8 Can This Day Get Any Worse?

After finishing up at the help desk, they headed to their apartment, mentally exhausted. Alessia told her she'd have a bath first, so Theia dropped her phone on the bed and dropped herself on her bed, face first, screaming before turning her head to look at the walls in despair. Another four courses? Just when she thought she was almost finished. It was like anticipating a banana split sundae covered in hot fudge and then realizing it was plastic. The horror of it all! She sighed again, thinking, could this day get any wor---. She stopped herself. "SAFEEEE!!!!!" she yelled. Everyone knew that any time someone says that, something worse tends to hap----....

Vvvvrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! Pling! Pling! Her phone went off, cutting across her thoughts. She watched it warily, hoping that she was wrong about who she thought it was. Before she could pick it up, it went off again. It was definitely them! She did ask how her day could get worse, right? The universe has answered. The only way it could truly get worse, the only thing that she genuinely dreaded, was to deal with them. The poisonous couple. The bringers of doom. The horsemen of the apocalypse, her parents. She truly hated dealing with them. If there was a way she could stop completely, she'd do it in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, for now at least, she couldn't, so she'd just put up with it for now and make an effort to see them as little as possible. 

She picked up the phone and looked at the message.

 "Good evening, Theia. Your presence is requested at the La Fleur Restaurant at 6 p.m. sharp. We will send a car to pick you up at 5:30 p.m. Don't be late. "

As always, cold, unfeeling, and impersonal. That was how they texted. As if it were a business meeting. There's no asking about whether or not she's available because they don't care. It had never occurred to them that she may have already made plans or been somewhere she couldn't leave on short notice. As far as they were concerned, she just needed to drop everything and come when she was called. There were no rights or fairness in their operation. Only the expectation of absolute obedience. She closed the phone, not even bothering to reply. 

Apparently, she had an hour and a half to be ready by, so she'd be there at 6 on the dot. Not a moment before that, because she hated spending a moment in their presence when she didn't need to. She still remembered the first time they had dinner. Their cutting remarks, the rude comments on her clothes, her hair, the way she dressed, the way she ate...in fact, it would be much easier to list what they didn't comment on rudely. The only reason she made it through that meal was because Alex was next to her, diverting their attention and comforting her simultaneously. He really worked hard for that meal. 

The more she worked with Alessia to learn all the things she needed to, was the more they approved of her. They thought she was changing herself to suit their needs, but really she was adapting so Alex wouldn't have to feel guilty or stress himself out covering for her. She was adapting to it for herself as well. Not to fit in, but because these things would add to her skill set. Learning how to greet other people appropriately, learning which spoon to use, how to return gifts, and all of these other skills would come in handy in the course of her life. 

As she lay in bed ruminating on those thoughts, Alessia threw a towel at her. 

"The bath is all yours," she said. "Wait, what's up with you? Something happened again? And by "happen" I mean the venomous couple."

Ah, you know me so well, it's a shame. I have to go to dinner in about an hour or so. Urrgghhh. I'd rather walk on my head than go. "

Alessia laughed. "So would I. Will Alex be there? " 

"I don't think so. It seemed rather last minute to me. I'll text him and ask when I'm finished with my bath. " She grabbed the towel she threw at her and headed to the bathroom. Alessia bit her lip, worriedly. For some reason, she had an incredibly bad feeling about this. Let's just message Alex first, she thought to herself. 

She sent Alex a message asking if they could talk, preparing to wait around a bit before he got back to her. To her surprise, he called her a minute later.

"What's up? What do you need from me? "