ADELINE βΏ ARNAULT
Outfit
Location: Kitchen
Dialogue Color: #7957C2
CHARLOTTE βΏ ARNAULT
Outfit
Location: Kitchen
Dialogue Color: #3BAD45
Carbs were a struggle for Adeline, even after months of intensive therapy. There were certain foods that she had grown more comfortable with while in treatment. Before going, she had a very limited set of food that she felt comfortable eating when she did allow herself to eat. Her safe foods included most raw vegetables, most fruits, rice cakes, and plain baked chicken. She would eat other things from time to time, but not without feeling anxious and guilty afterwards. Treatment had helped her quite a bit, though she still had ways to go. She had learned that dipping her celery sticks in peanut butter wasn't going to kill her, and made it taste a lot better, and that getting her calories through a real meal, like salmon and vegetables, was much more enjoyable than being forced to get them through drinking Ensure every day, like she had to do in the beginning of her treatment when she was still set on refusing some meals. She was doing better now, and even she recognized her own progress, but despite knowing that Simone hadn't doused this sandwich in oils and fats, it still made Adeline feel uncomfortable when it was set in front of her. Eating around other people, especially Naya and Alaina, who she didn't know well enough, made it even worse.
At the very least though, everyone in this room knew that Adeline had a problem with food. Naya and Charlotte didn't know that Alaina knew, but Adeline did. Alaina was seated three seats away with her, with an empty seat and Charlotte in between, and the girl wasn't paying her any mind, but it didn't stop Adeline from feeling like she was somehow watching her. Knowing that Alaina knew, though, made Adeline feel somewhat better, because at least now if she was called out on something by Simone, like how she was pulling the sandwich apart and first only eating the tomato, it wasn't like her secret was being spread to anyone who didn't already know it.
"ArrΓͺte Γ§a," {Stop that} Simone said to her, flashing her a predictably stern look, when she had moved away from the stove for a few seconds to get plates, and had witnessed Adeline dissecting the food on her plate. She was well aware that she wasn't going to get away with tearing the sandwich to pieces and somehow making it look like she had eaten most of it, but she still felt better tearing off small pieces at a time to eat, rather than just being a normal person and taking a bite out of it.
Charlotte smirked at the girls, mostly because she didn't doubt what either of them said. Naya was definitely too much of a good-two-shoes in Charlotte's opinion, to ever be able to keep up with her, even with Charlotte trying to push her towards the dark side more strongly, and Alaina was just as unenthused by parties like these, that it didn't seem improbable for her to find eating tacos and going to bed to be a better plan. Especially with their high setting in, it didn't sound like a bad deal to Charlotte anyway.
"My bed is big enough for the two of us," Charlotte pondered,
"And this is Naya's first year as an honorary Arnault.." she continued, leaning forward to look past Alaina and at Naya more directly,
"So, you must end up on your own today." Even if socializing with the type of people who would be coming to today's party wasn't Charlotte's cup of tea, it wasn't going to be as bad as she was chalking it up to be. Her father would probably bother her in the beginning about being polite and mingling with his guests, but after the first hour or so, she would be able to disappear with her own friends, and her father would be too consumed with his (and hopefully, a lot of wine too), to bother her.
Only a few more minutes passed before Charlotte watched Simone turn the stove off, pour the seasoned meat into a bowl, and place it in front of them, along with a series of other small bowls with various toppings, and hard and soft taco shells, so that they could make their own tacos. Although it was probably Simone's way of saying "do it yourself", since she couldn't verbally say that to them, the make-your-own setup she had produced was preferable in Charlotte's mind, anyway. No one ever put as much cheese on her tacos as she actually wanted, so now, she was able to pile the toppings as high as she wanted, and she wasted no time in doing so. It had served as enough of a distraction that she didn't even look up when one of their staff members entered and said something about guests. Though the "Miss Arnault" line meant that it was just as possible that she was speaking to her as it was Adeline, Charlotte wasn't expecting anyone, so she didn't waste any energy in looking. When she heard Sydney Vale's voice, however, she turned her head to confirm that it was her.
