The people in the café are looking at us weird. Probably because I'm hunched over the table in front of a nearly blind albino woman dressed all in white. I don't care anymore.
“Do I? We barely know each other.”
I look up at her in despair. Demetria’s technically just the new kinesitherapist near my future school, we’ve met once at a party, and I've invited her for coffee like it's something super natural and not totally weird to do, but I really really really need help.
They don’t really see me but I can feel her eyes judging me behind her glasses.
“Demetria pleaaase I'd do anything for you! Well, almost anything ! Which is already a lot!”
A chuckle escapes her.
“Khaliun, honey, I am messing with you. Just pay for the drink, that’ll suffice. How may I help with your endeavor?”
Oh thank goodness there might be hope for me still.
“Well. You… You remember the party at the park, right? When I was with my sis?”
“I do. What about it?”
Summer party in the beginning of July. A bunch of people gathered at the park downtown to celebrate the end of the exams and Tungalag took me there after we went to the fair to celebrate the fact that I have finally managed to get my bac. Barely, but I did! And she introduced me to Demetria because Demetria studied at my future uni but the thing is I stopped looking at her pretty quick because my attention got caught by something else.
“Right. Um. Do you know… Well… I was told that you… that you knew Ether?”
Demetria’s smile gets a little too stretched to not be uncanny. Aaaaah crap I really hope I didn’t mess up too bad.
“We were in high school together, yes. What about it?”
Okay. Okay. She's not mad. Just a little uncomfy. I can do this.
“I wanted to know if you could, uh, I don't know, introduce us?”
Well. Technically I have introduced myself already but with all the noise, and the drinks, I don’t even know if she got my name.
I remember her yelling something to Demetria, though I don't remember what. I don’t remember what because she took my hands in hers and then she started to make me dance on the grass and she was in sandals and I had those orange sneakers and I don't think she was drunk there was just a lot of noise and then she laughed and I felt dumber than ever in the best possible way.
She had nice clothes. A tank top showing most of her back and arms, the prosthesis and and the huge tattoo on the other one. Must have hurt a bunch to sit through it all. Her hair is cut short, really short, and one of her eyes is also fake but she moved with grace anyways. And she has a little scar on her eyebrow that looks kinda cute and freckles and snake bite piercings and a beautiful smile and nice lips that look a little dry and she smells good and…
Anyways I think I have a really big fat crush.
Demetria raises an amused eyebrow.
“Introduce you. My, my. And what for, pray tell?”
“I think I might be in love.”
She blinks. Slowly sets her cup down on the table.
“Khaliun, you are aware than I am five years older than you, right? So is Ether.”
Oh. Okay. I thought she was a little younger.
But I don't give much of a shit, actually?
“I don’t mind! I just… I don't know, she’s just… pretty, and funny, and smart, and… and…”
And I'm so very screwed.
“Okay, so if I understand correctly, you want me to be… how do you say? Your wingwoman?”
“Yup. About right.”
“Hmm. I’m not against it, but… Ether and I, we don’t have the best history. She might not take it well if I’m the one trying to set her up with someone, of all people.”
A… history. Oooooh boy. What have I gotten myself into? Oh well that’ll be a problem for future me.
“I don’t need you to get me a date or whatever, I just… I know she studies medicine but does she live nearby? Does she go on walks often? What kind of things does she like? I just… You know, if I'm going to flirt with someone, I wanna do it properly!”
“That sounds more like wooing than flirting, but I see your point.”
She sips a little coffee from her cup and smiles. Hell yeah I'm nailing this.
“Well then. She lives in one of the buildings surrounding the park. If you have an animal or work out a lot, you may have a chance or two.”
Welp. Guess I know where I'm doing my morning runs from now on!
“Okay, noted! Anything else?”
“Not really. You just wait for her to notice you, if she's interested she'll strike up the conversation herself. Lucky for you, you seem like the social type. Also, be careful, she tends to get a loooot of one-night stands, so maybe hold off the sexual tension for a while or she might get the wrong idea. Just talk with her here and there. That should do it.”
I nod frantically as she speaks. Yup, sounds like a plan.
“Demetria, you're an angel sent from above.”
“Oh, Ether would tell you I crawled out of hell.”
“Well, it's always good to have a second opinion, right?”
She blinks. Again. Then chuckles. Again.
“Oh, I wasn’t expecting much, but you, Khaliun? You might actually succeed. Given how peculiar you are.”
Hehe. I’m kinda glad to hear that.
“Thanks! I gotta run now, but thank you so so so much, really, oh and here’s the money for the coffee by the way!”
I slap a few coins on the tables before jumping up. I have an errand to run for mom and a jogging itinerary to prepare. Demetria simply waves.
“Why, you're welcome. Contact me again whenever you wish to.”
