C.A.K.E

Chapter 9: Wicked Witch of the East, Part I

Melinda Danae Carven-Stone ... The woman whose voice is ripping shreds in the usual harmonious

fabric of the Stone household. Elliott's first wife and Arden's sworn enemy.

Ardi is adamant that part of the reason Melinda married Eli was for the clever effect created by the

pairing of his last name and her maiden name, Carven-Stone. She's just that superficial and tacky.

“Get your ass down here, Elliott!”

Melinda's blur of blonde strands whips across the screen, as she shouts obscenities at the camera.

The anger dancing in her blue eyes transcends the barrier of the screen and freezes Elliott to his core.

He feels his heart rate slowing down to a pitiful crawl.

“I know you and that bitch can hear me ... Where the fuck are my goddamned kids?”

“That bitch,” Arden repeats, rolling her eyes so hard they could pop right out of her head.

Elliott looks from the indignant mug of his wife, then back to the raving face of his ex.

“This is not happening to me.” Eli drags his hand down his face.

“What is she even doing here?”

“I don't know.” He shakes his head. “I thought she'd at least call first.”

“I know they're here, Elliott. They bought the fucking plane tickets with my credit card.”

“That's what she's upset about,” Arden smirks. “The money, as usual.”

Eli strokes the stubble on his chin and shakes his head again. He squints at the screen. The small

wrinkles at the corners of his eyes deepen with every second of Mel's ranting.

“She could have phoned that in. I would have gladly sent her the money.” He glares at the blonde

woman harassing the concierge. “Melinda doesn't inconvenience herself unless it benefits her in some

way. She came here for a reason.”

“What else could she possibly want from us?”

Arden kneels on the bed behind Eli and wraps her arms around his torso. He grasps her hands in his,

as she rests her chin in the crook of his neck.

“I don't know.” He licks his lips. “I don't know.”

Dread fights his wife's warmth, wrapping its frigid arms around Elliott, and letting its chilly breath choke

his spine one vertebrae at a time. His breathing has reduced itself to sporadic sputters, like a car

savoring its last whiffs of gasoline before chugging to an exhausted stop.

It's never good to see Melinda. The sight of the first woman to bear his last name issues a biological

response from him that's akin to a massive heart attack or stroke. It's a wonder he survived being

married to her.

She likes to show up on occasion, wielding an ax just above Elliott's neck. Laughing the entire time, as

she watches him squirm.

“The longer I have to wait, the worse things are going to get.”

Arden and Elliott observe with their mouths dropped, while Melinda plucks a small vase from the

concierge's desk and hurls it at the stone wall. Edward ducks as the vessel sails past his head, just

missing his ear. The porcelain screams against the solid surface and shatters into a million opaque

shards.

“I'm getting very impatient,” she screams.

Melinda picks up a potted plant and sends it flying across the lobby.

“Oh, she is gone,” Ardi remarks.

“I'd better get down there before she starts ripping up the foundation.”

Elliott retrieves his shirt from the floor and slips it over his head. Arden finds her bra and does up its

hooks, before thrusting her legs back into her jeans. She pulls on her shirt and starts brushing her hair

up into a ponytail.

The noise of another piece of expensive artwork crashing into the polished walls of the lobby gets their

attention.

“Shit,” Elliott mutters.

Eli watches Edward rise from the cover of the expansive marble desk, peeking over its edge to make

sure Melinda hasn't found another object to transform into a missile. He informs her that if she doesn't

calm down he'll be forced to call the authorities.

“Do whatever you want, hobbit.” She snatches the poor man forward by his collar. “I'm not leaving here

without my damn kids. So I suggest you find Dr. and Mrs. Stone for me.”

Melinda addresses the camera again. “You hear that, Elliott? ... I'll be here all night if that's what it

takes. Now get your ass down here.”

She releases Edward, shoving him backward. The young man stumbles over a chair and almost hits

the concrete floor.

“Ma'am, I've alerted Dr. Stone. Please, just calm down.”

As the melee continues in the lobby, Elliott notices that Arden has redressed and is sitting on the edge

of the bed with a pair of Nikes at her side.

“Wait a minute. Where are you going?”

