"Hello?" Pt. 2

Arabella

"Isabella," I return with the same distant coldness in my voice. "It's been a long time."

"It has," she says, although we're both thinking that it hasn't been nearly long enough. We both could have gone the rest of our lives without seeing each other. Still, here we both were. "I read your article. It was a nice read."

"I didn't think rival editors were invited to Vogue parties anymore," I say, ignoring the fact that she'd referred to my work as a 'nice read.' Having read a lot of Isabella's articles, I wouldn't even call them 'nice.' Mediocre, perhaps, but never nice. "Are you here as a guest of someone?"

Suddenly, that sadistic smile of Isabella's grew even wider and weirder. Lifting her champagne flute to her lips, she sipped on the drink and made her eyes dance with delight as they zeroed in on another person in the room. She waved at her friend, who excused herself from the man she'd been speaking to, and sauntered towards us. 

The woman, tall- yet shorter than myself- was blonde and perfectly turned out in a pink mid length dress that had voluminous sleeves. She had accessorised with a gold clutch bag and a pair of gold heels, forgoing any jewellery. As cartoonish as she looked, she certainly knew how to get everyone's attention.

"Sophie, may I introduce you to my friend," Isabella said. "This is Arabella Foster-Banning. Bells, this is her. Sophie Clément."

Pale blue eyes, cold and calculating, narrowed on me. They moved over me slowly, smirking at my outfit but pausing at my left hand as she took in my engagement ring. Instantly, her eyebrows lifted in amusement. "Not wearing the family ring, I see," she says. "Didn't the old biddy like you enough to let that thing grace your fat fingers?"

"Pleasure to meet you," I speak, trying to keep my composure for fear of creating a scene. That was the last thing anyone needed, but still, I wasn't about to let the woman who had cruelly betrayed Daniel speak to me like that, without any repercussions. "I'm sorry, I keep forgetting who's ex you really are. Was it Daniel or Samuel that you last slept with?"

Her face twisted into a look of pure anger, a beetroot red tinge flaming her cheeks. It was an unfortunate look as it clashed with her pink dress. "Who do you think you are?"

I was about to answer, but I was ungraciously cut off by someone, who thought it best to come to my rescue. "She is my fiancée," Daniel says, making his presence known as he wraps an arm around my waist and pulling me to his side. He bows his head slightly in greeting. "Arabella, it's always a pleasure to see you."

"Henry." I frown at the name she uses for him. Why would she call him Henry when everyone who knew him, called him Daniel? He even said himself that he hated the name 'Henry.' Arabella, however, didn't seem to care. Instead, she adopted a cruel look, ready to go on the attack. "I can't say I'm surprised that you lowered your standards, seeing as you can't do any better than me. Seeing as you mentioned him, Sophie, how is my darling Samuel doing? I bet he never quite got over the fact that I broke his heart, either."