended with Odette's embarrassing nausea spells and subsequent emergency sprints to the bathroom. It was like her boredom with the long, drawn-out services manifested into physical illness each and every time.
Rolling her eyes, Odette crossed her arms. "Pardon me, not like I liked getting queasy every time we walked into that church. What, did they not teach you how to deal with children's vomit in teen mom school?"
Vienna threw a few chips into her mouth and barely chewed them before snapping back. "Of course they did, but that doesn't mean it was fun."
"Don't talk with your mouth full," Odette said.
"I'm forty fucking years old, I can do whatever the hell I want."
To that, Odette scoffed. "Forty years old with the mentality of an eighteen-year-old."
"Yep, all mental growth stopped as soon as they cut your preemie butt out of me, snookums," Vienna agreed, raising a thumb.
Odette wished she'd somehow grown some mental wall against Vienna's out-of-pocket comments over the years. Something like that set them apart from other mother-daughter duos; Vienna liked to act more like an obnoxious older sister, and it didn't help that she looked the part. People mistook them for siblings all the time. At forty years of age, she still managed to look like she was thirty-something.
"I'll say it again. You're disgusting," Odette said.
"Well, I'll say that you're beautiful. You never dress like this," Vienna gushed.
"Are you even listening to me?"
"Mm, no. I'm too busy taking in the rare image of you in something that isn't a pair of fucking joggers."
Odette rolled her eyes so far back that it triggered a headache. She downed the rest of her water as she trudged back to her bathroom, throwing the empty bottle in the trashcan next to the sink. "Just for that, I'm spending my next paycheck on more joggers."
"Oh no, the humanity," Vienna laughed. "Why must you do us such a disservice and hide those dancer legs from the world?"
Odette decided the best way to stop the harassment was to ignore it. She began digging through her makeup trunk, trying to figure out what lipstick she should bother slathering on. She wondered if it would even be worth the trouble. Her lips looked perfectly fine without it, thanks to the blessing of Vienna's big billowy lip genes. And she didn't want to give Dorien more reason to stare at her.
"Hey Maman, do you have some chapstick anywhere?" she called.
"Probably somewhere in my bathroom. Or under my bed. Or in my underwear drawer. Who knows, really? I'm always losing them," Vienna said.
"Thanks, you're a real help."
RotomPhone, sitting on the back of the toilet, suddenly began to ring, and her shoulders tensed at the sound of it.
"Bzzzt! Bzzzt! Incoming call from Dorien 'Dickhead' Bonhomme!" he said, causing her to groan.
"Fuck," she muttered. She slammed her makeup trunk closed and slipped on the heels she'd set next to the bathtub. "Incoming, Solene!" she yelled, grabbing her phone and trudging back to the living room.
The gothitelle was already up at the door, holding Odette's purse.
"Need this?" she asked.
"Yep," Odette said, snatching the bag. "Let's get going."
Vienna paused the TV and threw her arms up in the air triumphantly. "Have fun, my love!" she said. "I slipped a condom in your purse just in case. It's a heat-activated one, so it's supposed to make things superb."
Thea's one good eye slipped shut, and she buried her face in her hand. "Vienna..."
Vienna shrugged. "What, she's in the game, and I want to ensure she's safe and having a good time. What the hell is wrong with that?"
If looks could kill, Vienna would have dropped dead under the intensity of the glare Odette sent her way. The mere thought of getting anywhere near Dorien was nauseating, but doing that? Even Solene looked disgusted.
"Oh my fucking-goodbye," Odette screamed, yanking open the door and slamming it shut once she and Solene were out in the hallway.
Another day, another private mode of transportation. A fucking yacht. She wasn't even as shocked as she'd been when she got onto his private jet earlier in the week. It was as if she was becoming desensitized to the sight of such extravagance.
She and Solene stood outside on the ship's aft deck, watching Avignon Town shrink behind them.
"There it goes," Solene said in a dejected whisper.
"There it goes indeed," Odette muttered back. She kept her arms crossed tight over her chest, fiddling nervously with the loose fabric hanging off her arm. She only stopped when Dorien approached her, holding two glasses of white wine.