“I'm going with you.” She glances at him, as she finishes doing up the buttons on her blouse.

“No, you're not.”

“You are not going down there alone.”

“Arden, you know how she is. Seeing you will unleash the Kraken for sure.”

“Then call me Perseus.” She shrugs and stares him square in the eyes. “You're not going by yourself.”

Ardi speaks like the subject is closed, so he might as well stop arguing with her. She slips her feet into

her sneakers and springs from the bed. Elliott catches her arm, as she walks past him.

He pulls her back toward the bed. “Arden, please. Stay here.”

“No,” she states, her response unyielding.

“Please, just let me handle this.”

“Elliott, no. You'll go down there and roll over for her like you always do.” She shakes her head. “And

it's not happening tonight. I'm not letting her take our kids.”

“We don't have a choice.” His voice sounds a little gruffer than he intended.

Arden doesn't notice that Eli is almost yelling. Her tone has climbed to the same stressed pitch.

“We may not.” She gestures from his chest, then back to hers. “But I do.”

Arden pushes past Elliott and out the bedroom door. He runs after her. Eli hooks his arm around her

waist, lifting her off the ground.

“Arden, wait.”

“Put me down, Elliott.”

“No.”

She struggles against his grip. “Put me down.”

“Not until you listen to me.”

Her constant movement is making it difficult for him to hang on to her. He rights her but doesn't let go.

“I'm done talking.”

Arden cements her feet to the floor, grounding her weight. She bends, making him overextend his back.

Eli moves right with her, tightening his grasp on her waist. He knows she's either trying to flip him or

force him to break his hold on her.

His feet begin to lift off the ground until he's standing on his tiptoes. Arden has always had strength.

She is a former athlete, after all. But tonight she's besting him like Hercules hopped up on Popeye's

spinach with a Red Bull chaser.

“Just ... listen.” He drags out his words, as he strains to maintain his leverage.

While Elliott tries to convince Arden to leave the damage control to him, Melinda continues to harass

Edward downstairs.

Her ranting can be seen and heard over the main intercom in the living room.

Mel ignores Edward's various warnings and picks up her one-sided argument with the surveillance

camera again.

“And wake up the Hershey's kiss, too. I know the little bitch had something to do with this,” Melinda

yells.

Arden makes a sound that's a combination of a low chuckle and a growl.

“I'm not gon' be too many more bitches, Eli.” A little bit of that hood girl who lives in every woman to

some extent is coming to the forefront.

“Arden!” Melinda climbs on top of the front desk so that her pale features are in superb focus. She taps

the camera lens with her decrepit index finger.

“I know your thieving ass has my damn kids. Try having some crumb snatchers of your own for a

change, instead of trying to steal mine.”

“Elliott ... unless you want to be on the receiving end of the first ass-kicking of the night, I suggest you

let go of me.” Arden's tone is low and controlled. Like someone who has resolved to do what must be

done, consequences be damned.

He has to rein her in—and fast. She has never reached a breaking point where Melinda is concerned.

But tonight could be one for the record books. It looks like his ex has finally pushed a woman with the

patience of Job to her limit.

He doesn't know whether or not he can handle that. Eli knows what Melinda's bat shit crazy entails. But

seeing someone as quiet as Arden lose her shit would be like watching an F5 twister decimate a town.

No warning. No escape. Just destruction. The only hope for survival would be to hunker down and ride

it out, as you watch in awe at its raw power.

“Arden, baby.” Elliott puts Ardi in a bear hug and places his hand over her heart. The adrenaline

courses through her veins, pounding her heart against his palm at breakneck speed. It makes him

tremble.

He speaks to her in a voice so soft and sweet, even the most nefarious of villains couldn't resist its

charm.

“Calm down ... Ignore her.” Eli reminds her that the evil bitch downstairs feeds off anger, and she's only

seeking a reaction out of them.

Arden knows this. She has become very well accustomed to Melinda's modus operandi. That woman

has been the bane of Arden's existence for the last sixteen years. She knows Melinda says shit just to

fuck with her.