Oh if this works out I sure will. But I need to put effort into it.
So I do. I change my running plan, pass by the park every day. I see Ether a few times, from afar, when she’s heading to work. She looks tired but she’s still beautiful.
After a few days, she starts waving at me. After a week, she starts hanging around the park. And after two weeks, I see her sitting on a bench one sunday morning, in shorts and t-shirt, smiling, like she's been waiting for me. So I stop running. I’m sweaty and panting like crazy and a mess and she just looks so perfect.
“H-Hi,” I wheeze. “Fancy… seeing you here.”
She laughs and it's a symphony to my ears.
“Hi, Khaliun.”
Oh lord she remembers my name. She. Remembers. MY. NAME.
“I’ve seen you more often lately. Is it intentional or…?”
Okay. Breathe, Khaliun, breathe. Don’t mess this up.
“Uh… Yeah. Kinda. Been thinking about you a lot since the party.”
Her smile gets wider.
“Really? So you’re running here every morning just to see me?”
When she puts it that way, it sounds kinda ridiculous. But she's right, and she knows she’s right because I blush like crazy.
“Well, I'd be lying if I said I wasn’t thinking about you too. You're really cute.”
AAAAAA SHE CALLED ME CUTE EVERYBODY STAY CALM I MIGHT JUST ASCEND- Oh I am SO FUCKED and I'm SO HAPPY ABOUT IT.
“I live nearby, you know” Ether adds. “We could… I dunno. Go to my place, if you wanna talk more.”
I’m very, very tempted to say yes. Because she seems receptive, and by how she's eyeing my bare arms she likes what she sees.
But I remember Demetria’s advice. About her. About hooking up. About rushing in headfirst.
I should take this slowly.
“Well… Actually, I was hoping we could maybe just… walk around the park? Talk a little? Maybe grab a bite afterwards? If you want, I mean.”
Ether looks a little caught off-guard, but she slowly gets up. And… I think her cheeks have darkened a little. Awwww.
“Sure! Sure, we can do that too. I’d love that.”
Score. That was a good move.
And so we walk. And we talk. And sometimes our hands touch. And we get a drink from a vending machine. And we talk more. And she doesn't stop and neither do I. And we exchange numbers. And I walk her home. And I stand in front of the door blushing like an idiot.
He says it like it’s so simple. Like her relationship with him isn’t the longest she’s ever had. That she’s spoken to him more in these weeks than merchants she has known for years, possibly more than her own damned mother. There must be catch, something she’s missing, something else she doesn’t understand. It can’t be that simple. If it was so easy, then why hasn’t she ever had…
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
CW for poor attempts at emotional manipulation, toxic behaviors, and just the usual Leonova bullshit
Domhildr (mentioned) belongs to @soupedepates
Let’s go lesbis
10/01/2025
Ether 💛 : I told you I needed to be at work on New Year's to help at the ER, Leo, we’ve been over this
Leo 🧛🏻♀️ : We get it. Your work is more important to you than we are.
Leo 🧛🏻♀️ : You even let Khaliun answer your phone when I called on Christmas. If I don't interest you for anything other than sex, just say so.
Me : Um, i was okay with it actually??? 😶
Ether 💛 : Leo are you for real rn?? If I could have spent the New Year's with you I would have!!
Leo 🧛🏻♀️ : Sure you would have. New Year's is fine but I'm not even allowed to go spend Christmas at your place.
Ether 💛 : I invited you??? You’re the one who said you couldn't come!!
Leo 🧛🏻♀️ : Because I knew you didn't want me around, otherwise you'd have insisted more
Ether 💛 : For fucks sake Leonova
Ether 💛 : I can't run after you all the time
Leo 🧛🏻♀️ : Good, I see you've stopped pretending to care.
Ether 💛 : …
Ether 💛 : I need to go back to work. Talk to you later
Leo 🧛🏻♀️ : How very convenient.
Me : Leo drop it ur being of bad faith rn
Leo 🧛🏻♀️ : Oh if you want to keep getting trampled on, be my guest, Khaliun.
Alright, that’s it. I'm sick of this.
Me : ur off work right
Leo 🧛🏻♀️ : It’s 8pm. Of course I'm off work. Why?
Me : Nice
Me : see u soon 😄
I turn off my notifications. I went to her flat with Ether to have coffee like five days ago. I don't really remember the way, but I have the address registered.
Maybe it’s a bad idea. But it'd be worse to say it by text where Leonova has the control and where Ether can see.
This can’t go on.
I like Leo. I don't think she’s a good or a bad person. I think she's funny, and witty, and pretty, and smart. I think she's also violent and mean. She’s not always like that, but it's been a lot more tense since Christmas. Ether just takes, then breaks up, then gets her back, then it's the honeymoon phase all over again. I've stayed silent. I've just watched. Not my relationship, not my business, right?
