Wrath pt2

He stands and then helps me up in one fluid movement. I give him a quick peck on the cheek before running up the stairs so that I can assess the damage. Once in the bathroom, I splash cold water over my face before vigorously towelling it dry. My eyes are still red-rimmed, but my complexion is no longer pasty. I am just about to dig out some powder when I hear the doorbell go and the muffled sounds of what appears to be an argument. Dropping my powder brush, I quickly hurry onto the landing to see that Sheila has arrived and Alex is standing next to her, his posture tense. I am about to call out to her when she spots me, her body tensing immediately, and I can see the anger rolling off her. For a moment, I wonder if maybe I am projecting my feelings onto her, but I quickly dismiss this thought; Sheila is hopping mad.

"Both of you, kitchen now!" Sheila spits out, taking off in that direction, everything about her demeanour letting me know that she means business. I glance down at Alex wide-eyed, but he simply shrugs his shoulders, obviously more used to his mother's temper. I skip down the stairs quickly, my heart hammering and a sick feeling in my stomach. This is so not going to be good.

Alex grabs my hand in a reassuring gesture and we make our way in silence to the kitchen, where we find Sheila pacing restlessly. "Sit down," she says, pointing to the breakfast bar, and we both comply immediately. Somehow it feels like I am fifteen again, being told off by my mother, and I have to shake my head to try to dispel the image in my head.

"Righto, so which one of you would like to explain this?" Sheila asks, her tone of voice snippy and hostile as she slips a document in front of us. I blanch as I take in the prenuptial agreement that both Alex and I signed. Even normally cool-as-a-cucumber Alex has visibly paled. Before either of us has a chance to say anything, though, Sheila suddenly fixes me with a stare and asks, "So how long did you know my son before you married him?"

Oh. Fuck. Before my brain can engage, my mouth suddenly blurts out, "Two weeks." 'Oh fuck' is right and I find my hand slapped across my mouth in an unconscious effort to silence myself. I daren't look at Alex, so terrified am I that I have let him down at this crucial moment. But a second later I feel his hand slide across my thigh, giving it a gentle squeeze of support. My mind is whirling, and as Sheila fixes us both with a narrow look, I feel my heart thumping so hard in my chest it feels like it is going to burst at any moment.

I am startled when Alex speaks, his voice low and steady. "Mum, this is nothing to do with you."

"Like hell it isn't," Sheila spits out. "You bring this girl into the family. You had the audacity to stand up in front of our whole community and pledge your love for a stranger. You lied to us, to your father and me, and then you think you can go on merrily sleeping with other people and all that crap because it's okay, it's an arranged marriage and all that nonsense!"

Shame fills me and I can't bear to look at Sheila any longer. I deserve her wrath. I hated lying to her all those months ago and I should have known life was going too well. Something was bound to give.

"Shut up, Mum. You don't know anything, okay?" I can hear the strain in Alex's voice."And where the hell did you get hold of that anyway?"

"That's not the point, Alex!" she yells, and I can't take it anymore.

"Sheila, please," I interrupt. "None of this is Alex's fault. He was helping me out." I can't stand the idea of him being in trouble with his mum, and if I have to take on the blame and she hates me forever, then so be it.

Sheila whips her head around and looks at me, her gaze positively glacial. "I, uh…" Oh, shit. This is so hard. I close my eyes and take a deep breath before speaking. "I was at rock bottom and my mother was about to be kicked out of the facility she was in because I couldn't pay the fees." I can feel the tears threatening to fall, the remembered feelings of despair washing over me. "Alex won the bid on a book we were both going after at an auction, and I knew that if I didn't get the book, I would be fired. So…" How the hell do I get around this, I think to myself. "So I explained my situation and Alex took pity on me…" I trail off, not sure how to come out of this without sounding like I have prostituted myself.

Confusion crosses Sheila's face and I can see the cogs in her brain whirring as she pieces things together. “But you didn't have to marry her, Alex," Sheila says softly.

"Didn't I, Mum?" Alex says pointedly as some unspoken communication passes between them. "What about all that Becca stuff, huh? All those hints about how she had come back to work in the family business. How she wasn't married. How we were always suited. Your thoughts on how the estates could function better if they were joined. Blah, blah, blah."

The anger rolling off Alex is now matching his mother's and I just wish the earth would open up and swallow me whole when suddenly a thought strikes me. "Becca, you mean the Becca?" I ask Alex softly. "You never said…" I trail off as Alex nods stiffly. Realisation dawns and I see that our arrangement had been about saving Alex just as much as me. But I am hardly going to tell Sheila that.

Some of the anger suddenly leaves Sheila and I realise how tired she looks. I mean, she has come all the way from Australia and has just spent the last fifteen minutes yelling at us. Who wouldn't be exhausted? Alex, however, doesn't seem to notice the change because all of a sudden he is on his feet, his arms down by his sides, his hands clenched so hard his knuckles are white.

"Mum, just shut the hell up. And leave Liv alone. She has had to deal with enough shit this afternoon without you barging in and yelling at her like a banshee." Alex is not shouting–far from it, in fact—but his posture and tone of voice are demanding Sheila's attention. I suddenly realise that somehow Alex has managed to manoeuvre me so that his body is shielding mine and I am no longer in Sheila's direct sightline. He is protecting me. My heart swells at this thought, but I am not about to let him take all the flak.

"It's okay, Alex," I say, stepping back out from behind him and slipping my hand into his to let him know that we are in this together. "Your mum has every right to be angry at me." I wish that I knew how to defuse the situation when a strange look passes over Sheila's face and she suddenly goes pale. In an instant, Alex is by her side guiding her to a stool as the stress of the situation and exhaustion take their toll, murmuring something quietly in her ear. Feeling completely useless, I do the only thing I can think of…make a pot of tea.