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“You’re coming with me tonight,” his tone was sharp, not leaving any room for arguing, which only made Gwen’s blood boil hotter.
“I told you that there’s no way in hell that I’m going,” Gwen replied through gritted teeth, crossing her arms over her chest as she glared across the room at her boyfriend.
Zenos didn’t even look at her as he continued to get dressed, his long blonde hair half covering his uninterested face. “I’m not arguing with you over this. My father will be there, he is expecting you,” he said, which only served to make Gwen laugh.
“Which is exactly why I’m not going! I told you months ago that I never wanted to meet your family and I fucking meant it. Your father should be tried for war crimes and I’m not having my face plastered all over the news because I went out to dinner with him,” she spat, stalking over to stand right in front of him. “This isn’t something you can get me to cave over.”
He still didn’t even bother to glance at her, instead focusing on buttoning his shirt cuffs. “Get ready, your dress is in the closet,” he said instead and Gwen wanted to scream.
Her fists were balled when she raised one hand, but Zenos grabbed her wrist before she could do anything. His grip was tight and she knew she’d see the evidence of it for days afterwards; it was pointless to even try to struggle out of it. “You’ll regret that later.” His tone was sweet as he finally looked up at her, smiling with far too much teeth. “You know we can’t have anything marring either of our pretty faces before dinner with my father. It’d be awful press,” he continued, but his voice was like ice, contrasting sharply with the way he gently took her closed fist and pressed it to his lips, kissing it with a sickly smile back down at her.
Gwen grit her teeth, contemplating doing something stupid while her hand was so close to his face – anything to make a mark on his “pretty face.” Just as she was wondering how sharp her nails actually were, a different idea lit up in her mind. There was no way in hell that she was going to dinner with him and she knew doing something to him probably wouldn’t stop it and instigating a fight wasn’t working… which meant she had to do something to herself to make him not want to be seen with her.
Gwen let her shoulders drop, just like she usually did when she knew there was no winning a fight with him, but didn’t drop her glare. “Fine,” she spat, uncurling her first and waiting until his grip on her loosened before she ripped her hand away. “You’ll be the one paying to make it up to me how much this ruins my reputation,” she threw at him, stalking towards the closet and grabbing her black dress out of it.
“Aren’t I already?” he asked, but she could hear the smile in his voice. He thought he won.
Gwen rolled her eyes and glanced over her shoulder to shoot him an annoyed look before turning back to her goal. “I’m getting ready in the bathroom,” she said, not waiting for a response before she slammed the door.
Her heart was pounding in her chest as she clicked the lock, knowing she didn’t have much time. She barely thought about what she was doing as she rummaged through the vanity drawers until she found what she was looking for.
Her long, beautiful white hair was in its usual braid halfway down her back and Gwen didn’t even bother taking it out before she grabbed it. She couldn’t let herself think as she brought the scissors up to it and started hacking.
The scissors were so close to her skull and at an angle and she knew her hair would be a disaster the moment she was done, but that only spurred her on faster. That’s what she needed. She needed a disaster, something that would make him embarrassed to even be seen near her.
“What are you doing in there?” Zenos called from the other side of the door, but Gwen didn’t stop.
Her hair was too thick to cut in one nice chop, so instead she stood there sawing at it. Her eyes were squeezed shut, not wanting to see the mess she was making. Her hair was so important to her, the one thing she made sure to take care of even when she felt like she was drowning, but she didn’t let herself think about any of that as the blood rushed in her ears in time with her hacking chops of the scissors.
“What the hell is that noise? It doesn’t sound like you’re getting ready,” Zenos’s tone was annoyed, absolute fed up with her and she knew there was no way he could fix this before they had to leave. He could’ve gotten her another dress, would’ve brought her even if she refused to do her makeup all nice… But he wouldn’t let his reputation be put in jeopardy by showing up to some important state dinner with his girlfriend having just ruined her long, beautiful hair. There would be too much talk, speculation on if she was crazy, if he’d done it to her, on why she looked miserable and a disaster. He wouldn’t risk it.