"It's a bit of a ride out to the island," he said as he handed her one. "The place is only accessible by private boats and charters, so I hope you enjoy the trek."
"You always know how to pamper me," she said with her painstakingly crafted half-smile. She resisted the urge to recoil when he slinked an arm around her waist and instead settled for drinking some of the wine. Something to keep herself in place.
She wasn't expecting him to kiss her on the cheek, but she nearly choked on her sip when he did.
"Anything for you, Doll," he said tenderly.
If that was going to be the new thing, she suddenly regretted not packing a bottle of face wash in her purse. Or a can of bleach.
"My brother and I went to eat here months ago, but there was a waiting list of six months. Which is, unfortunately, pretty standard," Dorien explained, swishing some white wine around in his glass. He then sipped from it. "I wonder, did you know this place even existed? You seem like the kind of person who'd frequent more...smaller scale joints, hm?"
The backhanded comment left her gritting her teeth. Still, she chuckled.
"No, I had no idea there was even a private island in Avignon," Odette said sweetly. Years of acting classes did wonders in pulling off innocent facades. "But I trust you know all the good spots and will keep me educated, yeah?"
A goofy grin passed over his lips, and his eyes drooped smugly.
"Do you even have to ask? I'd show you the world if you'd let me," he declared, lightly bumping his forehead against hers. It would have been such a romantic line had it come from literally anybody else.
The restaurant itself was as gaudy as she expected. Every patron was dressed to the nines, even their Pokemon partners, all sitting around extravagant marble columns, diamond chandeliers, and pretty stone waterfalls built into the walls. The chatter was low, with the occasional sound of glasses clinking, wine being poured, and silverware tapping against plates. Odette felt like she would get charged a fee for just standing there and breathing.
They got their table relatively fast, and it wasn't long before Dorien launched another story about what he and his rich family and friends did in their spare time. It was really hard for her to keep up when she only wanted to shove a champagne flute down his throat.
"Have you ever been jet skiing before?" he asked her.
"Once, in Sinnoh. Part of a research expedition with my maman; her team went looking for jellicent, and they brought me along because I begged," she explained. "I think I was like...ten."
"Oh, that's fun," Dorien said teasingly. "Quaint. Nothing ever beats the jet skis we had in Paldea. They fit right into the yacht, and we were free to come and go as we pleased. But your excursion sounds neat too."
"Exca," Excadrill said. Odette had never heard any Pokemon sound pompous, even when she couldn't understand its language, but she supposed there was a first time for everything. When not battling with its crazy, strengthened Earthquake, Excadrill looked and sounded like any rich person's Pokemon partner.
She swallowed the urge to glare at him and hid it behind a loving grin, which she accentuated by thoughtfully resting her cheek in her palm. She forced out an airy mix of a scoff and a chuckle, hoping it would be enough to mask any disdain wafting off of her.
"It was a long time ago, so I'd love to go again," she said dreamily.
"Say when, and I'll make arrangements," Dorien said.
"You're going to spoil me, Dory."
"That's the point. I imagine you haven't been spoiled enough, and I certainly want to change that."
Odette could barely hear the small growl that rose out of Solene. She nudged her under the table.
The complimentary bread she'd been munching on started to come back up. She casually rubbed her chest, coaxing it back down into her stomach. Barfing in a high-end restaurant like this was hardly "lying low." She already felt out of place wearing her department store dress while it seemed every person and Pokemon around her was wearing designer attire. Even Excadrill was wearing a damn Dior jacket. She'd have asked Solene to put something nice on if she'd known.
"I'm looking forward to it. This week has been wonderful so far," she purred. She picked up her glass of mineral water and sipped it, hoping to bide her time before she had to engage in more talk. She was mildly concerned when she didn't hear a response and shot a glance at him. He'd yet to move, still gazing at her with that droopy-eyed look. It made her skin crawl.
She wished he'd just come out and say what he was thinking so she wouldn't have to continue being looked at like this. Gods knew Solene was certainly over it.
A florges approached the table, two of the entrees balanced on her hands while the other two levitated off to her sides. She bowed politely like she had every time she came back to wait on them.
