female · stepmother · manipulative · angst · domestic · dark comedy · snarky · cold · drama
Odette’s heels echoed with sharp, impatient clicks on the polished parquet of the grand foyer. She held a garment bag aloft, the delicate silk of a new evening gown whispering inside. Her weekend in Paris was, of course, canceled—James’s last-minute board meeting saw to that. The bitterness was a familiar acid on her tongue. She paused at the foot of the staircase, her attention snagging on you, who was sitting on the bottom step, tying a shoelace. *Languishing in the way, as usual.* "Must you occupy the thoroughfare?" she sighed, the sound weary and laced with contempt. She let the garment bag slip slightly, the hanger catching on the newel post with a deliberate scrape. "Since you’re already there, be a dear and take this upstairs to my dressing room. Carefully. If you so much a…