C.A.K.E

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.”

always do.” She shakes her head.

His voice sounds

is almost yelling. Her tone has climbed to the same stressed

not.” She gestures from his chest, then back to hers. “But

after her. Eli hooks his arm around her waist, lifting her off

“Arden, wait.”

“Put me down, Elliott.”

“No.”

struggles against his grip.

you

him to hang on to her. He

“I'm done talking.”

tightening his grasp on her waist. He knows she's either trying to flip him or

standing on his tiptoes. Arden has always had strength. She is a former athlete, after all.

out his words,

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

seen and heard over the main intercom in the

her one-sided argument with

the Hershey's kiss, too. I know the little bitch had something to

a combination of

gon' be too many more bitches, Eli.” A little bit of that hood girl who lives in every woman to some extent is

features are

ass has my damn kids. Try having some crumb snatchers of your own for a change, instead of trying

suggest you let go of me.”

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

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

The adrenaline courses

sweet, even

Ignore her.” Eli reminds her that the evil bitch downstairs feeds off anger, and she's only seeking a reaction out of them.

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

front of the twins. She is also privy to the scathing "anonymous" blog Melinda has dedicated to

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

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.

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

in the backyard of the Mitchells’ forty-acre estate. She didn't say anything. Just let Melinda's venom roll

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

have misplaced something when they stitched her back together after

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

the expensive china. Her brown eyes glistened, as moisture

was a two-for-one punch. The barb almost made her lunge across the pristine white tablecloth, and bust Melinda

her niece's face was all the motivation she needed to pull off her earrings

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

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

When Elliott called to apologize for his absence for the third time,

the inside. She did inhumane things to Melinda

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

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

her mouth shut.

over the years. So yeah, the Ardi and Mel soap opera goes back like

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

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

she remembers something

His induction into the English

first starring role in the school play. Or the way her eyes light up when

The twins.

about

are caught in the middle of Melinda's sick little game.

their vile, succubus of a mother to family events. She carries on conversations with Melinda and manages to convey a somewhat genuine

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

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

She's a self-important, venomous fame whore. If she lets

she's not out for Mel's blood. She needs to remain composed. She

in Eli's arms. For now, she's some imitation of calm. Though she would still give anything to

come downstairs and see their parents. They take in Arden's wild expression and

Eli have never so much as raised their voices to each other in

what's going on?”

gamble and releases

stairs, tripping over the bottom step and landing flat on their backsides.

Melinda is here.

state. The woman who gave birth to them has come to claim her

in Alabama?” they ask

glaring at Mel's image on the camera. She directs the kids' attention to the

mother and begin to plead for asylum like prisoners campaigning for

don't make

her for dear

stroking her hair. “But it's

and the twins follow

please,” Ro

guy.” Eli shrugs. “There is nothing I