. bittersuite

[kitty smith-sato]

"Thank you Eugene." The doorman nods as he closes the door behind her, having had permission from the owner of this luxuriously minimal apartment. Not like he hadn't seen her before. Kitty unravels the scarf that she had put on expecting more of a chill, placing it on a table by the front door and leaving her purse there too, moving through the apartment with the awareness of someone who had been comfortable in it before. She'd come straight from class and her laptop had made her bag heavy, her shoulder sore from the weight. Just as she's made her way to the main room and helped herself to a measure of whiskey from the bar, she hears the door open and her husband give the same thanks she'd given a moment before. "Henry. Are you okay?"

[henry albright]

It was quiet in the car as it inched closer and closer to the destination. The only sounds came from the driver occasionally sniffling and Henry's father's fingers furiously typing beside him. His head was pounding, stomach grumbling and anger slowly disintegrating as the car came to a complete stop. Hand tugging on the door handle to exit the car. We'll speak about this later, Charles Albright muttered just before the door slammed. "Thank you, Eugene." His head dipping in appreciation, at the door man, before entering one of the places he called home. Her voice rings out in concern, and Henry finds her next to the bar, whiskey in hand. "Pour me one of those, please?"  Gym bag falling to the ground, as he comes further in the apartment. His body falls comfortably into the couch, both hands reaching up to grab his head from behind, elbows falling on the top of the cushions. A deep sigh falls from his lips, feeling safe enough to let it out. "I'm okay."

[kitty smith-sato]

The anger she thought she'd feel at him has dissipated, washed away in the swell of her conversation with Dominic and all of its consequences. Kitty pours another drink for him, a bigger measure for a more stressful day, and this she places on the coffee table in front of him as she takes a seat at his side. The exhaustion is obvious, though he isn't as badly off as she was picturing, somehow imagining him as having spent life in jail and not a few hours. It feels strange to sit beside him without touching but she's unsure where they stand now, not having seen him since that fateful night. "You did a really dumb thing," she says, though she's said it before and he no doubt knows that. "But it'll be okay. I spoke to Dominic earlier and I think he's going to back down, he's made his point." She shuffles uncomfortably, not wanting to get into the detail just yet. "Here," she hands him the drink, clinking her glass against his. "Down in one."

[henry albright]

Eyes slowly close as his head rests comfortably, hearing Kitty assembling their drinks behind the couch. Glasses clinking against the bar, hoping she'll make his on the larger size. After the last few hours he's not sure whether a drink or a smoke sounded best for the emotions that were just coasting through him. The cushion next to him barely moves as his wife settles in, Henry opens his eyes to see the whiskey glass he assumes is for him, rested on the coffee table. Kitty scolds once more on the stupidity of the actions he'd taken. Henry's eyebrow quirks up, wanting to say more about why his reaction was to blow up. The initials, the reveal of her sexual relationship with Dom causing his anger to completely boil over. To punch a man he had a lot of hatred towards. His mouth is kept closed though, it wasn't the time to hash all of that out. He goes to reach for the glass, but Kitty retrieves it. She gives the count and their drinks sound before each of them down the contents. A favorite whiskey of his father. In a sequence, they put the glasses back on the table and a quiet overcomes. With such familiarity, Henry reaches for her petite frame, tugging her closer to his side. Putting away all of the uncomfortable feelings, needing her close. "So. He's going to back off?"

[kitty smith-sato]

Henry's closed eyes afford her an opportunity to look at him as intently as she liked. Dark shadows, chapped lips, the slightest hint of early wrinkles around his eyes though infuriatingly it only made him more handsome. But he looked like he'd been to hell and back, and Kitty didn't think it was jail alone that had led to this point. Despite her complete lack of maternal instinct and her general dislike of physical affection, she wants to reach out and touch him, to rest her head on his chest and feel his heartbeat against her cheek. But she doesn't, sitting as primly as ever, knees together, back straight, hands in her lap, glass in her hands. The burn of alcohol follows, though it's an obviously expensive single malt, rich, smokey flavor unfurling across her tongue. Hands free, Henry does what he does best and reaches across her awkwardness, pulling her in for a hug that she doesn't deserve but deeply benefits from. She breathes his smell deep, cologne and laundry detergent, faint sweat and staleness, likely from being cooped up in a cell. She can't help herself from reaching her arm across him and squeezing back, tears threatening to form in her eyes. She avoids the question. "I should have updated my next of kin details, then we wouldn't be in this mess. Henry I'm so sorry."

