Never Break

Chapter Eight: Seething, Sizzling, Boiling, Frying...with Anger.

Adelaide and Olivia came back to Ad's home, seething. While Olivia was planning murder in her head, Adelaide tried to find ways to keep calm in her head.

'Stupid whippersnappers! They have no manners!' Adelaide grunted.

After several deep breaths, Adelaide managed to calm down, when her mother's voice called from the living room.

'Ad, dear. Could you come here for a second?!' came her voice. It sounded more like a command then a question. The girls exchanged a look at each other before entering the living room to find Mrs O'Connor sitting comfortably on the couch.

'Ad, Olivia! You both are soaking wet! You'll catch a cold! And your clothes are a mess!' She exclaimed looking at them with a mixture of concern and horror. Adelaide grinned sheepishly and lied to her smoothly.

'We didn't have an umbrella with us. It was so sunny in the morning, none of us thought we would need one, mum.'

'Well, you should go upstairs and dry yourselves and freshen up. Olivia I'm sure you'll be able to wear Ad's clothes for now.' Mrs O'Connor said and the girls trudged upstairs.

After drying themselves up and changing (and also having a mini pillow fight) the girls went downstairs to see what Mrs O'Connor had to say.

'Well I suppose I should tell the news to both of you together, it would save the trouble of explaining the whole thing again to Olivia.' Mrs O'Connor said looking at Olivia.

'Okay?' Olivia shrugged a little.

'Adelaide, dear, your father and I have decided that you are ready for marriage and have found a suitor for you, too.' She said calmly.

Ada thought that she was hallucinating. So she asked her mother to repeat what she had said. Mrs O'Connor sighed and repeated.

'What, mum?! Marriage? Are you serious?!' Adelaide exclaimed, her eyes wide like saucers.

'Yes, dear. He's the son of an old friend.' Mrs O'Connor said, knowing fully well that an argument was about to ensue. And, she knew very well that she couldn't win it.

'Oh Alvin...why do you always make me talk with the kids?'

'Old friend...my a-shoulder! I ain't gonna marry now. Heck! I don't even know the person! You surely don't wanna do that...blindly.' Adelaide frowned along with the still quiet Olivia.

'He's nice.' Mrs O'Connor tried to argue.

'I didn't ask for his character certificate, mum! I bet he's uninterested!' Adelaide countered.

'No. He's matured enough to think with a cool head. In fact, he was your babysitter.'

Adelaide choked into thin air. The rage in Olivia cooled down...and a funny feeling lurched inside her stomach. She snickered...unintentionally. And then gulped under the optical daggers sent by Adelaide.

'Sorry!' She squeaked.

'Oh really? How old's he? Seventy?' Adelaide asked mockingly, looking back at her mother, .

'Thirty.' Mrs O'Connor replied.

'Thirty?! I'm barely twenty! Are you trying to sell me off to a paedo, mum?!' Adelaide screamed at the top of her lungs, going directly into panic mode.

Olivia stood there, red as a tomato and listened to the argument. When Mrs O'Connor said the guy was thirty, she lost it. She lost the funny feeling in the tummy.