"Mienne, darling. I have exciting news! Your father is coming home tomorrow."
"Not interested."
Her mother put on a hurt face. "Mienne, I have hope that things will be different this time."
She was already heading up to her room to pack. As far as her memory stretched, she hadn't known her father for the first ten years of her life, she had assumed he was dead because the other children who didn't live with their father either had divorced parents or their father was dead. She didn't dare ask her mother about it anyway. She was shocked enough when he turned up unannounced, homeless and without a cent to him name. Less actually if you considered the debts. She didn't realise how much she had hated hearing the sound of arguing through the house until he left again after two years of bunking in their house. And after that he just keep turning up unexpectedly expecting her mother to take him in. She always said yes, and there was always raised voices. When Mienne's older brother, Kiralle, moved out, he had promised her that she could crash in his spare room whenever their father turned up. She was definitely taking him up on the offer.
She gave him a call, and dragged a suit case out onto her bedroom floor.
Sarsafine looked in from the doorway. "Where are you going?"
"Dad's coming home. I'm escaping to Kirry's place."
"What and leaving me an only child?"
"You can come if you want."
"Nah, Kirry can't cook for shit."
"You're staying because of the food?"
"I don't see what your problem with Dad is. It's not like we see him that much even when he is around."
"I just can't stand it."
"Whatever. I'll get the TV to myself, finally."
"You are so shallow."
"And you are so overly sensitive."
Mienne found Lucifer at the school gate again after school.
He was talking to someone. "I'm being forced to go to one of my mum's work place social functions. It's going to be boring, but mum really wants me to be there. Hey, you can come and make it less of a drag if you want. There will be some top notch food."
"I'll get back to you about it."
She was about to let Maggie go ahead and wait a while inside the gate to avoid Lucifer but the person he was talking to leant to the side and spotted her.
"Mienne!" It was Syren.
"Hi! How are you?"
"Not bad, and yourself?"
"Yeah, okay."
"Any symptoms of horrible diseases spouting because of your encounter with Lucifer?"
"Please! Don't bring that up."
"I kid. I kid," he put his arm around her shoulder, "Where are you heading? Let me walk you there."
Mienne smiled widely. "Train station."
"Mienne, I was wondering if you'd like to come to the work function that's coming up."
"No! How old am I that you have to keep dragging me to all your social events? I'm not even living in the house anymore."
"Please Mienne. Lucifer will be going."
"That's supposed to be incentive?"
"I don't want to leave him in his own company."
It reminded her that Lucifer might be bringing Syren. She didn't want to admit she was looking for anything, but the guy was nice and she didn't mind having the chance to get to know him better.
"Mienne, darling, please?"
"Okay, I'll come."
"Brilliant. Shall I pick you up from Kiralle's place?"
"Yes, I suppose."
Of course he wouldn't come, Mienne thought angrily to herself as she watched Lucier walk in by himself. What was she thinking? Who would want to give up their Saturday evening to go to some random work function, especially to spend the night with a jerk like Lucifer? No one, but it seemed like she was stuck with the job.
To make things worse, he father was trying to make some reconciliation act. "Mienne, please, hear me out," he was saying to her.
For once she would have liked to have a conversation, or even an argument, with Lucifer to avoid her father. But Lucifer was sitting on her other side, doing a very good job of ignoring her.
"Excuse me," she said to no one in particular, when he father started saying something about clearing his debts and moving back in for good. She stood and left the main dinning area.
She was stopped by Damien, while looking for somewhere quiet to retreat to. "Mienne, you look charming tonight. I see your friend is not accompanying you this time."
"Don't even start."
"Mienne, I want to apologise."
"Ha. You always know exactly what to say, Damien. Get back to me once you buy a heart to go with your sweet talk." She stepped around him and kept walking.
"Mienne! I was an idiot."
"Damn right." She didn't turn to look at him.
"Please, hear me out."
