• [ t h e o t h e r w o m a n ] •

♥ louisa ♥

THE TIP OF my thin paintbrush gently stippled at the canvas; flecks of white paint swirled on the orange-red streaks of the sunset forming wispy clouds. I was completing the last part of a painting I'd been working on, oddly unsatisfied with how it looked.

It was a shame when things you spent so long working on didn't turn out how you wanted them.

"Hey, Louisa. You said you needed to speak to me?" I had specifically asked Julia to escort Lexi straight to my room when she arrived so that neither of my parents would see her. All they knew was that a 'friend' was visiting me. It was going to be amusing when my father found out just who this friend was.

"I did."

When I turned around, her powder blue eyes surveyed at me full of questions. I didn't blame her for being confused considering it was Christmas Eve, and Lexi and I were certainly not close. Like usual, her dark hair fell upon her shoulders and ample bosom and was divided in two with a sharp middle parting.

That wasn't what my attention was on though. Something stirred inside me as my eyes became transfixed on her stomach where a light bump used to be.

It was now completely flat.

My voice came out softer than expected as I asked her bluntly, "What happened to the baby?" I was well aware that Lexi hadn't been called away from Australia to help with Christmas set up earlier. Mr and Mrs Walton must have discovered the little package that Logan had sent them.

Despite the fact I hadn't thought it was possible, her eyes widened even further making her head seem tiny in comparison. "Baby? What baby?"

"The baby floating on the ceiling," I instinctively rolled my eyes and exhaled. "I'm not an idiot Lexi. I know you were pregnant."

Her mouth opened and closed as she debated what to say. After a couple of beats, her eyes drifted to the carpet of my room seemingly empty. "I- um. I, unfortunately, had a miscarriage," Lexi lied.

The high pitch of her voice and the emotions entangled in it were reminiscent of an infant who had been caught stealing in a sweet shop.

"I'm very sorry to hear that," I said ignoring the seedlings of sadness that had shot out of my heart at what she had said. Her parent must have won. Although I despised Lexi, I wasn't inhumane. I wasn't going to linger on the topic of her baby when it clearly hurt her.

"Shall we sit down? I want to have a chat with you." She nodded in response, nails worriedly presser against her legs as I gestured to the sofa in my room. Sitting up straight in my Burberry dress, I took a breath before speaking.

"Have you ever wondered why I hate you, Lexi? They've been a dozen people before you who also befriended us for popularity but I never despised them as I do to you."

The slackening of her hands which rested against her lap was a clear sign that Lexi hadn't been expecting this. Before she could say anything, I caught at her eyes and gave her a meaningful but harsh look. "And please. For the next five minutes, I want us to be completely honest with each other."

"Yeah. Alright," she said in a mix of fear and curiosity. "And yes. To the question."

Lexi wasn't aware that I knew about her encounter with my father. She was about to find out. After taking a sip of my ice latte that was on the side table, I gave her a sour smile before saying a sentence that I knew would make her heart skip a beat.

"I know that you slept with my father."

I felt disgusted as soon as I said the words and quickly swallowed back the bile that rose up my throat at the thought of it all. The memory of walking up the Darling Cooperations stairs with homemade white chocolate and raspberry cookies in my hands resurfaced, followed by the picture of her straddling my father.

God, it was ridiculous how naive I'd been back then. Although the past year had been painful, I'd learnt some tough lessons that I was grateful for.

One of those was that you should never trust anybody. Doing so is the equivalent of setting yourself up for defeat in a very competitive world.

The girl in front of me looked like she wanted the ground to swallow her up and make her disappear. She looked stunned and collapsed into a scared stutter, "I-I don't know what you're talking ab-"

Really? I don't want to do this right now. I've got so much more on my mind at the moment. I just want answers.

"Save it," I said in a deadly tone, putting my palm out in a stop symbol. Afraid, Lexi fell silent with her head dropping down. "I didn't call you here to waste time debunking all the excuses and lies you're about to feed me. You and I both know the truth. And we also know that I could annihilate you if I wanted to."

She swallowed hard in terror, eyes searching my room for an escape route. I held back a bitter laugh. People only cared about their past actions when other people found them out.

"But I won't." With the snap of a finger, her eyes locked onto my chocolate orbs.

Opening my cherry lips, I gave her a meaningful look, "I think you've been through enough."

I could tell that she was wondering if I knew about what Logan had done to her. "You know?"

My jaw pulsated as I nodded at her, "I do." I raised my dark eyebrows and looked away, thinking about the scene I'd seen in my father's office. "All I want to know is why you did it. What could make somebody do something so horrible?"

She bit her pink lips before nervously glancing at me.

I noticed a little shake in her hands as she spoke in a vulnerable voice. Her chest moved in and out in an irregular pattern as she squeezed her eyes shut. A hurricane had begun to formate inside her at my words and I was interested to see what was hiding in the eye.

Why did Lexi do this to me?

The was a story behind every action and despite numerous attempts, I just couldn't decipher hers.

"I was jealous."

My head whipped up as I looked at her in incredulity, overwhelmed at the stupid reasoning behind her actions. This certainly wasn't the story I'd been anticipating.

It had certainly cropped my mind but I'd always assumed that there was more to it that something a little as jealousy.

"What?"

She shook her head in visible distress, "Jealous at how perfect your life was. Jealous that everyone loved you. Jealous at how beautiful you were and obviously, still are. I'd always envied the attention that you got from our very first days at Forteaux."