Ardi is aware that Mel has even referred to her as a whore in front of the twins. She is also privy to the

scathing "anonymous" blog Melinda has dedicated to blasting her ex-husband's second wife. She

remembers convincing her father not to lodge a civil suit against Mel for defamation of character.

Ardi also recalls smiling while Melinda introduced herself as Eli's wife at a Mitchell family function. At

that same gathering, Mel managed to mention the absence of any little ones who bear a resemblance

to Arden to everyone in attendance at least twice.

Her exact comment was, “You have to wonder when a woman as ... striking ... as Arden hasn't given

her husband any children. Must be something wrong with her plumbing, or he's found some other little

slut to take care of his needs. Either way, I feel so sorry for her. A woman who can't have kids isn't

really a woman at all. Elliott must be so disappointed.”

At least that's how Arden's aunt, Wilhelmina, relayed the message to her in the kitchen of her childhood

home. Arden cursed the ground that Melinda slithered on, as she bore a hole in the travertine tile floor

with her Valentino heels. She gritted her teeth, as Wilhelmina urged her to set the maniacal ho straight.

Arden refused.

Instead, Ardi watched from the bay window while that bitch tossed her head back, cackling as she

drank Dom Pérignon in the backyard of the Mitchells’ forty-acre estate. She didn't say anything. Just let

Melinda's venom roll right off her back.

Of course, Melinda picked up on Arden's unwillingness to acknowledge her smear campaign and

upped the ante. Yet, she still got no reaction from the current Mrs. Elliott Stone. Ardi remained mum, as

she overheard Melinda make yet another reference to her perceived imperfection.

“The doctors must have misplaced something when they stitched her back together after the accident.”

Melinda stared right at Arden as she spoke, daring her to offer some challenge to the bile she was

spreading all over the beautifully landscaped garden.

Arden's entire body shut down. Her hands lost their grip on the silverware she'd been holding, sending

it crashing down onto the expensive china. Her brown eyes glistened, as moisture strained against her

eyelids. For a second, she forgot how to breathe.

That one hurt. It was a two-for-one punch. The barb almost made her lunge across the pristine white

tablecloth, and bust Melinda dead in her throat.

Even Wilhelmina was ready to light up Melinda's pasty behind for that remark. Seeing the anguish on

her niece's face was all the motivation she needed to pull off her earrings and snatch a bitch.

Any slight mention of the day she lost her mother sends Arden into an emotional tailspin. And everyone

close to her is conscious of that fact, including her best enemy. She wanted nothing more than to lay

her ass out. But she wasn't going to allow herself, or her aunt, to sink to Mel's level.

“Mitchell women are ladies first,” Lillian Mitchell's gentle voice reminded her. Arden's mom would not

have approved of such an outburst. Especially not in the company of most of her extended family. And

she wasn't about to disappoint her mommy.

So she maintained her calm expression and made polite conversation with her sister-in-law and

cousins. When Elliott called to apologize for his absence for the third time, she made no mention of

Melinda's behavior. She didn't put him in the middle.

Ardi kept quiet. But that didn't mean everything was hunky-dory with her on the inside. She did

inhumane things to Melinda in the dark recesses of her mind.

By the end of the main course, she had reduced her expertly prepared chateaubriand to a medium-

rare, mangled mass of flesh. Arden did what she could that evening to refrain from choking the life out

of Elliott's ex-wife.

She murdered innocent cuts of beef. Slammed doors and cabinets. Chewed the inside of her cheek

raw. She prayed. Rolled her eyes, until her optic nerve threatened to go on strike.

But she kept her mouth shut.

That instance is one of many that has played out over the years. So yeah, the Ardi and Mel soap opera

goes back like babies and pacifiers. She doesn't need Eli to remind her.

Melinda is a conniving, jealous, old witch who is still in love with Elliott. And it seems the one thing that

brings the bitter hag any trace of satisfaction, is making his current wife miserable whenever the

opportunity strikes. Arden's been nothing but cordial, though. Some might even say she's been

downright friendly to Melinda.

But some days when the bullshit with Melinda is at an all-time high, she wants to lay into that bitch with

a baseball bat. Beat her to within an inch of her pathetic little life, then sip a fine chardonnay as she

watches the loathsome demon take her last contemptuous breath.