But it's my girlfriend who cries herself to sleep because Leonova can’t be bothered to think about how she feels. It's her fault if I get Ether calling me in tears every two weeks.
Her fault.
And my business.
***
“Um, Leo? There’s someone at the door.”
… She didn’t.
“It’s Khaliun.”
Nevermind. Of course she did.
“Do I let her in or…?”
Urgh. If I leave her at the door, I might find her sleeping there tomorrow morning. That girl is worse than a cockroach. Might as well get this over with.
“Sure.”
As soon as the door opens, her voice rings out. Ever so cheerful. Hi, Kalerich, how’s it going, you look a little pale, make sure to go outside from time to time, where’s your sis, oh right sorry my shoes. Grating. One can only wonder where she gets all that energy from.
She stomps to the living room. She's wearing an old band t-shirt with sweatpants, her socks are bright pink like a little kid’s, her cap is just as horrendous as I remember. Yet she still looks good. I hate that I can't say that she’s ugly without lying.
I close my laptop, she throws herself into one of the chairs. She's still smiling like a dumbass, but her smile is… different than usual.
“Didn't your parents teach you that it’s rude to barge into people’s homes past 7pm?
Khaliun laughs. Unfazed.
“Didn’t your parents teach you to treat your girlfriend right?”
…
There it goes. There it is. This is going to be about Ether, about how terrible of a person I am and how I should leave her for her own good. As if I don't already know that.
“Why are you being so pissy lately, Leo?”
Uh? No blaming? No screaming? What is she trying to do?
“Don’t look at me like that! I just want to understand!”
… Hah. Understand. Of course.
I get it. It's a trap, isn't it? She's going to make me believe I’m safe and then she’ll shatter me as soon as I lower my guard.
I’m not falling for that. I’m never falling for that again.
“You think you're so good, don't you.”
She blinks.
“What?”
“You think you’re so nice, so kind, that it makes you look so righteous to try to help me, like I'm some lost puppy. It might work on mellow-hearted people like Ether, but it’s not gonna work on me, Khaliun.”
She stops smiling.
I don’t think that’s ever happened before.
Good. Show me who you really are, behind all your good intentions.
“So you want me to stop being nice to you?”
“I want you to stop pitying me. I don't need you or anyone to do that. I’m doing perfectly fine.”
“You’re not,” she retorts.
Factually. Like it’s obvious that I'm not okay. I hate it. But she doesn't let me come up with a rebuttal.
“If you were okay, you wouldn’t have called on christmas. You wouldn't be projecting your insecurities onto Ether like that, either.”
Oh, so now she’s using the whole christmas ordeal as an argument against me. Of course. That’s what people like her do. That’s how they “help”.
“… I’m not projecting.”
She crosses her arms, frowning.
“You are. Ether does everything for you. She was worried she wouldn’t be available when you called on christmas so she said I could answer for her. She's always on and on about cooking your favorite dishes. She asks me for ideas for your dates. And what are you doing in return? And don’t say that you give good sex because I also do that.”
What I do in return?
…
“I’ve never given more of myself to someone. Ever. And I never asked her to do all of this for me, did I? Since when are relationships transactional?”
Khaliun sighs deeply, like I'm some kind of noisy kid in class.
“They're not. They're reciprocated. Not the same thing.”
Look at little miss not out of uni yet trying to play who’s the smartest. Trying to make me look like I'm in the wrong.
“Oh, I see how it is. Ether is the perfect girlfriend and I'm the homewrecker getting in between you two.”
“Stop twisting my words, Leonova.”
The words cut right through like stones. I don’t think she ever used my full name before.
“I never said you were a homewrecker. Fucking insecure is what you are. You know how I know? Because I know why Ether fell in love with you, I know why she wants you back every time, I know what you’ve been giving her in return. But when I asked you, you couldn't give me a single answer.”
My face grows hot.
She's right.
But you can’t let her say it.
Because if Ether finds out that you're giving her nothing, she'll leave you.
“Well, now I understand why you're in sports studies and not psychology. You'd be awful.”
“I don’t need to be studying psychology for that. You wanna know what you give her ? You give her a space where she can talk about her problems at work. You recommend books to her and she does the same and you both read the other’s recommandations. You make her laugh. You take her out when she’s feeling too down in the dumps. You give plenty of things I can give and others that I can't. But you can't be bothered to realize it!”
…
Why does she look so infuriated saying that of all things?
“You could be so good for her, and yet you still choose to behave like this!”
“Like what?”
“Like a bitch!”
For a few seconds, I'm rendered speechless.
She called me a bitch.
To my face.
I’m almost impressed.
“Say that again?”
“I’m sorry, it’s just true, I don't have a better word for it! I mean, fuck, you cheated on her!”