"And so you sleep with my Dad? How does that correlate at all- " I asked in incredulity but she interrupted me.

"Hear me out. Please."

I felt my coffee eyes widen as I blinked hard, allowing my dark eyelashes to momentarily cover my vision. Jealousy was an emotion that I wasn't very familiar with however I knew enough to recognise that the path of envy led to self-destruction.

A troubled expression grew on Lexi's fair skin as she frowned in thought.

"People soon learnt the name of Lexi Walton too but not for the same reasons. She was the girl who lost her virginity at 14 and was always up for a make-out session in an empty classroom. It was as if you were an untouchable sacred goddess that everyone desired and I was the exact opposite. Nothing more than the other woman."

I shifted in my seat as my hand twisted my Cartier bracelet around my wrist, "That doesn't justify sleeping with my father-"

"Just hear me out, okay?"

Lexi's blue eyes flashed in urgency as she hastily continued, "I know what I did was stupid and I've regretted it since. I just- It all become too much one day and I didn't know how to deal with all this envy and bad emotions that was bubbling inside me. I was in torment and I needed a way to release it all. So I thought about the one way where I'd feel as if I had a one upon you."

Lexi's slender shoulders moved up and down; it wasn't in disinterest. It was more as if she was unsure there was any other possible justification.

Part of me perfectly understood Lexi's wish to make a name for herself at Forteaux. I would be a complete hypocrite if I didn't sympathise with that considering how much I too used to value my reputation.

But the fact that my status was soon going to be tarnished showed that nothing really lasted forever.

We lived in an ephemeral world.

A cynical laugh left me. It was ironic how the so-called 'perfect' life of mine that she desired, really wasn't that great after all.

"But trust me, I regretted it as soon as it was over. And it was only once. Louisa, I mean it when I say this, I couldn't even look you in the eye for the next month. When I'd see you laughing in class, I'd feel guilty knowing that you didn't have a clue what I'd done. I never felt at peace. I was always paranoid that you'd found out - which you apparently had but that's not my point right now."

"How terrible. I can't imagine what you were going through," I mocked, turning a blind eye to the voice in my head that was saying I was being too harsh.

Lexi painfully forced herself to look at me, a thin layer of shame and remorse flooding her eyes.

Lou, you need to let it go. This isn't good for you. You need to forget it and move on for your own good.

Something triggered within me when I finally saw past my frustration and noticed that she was in pain. Oceans of self-disgust were trapped within her blue eyes, yearning for a ray of sunlight.

I could feel the blood flow around my body slow a notch, my fast heart rate gradually reducing as I realised just how genuine Lexi was being.

For once, I wasn't sat before somebody who wanted to extort me for my wealth, name or position.

Lexi really did regret it.

"Louisa, I know that nothing can ever make this okay but I'm truly and so so genuinely sorry." A shaky breath left her before Lexi looked down at her hands in shame.

For a minute, I didn't say anything and instead sat in silence trying to process it all. Everything she had just said seemed childish but at the same time, it didn't. I felt angry at her but at the same time, I didn't. I didn't understand why she did it all but at the same time, I did.

It felt as if I'd just seen a completely different side to Lexi, a vulnerable side that she'd never exposed to anybody.

Eventually, Once the silence had dragged on for longer than I could handle, I let out a long and deep sigh, "Thank you."

Lexi looked at me in complete surprise, straightened hair falling back, "What?"

"I said thank you." Running a hand through my hair, I spoke quietly under my breath. "Thank you for explaining yourself."

A voice in my head had been telling me to let it all go and move on. I'd been holding onto this hate towards her for a year and it was clawing at me from the inside and turning me into a person that I wasn't.

Why was I holding onto such negativity on behalf of my father when he himself didn't care?

Both Lexi and I were hurting for different reasons and it seemed pointless to keep this conundrum of bleak emotions spinning when it was doing more damage than good. I couldn't tell if I was doing the right thing but for once, I was following my heart, not my mind.

Taking a sip from my drink, I looked at the tight navy dress that covered Lexi's body.

"I'm not sure if I can forgive and forget it all immediately but I guess I do understand your basis." My eyes locked with hers and I moved towards her a little. "I think this has made me see you in perhaps a new light."

Lexi's hand moved to her face as she pressed her palms against her cheek in a weak attempt to reduce the pink flush. She looked at me with gratefulness which I didn't anticipate. "I appreciate that, Louisa. I really do."

Giving her a tired half-smile, I nodded. Another couple of minutes passed as we sat in comfortable silence. Thousands of thoughts were playing in each of our minds as the two of us searched for some mental peace.

In due course, Lexi she stood up and spoke after pressing her lips together. "It was cathartic to talk like this, Louisa. I hope it gave you some answers and as much relief as it gave to me. Was that what you wanted to speak about?"

In response, I stood up two towering a good few inches above her. "Yes and no. There's something else too."

Tucking my ebony hair behind my ear, my mind wandered to what was coming next. I could have easily threatened her into helping me but I didn't see much point in that anymore. Instead, I convinced her with a promise.

"If you go along with what I'm about to tell you, I give you my word that Logan will get what he deserves for what he did to you."

This chapter has been split into two and the next part will be published tomorrow (: The start of a new friendship between Lexi and Lou? Hmm, I don't know.

Thank you so much to everyone reading, voting and commenting! It means so much to me and I appreciate every single one of you! I'm so grateful for our guys (: We're so close to 2k votes!

Kiwi x

♥ 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐯𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫! ♥