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2016-10-04
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2017-04-12
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5/?
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Love & Corrections

Chapter 4

Notes:

This is probably my favourite chapter that I've wrote so far. I'm writing to practice for my creative writing exam, hahaha(((:

Hope you enjoy! cx

Chapter Text

 

Rita Bennett guided the women to the lounge room, not that Vera needed to guided anyway. After all, she did live here not all that long ago.

"Would you like a drink? I was in the middle of making a tea," Rita offered. Joan shook her head, offering a light smile.

"A coffee please, Mum," Vera answered, being polite. Rita nodded and scattered off to the kitchen. Vera turned immediately to Joan as soon as her mother left the room.

"She's being oddly nice. Even to me!" Vera exclaimed in a hushed whisper, throwing her arms up. Joan raised an eyebrow.

"She's never this kind..." Vera mumbled. Joan nodded, glancing at the doorway before looking back at Vera.

"Have you always lived with her before living with me?" Joan questioned out of interest. Vera pursed her lips and nodded. Vera felt like she couldn't leave. Her Mum depended on her so much. It was a struggle to leave after living with her for her whole life. But, it was also refreshing and freeing. Vera was much happier now. She also now looked forward to going home.

Rita came back in the room with two cups in her hand, one filled with coffee and the other filled with tea. She passed Vera her coffee and sat back down on the couch across from them. Joan shifted in her seat, sitting up straighter. She felt awkward.

Rita smiled, "Vera has rudely hardly told me anything about you, Joan. So, how did you two meet?"

Vera mentally died. This was more like her mother.

"I was instated as Governor at Wentworth. Since Vera is the Deputy Governor, we work closely together. We were bound to become close," Joan answered, sideways glancing at Vera to see her reaction. Her cheeks were tinted a faint shade of pink making Joan inwardly smile.

"Ah, Vera was promoted to Governor once, they replaced her. She wasn't good enough!" Rita cackled. Now, Vera turned red from embarrassment even though Joan probably already knew about her demotion from Governor to Deputy Governor and being replaced with Erica Davidson. She hadn't been trained whatsoever. 

"I'm positive that Vera did a fine job. The Board probably thought that Vera fitted the role of Deputy better. Some people work better in certain positions," Joan answered, forcing a smile. In reality, Joan wanted to defend Vera much more and in a more aggressive way, but Joan knew better than to do that. She would not ruin tonight.

"It's been nice to not have Vera around, I was sick of her cooking. She could never cook anything properly," Rita stated, smiling. Her eyes drifted to Vera who was glaring at her.

"Mum, I'm sure it wasn't that bad," Vera defended her cooking ability. Her self esteem always took a hit whilst being around Rita. Joan observed their interaction with both curiosity and annoyance. How could a mother talk to her daughter like that?

"Ha! It was! I can cook much better myself! Speaking of cooking, I'm going to check on dinner," Rita stood up from her seat and took her now empty cup to the kitchen. Vera sighed and rubbed her temples. Joan scooted over on the couch, sitting right beside Vera. She bravely grasped Vera's hands and squeezed them, knowing her Mum could come in any moment.

"Don't listen to her. I prefer it when you cook," Joan whispered, pressing her lips to Vera's right temple. She wasn't lying, Vera could cook extremely well. Vera smiled lightly and leaned into the older woman.

"This was such a bad idea," Vera grumbled, looking up at Joan. Joan could only smile hopefully at Vera. She wasn't sure how to reply to that. Vera stood up and turned to Joan.

"I'm going to help set up the table. I'll cop it otherwise. I'll be back," Vera informed before turning and following where Rita had left to. Joan was left alone, allowing her to think.

'Rita is abusive,' she gathered. She expected her to insult her daughter even more at dinner which hurt Joan just as much as it hurt Vera. She took note to defend her as much as she could.

She wasn't sure if they were going to announce that they were together or not. She figured that Vera would if anything, Joan wasn't that confident.

Vera's head popped around the corner, causing Joan to look at her with an eyebrow raised.