I dig my nails into my palm. So we’re going on this terrain now. Fine.
“Well. She had made it clear that she didn't want me around anymore.”
“You argued! It happens to everyone, yet not everyone cheats on their partner for an argument!”
I needed comfort.
I wanted to hurt her like she hurt me.
So I found a way to get both.
“Oh, so she can have several partners, but when I do it’s cheating?”
“Don’t play dumb. You know full well that's not what happened. You never told her, she had to find out on her own, and she still got you back. The act in itself wasn't the problem. What was is that you actively lied and that it was right after an argument.”
I remember the look on their faces.
Domhildr, the morning after, when she learned that I wasn't single and that my girlfriend didn't know I was here.
Ether, three weeks after it happened, telling me she had been told by the bartender that night, a friend of a friend, that I’d been with another woman. She got angry at me. She cried. Dumped me.
Didn't even resent Domhildr. She called her instead. I think they still text? I don’t know.
“That’s easy for you to say,” I groan. “You came by first. I’m only the second-hand partner. Why can’t I compensate for it sometimes?”
“... Is that really what you think? That you’re secondary? That Ether being poly grants you a free pass for cheating?”
I shrug.
I shrug?
Yes, I shrug. What else is there to say? I'm going to be the villain either way.
I've always been secondary. It’s not like it’s much of a change.
“What the hell.”
I've never seen someone look so flabbergasted. It’s almost insulting.
“I’m sorry I can't be perfect, Khaliun.”
She throws her hands into the air with an exasperated sigh.
“Perfect this, perfect that, perfect perfect perfect, is that all you ever think about?! No one asks you to be perfect, Leo!”
Liar. They all do. They all keep asking for more.
“What are you asking me, then?”
“To be better! Just that! Better! And to stop thinking that Ether must give you all the things that your parents didn’t give you, or whatever! Sure, you've been through shit, sure, you're very sad and unhappy, but that doesn’t mean that Ether has to be sad too!”
I'm not…
I’m not sad.
She doesn’t know what she’s talking about.
“... You don't know anything about my family.”
“Uh, it's not that hard to guess. I know people who come from healthy families when I see some.”
Yeah. People like you and Ether. People who were given everything without ever having to ask. People who never had anything taken from them. People who were their parents’ pride and joy. People who were born in wedlock and never had to live up to their brother.
“Anyway, my point is, that's not an excuse to treat her like shit. You know what, maybe you hate me, and that’s fine! I get it! You don’t have to like me! But always putting that jealousy on Ether, like she’s somehow responsible for your feelings? That’s bullshit.”
…
I don’t hate you. To be honest, I wish I did. What I hate is how good you are, compared to me.
But I'd rather die than admit it to you.
“So what? Should I leave? Would that make everyone feel better? Would that help you get your perfect little couple?”
“Will you quit that?! I’m not perfect! Neither is Ether! You're the only one who’s obssessed with this! You know you’re not the center of the world, right? Not everyone is out to get you! Can you ever, I don’t know, chill out? It must be exhausting for you to live like that! And it's exhausting for us, too!”
I burst out laughing.
“Exhausting for you?”
Live one fucking day in my life and see if you're the exhausted one, Khaliun. I’d love to see you try.
“Yeah, exhausting for us.”
She huffs, shifts in the chair and leans in to look me in the eyes. There's pure anger glinting in there.
But it's not an anger I can control. Which makes me feel weirdly on edge.
“You wanna know why you’re going out with Ether and not with me, Leo?”
“Because I love her, and I don't love you.”
“Yeah, sure. But no. Like I said, Ether isn’t perfect. And her biggest flaw – you know what it is? It’s that she doesn't know her worth. Sure, she knows who she is, and she’s out in the open, never compromising on it, but just because you’re confident with who you are doesn’t mean you have any idea what you're worth. You know that full well.”
“... What are you getting at?”
She gets up. I'm smaller than her, and now that I'm seated and she’s standing she's towering over me.
“You don't like me ‘cause I know my worth and I take my decisions accordingly. Doesn't mean I'm not forgiving. It’s just that I don’t let people like you manipulate me or push me around, unlike Ether does. And you?”
She takes one step towards the couch. Towards me.
“You only date people that don’t know their worth because it makes you feel so much better about yourself. You know that if they start thinking they deserve good things, they'll leave you, because you don't think you're good.”
Another step. Then another.
“I don't think you’re lying when you say you love Ether.”
She’s right in front of me.
I can’t move.
“But there's one thing you love more than her, and that’s hating yourself.”
…
“I don't –”
Her fist makes contact with the wall right next to my left ear. She leans in, her face only inches away from mine, teeth gritted in anger.