But then she remembers something else.

Rowan's first competition with the debate team. His induction into the English Honor Society. Or his first

soccer game.

The first painting Teagan ever did. Her first starring role in the school play. Or the way her eyes light up

when she sings.

The twins.

She thinks about the twins.

Rowan and Teagan are caught in the middle of Melinda's sick little game. And they did nothing to

deserve it.

So Arden invites their vile, succubus of a mother to family events. She carries on conversations with

Melinda and manages to convey a somewhat genuine interest in whatever mindless fodder she

volunteers. She dodges Melinda's underhanded insults with the same agility she used to exercise on

the tennis court.

The twins need someone who will never be too involved in her own shit to notice them. Arden has been

that person for Rowan and Teagan as long as either of them can remember.

She can't let tonight be any different. But she also cannot allow Melinda to take the twins back to New

York with her.

They left her for a reason, just like Eli did. She's a self-important, venomous fame whore. If she lets

them leave with Melinda and something happens, she will never forgive herself ... or Elliott.

Right now, she has to relax and convince Eli that she's not out for Mel's blood. She needs to remain

composed. She takes a few deep breaths and releases the tension that's been building in her body.

Ardi is still annoyed. But she stops struggling in Eli's arms. For now, she's some imitation of calm.

Though she would still give anything to knock the hell out of Melinda.

Just then, the twins come downstairs and see their parents. They take in Arden's wild expression and

the desperation on Elliott's face.

This is new to them. Ardi and Eli have never so much as raised their voices to each other in the twins'

presence. To see Arden and Elliott in what seems like a physical struggle is alarming.

“Dad, what's going on?” Rowan asks.

Elliott takes a gamble and releases Arden before answering. “Melinda is here.”

Ro and Tea go wide-eyed. They both scramble backward into the stairs, tripping over the bottom step

and landing flat on their backsides.

Melinda is here.

That's why their otherwise peaceful mother and father are in such a state. The woman who gave birth

to them has come to claim her property.

“She's in Alabama?” they ask in tandem.

“She's downstairs.” Arden is glaring at Mel's image on the camera. She directs the kids' attention to the

blonde who is still terrorizing the hapless concierge.

The twins glimpse their mother and begin to plead for asylum like prisoners campaigning for a stay of

execution.

“Please, don't make us go back.”

Teagan rushes to Arden and holds on to her for dear life. “Ammi, we don't want to go with her.”

“I know you don't, sweetheart.” Ardi hugs her, stroking her hair. “But it's not up to me.”

Arden switches her focus to Elliott, and the twins follow her gaze.

“Dad, please,” Ro begs.

“Now, I'm the bad guy.” Eli shrugs. “There is nothing I can do.”

“Elliott.” Arden's glowing eyes are on him. The three of them are looking at him like he's withholding the

cure for cancer.

He rubs his eyes. “Arden, don't ... look at me like that.”

“We don't have to hand them over.” She hugs Teagan tighter to her body. “Just tell her they're not

here.”

Rowan agrees and joins the death grip Teagan and Arden have on each other. She comforts her

children by whispering reassuring thoughts in their ears, and gently rubbing their backs. She keeps her

eyes on Elliott.

He avoids her scrutiny, glancing up at the exposed ceiling beams. “Melinda already knows they're

here.”

“She doesn't know anything. She assumed they came to us.”

“Well, her guess was right. Where else would they go anyway?”

“Your parents. A friend's house. The moon, Eli—I don't know. But as far as she's concerned, they're not

here.”

“We can't do that.”

“Yes, we can,” Arden says, an air of finality in her tone.

“And then what? What do we do when she insists upon filing a missing person report?” He starts to

pace. “Do we lie to the police, too? ... Let them waste resources looking for two teenagers who are

holed up in our house? ... Who's going to handle that lawsuit?”

“Dad has an excellent legal team on retainer. It won't be a problem.”

Elliott chuckles. “You can't be serious.”

She stares at him, her jaw set.

He sighs. “Not even the great Warren Mitchell could get us out of kidnapping charges, and filing a false

police report.”