"Here you are," she said, setting down the plates of food. She clasped her hands together and nodded again. "Is there anything else I can get for you?" she asked.
Dorien began setting his napkin in his lap while Excadrill mimicked him. "No, ma'am, we're all set," he said, and Odette was somewhat shocked he'd understood her. She didn't expect him to be familiar with how fairy types spoke.
The florges grinned broadly before hovering off to her next task, leaving Odette to gaze down at her food. She'd gone out of her way to get one of the cheapest things on the menu out of pure spite. She'd been very tempted by the beef bourguignon, but surely Dorien wanted her to spend his money. She wouldn't have ordered anything if she weren't as hungry as she was. Instead, she opted for a mere chicken Caprese salad.
Dorien eyed it over his lobster meal and raised a brow. "That's really all you're going to eat?" he asked. "Even Solene got more than you."
Odette looked at Solene, then down at her coq au vin. Solene stuck out her lower lip before grabbing a fork and stabbing one of the chunks of meat with it. She began to eat, and Odette shrugged her shoulders.
"I'm not that hungry," she said. "But I guess Sol is."
Dorien pursed his lips. "Are you trying to watch your figure?"
Odette's eye started to twitch, and she had to claw into the tablecloth to get a grip on herself. She could see Solene tense up out of the corner of her eye.
"I actually think my figure's fine, don't you think?" The words physically hurt to say.
"What difference does it make?" Solene said stiffly, and Odette nudged her again.
Dorien chuckled and held up his hands defensively. "Oh, you don't have to ask me. The dance lessons did you very well in the curves department."
Her eyes cut to his neck. The collar of his pressed shirt and jacket didn't cover it entirely. There was just enough exposed skin to allow an easy chokehold.
"Behave, Dorien. We're in public," she teased, swatting a hand toward him as she put all her energy into a shrill, bashful chuckle.
"Well, with your figure, I can't help but look."
It was amazing. He really thought he was being suave and flirtatious. She had to wonder if he listened to himself when he spoke. Maybe if he did, he'd realize he sounded like a douchebag. Or maybe not. Odette had started to realize that his head was so far up his ass that it was probably hard to see or hear anything else.
When she didn't immediately respond, he clicked his tongue, removed his napkin from his lap, and stood up. He motioned for Excadrill to follow him.
"We're going to go wash up. Don't miss me too much while I'm gone!" he said with a smile.
The smile she forced might have been too fake, but she played it off by politely waving as he walked off. When she was positive both were out of earshot, she brought her hands to her face and exhaled deeply.
"I'm going to fry his synapses," Solene hissed.
"I know, Sol, I know," Odette said. "Imagine how I feel."
Solene took another bite of her food. "Well, we wouldn't be in this mess if you didn't come up with such reckless ideas."
Odette pulled her face from her hands and shot a look at the gothitelle. "How many times are you going to tell me you think this is dangerous? I think I'm well aware by now. You decided to come along, so stop nagging me about it."
"I said I was coming along to be the voice of reason. I'm simply doing my job," she said with a shrug.
Odette groaned and brought her hand back to her face. She squeezed the bridge of her nose, hoping to ward off the headache that had manifested. There, she felt her mock-designer purse start vibrating on the back of her chair. She nearly jumped out of her skin to get to it, hurriedly pulling open the zipper to steal a look at the caller ID.
"Bzzzt! Incoming call from Noel Massé!" RotomPhone said as she read her friend's name on the screen. She answered it before she held it to her ear.
"Noel," she said in a breathless whisper. She brought a hand up to cover her mouth for good measure. "You need to come be a buffer. I'm going to stab him."
A snicker on the other end. "We already decided that my tagging along would defeat the purpose of this."
"I know, but holy fucking shit, this is the worst it's been all week. It's like he's evolving into a bigger scumbag whenever he opens his mouth."
"So what you're telling me is he's a Pokemon?" Noel queried.
"That's an insult to every Pokemon," Odette snapped. She noticed Solene glance at her from the corner of her eye, but decided to ignore it.
"Nothing new?" he said, a little more deflated this time.
Odette shook her head. "No. But he definitely thinks we're dating." Saying it out loud, even quietly, made her shudder.
