Olivia visited!...

Unlike her son, Olivia Bestman was nice to Sophia. But only because she was family.
She was a woman of glamor and exotic styles, who loved going out of her way to do things for her loved ones. So when she visited, she came with her entourage of chefs from back home saying she wanted to prepare a nice large dinner for her son and his wife.

Surprisingly she wasn't cold towards Sophia. They spoke when necessary and what was necessary.
Jason wasn't around as usual when his mother arrived but she was unperturbed, just carried on with her business, ordering the maids around making sure the dinner was exquisite. She wanted to have dinner with the new couple.

Sophia sat facing her mirror, preparing herself for the dinner which by all means she wanted to avoid. It's been two days since the incident with Jason and his girlfriend and the cold between both of them was freezing.
Even outsiders could feel it. She avoided him so much that she now preferred to eat inside her room to avoid bumping into him. Even her favorite evening times were spent in her room reading a novel or surfing the net.

Zara helped her with her hair, the only nice thing about her that she cared so much for. Even if she lacked in so many places, Sophia wouldn't want to disappoint her late mom who taught her as a little girl that a woman's pride was in her hair.
She'd crack a smile every time her Cecilia told her that. Even to her immature self it sounded absurd why a woman's pride should be a small part of her body.

But as she grew, she subconsciously took extra care of her hair. She could forget to eat breakfast, wash up dirty dishes before heading to school but she'd never forget her hair routine or hair day when she'd have to apply every DIY tricks she'd learnt online and from Cecelia on her hair. It was a sacred duty.

She smiled as she recalled the past.

"Is the hairstyle funny?" Zara asked, bringing her back to reality.

"Oh... What?"

"You were smiling at your hair in the mirror so I thought maybe I was doing it wrongly." Zara confessed her fear.

"No, it looks very nice. I was just thinking about my past, you know. I was so silly," she chipped in. Zara nodded.

"I understand, I've done more silly things than you can imagine, some I can never speak of and some I can handle."

Surprised at her forwardness, Sophia watched her from the mirror, wondering what the heavy and embarrassing things were. But not wanting to make her feel bad Sophia smiled.
"Sure, when I was in sec school I used to like this boy, he was the quiet but brilliant type and I love brilliant people. So my friends advised me to tell him how I felt. Do you know what I did?" She spoke out of breath.

Zara shook her head, watching Sophia intently.

"I borrowed his note and in the middle, I wrote him a poem, a love letter. Then returned his book to him in hopes he would read it and maybe he might also feel the same as me. but he gave it to his friends and they all mocked me. Though the whole school didn't know so I was saved a bit but I felt so open, I wanted the ground to swallow me. I found out my friends had set me up to be disgraced because my crush had a nice record of turning girls down and I had no idea!" She finished and laughed alongside Zara at her story.

"Your friends were mean, but where are your friends now? I mean you only have doctor Stanley visit you. why don't they visit?" Zara sat on the bed staring admiringly at Sophia.

She smiled and turned to Zara.
"You see, everyone has their own lives to live and most of them are stuck-up. In the uni I had more male friends, though Dad was sick then so I had to go to school from home and had no chance to make more friends."

"I understand, I admire how strong you are Ms. You had to go through all this and still wear a smile." The smile dropped from her eyes as she picked on stray threads on her thighs. "I would have taken my life," Zara admitted.

Sophia gasped, unable to hold her shock.
"Why? There is hope as long as there is life."

Zara just shrugged.
"I'm only living a good life because Mrs. Bestman helped me. If not, I would've been dead or jailed for life. I did things to survive, both silly and terrible things, and I'm not proud of any of it. She found me when I was almost giving up hope and saved me. When I see what you go through in the mornings and during your therapy sessions. How you endure the painful exercises and still smile through it all, I baffle at your resilience." she paused a bit, her eyes filled with emotions
"But he doesn't see you... at all." She shook her head. She stared from underneath her lashes, carefully, allowing her last words to linger in the atmosphere.

Sophia wanted her to elaborate more but they were both interrupted by Sabina who announced dinner was ready so Zara left.

***

Dinner was very awkward!

Olivia sat at the head of the table digging vicariously at her steak, with Jason absentmindedly on her left and Sophia smiling meekly on her right. She chatted on and on, seemingly unaware of the coldness between the couple.

They both avoided eye each other's gaze. Sophia managed to chip in one or two words into the conversation since Jason had refused to speak, he barely managed a grunt response.

"... And I made sure to always be by his side at every sitting, making sure all these little hunters won't find him a cheap prey. Everyone knew both of us were inseparable and so the girls stayed away." she finished with pride and Sophia nodded with a nice smile.

