Uncomfortable

I cleared my throat to compose myself as I came back from La La land.

"Stop with the flattery. The necklace is enough to forgive an unwanted dinner."

He was hardly a couple steps away from me when he spoke and closed the distance between us. He caressed my cheek and said, "I don't flatter anyone, Bee. Your beauty really is out of this world."

I took a step back. I couldn't afford to feel for him. I couldn't do this again. His hand that was on my cheek was still in the air and he looked at it as if he didn't know what to do with it.

"We'll be late if we don't go now."

He nodded and put his arm down. I wanted to know what he was thinking because I couldn't read his face anymore. Did I piss him off by refusing his touch? Even if I did, why would I care? I was getting irritated by myself now.

"I heard from Pablo that you were in your office all day. I thought you would be with Ari."

I was a bit flustered by his sudden change in subject.

"I was planning to but then you said you were coming home because of what happened this morning. I knew you'd take care of him."

"Next time, Eli, don't hide from him because you want to avoid me. He was sad that you didn't choose his clothes for today evening."

Oh god. Miraj hated it when I babied my son too much. I hope he didn't lecture me about how I could turn our child into a total wuss. It was completely normal for a child to miss their parents' attention but sometimes Miraj considered normalcy a weakness. He was brought up with the mindset that needing someone makes you weak, so it was obviously hard for him to let go of things that were set in stone in his mind since childhood. It was better to change the subject than argue with him.

"I'll talk to him later. We really should go now, Miraj. We're late."

I walked out of my room first and waited outside for him.

He came out of my room soon and said, "We aren't done yet."

He adjusted his cuffs and walked away like he owned me. That bitch.

When we reached the stairs he gave me his arm. We linked our arms together to walk down the stairs and towards our guests. Miraj had extended the invitation to the doctor as well. I had wanted Luke there too because I needed to see who he sided with: me or Tatiana. Or maybe he would remain neutral like Miraj. It was a very convoluted web that had led to this dinner party.

Our guests had arrived and we were late. But did we care? We exchanged our greetings and sat down around the living room for polite conversation. Luke ended up sitting beside me which was amusing to say. I had thought he would be neutral in this fight. But this would make things easier for me. I smiled at him to let him know I appreciated his support.

Sometime in between the useless small talk Tatiana asked, "Where's Ari? I hope he is okay after what happened during his lesson today."

I raised an eyebrow at her question and took a sip of my wine. I wouldn't answer her stupid question. Would we even be here if Ari wasn't okay?

Miraj covered for my rudeness by answering, "He is fine and he'll join us for dinner. After this morning, Eli soothed him and he soon forgot about it like children tend to do."

Yes, he should be the one being bored to death by this pointless dinner conversation, afterall, he was the one who dated the witch in the past and invited her to dinner now. But did he have to answer all her queries? Why doesn't he give her abrupt replies like I get?

"I see. Eli, it must be hard juggling office and motherhood, right?"

What? Who did she think she was talking to? Life wasn't regular for us.

"We've never had an easy life. We fight to survive each day. I thought you knew that. Isn't that why you left?"

Fastest way to make her leave was to make her uncomfortable.

She just looked down at the carpet when I spoke to her. Everyone was silent after what I had just said. It's usually hard to get out of a situation like this when it has been made awkward intentionally. I wouldn't have done it if she hadn't asked dumb and ignorant questions like we were living a normal ordinary life. It was a sore point for me.

She lifted her head and gave me a simple smile as she said, "Yes, it was one of my many reasons to leave. There were things here that weren't meant for me, so I left."