Noel was silent for a moment, possibly contemplating the statement. "You could capitalize on that. Play gold digger for a bit and wipe him clean of his money before he dies."
"Pretty sure that only works if he's seventy years older than me," she said flatly.
"Well, you can hope he has some terminal illness you don't know about. Or pray a grimer tries to crawl into his mouth while he's sleeping."
Odette laughed at the image of Dorien choking on that particular poison type before shaking her head again. "No amount of money in the world would be worth that," she said. She paused to consider her next words. "I'm starting to wonder if it's worth it."
She had the acting down to a T, sure. She could titter at his misogynistic passes and put on the doe eyes while he talked to her about the new million-dollar car he just bought, but every time she did so, the anger would start to build. She'd gotten the hang of swallowing it down, but she'd only been at it for what, a week? And she was already exhausted. How long could she hold up before it all became too much?
Noel sighed. "We're playing the long game here, and it's only been a few days."
She pursed her lips. He was right, as much as she didn't want to admit it. She'd gone into this knowing Dorien wasn't going to come out and say anything alarming, but she supposed she didn't fully consider how long it would actually take. It was true that it hadn't been long, but she also hadn't been prepared for how excruciating the days would be.
At the very least, it kept her mind off everything else. So, she supposed she was getting something out of it. Besides, her maman and grandparents didn't raise a quitter. She could stick it out.
"Hopefully, he says something sooner rather than later," she sighed.
She felt a couple of hasty taps on her shoulder and glanced over to see Solene pointing toward the bathroom. Dorien and Excadrill were returning but had momentarily stopped at another table to talk with the diners.
Odette's posture stiffened. "Okay, okay, gotta go, talk later," she said quickly. She barely heard Noel's response before hanging up and tossing the phone back into her bag. She'd just hung it back on her chair when Dorien and Excadrill sat back down.
"Sorry, sorry. Saw some friends and had to say hello," he said.
"Took you long enough," Odette replied, lacing a whine around her tone. "I really did start to miss you."
Dorien's eyes lit up momentarily, and he reached out and took hold of her hand as he poked his lower lip out. She made a mental note to scrub her fingers with a Clorox wipe later.
"You're so cute," he said. "Come, let's eat."
Odette pulled her hand away faster than she planned and went straight into her salad while Dorien started his meal. Much to her relief, that prevented any extra conversation from happening. They were all so caught up in their food that nothing was said for five minutes. It was bliss.
"So," Dorien said after he finished a bite. He politely brought his napkin to his lips and dabbed them off. "I have something I want to ask you."
Odette suppressed a groan. She swallowed whatever she had before exchanging quick looks with Solene. "What would that be?"
Dorien smirked, and she felt the sting of a metaphorical Ice Beam rock her chest.
"Nothing major," he said. "I just had a slight concern."
"Why, because you're hanging out with a commoner?" she asked jokingly, raising her brow.
He chuckled, almost...darkly. She kept up her smug smile but began to kick off her high-heeled shoes in case her instinct to run came back in full force. She felt it bubbling in the back of her head.
"Well, as you know, I come from a lot of money," he said. He reached out, took hold of her hand again, and began intertwining his fingers with hers. A bleach bath might be in order after the Clorox wipe.
"My father raised my brothers and me to protect that fortune, so naturally, when I start seeing somebody new, I do my research."
She couldn't help but narrow her eyes as they darted from their locked hands to his face. Where the hell was he going with this? She grabbed her near-empty glass of water and began to drink again to keep her other hand busy, and Dorien must have taken that as a sign to keep going.
"I wanted to ask you about the manslaughter case you were involved in last year."
Odette choked on her next gulp and began to cough violently. She wrenched her hand away from him as she slammed her cup back down, then lowered her head to avoid drawing attention to herself.
"Well, I guess it was more of a self-defense killing, considering the victim raped you, right? So that makes you the victim, I suppose..."
The mixture of pure shock from his questions and her water going down the wrong pipe made it impossible to stop coughing. She was certain she would choke to death with this asshole and his mole watching until suddenly, her throat loosened up. The next thing she knew, she could breathe again.