"Dinner's ready."

 

›››‹‹‹

 

They all sat at the small table near the kitchen. It was nothing compared to what was at their house. Joan picked at her meal, not to be rude, but simply because she wasn't very hungry. She observed the tension between the mother and daughter. Meanwhile, Vera kept her focus on eating. She really wanted a wine or anything alcohol beverage.

"It's been a long time since we had anyone over, right Vera?" Rita began, looking expectantly at Vera. It was always just them. Vera nodded, not taking her eyes off of her plate.

"Suddenly a mute now?" Vera's Mum questioned, laughing.

"No, Mum," Vera answered, looking up to glare at Rita.

"Joan, does Vera still get embarrassed easily at work? I wouldn't be surprised. Vera, remember Adam?" Rita exclaimed, her eyes sparkled with excitement from embarrassing her daughter. Rita also noticed the clear discomfort and annoyance on Vera's housemate's face.

"Mum..." Vera warned. Joan shifted in her seat uncomfortably. She didn't want to know. She didn't care what Vera had done in her past with men.

"She told everyone at work she had a boyfriend, Adam, to make this man jealous! What was his name?" She looked back at Vera awaiting an answer, even though she already knew his name.

"I can't remember, Mum," Vera answered, dropping her fork on her plate making it clatter. Rita flinched at the sound. She knew Vera was annoyed with her now.

"Matthew, wasn't it?" Rita pushed, smirking at her daughter. Joan gulped down some water. She absolutely hated the man with every cell in her body!

"Miss Bennett, mind pointing me in the direction to bathroom?" Joan butted in, smiling forcibly at the elderly woman. Rita narrowed her eyes at her for interrupting her. She pointed to a hallway about 5m away from the table. Joan nodded gratefully and walked off to find the bathroom, leaving Vera and Rita alone.

"Mum, you're embarrassing yourself," Vera started, frowning at her.

"I think that you're the one that's embarrassed, Vera," Rita sipped at her now-cold tea. Vera straightened up.

"You're making Joan uncomfortable. She's a guest!" Vera hissed. Rita raised an eyebrow.

"Why is she so defensive when it comes to you?" she pushed. Rita's friends never defended her, then again, she only had ones from church and they were more so acquaintances.

"Because she actually cares about me unlike you!" Vera whisper-yelled in anger. She was sick in tired of being belittled by this woman who literally created her. Her very own mother bullying her, verballing abusing her. Little to their knowledge, Joan had only left to wash her hands. She stood behind the wall, unable to be seen. She listened to their argument.

Rita outwardly cringed at her own thoughts. Were they more than friends?

Joan furrowed her eyebrows. It was silent. She didn't know whether to enter or not. Frankly, she didn't want to.

"Are you one of those homosexual people, Vera?" Rita barely whispered. Vera was taken aback by her question. Joan's eyes widened from behind the wall. Her jaw locked to stop her from grinding her teeth together anxiously.

"I don't know what I am!" Vera retorted, anger was clearly evident in her voice. Rita was horrified.

"Vera! You're going to hell! That's absolutely disgusting! I've raised you to know better than that! Oh my lord," Rita rushed, clearly in shock.

"I love that woman, Mum! I love Joan Ferguson! I don't care about going to hell! I don't believe in that! Why can't you just be accepting like a mother should?" Vera snapped, pushing her plate away from her.

"Accepting of such an act? The Bibl-"

Vera cut her mother off, "I don't care what the Bible says! You weren't always like this.. When Dad died, you changed! You didn't believe in that bullshit back then! You were accepting and open minded!"

"Don't use such language in this house! Your father was an idiot and you're growing up to be the exact same way!"

"At least we both did something with our lives, unlike you! Mum, I actually look forward to coming home now. I am actually happy. Joan makes me happy! That was something you could never do," Vera exclaimed with tears running down her face. Rita fell silent in shock and sadness. Joan listened in happily. She was proud of Vera for standing up for what she believed in. Joan smirked knowing that Rita had finally shut up.