God, she would have been fine with a plain boring night with nothing but good food. But it was like everyone was against her. She turned to face Damien. "Just shut up. Please. For your own good."
She walked away quickly, and finding a door left slightly ajar she passed through it before Damien could follow. She found herself in a corridor where the kitchen hands were preoccupied with their catering duties. Full of anger, she walked down the corridor hoping it would eventually lead to somewhere quieter. No one stopped her and she kept walking until she was walking so fast she was nearly jogging. Her feet slid on the slippery floor as she turned a corner into a darkened section of the passageways. The next moment she felt herself sliding across the wet floor, and into someone.
She wrapped her arms around the person's waste, but it didn't stop the two of them falling to the floor.
Why had she agreed to come? Why had she come? She was asking herself over and over again. Her arms were hurting from hitting the ground under the other person's weight. "Ow. Fuck." She got herself into a sitting position and put her hands over her face.
"You okay?"
She looked up from her hands to find Lucifer's face right in front of her.
"Shouldn't you be telling me I'm such a bitch for running into you."
"Frankly? You don't look like you could take it just now."
"So now I'm just pathetic? I think I preferred the bitch treatment." She tried to laugh but the sound that came out sounded too much like a sob.
"Whoa, hey, it's okay." he attempted to put his arm around her.
Mienne stared at him fiercely, and pushed him away. "I don't need your fucking pity." She got up and resumed her furious walking pace.
"Well I'm sorry for trying to be nice." He called after her.
Mienne found an exit, bathed in the green light of the exit sign. "Push to open" said the words on the handle. She found herself out the back of the function hall. The sounds of merriment finally muffled by the heavy door. She sat on the door step and leaned her head against the cool brick.
"You rich fuck!"
"Fine have it your way!"
Mienne stood up. There was the sound of a crash. She headed around the corner of the building. It sounded like Lucifer and Damien. This couldn't be good.
She turned the corner was but sent stumbling back as Damien slammed into her chest. He didn't look around at her, but was on his feet and hurtling towards Lucifer.
"Stop it! What are you doing!" She shouted at them, but neither of them took notice.
Damien pulled Lucifer around by the arm until he hit the edge of a nearby dumpster. Lucifer swore loudly as he fell to the ground. When he tried to pick himself up Mienne saw that the edge of the dumpster had ripped his shit and left a gash across his chest that was starting to bleed.
"Don't get up." She pushed him back to the ground and pressed a cleaner part of his shirt to the wound.
"What the heck happened?" The voice sounded angry. Mienne looked around, it was Damien's father.
"He started it, Dad."
"I don't care who started it. You continued it, and I saw what you did just then, and that is just not on. I will have you apologise now. I'll have you apologise in front of Lucifer's mother!"
"No!" It was Lucifer who spoke this time. "Don't... I don't want to worry my mother. She's gone home already anyway."
Damien's father gave a disapproving look. "Are you okay to look after him, Mienne?" She nodded dumbly. "Good, I need to have a good talk with this boy." He dragged Damien away by the arm.
"What happened?" Mienne asked Lucifer.
"Can you believe it? The prick actually had the nerve to approach me and tried to apologise for what happened last time."
"He tried it with me too."
"Ha."
"And so you what? Punched his guts out?"
"He followed me out here and wouldn't leave me alone. What was I supposed to do?"
"Yeah, cause throwing a punch solves everything."
"Thank you miss pacifist of the year."
She glared at him.
"Okay, it wasn't that smart. Fuck, what am I going to do when I get home? My mother has enough shit to worry about."
"How come she went home without you?"
"I was talking to your father. Your mum offered me a lift home. Mum was... she needed to get out of here. Its a good thing that she didn't get to see me like this."
Mienne wasn't satisfied with the answer, but she let the matter pass. "Well... I'm at my brother's place at the moment if you want to crash there for a night... clean yourself up and head home in the morning..."
"Would he mind?"
"No."
"That'd be good. Thanks."
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