Odette sucked in a couple of greedy breaths to refill her shriveled lungs. She looked back over to Solene, seeing that her hands were engulfed in her signature pink glow. Odette didn't even have time to thank her because of the anger exploding from the spot on her back. She had half a mind to flip the table right then and there.
"Stop," she said, loud enough to turn a few heads. So much for holding out for much longer. But she didn't care now. Fuck lying low when she was in the presence of such audacity.
"You've got a lot of fucking nerve," she menaced. "Seriously, you thought that was something I would want to discuss with you?"
Dorien held up his hands, but it looked more like he was going through the motions of being startled. Like he was doing it to save face, though Odette was positive that he didn't care about that. He wouldn't have asked about something like that or even gone as far as to look it up in the first place if he wasn't trying to get under her skin. There was no way.
"I see you're upset." His emphasis on that last word prompted a chill to run down her spine, but she was far too mad to acknowledge it.
She started to drink the rest of her water for her own sake. She needed to calm down before she did something too rash. Her mind, despite the angry fog, was flooding with questions.
Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why did he do that? Why is he going there? Why does he need to know that?
She hadn't felt this exposed since the story dropped. Since she heard people accusing her of doing what she did out of jealousy, out of anger. Even with the overwhelming support she received from the other students at the school, some thought she just did it for attention. And his family. Gods, his fucking family. She couldn't deal with the scrutiny, and now here she was, dealing with that same thing from the very person she probably despised just as much as him.
Dorien continued, apparently unfazed. "I apologize, but it's not every day you read that your date killed her drama professor in near cold blood."
Her grip on her glass tightened.
"What was his name? Jordan Deschamps?" he asked.
Crack.
The glass shattered in her hand, shards falling into her lap and on the floor. She could feel some of the shards digging into her skin, and saw crimson start to stream from the wounds, but she felt no pain. All she could feel was the heat of her rage.
"Ma'am are you okay?!" a passing waiter yelped. The sentret walking with him chirped in alarm. "Sen! Tret! Sen!"
Odette couldn't find the words to respond. She finally regained feeling in her hand and flexed it, allowing the heavier glass shards stuck in her skin to dislodge themselves. Solene quickly grabbed her wrist and pressed her napkin to the wounds to slow the bleeding.
"Odette? Are you alright?" Solene said frantically.
It was only then that the pain of the gashes started to register. Other waiters, waitresses, and their accompanying partners started crowding around the table. Their questions slurred together in her foggy mind; several more forced "are you okay's?" managed to break through. One of the workers, who she assumed to be the manager or something of the sort, was phoning for a first aid kit over the headpiece he was wearing.
Through all of that, she peered back over at Dorien. She wished she could say she was surprised that she couldn't find a lick of remorse on his face, but she was far from that. His eyes had gone dark, and she recognized that threatening hostility from class just those few days before.
The fight or flight senses were kicking in again, but they were truly at odds this time. She both wanted to bolt from the restaurant and make him bleed too.
But, as soon as the manager approached him, that malicious look was replaced with a worried frown. He said something about being shocked, about how he wasn't sure what happened, but also how they most likely wouldn't need to call an ambulance. The manager looked relieved by that, then said something else about a free meal. At least, that's what it sounded like. Dorien glanced down at the diamond-encrusted watch on his wrist, and she couldn't pick up on much else after that.
"I'm good," she finally said. "We'll take the check. I want to go home."
"Ma'am, at least let us wrap the wound up for your travels, okay?" said a waitress. The chansey standing next to her nodded in agreement.
She shook her head and shrugged. "Fine. But I'm okay. Really."
"I really am sorry. I didn't think a glass would shatter in your hand."
She refused to look at him. She refused to give him any more of her time. She was over it.
Instead, she zeroed in on the throbbing in her bandaged hand to keep herself from punching him as she stormed to the opposite end of the yacht. She very well could have punched him. It'd be so easy. The only other people on the ship were the captain and the sparse staff. Nobody was around, so nobody would see her swinging at him.
It'd be so easy.
"C'mon, Odie, talk to me."
