hidden in plain sight

[theo lovett]

Focusing on driving makes it easier for him to speak to her, his eyes on the road. It felt surreal to have her back in that passenger seat, such a contrast to how free and easy her company used to be. "I am though," he says, feeling it. His head snaps to look at her when she says she's being sued, concern etched over his face. "By your family? How does that work? I mean... do you have a lawyer?" A million more questions are bubbling up within him, but he tries to focus on the most crucial ones. He's not overly familiar with the details of her estrangement... guiltily, he had wondered if the whole thing was a PR stunt. It seemed not. "Can you afford it?"

[dolly weathers]

She looks pedestrians as they walk on the sidewalk and blend in with their morning routine. The concern in his voice pulls her back. She focuses on the warmth radiating into her hands, it's the first time she's said it outloud and she's afraid she might have a mental breakdown in her ex-boyfriend's car. "My lawyer is their lawyer... I'll have to make some calls.”, she bites her lip and frowns, looking again at the road ahead. "I'm going to sell my house, cut back a little. I'll be fine, I think,” there's doubt in her voice as she looks back to the road and takes a sip of burning coffee.

[theo lovett]

"Dolly, that sucks." What an understatement. He had never understood her family dynamic, but this was a new low even for them. They pull up to a red light and he thinks over what she's said, trying to understand how her life could have changed so drastically in what was not that long a time apart. He takes another sip of coffee, glancing from the light to her. "I can lend you the money in the meantime, if you need it. Just until the sale goes through." He starts the car again, driving the familiar route to her place, the neighbourhood getting nicer and nicer as they put Koreatown behind them.

[dolly weathers]

"Yeah,” she sighs and taps lightly at the paper cup, "I was kind of a cunt though, you have to admit. I was fully aware I was setting things on fire.” She thinks about the anger that had gone into the email she'd sent and how she'd let it sit in her drafts for two weeks before she hit sent. It wasn't rash, it was collected. "No no. I don't need that.”

[theo lovett]

Was she out of line? Hard to say with a family like that. "Why'd you do it?" he asks. It's a question he would like to ask her about their break up too, but it doesn't feel like the best time. Why Dolly did anything was a mystery to him and she wasn't much in the habit of explaining herself. "If you change your mind, you've got my number. The money's just sitting there." He falls silent again, the houses becoming bigger and further spread apart as they head towards her address.

[dolly weathers]

"I was really pissed off,” she takes a long sip of coffee and watches as the road becomes more familiar and sparse. "I drank too much and embarrassed them. So they sent me to rehab and then I just started thinking about how fucked up it was. Fucked up that I was there, fucked up that all my choices were monitored, fucked up that they basically made me break up with you. It just seemed I couldn't do anything right. Everything I want is always wrong, so there.” Her jaw tightens as he pulls onto her road, she feels guilt swelling as he offers his money again. "Rich people love sueing each other. I think it's mostly my dad telling me that he's still in charge. I'll be fine.”

[theo lovett]

The circumstances of their first meeting swam into memory, and Theo feels a pang of guilt. Did she have a drinking problem? Had he ignored the signs, enabled her? Too late to worry about that now. As she speaks his stomach drops, a deep seated suspicion confirmed once and for all. He pulls to a stop outside her lavish soon-to-be-ex home. "So it was them?" He looks at her, searching her face for confirmation. "I figured as much but you didn't give me much of an explanation."

[dolly weathers]

They pull up to her home. The wooden gates of her driveway sternly shut and waiting for her to punch the code in. "Sort of,” she unclicks her seatbelt and opens the door. "And your fucking weird, completely inappropriate relationship with your hot roommate,” she slips out of his car, her small frame thudding on the pavement and her coffee splashing on her hands. "Anyway. Thank you for destroying my sweater and for the ride home.”

[theo lovett]

He's not sure how to feel. The whole morning had been a headfuck, from his sleeplessness to bumping into her and now this. It was hardly a surprise but it stung regardless, knowing she'd had a choice and he had not been it. "Wait, what?" he asks, as she elaborates on her reasoning. Genuine confusion crosses his face as he rolls his window down and leans out to speak to her retreating back. "Dolly, wait! You can't just say something like that--" he unclips his seatbelt, parking up and jumping out of the Jeep to follow her. "Come on. I might have ruined your sweater, and I am really sorry about that, but you can't just leave like this. Can't we talk?"

[dolly weathers]

'39641' she presses the code code in and the large gate creaks open. Her temper is shortening as she becomes more overwhelmed. It was a bit much getting served and running into your ex all in the span of twenty-four hours. "I don't really know what you could want to talk about?” She stands on the opposite side of the gate as he rushes to follow her, "I never said anything because cuddling with your roommate when you have a girlfriend should be an obvious no.”

[theo lovett]

Theo stands on the other side of the gate, still. He's trying to figure out what she's saying but he's confused, his tired brain incapable of processing this new information even with the help of caffeine. "Where's this coming from? Did she say something to you?" The gate slowly clicks closed between them, Dolly on the side of her ivory fortress, Theo wishing she would just let him in. Nothing new there. "I just want to understand. It was really hard on me, Dolly, you ending things like that. Your family always hated me, me and Ellie were always close. What changed?"

[dolly weathers]

The gate slowly begins to shut on him and she watches as it clicks inches from his nose. She doesn't know how to gather her feelings into a sentence or even how to hold a coffee while having a conversation. Her hands move as she tries to explain, the coffee splashes all around. It's clear it would have ended up on her sweater regardless of the events. "First your neighbours, who thought that you two were in a relationship and thought that I was some weird mistress,” she sets the coffee on the pavement. "Then your brother. Who kept saying, 'you're really okay with this?' Until I actually wasn't.” Her hands are shaking and she presses them into fists, "And no, my family never liked you. And yes, you and Elyse always had something. I guess being inadequate became tiring.”

[theo lovett]

Frustration bubbles up within him, exacerbated by how tired he is. He doesn't care what his neighbors think, but what she says next makes his stomach drop. "Ollie?" He says, dumbfounded, as though he had more than one brother to choose from. There's a sharp twist in his stomach as he realizes his own twin has had a role to play in this, a wave of nausea passing over him. What the fuck was his game? No matter, an issue for another time. Right now, he sighs heavily, pushing his sense of betrayal to one side. "That's fucking stupid," he says finally, unable to help himself. "You're using her as a scapegoat because you were too weak to go against your brothers. Which I understand, but don't make this about her."

[dolly weathers]

She watches the emotion go through his face. First surprise, then betrayal and now frustration. "I do expect you to be loyal and there for your roommate. You've known her a long time and you care for her. You're a very caring person,” she rolls her eyes at him and sighs. "Maybe there's something there that you need to dig into. I just couldn't stand around and watch it.”

[theo lovett]

"Since when were you so petty?" This all feels absolutely out of left-field. "I've been single since you broke up with me. If there was something there, don't you think it would have happened by now?" He wishes he had crossed the threshold of the fence, craving closeness, wanting to be able to study her face up close. What he's saying isn't the whole truth and he knows it, but he suspects she's not telling the whole truth either. "If you really thought I would cheat on you then you don't know me at all. I was all in. NDA bullshit, family bullshit, I rolled with it. I'm sorry you couldn't deal with me living with a girl, or not being from a billionaire bloodline."