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Entangle
By Veronica Larsen
CHAPTER ONE
Alexis
This is my moment to prove the past is in the past. To prove I've moved on with my life and haven't bothered to look back.
I convinced myself I didn't care he moved on so soon. I went this long without wondering about her or what she looks like, but alone in my office, with the silence pressing in around me, my resolve isn't as strong.
A picture of them finds its way onto my laptop screen. My eyes trace over the details of the image with razor-sharp scrutiny. I forgot how handsome he is. His exotic features lay against lightly-tanned skin, perfect eyebrows frame brown eyes. The woman resembles me at first glance. Golden-brown hair, green eyes and a pointed nose. Except, her teeth are sort of large for her smile and her chin juts out in an asymmetrical way.
I should be happy for him. I want to be happy for him. But, I'm not. I can't bring myself to be. I can't seem to pull the maturity it takes to even pretend.
I manage to tear my eyes from their faces to look down at the invitation in my hand. White and teal lace is etched around the corners of the white cardstock. In the center, royal-blue lettering curves into nearly illegible cursive.
Mr. & Mrs. Williams
Request the honor of your presence
at
The marriage of their son
Jeremy Williams
To
Sophia Bell
I can't help it. I look back to the picture and stare at it for way longer than I want to admit. As though the answers to all the questions I can't bring myself to ask are between the pixels.
The more I contemplate it, the more I notice something strained about the way the lovely couple looks at each other. They are mid-laughter, her hand slapping his arm playfully, but something about their chemistry is missing. It's as though the photographer repeatedly ordered them to laugh in pretend joy. For the Williams family, capturing a real moment isn't as important as faking the perfect one. Sophia will need all the practice she can get in the art of faking it.
The silence beyond my office door hints that everyone's already gone home. My eyes are starting to ache from a long day, and I know I should close my laptop and leave.
But my sights lower to the invitation again.
This time, a familiar burn of resentment surfaces. I didn't mean to spiral into this pathetic rabbit hole of tortured nostalgia. When my ex-mother-in-law addressed the invitation to my office, she knew I wouldn't be able to miss it. And even though I tried to banish it to the depths of one of my desk drawers, the invitation seemed to possess a life of its own when it resurfaced today, finding its way into my hands again.
A question has gnawed away at me for months.
Why? Why would Dolores invite me in the first place?
I've always known her to care about one thing above all else: appearances. Her son may have failed at his first marriage, but she is intent on making it appear the most successful misstep in history.
I never intended to respond to the invitation. But today, a part of me wishes I had. Even beyond the grave of my marriage, Dolores tries to manipulate my emotions. Always trying to have the last word.
Not that it matters now, anyway. The wedding is tomorrow, and soon I won't have to hear from this family ever again.
I snap my laptop closed and yank open my bottom desk drawer. A bottle of amber liquid glints in the florescent light. It was a gift from one of my clients last year. I don't drink whiskey, but now seems a good a time as any to start.
I twist open the cap and bring the bottle to my lips. I swallow and cough.
What is the allure of this poison? All it does is burn.
The thought makes me take a larger swig.
Jeremy dazzled me with charm and promises, and let me think I was in control, until the day we said our vows. I never expected what would happen next. I was outnumbered. He and Dolores were a mother-son team, conspiring behind my back, trying to pressure me to set aside my silly ambitions for the greater good of the marriage.
It wasn't that I didn't want children. Back then I did. It just wasn't the right time. Starting a company from the ground up sucked up all my time and resources. The feat was made even harder since I didn't have Jeremy's support. He fought me every step of the way. He threatened to leave me, even when I promised him I'd be ready for children once things slowed down.
I'd always wanted a family. It was something I looked forward to. I was going to have it all: the career, the family life. But it wasn't the promise of children he wanted. It was the promise of my submission to him, my absolute yielding to his idea of a wife, of a woman and her inferior place in the world.
He tried to break me, and in many ways, he did.
But he never really knew me if he thought he could stop me. As far as Jeremy was concerned, my ambitions made him out to be half a man, when really, it was all the man he could ever be. He was gone before my company could get off the ground. It took me some time before I would realize what a blessing this was.
I take another swig of whiskey and cough yet again.
In the silence, I whisper goodbye to a life that seems to still have its hooks attached to me. And in the wake of my whisper, another sound reaches me.
A man's voice, somewhere in the distance.
I straighten, realizing I'm not alone. A glance at the clock on my wall confirms it's a few minutes past six o'clock. The last Friday of the month is usually a half day for my staff. Certainly, I wouldn't have risked downing whiskey straight from the bottle at my desk had I known someone was still in the office. The last thing I need is for my employees to start thinking I'm an alcoholic.
I wipe my lips, store the bottle away, and head out into the hall.
The office is a graveyard of empty halls and abandoned chairs. The still air is disrupted once again by the low grumbles of a man's voice. I follow the sound to the break room and stop at the doorway.
There's a man standing in front of the new espresso machine. A tall, light-haired man dressed in a white button-down shirt and grey slacks. Both of which fit him impeccably.
Leo Conrad.
Our new Director of Engineering was a coveted addition to our team. But he and I haven't had many opportunities to speak one-on-one. Most of the interactions I've had with him have been in team meetings.
He seems sharp. Quick to point out flaws in our planning, which annoys some of the other directors, but it impresses me and that's what's important. This is exactly why a fresh pair of eyes stirs up a company. He brings perspective we desperately need.