"I don't think I know who I was more grateful to not have to deal with this summer, between the two of them," she muttered to the girls beside her. Sydney never really bothered her, likely only because she was Adeline's sister, but that didn't mean that Charlotte liked her. They kept out of each other's way for the most part, but Charlotte wasn't blind to how controlling and domineering the girl was. She had such an esteemed reputation for a reason, and Charlotte could respect that, but it wasn't one that she was envious of like so many other people. Since Sydney was already starting with her, albeit it indirectly with the reference to the witness protection program lie she had used earlier this summer, Charlotte didn't hesitate to return the favor though.
"Aren't you forgetting to say hello to your sister-in-law, Sydney? Unlike the Perssons, the Clarkes and the Arnaults don't keep secrets, so take a seat and tell us what's on your mind," she said, patting the empty seat beside her that Sydney was lingering beside. She doubted that Naya or Alaina wanted to deal with Sydney, but Charlotte couldn't help being obnoxious. She could tell that Adeline was startled and uncomfortable, so why not possibly make everyone else as well?!
Startled really was the best way to describe how Adeline felt when Sydney came in unannounced. Before this summer, Adeline had never spent more than a couple of days without speaking to the blonde, who was undeniably the best friend she had had since she could comprehend what friendship meant. So, in addition to having to adjust to every other element of being abruptly uprooted from home and thrust into a treatment center, it was difficult for her to adjust to spending months apart from her best friend. She loved Sydney and had missed her a lot, and so while she had been incredibly anxious to see her again, only because she knew that the blonde would expect an answer for her disappearance, she had also been incredibly excited to see her. In the moment though, that excitement seemed non-existent, and that was mostly because Adeline was caught off guard, and it didn't take much to sense the contempt in Sydney's voice. The presence of Camilo, someone who Adeline was pretty close with as well, and had wanted to first see on terms when she was more prepared, only threw her off more. Suddenly, she felt like eating ten of the sandwiches in front of her would be less anxiety-inducing than dealing with this, and her sister egging Sydney on wasn't helping matters. She purposely kicked Charlotte in the leg as she turned in her seat and stood up.
"Hiiiiiii... no, no, we can walk and talk," she said, clearly anxious as she nodded with certainty.
"Pas avant d'avoir fini de manger." {Not until you finish eating}
Simone's voice was serious enough that Adeline didn't ignore it like she typically would have.
"Je vais me tuer et vous blΓ’mer si vous me faites rester ici en ce moment," {I will kill myself and blame you if you make me stay here right now.} she snapped back, turning her head back towards Sydney a second after speaking, only because she knew that there was actually a chance that Simone would get angry at her for being disrespectful. Adeline feared few people, because she struggled with the concept of having to listen to authority, but Simone had been a consistent enough presence in her life that she had probably been reprimanded by her more times than she had by her actual father.
Simone didn't respond as Adeline hurried out of the kitchen with Sydney, though her expression spoke to how the girl was definitely screwed once she ended up alone with Simone again. Charlotte was mildly disappointed that a confrontation hadn't occurred, but with an amazing looking taco in front of her, she couldn't be
that upset.
"For the non-French speaking folks in the room, that was my completely mentally-stable sister using her infamous, 'I'm going to kill myself if I don't get my way and I'll blame you in the suicide note' line," she explained in a sarcastic, yet nonchalant way, because Adeline's dramatics were really too be expected at this point. Looking to Naya though, she smirked and said,
"What do you think Grace would do if you ever used that on her?", before turning to Alaina,
"And I don't know how you deal with AJ dating her. I mean, I guess it works to your benefit. I've never read about Gossip Girl trashing you in her blog, so Sydney must be using her connections to keep her sis-in-law safe. God only knows that you deserve to be dragged through the mud for making such a weak taco when you work in a fucking taco shop," she teased, as she looked at the taco on Alaina's plate, which was quite possibly only bare looking because she hadn't finished making it. That didn't stop Charlotte from being obnoxious and annoying and literally flinging a spoonful of shredded cheese at Alaina, though. Maybe she needed to take a few more hits, she minutely considered, because this troublesome energy she was suddenly embracing probably wasn't going to do her good once guests started arriving...