She leaned over a railing on whatever deck she'd come upon, focusing her attention on the passing waves. Perhaps she could find a life jacket and throw herself overboard. She'd take the displeasure and possible dangers of swimming home over having to share a private charter with Dorien for the forty-five minutes it would take them to get back to the mainland. It'd probably be worth it.
Why did he have to drop such a question on her when there was no other way to get away from him? She had no choice but to get back on the boat. She had no choice but to be in close proximity to him after that. She couldn't help but feel like something about it was planned, which only caused her to seethe more.
"She would rather not," Solene said, standing stiffly at Odette's side, serving as the much-needed buffer. She kept her hand on Odette's arm, ready to jump into action if necessary.
"You know, the ride would be easier if you put Solene back in her ball," Dorien said tentatively. "We can talk about this more privately."
"I think she's fine where she is," Odette said, not turning to look at him.
"You, on the other hand, should walk away," Solene added.
She heard Dorien sigh and step closer. "C'mon, sweetheart, I didn't mean any harm. It was a genuine concern."
"Yep, you just kept rubbing salt in the wound, you fucking psychopath."
He was silent for a while. She hoped he'd stay that way until they pulled back into the shipyard. Then she could call a taxi and be rid of him.
She'd deal with the "I told you so's" from Solene and Enora; she'd be able to shake that off easily. But being asked about her rape? Not so much.
"I'm sorry," he said dejectedly. "I clearly got very carried away." His tone was remorseful, and she'd think he was sincere if she didn't know any better.
"I think it's a lot more than that, but whatever helps you sleep on your bed of roses at night."
She turned away and stormed to another area, only stopping when she found a sofa to sit on. Perhaps it wouldn't be a major loss if she threw him overboard. No life jacket, no nothing. Just left him to the elements. Played stupid and claimed inebriation. Cut her losses and called it a day.
There were far too many ways for that to go wrong, but at least the mental image of him toppling into the ocean gave her some humorous reprieve from her pulsing anger and the throb in her palm.
Her reprieve was short-lived, because Dorien came bounding around the corner. Solene tensed and eyed him closely, and Odette could see her hands beginning to glow.
"Dorien, go the fuck away," Odette growled. "I don't have anything to fucking say to you, and I don't have interest in hearing what you have to say either. Stay the fuck away from us, or it's not going to end well for you."
Dorien sighed deeply, then checked his watch. She had half a mind to rip it off his wrist and beam it at his head.
"Did you hear me? Are you fucking deaf? I don't care that it's your boat, I want to be away from you. Piss off."
"I did say the ride would be easier if you'd put her back in her ball. Hopefully, I have enough."
She opened her mouth to say something but was caught entirely off guard when she got a fist full of some red dust in her face. It started to sting as soon as it made contact with her eyes.
"What the fu-"
A violent cough cut her off. She could hear Solene coughing too, but could not open her eyes to get a good look at her. She didn't have enough time to let herself be mad that this guy had just pepper sprayed her because her brain was going into emergency mode.
Need milk, need water...stop coughing, stop inhaling it in...need to get away, now.
"1:30 to 2:47," she heard Dorien say.
The expletives began to well up in her throat, but it was far too busy constricting, trying to ward off the effects of the dust. She found the slightest bit of solace in feeling Solene's hand on her arm, but the fact that she couldn't see or help her was causing panic to set in.
She regained control of her body and realized she'd fallen to her hands and knees. If she could crawl along, find the captain...maybe there was a life raft she could use to get off the yacht, even out in the middle of the water...
No sooner had the thought set in did the effects of the vapor vanish. The stinging in her eyes ceased, and her throat opened. The panic vanished, and Odette was suddenly in a daze, wondering briefly where she was. Something had just happened, but she couldn't put her finger on what. She felt like she'd had too much to drink...had she? Where was she? Right, Dorien's boat. They were returning from the private island restaurant. She looked over at Solene, who was darting her head around tiredly.
She then looked to Dorien, who was kneeling down next to her. The concern was clear in his gaze.
"Are you alright?" he asked. "I had no idea you were such lightweights, or I wouldn't have ordered that much wine. You seemed fine leaving the restaurant but got really lightheaded just now."