[henry albright]

She gives into the touch, melting into his grip. Both of their bodies suddenly feeling loose and more comfortable as they hug onto each other. Her perfume tickles his nose, all senses remembering the same one Kitty had always worn. Many memories float back from that sweet, familiar smell. Tugging a little bit on his heart as she speaks into the corner of his chest, squeezing back. One of Henry's hand finds the back of her neck, hidden by long locks. Thumb brushing the skin he's made contact with as they sat embraced. The other stroking her hair. He doesn't respond at first, thinking over it all. The situation they were in. Before their time in Italy that resulted from Kitty's accident, years had marched on without a glimpse of one another. Separate lives, even if they had remained married. What would occur after this? A mess scattered across their lives. "Hey.. it's okay. Don't worry.." His words don't feel true as he speaks them, to reassure her. "Are you okay?" This affected her, just as much as it did to him.

[kitty smith-sato]

It wasn't lost on Kitty that it was Henry who kept letting her back in. For all her scheming, her backstabbing, her narcissism and her doublespeak, he kept opening his arms to her, comforting her and stroking her hair as though she wasn't the architect of her own downfall. His hand against her neck is immensely soothing and she closes her eyes for a moment to fully reap the benefit. A world apart from the violence of Dom's love or the flippancy of her fathers' shoulder squeezes. Maybe she had tempted fate by wearing her wedding band all these years. Poor Henry, who finally could have lived a normal life, playing hockey and sleeping with bubbly, happy girls who wanted nothing but the best for him. She had been a curse upon him, this much she knows. So why was it so hard to let go? His kindness makes the tears start, streaming down her face as she clung to him. "No. You know what he wants."

[henry albright]

Henry keeps stroking, knowing how much she loved when his fingers played in her hair. All the times they laid chest to chest, as she requested this exact motion. Lips pressing against the top her head that was closest to him, Kitty holds onto him tighter, emotion shaking her tiny little body. There's so much he wants to say, to ask as she tearfully whispers. But it suddenly falls short, letting his mind spin around as she cries into on the crevice where arm meets shoulder. "So this is it, isn't it?" Comprehending what she means. What Dom wants. His disappearance from her life. The breaking of the bond that ties them as husband and wife.  Anger, resentment, sadness washes over him as while waiting for a response. But he knew it was the case, what she'd soon tell him. Their situation was anything but normal. Not speaking for years, only to find all those feelings buried feelings trying to resurface. Could he fully move on now, after this incident? Pushing those thoughts away, Henry brings Kitty closer. He finishes the last of his thoughts out loud. "The last time we get to see each other."

[kitty smith-sato]

Sometimes she longed to be the version of herself she had pretended to be to ensnare him in the first place. A docile girlfriend, brimming with witty conversation and academic flare, all that knowledge just to make her a more interesting marriage prospect. Someone sweet natured and sacrificing, someone who absolutely did not have her pseudo brother's initials carved into her flesh. Though he keeps on his soothing gesture, she can feel him stiffen with recognition at what she says. Still in his lap she pulls back, eyes watery, mascara smudged at the corners and tinting her tears grey. She nods. "The divorce papers are in my purse," she says, her voice hoarse and almost impossible to hear. It's as vulnerable as she's been since they had shared a bath in Venice, though now she feels even more raw, assaulted all over again. He's quiet but she can feel his emotions radiating off of him. "You should be pleased," she says, pulling herself into his lap completely, kicking her shoes to the floor as she goes. "I've ruined your life."

[henry albright]

There it was. Divorce. What he felt was coming the moment his brother mentioned that Kitty had taken care of everything.  Settled whatever needed to be done to free him of the charges and the jail time. And while he's thankful, now forever in her debt, Henry was aware of what the involvement would come to.. especially hearing all of the little secrets that spilled between their chaotic quartet. Knowing there was also a little dark side to his wife. A part of him that wishes to fight back, tell her that anything was possible. But look where that ended him up in the first place. Behind a tiny cell, waiting to hear what the fate of a few punches brought. Her mentioning of the papers draws his eyes over to the purse, slumped against the expensive whiskey. Papers awaited their signatures to end a little secret formed in Cape Cod years ago. Kitty stands and it pulls Henry's gaze back to her, processing it all. Already missing the contact of her body, the warmth, the comfort, while his eyes still pierce hers. Shoes are kicked off in a matter of seconds and she's back, invading his space as if it was her very own spot. Like Kitty belonged. "Tell me all about how you've ruined my life." Henry's hands capture her waist, holding her against his lap, trying to find comfort with a teasing tone. "I don't know if the world is ready for a newly divorced Kitty Smith-Sato.."