“Stop. Just stop. I’m sick and tired of your excuses, of you hurting our girlfriend just because you like wallowing in self-pity and denial so much you hurt people just to stay and sink in it. Again, I don’t hate you, and even if I did you’d still deserve respect. But don’t think that the shit you pull has no consequences.”
She tears her hand away from the wall. Her knuckles are bruised.
“You hear me, Leo?”
It's the nickname that snaps me out of it. The nickname, and the tone that has suddenly gone soft.
How fucking dare she.
“I’m not going to be lectured by a little shit who isn't even out of school yet,” I spit.
Her eyes narrow.
“I don’t see why not. You've been out of school for years and you still act like a ten year-old.”
…
She’s right.
You don’t deserve her.
No.
No, she's wrong.
She thinks she can just barge in and play the victim.
That's it.
I’m done.
“Get out.”
“I’m not do –”
I grab the thing closest to me – a cushion – and throw it at her.
“Get out of my fucking flat, Khaliun!!”
She dodges, steps back, looking even angrier.
“Or what? Are you gonna call the cops on me because your ego’s hurt?”
Oh, you wish it was the police I wanted to call.
“Get. Out.”
Her chest heaves. She looks like she's about to cry.
Like a baby.
“... Fine. Be that way then. We'll see what Ether says when you go and complain like you always do!”
She leaves the room the same way she came in – stomping. I hear a silence when she puts her shoes back on, I yell,
“Go fuck yourself!!”
And the door slams shut.
My heart thumps against my eardrums.
A minute passes by, then Kalerich comes back in with a look of concern.
“... Leo, why is there a dent in our wall?”
“It’s my appartment,” is all I can reply, shakily.
“Okay, sure. Why is there a dent in your wall?”
Because Ether can’t fucking keep her bitches on a leash, that's why.
I grab my phone.
I won't be disrespected like this. Who do they think they are?
Leo, why is there a dent in the wall?
Because of her.
Leo, why is there a dent in the wall?
Because…
Leo, why is there a dent in your head?
…
And sent.
She’ll regret ever having set foot in this flat.
It’s not my fault.
It’s not my fault.
It’s their fault.
***
I get home at 6am after a whole night of being on watch duty at the hospital.
The group chat is flooded with messages.
I scroll back as far as I can.
Khaliun asking Leo if she's free.
A picture of a wall with a dent in it.
Outraged messages, from everyone, the pseudonyms are all jumbled up, I don’t know who's talking but they're all calling me.
Ether, say something!
Ether, are you going to let her speak to me like that?!
Ether this, Ether that, choose a side, Ether, pick a side, Ether, say which of us is right, Ether, tear your fucking heart and head apart for us, Ether –
I’m tired. I'm so tired. As if my days weren't tiring enough. As if the patients weren’t feeling bad enough, now I have to manage my girlfriend who’s never satisfied and my other girlfriend who acts out on her own.
I can't deal with this.
Me : I can't deal with this anymore. Don't even try to text me until you both get over your shit.
I leave the group chat, press their profile pictures, block, block, throw my phone across my bed and shut my eyes.
Introducing them was a bad idea. But Leo had insisted.
I can almost see Nenia looking at me disapprovingly.
Well, you had it coming.
I guess it's my fault for thinking they could get along. My fault for thinking I could love the both of them without getting bitten in the ass.
The following texts references sexism, homophobia and transphobia.
Domhildr belongs to @soupedepates
Amandine belongs to @corneille-but-not-the-author
I feel like the lobby in this house is getting bigger and bigger with each and every one of my visits.
Maybe it’s just me that feels smaller, despite the heels, despite my situation, despite the fact that I’m grown now.
“Auntie Leoooo!”
Well, here come three of the few good things about Christmas. I didn't even have the time to get my coat off before getting jumped by my two nephews and my niece. I barely see them at all since they moved to Belgium. The laugh escaping me is sincere.
“Nice try, kiddos, but you're not getting the gifts before dessert!”
Danil, the oldest, puffs his cheeks.
“No fun.”
“I don’t care about the gifts! I just want a hug from auntie,” Nina whines.
Meanwhile, Saveliy keeps holding out his arms to ask for uppies, which is kind of hard with his siblings glued to my leg and my eight-centimeters heels.
“Kids, let your aunt breathe, will you?”
My brother-in-law arrives to get Danil and Nina off me, and takes his youngest into his arms before smiling politely.
“Hello, Leonova. Sorry about this, they've been all giddy since this morning.”
“Good evening, Zachary. It’s no problem. Is my sister around?”
Zachary is nice enough, compared to some other members of this family. We just don’t have much in common is all. If I'm completely honest, he’s a little bland, but as long as he makes my sister happy…
“Yes, she's in the dining hall with your brother. They've been waiting for you too.”