"Thank you for dinner," Vera mumbled politely before walking off to wear Joan had disappeared to. She turned the corner, bumping into the taller woman.

'What a surprise,' Vera thought, inwardly rolling her eyes. Joan's arms instantly wrapped around Vera, comforting her. She knew very well what it was like to finally stand up to a parent. Vera pulled away and grabbed Joan's hand, pulling her out of the house with her. As soon as the front door closed, feeling high on adrenaline, Vera pushed Joan up against the wall making Joan gasp in surprise. Vera stood up onto her toes and pushed her lips to Joan's roughly, kissing her passionately. She wanted to assure Joan that she wasn't going to let her mother's words affect her and their relationship. She loved her.

Vera pulled away and sighed.

"Can we just go home and lie on the couch together?" Vera asked. Joan was honestly worried for Vera. So much had happened in the past week. She could tell by her tone of voice that she was exhausted -- physically and mentally drained.

"Of course, dear," Joan agreed. The pair got in the car and fastened their seatbelts. Joan put the keys into the slot and turned them. The car rumbled to life. She pulled out of the driveway and drove home.

Vera leaned her head against the window of the car door. Tears threatened to fall but she refused to cry again.

"How long were you standing there for?" Vera mumbled sleepily. She had actually saved Vera from further embarrassment. 

"For most of it," Joan answered honestly, slowing the car as they came to a red light. Joan turned to her.

"Oh and I love you too," she added, a smile gracing her lips. Although Vera was glad to hear that, she didn't know why she was telling her.

Seeing Vera's confusion, "you told your Mum that you loved me. I had to make sure you knew that I loved you too," Joan spoke, blushing from the intimacy of the moment, she looked away. Tears fell onto Vera's cheeks as Joan spoke. She couldn't help but smile. Joan looked back at her, furrowing her eyebrows, noticing she was crying.

"Oh, Vera," Joan crooned, placing her left hand on Vera's leg, squeezing it in an attempt to comfort her whilst driving.

The lights turned green, Joan accelerated and pulled onto their street. Vera had stopped crying and only sniffled every so often. She was tired and emotional. Joan drove into their driveway and cut the engine. She leaned over and unbuckled Vera's seatbelt and then doing her own. Joan stepped out of the car, taking the keys with her. She shut the car door and moved towards the front of the car. Vera got out at a much slower pace and made her way over to Joan. Joan used her thumb to wipe the remaining tears away.

"Are you okay?" she mumbled, looking into her eyes. 

"I will be tomorrow. My shift is at 7:15am. I'll be fine," Vera answered. Joan frowned and shook her head in disagreement.

"You aren't going to work tomorrow."

Vera scoffed, making her way to the front door leaving Joan behind her, "I have to."

"As the Governor and as your... girlfriend... I'm telling you that you're not going tomorrow," Joan spoke, catching up to Vera. The stutter didn't go unnoticed by Vera. She giggled, remembering that she thought that Joan would think the word girlfriend is childish.

"What's so funny?" Joan questioned, raising an eyebrow at the much shorter woman.

"Yesterday, I was thinking about what we'd be labelled as and I figured that you'd think the word girlfriend is childish," Vera grinned, making Joan's heart warm. She hated seeing her unhappy. It was good to see a smile on her face. Joan shook her head and chuckled with amusement. The Russian woman turned towards the front door and pushed the key into the keyhole, turning it. The lock clicked and Joan pushed the door open, allowing Vera to go in first as usual. She followed and locked the door behind her. She took her shoes off and aligned them neatly next to Vera's. Vera had already gone into the lounge room.

Joan entered the room, seeing that Vera had curled up with a blanket around her. She pulled open a part of it, beckoning Joan to come under the blanket with her. She obliged and sat down right beside her, pulling the blanket over herself. Vera rested her head against her lover. Her eyes felt heavy, she struggled to keep them open to watch the TV, not that either of them knew what was happening on the show.

They both eventually fell asleep on the sofa, curled up side by side.