“Don't underestimate him and the lengths he's willing to go for his family.” She releases the twins and

goes to Elliott. “If we start this, he will find a way to finish it.”

“What does that even mean?” He shakes his head. “We're not the mafia.”

“No, we're politicians.” She folds her arms over her chest, resting her weight on one leg. “And that kind

of clout is far more dangerous.”

A fire burns on the surface of her bronzed irises. Eli can feel the heated determination flow off her in

waves. He takes an unconscious step backward.

“You see what you two have done?” He nods to Ro and Tea. “You've turned your Ammi into a member

of the Cashmere Mafia. Now she's gotta wear red bottoms with everything, and get hair extensions.”

A laugh starts at the corners of Elliott's mouth. But he's the only one who finds that funny.

“Dad, seriously. What are we going to do?” Rowan asks.

“We are not spending the rest of the summer with her, and that dude.”

He sighs and leans against the back of the sofa, still avoiding everyone's eyes. Arden moves with him,

following him with that exacting gaze of hers.

Elliott can never handle that look. The one that's a mixture of disappointment and burgeoning

resentment. He's seen that look on his wife's face one too many times in the past year.

If he's not careful, another even more heartbreaking one could take its place. The look of a woman who

no longer cares whether her husband is up to par. By that time, she's already found someone else who

will meet her expectations.

If she ever does leave his heart for greener pastures, she might as well put a bullet in his chest. After

losing her, he couldn't begin to know how to be.

Elliott can hear Ardi ask the kids to go back to their rooms and give them some privacy. But he doesn't

notice when Ro and Tea comply with her request.

His mind is doing cartwheels between Arden, the twins, and the madwoman downstairs. The family he

sacrificed so much to get needs him to protect that bond. But going against the woman who is

threatening to put asunder the ties that bind them, could have the same devastating repercussions as

giving in to her demands.

And that's just the way Melinda likes it. She knows anything she asks of him isn't worth as much as

what he stands to lose. So she milks that knowledge for everything it's worth.

“Eli.” Arden takes both his hands in hers, linking their fingers.

He looks up at her, his eyes darting around the room. Elliott absorbs his surroundings again, having

been lost in his thoughts for a moment. He touches her hands to his lips, but still doesn't focus on her.

He glances over at the scene downstairs again. Melinda is still making high-pitched threats and yelling

obscenities at the camera. His heart drops to his stomach and begins to cauterize in the new acidic

environment. He winces, the discomfort feeling more physical than metaphorical.

His eyes become shards of sea glass resting in a sparkling bed of sand. Arden raises his chin and

looks into his glazed expression.

“Honey, are you listening to me?”

“Yeah, I um.” He nods. “Yes.”

“What are you going to do?”

He knows what she wants to hear, but he's not sure he can deliver. Maybe he can find some middle

ground that will appease Arden, and keep Melinda's claws out of him. But there is a very slim chance of

that happening.

“I'll figure something out.”

“You'll figure something out.” Arden dips her head.

Elliott can see the tears forming on the fringes of her long lashes. He reaches up to catch the tiny drops

of frustration as they spill out of his wife's eyes. Each one of her tears makes him even more upset that

he's essentially powerless in this situation.

“I won't let her take them tonight. I promise.”

“And then what?”

“I can't make any guarantees.”

Her voice is thick when she speaks again. “I don't want her around them at all.”

“Me either, baby ... Me either.” He puts his arms around her waist and pulls her into him. “But right now,

it's her ballgame.”

His mass of blonde curls sprawls against her chest, while he buries his face in her stomach. Hugging

him closer, she kisses his forehead. She rests her head against his.

“I know.” Arden sighs from somewhere deep. “It always has been.”

Elliott feels her body sink into his and that just about kills him. Melinda has them both by the neck. And

the way Arden just deflated in his arms, tells him she doesn't believe he's capable of defending their

family.

He lifts his head from her chest and stands up straight. Eli holds Arden by the nape of her neck and

locks eyes with her.

“Do you trust me?”

Ardi starts to say something, then stops. She takes a breath. “Yes.”

He sinks his fingertips into the soft curve of her waist and kisses her. Then he takes one more look at

his beautiful wife, before leaving the apartment barefoot.