I thank him with a nod and head over to the dining room. Dear god, the Christmas tree is even taller than last year. Imagining Father climbing on a ladder to decorate it is pretty comical, even if he surely didn’t do it himself. But I'm not really interested in trees. No, what matters is my siblings, chatting together near the window, and their faces lighting up when they see me.
“Hi, Novushka!”
Misha’s looking a lot better than last time. Her hair has grown back to her shoulders, even if it’s thinner and curlier than before. When I hug her, I only feel a flat torso against mine. It’s a little strange, but at least she seems alright. And she’s told me the chemo worked. That's all that matters.
“Heyy, Misha, I want a hug from Nova too!”
Misha laughs and lets Denevan come embrace me. My littlest brother is twenty-four now, and he sure looks smart in his brand new suit and tie. It’s weird to see him all grown-up when I practically raised him. Fresh out of business school just like his sister and already well-off. Wonder who he gets that from. He lets go of me, looks around confusedly.
“Kal isn't coming this year either?”
…
“Well? Have you changed your mind?”
Kalerich glances at me and shrugs.
“You know they don't want me around anymore. I don’t see why this year is any different.”
Yeah. I know. Otherwise you wouldn't have taken refuge at my place. Maybe a part of me likes to rub it in, the way you fell from grace, the way you went from the golden heir to a college dropout no one believes in anymore, the way I'm the most successful out of both of us now.
And the other…
“No. I'm sorry, Deni.”
“You know it’s complicated between him and Father, Vanya,” Misha adds hastily.
Denevan makes a face. He doesn't know, actually. He just thinks Kalerich and Father had an argument over who would inherit the company, which isn’t untrue. But he doesn't know about the rest and I think that's for the better.
“Well, I'm glad to see you three are still as chummy as ever! Now, let us all sit down and catch up, alright?”
Ha. Speaking of the Devil, here he comes with his most faithful priestess. My father and stepmother. Ivan and Honora Delavriskov.
And at his command, we all sit down, because the lambs don't resist when the shepherd guides them home, now do they?
So here we are. My dad, sat at the far end of the table. Honora to his right, Denevan to his left. Misha sits between her mother and husband, I sit next to my brother and my niece. My nephews face each other at the other end.
No matter what I do or how much I work my ass off, I'm still seated next to the kids. They make sure I know my place even though I've carved one for myself.
It doesn't matter. It’s fine. It’s only one evening. I start eating with the others, chatting with my brother, listening patiently to Nina when she tries to ask me for a food she doesn't know the name of. I talk like I'm a convict and the conversations are my last cigarette as I await for the moment of my public execution. I’m not disappointed.
“Leonova, why is your hair cut so short every time I see you?”
Because everyone says it suits me. Everyone except Honora, apparently. But I know the lengths I have to go to get even one compliment from her. They're hardly worth it. She doesn’t let me reply, anyway.
“If you keep going like that, we'll soon see your scalp,” she continues. “And your make-up makes you look like a stolen car. No man is ever going to be interested in you with this kind of look.”
Well her hair will fall off sooner than mine with all the dye she puts on her roots. And her ensemble is tacky at best, horrid at worst.
And I don't want a man to be interested in me. Or rather, I don't give a flying shit.
“Your mother has a point, Leonova.”
She isn’t my mother. She's never been. I don't care if I'm ungrateful, because she was oh so kind to take in her husband’s late mistress’ three children that he had behind her back.
My mother, my real mother, died almost twenty years ago because no one fucking cared. Not my father, not the doctors, not her family, no one.
But I don't say it.
I’m a good daughter. Good daughters smile and let their father speak.
“How old are you already?”
“I'll be turning thirty this february, Father.”
But it's not like you care enough to remember my birthday.
“Thirty! Thirty, and you’re still unmarried.”
Yeah.
Because you forced me to cut off the only person I've ever wanted to marry.
I still remember her eyes. Full of hurt. A cold hurt. But the worse was how disappointed she seemed. Disappointed in me.
I could have told her. That it was to protect her. But I didn't.
Keep calm. Breathe. Don’t let him get to you.
“I'd rather focus on my career for now.”
He bursts out laughing. No one else laughs but no one else comes to my defense either.
“Your career? Look at your sister! She can juggle her work, children and marriage just fine.”
“Dad, it’s different,” Misha tries. “I’m a dentist, Leo has a lot more responsibilities than–”
“What do you even do that takes up so much of your time?” Honora cuts her off, her eyes fixed on me.
I stab my turkey with my fork. Sauce splatters to the sides of my plate.
“I’m a marketing manager. I thought I already told you.”
“Marketing manager? I was already marketing director at your age,” my father scoffs.
Yeah. Because you inherited your father’s company, just the way Denevan will inherit yours. Meanwhile I had to make my way in a luxury company all on my own, while trying to handle my superior that wants me under his desk before promoting me and scares all the women in my team because he gets too handsy.