She didn’t answer, instead just kept hacking away at her hair until suddenly her long, beautiful braid hit the bathroom tile. Gwen’s breathing was heavy as she stood there, scissors still raised near her head and held in a death grip. The bathroom door handle jiggled and she could hear Zenos’s heavy sigh of annoyance, but she couldn’t bring herself to open her eyes. The mirror was right in front of her and she couldn’t bring herself to see the evidence of what she’d done. Not yet. Not before she faced him.
“You’re testing my patience,” Zenos said and she heard the key in the lock – something he’d installed the last time she’d locked herself in there to piss him off. “We don’t have time for-” he started to say as he pushed open the door, but he stopped as soon as he stepped inside.
Normally Gwen would’ve reveled in the fact that she could do something so unexpected that it left him speechless, but she couldn’t find the joy in it this time. Slowly, she set the scissors down on the counter and turned towards the bathroom door before she opened her eyes and looked at him.
Even with the flood of emotions she felt, she managed to keep her face completely blank as she met the fire in his eyes. “Do you still want me to meet your father in front of all that press?” she asked, jutting her chin up defiantly and letting her own fire match his.
To say Zenos was angry would’ve been an understatement. His face had gone completely cold in a way that never happened in any of their usual fights and the fire burning in his eyes wouldn’t be doused for hours, days maybe. He said absolutely nothing as he continued to stare at her, almost as if he could set her ablaze with his eyes alone and wipe his hands of it.
She planted her feet and prepared for whatever he chose to do, knowing she crossed more than a few lines. But his explosion was interrupted by the ringing of his phone. He didn’t take his eyes off her as he answered the call and brought the phone to his ear.
Gwen didn’t know what was said on the other end of the line, but the way Zenos’s jaw set told her that it was his father on the call. “Gwenette will not be joining us, but I will be right down,” he said simply before hanging up and slipping his phone back into his pocket.
He still hadn’t torn his eyes away from her and he looked like he wanted to say something, but instead he just shook his head and tutted before turning on his heel and walking out of the apartment. The cold, silent rage terrified her to her core and she knew that there would be an explosive fight about it when he got back…
Before she could think about what she would do next, though, Gwen knew she had to look at what she’d already done. She swallowed hard and started by looking down at the floor where her long, beautiful braid lay by her feet. Gwen couldn’t stop the sob that bubbled up out of her throat. She hadn’t even looked at herself yet and the regret was flooding through her. She hadn’t cut her hair since she was young, growing it out long and beautiful so she could keep braiding it like her papa…
And now she’d cut it all off to spite her boyfriend and make sure she didn’t have to meet his father… his politician, war criminal father that he, and the entire world, hated…
Gwen reached down and gently picked up her braid, cradling it in her hands and trying not to let it fall apart anymore than it already had. A few tears rolled down her cheeks, but she didn’t even bother wiping them away. With all the strength she could gather, Gwen turned and faced the mirror to look at the damage.
The face that stared back at her felt completely unrecognizable. She looked broken in a way she’d never seen herself and it terrified her even more than Zenos’s fury. Her hair was a disaster, some of it falling almost to her shoulder while some of it was above her ear. She had no idea how anyone would fix it into anything presentable, let alone herself…
Bile churned in her stomach, forcing her to look away and back down at the hair in her hands. There was no undoing it, no matter how much she regretted it. The only good thing she could cling to was that she’d won the fight and gotten what she’d wanted.
Gwen took a deep, shaky breath and held it for a long moment before she exhaled, her body shuddering as she did it. Standing there crying wasn’t going to fix anything and staying put in her boyfriend’s apartment was a stupid idea, especially since Zenos would now be getting dinner with his father alone. She didn’t want to be around when he got back, even if she hadn’t just thrown a fit to make it so she wouldn’t have to join them.
With one last heartbreaking look at it, Gwen managed to bring herself to drop her severed braid in the little bathroom trash can and quickly turned on her heel to go back into the bedroom.
She needed to get out and she needed to go back to her cold, sad apartment for a few days – at least until she fixed her hair and they both cooled off a little.