[kitty smith-sato]

Curled in his lap like, well, a kitty, Kitty braces herself for what was to come. Would he be angry, blame her? Or would he try to convince her that there must be another way? As it turns out Henry opts for neither of these options and she would be lying if she said she wasn't a little put out, though she also knows this can't have been a shock to him. As soon as Calvin had found out their little secret - and god she hated Violet for sharing it - she knew that the writing was on the wall. In some ways she's glad Cal didn't go straight to Dom, lording it over her but also buying her time to keep up her dalliances with her husband, moments she'd now cherish. They are easily evoked as his hands find her waist and she settles into his lap, straddling him, pouting at him as he teased. "You're literally freshly out of jail because of me," she says, though actually it's possible he hated Dominic independently of her connection to him. The mention of her being newly divorced makes her sob, something she hates as she wipes at her eyes with the sleeve of her sweater, not caring that it was white and makeup was smearing everywhere. "I don't want to be divorced. We never even celebrated an anniversary."

[henry albright]

This isn't what he wants. He realizes with her curled up on his lap, still giving comfort. Hitting him more and more as the time goes on. Should he be more upset with her? Given that it was her family, her supposed brother. That thought makes him sick all over again. A quick reminder of the initials that were carved upon that precious body, Henry spent hours worshipping whenever he got his hands on it. "I would gladly punch him again," Henry imagines the blood trickling down Dom's face once the shock wore off. The pressure, the teasing he gave to keep hitting him. "Minus going to jail and Dominic being incredibly petty." Instead of taking it like a man, Henry reckoned it hurt a bunch of pride. A funny joke taking the wrong turn as she sobs a little little harder in his arms. The sight hurts, seeing gray stained tears seeping from each beautiful eye. The truth was, he didn't want to see her with anyone else. Or let her be with anyone else, only him. Henry arms cradle her, flushing their chests together. "Come on, Kitten. I don't want this either..." Hands rubbing up the sides of her body as he thought of any solution that could keep the two of them together. "What else can we do?"

[kitty smith-sato]

Their last texts had been so cold that Kitty is surprised by his tenderness, grateful for it though she feels undeserving. "No," she says sharply to the suggestion of more violence, not because she was a pacifist but because god knows what Dom would request if that were to happen. There's an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach that whatever they do her brother would go back on his word, an unreliable type at the best of times. In her opinion they were both petty, more obsessed with each other than they were with her, which was almost offensive if she let herself think about it for too long. Their bodies are slotted together and her arms find their way around his neck. Kitty all but purring as he ran his hands over her lithe physique. The question prompts a pause, Katherine thinking of Dom's alternative request. "There is an option B... but I don't think you've had enough to drink to hear it. Would you like another scotch?"

[henry albright]

It was hard not to be this intimate with Kitty. As much as Henry was hurt, frustrated by the actions she'd taken, his body only craved to touch hers. So he gave into those intrinsic thoughts. Stroking the long luscious locks that cascaded towards her back, running bilateral palms up the thinning portion of hips stopping just below her breasts. Such felt like second nature, even when he didn't know what would become of their title of husband and wife. The day started out rough, uncertainty surrounding if  he would be released from jail. Hours, minutes ticking on as the bars blocked him from the reality. Now it was whether or not the two of them would see each other after tonight, Kitty making things better on Dominic's words and grounds. She sinks into the hands rubbing up and downs her sides, Henry never ceases the motion. Calloused fingers against the fabric of her shirt. It seems as though she does have another idea, he's intrigued. Curious as to why he needs another drink to hear it. "Okay. Yeah. I want another one. My turn to pour." Careful to move her body to cushion, before he headed straight to the bar. "You'll have one with me," he says, taking their empty glasses for refills.

[kitty smith-sato]

Henry's instincts were known to her, tools she could use to her advantage when she wanted certain outcomes. Easily distracted from his anger by physical intimacy, easily pushed to anger when she needed a blunt instrument. The line even she had not wanted to cross was between him and Dom, knowing that if she meddled too much in their dynamic that she was at risk of losing them both, which was of course what had transpired here. Two volatile forces with the power to cancel each other out. He manhandles her easily, lifting her and placing her to one side, and it's this ease compared with the authoritative way he speaks to her that makes her melt. "You'll have one", not a question, a blasé hardness to his tone that immediately discourages any potential argument. So she doesn't argue, taking the amber liquid as it's handed to her. "You look scruffy... it suits you." She pats the couch to encourage him back, finding that any attempts to put words to Dom's alternative suggestion are cut short, unable to form the words in her mouth. "What did your parents say about everything?"