But a cheating, lying asshole like you wouldn’t understand that, now would he?
Because we’re nothing without you and your goddamn money. But I make my own, now. I don't need this. I don't need you.
Kalerich’s dubious stare comes back to my mind.
Why do you still go?
“It’s been going well so fa–”
“But you're still single.”
I am not.
I have a girlfriend. Her name is Ether. She wants to be a gynaecologist. She’s hard-working, kind, too kind, laughs loudly, swears too much, forgives too easily, never sleeps enough, likes her coffee with a lot of sugar, has the most beautiful smile I've seen and I've been treating her like garbage. But I'm in love with her. I'm in love with her. Even if I know she deserves better, I keep coming back to her.
But I don’t say it.
There’s a crucifix on the far wall and I feel like it’s looking right at me.
I smile for the imaginary camera.
“That's right.”
My father sighs in disappointment.
Disappointment. Again.
Disappointment in her eyes when I told her it was over.
Disappointment in Domhildr’s mouth when I told her I had a girlfriend.
Disappointment in Ether’s words when she learned about the cheating.
Disappointment on Denevan’s face when I told him his brother wouldn’t be here.
Disappointment, disappointment, disappointment, you're a fucking disappointment–
“You're lucky I've started looking through potential fiancés for you.”
… What?
“I should have done this much earlier, to be honest. I thought you’d manage to find someone decent, but it looks like I've overestimated you.”
My blood runs cold. My stomach is nothing but a mess of knots all tightening simultaneously.
Denevan’s nervous eyes dart between me and our father. Misha looks like she's frozen in her seat. Zachary pretends to be busy helping Saveliy cut his meat.
I’m on my own.
My tongue feels like it’s made of lead.
“You… You can't just–”
“Oh, but I can. That's the better option for everyone.”
“Your father's right,” Honora agrees. “I mean, I don’t want to speak ill of your tastes, Leonova, but the man you were with for some time…”
She wasn’t a man. She wasn't happy as a man.
That's why she couldn't have been happy with me or this family either.
Not when Father chuckles with so much disdain.
“Right, him. He turned out to be quite… well, his whole delirium about being a woman… Who could have thought? Either way, it wasn’t normal. I’m glad you had enough sense to break up with him. Those people are sick and we’re not doctors.”
“Those people”. I dated one of “those people”. Goddammit, I loved her. I probably still do.
How dare he? How dare he talk about her like she's sick when Misha, his eldest daughter, was actually sick with something she could have not recovered from?
Who am I kidding. Legitimate or not, it doesn't matter. We’re still daughters and not sons.
“What was his name again? Ar–”
Her name was Amandine.
Stop. Stop talking about her like that. Stop, stop, stop.
I stuff some meat into my mouth and Honora looks at me disapprovingly.
“Don't look at us like that, Leonova. Do you have any idea how you made us look to our acquaintances and business partners? How many justifications we had to come up with for you? I mean, everyone thought you were…”
Misha’s face turns sour.
“Mom. That’s enough.”
“No,” I interrupt. My voice sounds like dry ice. “They thought I was… what?”
“You know what I mean!” Honora exclaims.
“No, I don't. They thought I was what?”
“A homosexual.”
The room goes dead silent. My stepmother’s eyes widen.
“Ivan!”
“What? There's no point in sugarcoating it. And since Leonova isn’t like that, I don’t see why I should beat around the bush.”
Leonova isn’t like that.
“Auntie Leo? What's a homosessual?”
“Nina, be quiet and eat your food,” Zachary whispers furiously from the other side of the table.
I smile at my niece like I don't want the ground to open and swallow me whole along with this entire godforsaken household.
“You can ask your parents later, Ninoshka. Okay?”
She stares at me with her big blue eyes, but obeys and goes back to picking at her food. Six years-old are more perceptive than they look. But I can't let her see through the cracks. She'll realize their presence soon enough anyway.
“Leonova, you have to understand. Your father and I are just worried for you. That's why I'm not so sure about the short hair… People might get the wrong idea…”
I hate how sincerely worried Honora sounds. How she genuinely thinks she’s doing this for my own good. She treats me like I'm her real daughter, always has.
That's probably the worst thing she could have done.
But I don't say it.
I just smile. I don't reassure her. I’m not sure I'll be able to contain the venom in my voice if I try to.
“Well, no harm in looking for fiancés for you, then?” my father asks with a smile.
“No. Not at all.”
The words are gravel in my mouth.
“Good. At least there’s still hope for you. We wouldn't want you to end up like your disappointment of a brother, now would we?”
My siblings stare at their plate. Danil frowns. Kalerich has always been his favorite uncle. But Zachary’s eyes dissuade him from trying anything.