Olivia was telling them stories upon stories of how she and Ernest made their marriage work out by sticking together by all means. Sophia wasn't enthusiastic about the food nor the stories.
Didn't Olivia already know that her son was the spoilt and useless one here?

Sophia was pained that society was biased especially concerning marriage issues. They expect the woman to bear every damn treatment meted upon her and still wear a happy smile. That was exactly what Olivia was insinuating, that she should make it work, "how?!" she thought to herself.

Her only hold in her position now was because she was brought up to be more respectful to her elders while Jason with his bursted lips sat in silence only checking his phone intermittently.

Sophia eyed him wickedly, thinking maybe he was waiting for the boring session to be over so he could move on to his next conquest. Asides from the faint dark finger marks on the sides of his face, there wasn't much evidence of Stanley's rebuttal attack on him. If she thought she saw fear in his eyes when they locked with hers for a brief moment  she wasn't certain. He'd worn the facade quite courageously.

He should be scared of her, of her remarks at his infidelity if she ever dared speak of it to his mother's hearing. She wanted him to know she was capable of as much destruction as he did but Olivia's voice drew her out of her reverie.

"Dear..." Olivia stretched her pointy fingers to graze Sophia's hand on the table.

"Yes?"

She peered deeply at Sophia that one would think she truly cared. "Are you alright? You seem lost. Is there something you would like to share with us?" Olivia asked. Eyes hovering between the married couple.

Jason visibly stiffened.

Their eyes met from across the table and held longer for the first time since dinner was served. He looked conflicted.
At least two, three seconds passed before Sophia cleared her throat to speak.

"No not really, I tend to do that a lot since after my accident," she murmured but the word accident was more pronounced, rubbing it on his face. Jason still tensed, huffed a breath of relief. Happy she didn't let the cat out of the bag and ruin the moment.

"Oh dear, I truly understand. It's not easy getting back to your normal routine. How is the therapy going? Jason must be of great help there right?"
Jason coughed.

"I mean with the massages and stretches, doesn't he help you out?" Olivia asked perplexed, watching Sophia's reaction carefully.

"Um... Well with... With school and everything he's always busy but drops by sometimes. Yeah, sure." she covered his cheating ass the second time.

Olivia stared at her son with the best proud smile she could muster. Jason managed to smile back avoiding Sophia's gaze.

"He has always been soft inside and hopelessly romantic, he tries so hard to it cover up. But I know, I am his mother." she told Sophia who almost gagged at the endearment, it didn't fit the person sitting across from her.

"Mother, excuse me, I am full and I need to take care of some things... The food was delicious, thanks." he stood and left the dining room before anyone could reply.

After some time spent with Olivia, Sophia retired to her room. After a tedious dinner conversation and Jason's cold silence it was pertinent she restored her spent mental energy for another day. Olivia returned home that night to her husband.

In the middle of the night, Jason sat in his usual position and sipped on whisky.
For the past few weeks, he had struggled to get a good night's sleep. With nightmares haunting his once peaceful sleep and seeping into his reality Jason was disoriented on all fronts. They were back and he had no antidote except his whisky.

He sighed dejectedly. Nothing surpassed a good night's sleep. Every night of insomnia meant the whole day was wrecked, uncoordinated and with lack of concentration, he achieved nothing.
He was touched that she covered for him after his misbehavior. He was so scared she would tell on him and risk losing his fortune if words go to his father. He never really planned for Charlotte to come home with him. He didn't know it happened until he woke up with red marks on his cheek and a series of threats from Charlotte.

Later he asked a friend who was with him at the club and discovered Charlotte had joined him on the dance floor. They drank and made out before foolishly deciding to go over to his house for the remaining fun not recalling anything else. Sophia must've been appalled by his actions.

"Urgh!! Stupid me!" He reprimanded himself. Suddenly disinterested in his whisky binge.
Heaven knew it wasn't his intention to embarrass his wife before the maids or to hang out with his ex while he was married. And that evening at the club, he was thinking about Sophia and the encounter, and how he didn't deserve her.

Now he blew his chance at ever becoming friends with her or even napping in her bed.

It was 1:00AM in the night and the thoughts of going to sleep bothered him. Maybe she wasn't so angry at him as he thought, besides she didn't sell him out to his mother. That was precisely his thought as he dropped off the whisky bottle and sashayed back to his room but stopped on his track when he reached Sophia's door.

It was shut, an unusual occurrence mostly a shoo off at him.

He made to leave, but his fingers found the knob twisting the hinges to let open the dimly lit room and a distant figure in her usual spot. His legs seemed to have a mind of their own as they walked through the door and towards the empty side of the bed, his mind cooking up plenty alluring and tingly sensations of what a good night's sleep felt like and how much he needed it.

"Just for tonight, even if it's just for one night," he whispered to himself as he settled in the empty space under the duvet.

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