Right. That's what happened. Getting overzealous on the drinks and then getting on a rocking boat was hardly a good idea. Odette's temples throbbed, and she reached up to massage them. A sharp pain radiated from her palm, and she recoiled from getting a good look at the bloodied bandage.
"When did I-" she started to ask.
"You broke a glass, remember? You tried to pick it up and cut yourself really badly. They wrapped you up before we left."
She thought about it for a second and was relieved to find that she indeed remembered. Whatever wine she had hadn't shot her memory of the day entirely. Anger surged from her back again. How could she have been so stupid? Breaking fancy glassware was hardly laying low.
She shook her head abruptly. "Sorry. I know better than to drink that much during the day."
"Goodness, what were we thinking..." Solene slurred in agreement.
"Well, we'll be home soon. In the meantime, you two can lie down if you need to. There are places to sleep on the lower deck," he assured her, helping her back to her feet and easing her onto the couch. Odette used her free hand to pull Solene to sit next to her.
"Yeah," she said dazedly. "I should try to sleep this off."
As the car turned down Gigavolt Way and came to stop in front of her apartment complex, Odette felt a sense of relief. She craved the comfort of her own bed. Not before a good shower, of course.
"Finally," she groaned, picking her head off Dorien's shoulder. He'd insisted she put it there when they got in the car, and being so inebriated, she had to push herself extra hard to stay in character. And, as much as she hated to admit it, his shoulder was far comfier than the window.
The door unlocked, and she stared at it for a long while before pushing it open. Her body felt light as she stepped out of the car, but somewhere in the back of her mind, she felt...dread. Like there was something wrong. Of course, that had to be Dorien's doing. She could never feel at ease when she was near him.
She pushed the door shut behind her once she was sure she had Solene's ball in her bag, but the window rolled down before she could walk away.
"Do you need me to walk you up?" Dorien asked.
She suddenly felt a little soberer and whipped around to face him. No, he and Vienna could not cross paths. He had no business coming into her safe haven, either. "No, don't worry about it. I'll get myself there."
"Are you sure?"
"Positive. You've done enough for me, I'm a big girl," she insisted. She hoped she didn't sound too direct, but judging by the warm smile he sent back to her, there was nothing to worry about.
"Alright, fine. But, before I forget, I need to give this to you," Dorien said as he leaned on the sill. He produced a yellow envelope and held it out to her.
"There's a big social gala happening this weekend, and I'd like you to come," he said. "That's your invite. I don't expect you to know anybody there, so you're more than welcome to bring a plus one if it would make you more comfortable. But you'll still be going as my date."
The possessiveness behind that 'my' made her skin crawl. She eyed him, trying not to let her disgust show on her face, before snatching the envelope away.
"Can't wait," she said.
A half smile crossed Dorien's face. "Kiss goodbye?" he asked, reaching out to her.
She swallowed down a drunken bald-faced laugh while she shoved the envelope into her purse. But that drunken bald-faced laugh quickly melted into something that caused her stomach to ache.
You're acting. It's a stage kiss. You've done these before.
She inhaled a deep, readying breath, then took his hand. He pulled her close to the door and planted a sweet peck on her lips. Well, it would have been sweet if it didn't taste like fucking acid to her. She was grateful that he didn't do anything more than that.
"Go get some rest, Doll. I'll see you later." He ran a loving finger across her cheek while he spoke before retreating back into the car and rolling up the window. He was speeding off around the corner after that.
For some reason, even though he was gone and she'd gotten the date over, something still felt wrong. She decided to tell herself it was just the booze.
Through her inebriated haze, Odette was at least satisfied to see that Vienna had clothed herself. Her hair was sopping wet from a fresh shower, and her face was coated in a gray clay mask. Thea was at the table reading something.
"Oh, hi! You're home early," Vienna said. "I guess you didn't use my present."
"I'll kill you," Odette said dazedly, kicking off her heels next to the door. She grabbed Solene's ball out of her bag and opened it, allowing Solene to wobble over to the couch and throw herself onto it. Still sobering herself up, it looked like.
"Awwww, come on now, I'm just busting your balls," Vienna whined, twirling a lock of her curly hair around her finger. She then stood and held her hands out before her, beckoning for a hug.