Saveliy raises his hand enthusiastically, Danil mumbles that he’d like that. Misha looks like she lost her appetite. Denevan passes me the wine with the most discomfited expression I've ever seen on him. Bless his heart.
I pour myself drink after drink, barely touch my dessert, only taking a bite out of Nina’s because she offered me to. By the time the kids open their gifts, I'm not sober at all anymore. There’s a bunch of wrapped packages with my name under the tree and the mere thought of opening them in front of everyone makes me want to puke.
“I’m going out for a smoke.”
I don’t ask for anyone to join me. My father and Honora only give me disapproving glances, Misha doesn’t smoke anymore, Zachary will be too uncomfortable to join me and Denevan has never touched a cigarette in his life. No one says a word when I walk out the room, no one says anything about how wobbly I am on my heels.
Everything in this house is too big. It makes me feel like I'm twelve again.
I go out to the porch and take a huge whiff of cold air before lighting up my cig. I check out my phone. There’s one text. From Domhildr, of all people.
Merry Chrysler! (hoping you haven't broken up with your girlfriend again cuz right now my legs are closed)
The little fucker. At least the message makes me snort. I contemplate calling her, not for sex of anything, just to chat. She's from a muslim family, does she even celebrate at all? Well. She’s probably busy anyways, with her roommate or her friends or whatever. And she might get the wrong idea. We’re not friends, after all. I don’t have friends.
I start scrolling mindlessly through my contacts. Kalerich hasn't texted me. He’s probably watching a series or out to town to kill time. Spending Christmas alone. There’s a pang of guilt in my chest but I barely feel it under all the alcohol and resentment.
A part of me likes to rub it in.
And the other
Keeps being jealous of you because at least now you have no expectations to meet anymore. Yet you're still someone. A parasitic, grim, lazy sack of shit, but you're someone without them. I’d be no one without them. I’d be nothing.
Or I'd just be Leonova and there’s nothing worse to be than myself.
I scroll past.
Amandine is still registered in favorites and in speed dial, even after all these years. My thumb hovers above the calling button. I haven’t tried texting her in a long, long time. Heard from a few rumors that she got into the police. Wrote seven drafts to congratulate her, sent none. Too afraid of the possibility that maybe, maybe she blocked me and my words will remain stuck in my phone. But god I want to call her. I want to hear her voice. I miss her.
But she’s better off without me.
So I scroll past again.
Only person left is Ether. She’s at her parents right now, with her sister. Her dad is an egyptian muslim, but her mom is greek and likes christmas, so they celebrate anyways. And I know they're a happy family. I know she loves her parents and her parents love her just as much.
It’s so unfair it makes me sick.
Why does she get that and I don't?
She invited Khaliun to come, too. Khaliun who’s infinitely better than me in every way and a much better girlfriend. I’ve met her and I could already tell this much. Does Ether keep me around just so she can feel better about herself for adopting a rabid dog that was about to be put down? Am I here to make her other lovers feel better about themselves?
She told me to call her if things got too much. I told her there would be no need. Now I need her but I’d rather die than admit it.
So I call. With every intention of being a bitch, of blaming Ether unjustly for having such a great time when I don’t, of ruining my life for good so I can prove to myself I'm just as bad as I think I am.
It’s ringing.
Pick up.
Pick up.
Pick up the fucking phone–
“Yeeeessss hellooo?”
My anger is swept away in a second.
That’s not Ether’s voice.
“... Khaliun?”
“Leonova! Hi! Yeah, it’s me.”
That's her laugh, no mistake.
… What is she doing with Ether's phone?
“Where’s Ether?”
“Uuuuh, right now? Very drunk and very busy debating in arabic with her dad. Her phone was ringing in her bag and she told me you might call, so I thought I’d answer.”
Ether… told her I might call? Why?
“Is everything okay? You sound off.”
I want to scream at her. For stealing my girlfriend away from me. For getting all the good times. For being so good and nice and everything I'm not.
Instead, all that comes out is a sob.
“Aw, Leo. Christmas is a tough time for you, huh?”
…
Yeah. Yeah, it is.
I'm tired of pretending it’s not.
“Do you want me to get Ether?”
I shake my head, and realize a second later that she can’t hear that over the phone, but it seems like she understands anyways. I hear some shuffling sounds.
“Okay. Hold on, I'mma go somewhere more quiet. Stay on the line, alright?”
I do. My make-up runs down my cheeks. I hear shuffling on the other side of the line, the sound of a door closing.
“So, Leo, tell me. What’s the big sad about?”
The question is stupid. Yet it makes me sob harder.
I’m so pathetic, crying to a twenty-three years old girl I keep talking shit about behind her back.
But I'm tired. I'm so tired. I want to go home.
I just don't know where home is anymore.
I got the things I wanted, it's just not what I imagined