"Give maman some sugar."
"Just because you said it like that, no."
Vienna stepped toward her. "Pleeeeassseee? I missed my little red-eye so much."
Odette stared at her for a long while. She ultimately decided she couldn't say no and stepped over to lay her ringing head on Vienna's shoulder. The tension left her body when she felt her mother's fingers rub over the back of her neck. In the face of what some might call their "unconventional relationship," Vienna somehow always knew what she needed. She was a good mum. A lunatic but still a good mum.
"Whatsa matter? You look more disgruntled than usual," Vienna asked, letting her go. "Let me guess. Wine?"
"Too much wine," Odette huffed, picking her head back up.
Vienna chuckled. "Can't believe I birthed such a lightweight. I wish-" As she spoke, her eyes traveled down toward the floor. Her words abruptly stopped, and she reached down and grabbed Odette's bandaged hand.
"Oh, that's-"
Vienna furrowed her brow as she examined her palm. "What happened?"
"Yeah, that..." Odette yanked her hand away and began to caress it herself. "Glass broke; cut myself trying to clean it. Nothing deep enough for stitches. Just needs to be re-bandaged."
Vienna's gaze became a little more intense, and she crossed her arms over her chest. "According to whom?"
Odette didn't immediately have an answer for that. She had to close her eyes and think long and hard about why she was so sure.
"One of the first aid chansies at the restaurant," she recalled. It sounded right. "I trust their judgment." Mostly because the thought of having to get stitches sent a chill down her back that matched the ones Dorien gave her. No, thank you.
Vienna paused to consider the statement, then chuckled. "Jeez, honey, if you needed a stress ball so badly, all you had to do was ask. I keep twenty in my desk at the lab."
Odette let out a sardonic laugh as she leaned against the dining table. "I'm good, but thank you for the offer."
"So, what's the deal? He doesn't do it for you?" Vienna wondered.
Odette flared her nostrils. "I wouldn't say that," she lied. She wasn't quite sure how to word herself here. As much as she wanted to vent about what was happening, she'd promised to keep this under wraps. The less Vienna knew meant, the less she could tell Bernard, and the less she would get caught in the act of...whatever it was she had gotten herself into.
"It's just...I don't know. Don't want to move too fast, you know?"
The fact that she was talking about this, even as an act, hurt.
"Good on you!" Vienna praised. "I could have learned a thing or two from somebody like you. Would have saved me from people like your sperm donor."
Odette's nose crinkled in a grimace, as it always did when Vienna decided it would be a good idea to bring up her unknown father. "Well, anybody could have told you that messing around with someone twice your age was bad."
"They did. I didn't listen," Vienna said, shrugging. "But, how can I be regretful when I got your cute face out of it?" She reached out and squeezed Odette's cheeks for good measure. "Red eyes and all."
She let go and went toward the kitchen, where she dug around in the fridge for gods knew what. Odette silently watched her and let her head start to the right itself. She glanced over at Solene, who was on the verge of sleep. It actually made Odette more sleepy, too.
"I'm going to take a shower," she announced.
"Left a lot of hot water. Don't drown, love ya!" Vienna called.
She hobbled over to her bathroom door. Certainly, the hot water would bring her back entirely and allow her to adequately examine the day's events. Though, she wasn't sure what was there to pick apart. Aside from her shitty luck with glassware, it was remarkably uneventful. At least from what she could recall. She really knew better than to drink that much, especially in the presence of such a problematic person.
What were she and Solene thinking? Last she remembered, Solene didn't even like most alcohol.
However, she did manage to snag an invite to another place. He'd called it a gala, which undoubtedly meant many people would be there. A perfect opportunity to perhaps see past Dorien and look to his colleagues instead. She could even bring Noel to be a buffer if she needed it.
"Hey, maman?" she said. "This is probably a long shot, but do you have any designer-brand dresses I can borrow?"
She heard a cabinet slam and a chip bag crinkled. "Yeah, I stole a few from your nana. I don't know what'll fit you, but we can go through it later."
Odette smiled and wearily pushed open the door, looking forward to the end of such an obnoxious day.