"A Likely Story"
Agatha let out a contented hum as Rio left the room. Sure, her heart had stopped a little when she saw how much dirt the woman had dug up, but really, she was happy with the outcome of the confrontation. Her secrets were safe for another day, and Rio was back on board. Time would tell how well their little partnership would go now that Rio held a little more power, and Agatha couldn’t help but look forward to it a little- she loved powerful women.
She logged out of her laptop, careful to change the password to avoid any more sensitive material being leaked, and packed up her shit.
“Watch it, Maximoff!” she barked, nearly knocking the boy over as she stormed down the corridor. The boy grimaced and took out his AirPods. His gaze darted to the floor, following Agatha’s Jimmy Choos as she strutted up the corridor. "Walk with me."
“Sorry, Ms. Harkness—”
“You’re back on coffee duty for the foreseeable future. Vidal is moving up in the world, so you can get her one as well. Get it right, or you’re fired.”
Billy nodded quickly and scampered down the hall. To be honest, he was relieved to still have his job after the recent purge of staff, even if it meant putting up with Agatha and her ridiculous demands.
Agatha’s hands gripped the steering wheel of her Porshe just a little too tightly as she cruised down the motorway, flipping off anyone who got in her way. The soft rock on the radio hardly registered as she stared at the road ahead through obnoxiously large designer sunglasses, lost in her thoughts.
Her jaw clenched in irritation at the thought of her ex-husband, whose presence in her day was inevitable despite how much she tried to avoid him at all costs. She couldn’t believe she had to pick up Nicky from his house yet again. Something about a flat tire or a busted clutch meant Ralph couldn't drop him off at Agatha's. Bullshit, of course.
She'd always hated men, and this one was top of her list. She'd never have married him if it weren't for her mother's insistence.
The drive was over an hour; a tediously long reminder of the shitshow their marriage had become. Still, she’d do it anytime for Nicky. Plus, she'd managed to find Rio's Instagram account and was enjoying flicking through her posts while stuck in traffic.
Eventually, she pulled up at Ralph’s house and got out of the car, smoothing her designer suit. It was his girlfriend's house really, a rather nice new build with big windows and a tacky red Range Rover parked up outside. It certainly didn’t look like it had a flat tire, and Agatha couldn’t resist scratching the paint job a little with her ring as she walked up the driveway. He deserved it.
Ralph appeared at the doorway, dressed in a messy loose-fit t-shirt and sweatpants. Christ, it was worse than what Vidal showed up to work in. He consulted the Rolex that sat on his wrist- the watch Agatha had bought him lifetimes ago- and tutted.
“Look who finally decided to grace us with her presence. You were meant to be here ten minutes ago, I was starting to think you’d forgotten about your own son...”
Agatha rolled her eyes, suppressing the sharp retort she was tempted to unleash. She was better than this shit; she wasn’t going to take the bait.
“Don’t start. I’m here to pick up Nicky. That’s all”
“Oh, come on Ags, you know I’m just teasing. You really need to lighten the hell up.”
Agatha scowled, pushing past Ralph into the house. “Nicky!” she called out, trying to keep her tone light and ignore the smug expression on her ex-husband's face. “Mami is here-” She paused in the doorway. She felt as though a bucket of cold water had been thrown over her.
Nicky was sitting on the living room floor. He was giggling happily, surrounded by the action figures he carried everywhere with him. That wasn’t the issue; the issue was the evil bitch sat playing with him, smiling and laughing.
Dottie, Ralph’s much younger, annoyingly cheerful girlfriend, sat cross-legged next to Nicky, her blonde hair perfectly curled. She turned as she noticed Agatha in the doorway, putting on a perfect smile.
Agatha sighed, her resolve wavering as she tried to shake the image of her son and that woman. Nicky’s face was lit up with pure joy, and each giggle made Agatha’s chest tighten. It was strange to think she was losing her son, that someone else was stepping into a role in his life she had fought so hard to protect.
“Well hey there Agatha, I suppose you’re here to pick Nicolas up? We have had such a lovely time together” Dottie cooed, ruffling the boy's hair.
“Don’t touch him.” She said through gritted teeth, clenching her jaw at Dottie’s saccharine-sweet tone. Nicky stood up, seemingly unaware of the tension, and ran to his mother with a huge smile on his face.
“Mami!” he yelled, flinging his arms around her waist. Agatha couldn’t help but melt a little at his touch. She leaned down to kiss him, which made him squirm a little.
“Go get your things baby,” Agatha said softly, watching as her son ran up the stairs to grab his bags. She was left standing awkwardly in the doorway looking at Dottie, who had taken to straightening the cushions on the sofa to avoid any eye contact. Agatha could have strangled her. Nobody touched her son, nobody could replace her in his life. Sure, maybe Dottie was young and fun and gorgeous, but Agatha was his mother. She felt a twinge of jealousy in the pit of her stomach as she studied the blonde. Surely Nicky didn’t like that creature more than her.
"He's a great kid" Dottie said, trying to make conversation with the woman at the doorway who looked ready to rip her head off.
Of course he is,” she replied, straining to keep her tone light. “He’s my son.”
She could imagine herself flying off the handle, yelling insults in the woman's face, telling her how awful that godforsaken pink dress that she hardly took off was, how annoying her voice was, how stupid she looked. It was tempting, but Agatha knew she couldn’t, for Nicky’s sake. She took a breath, steadying herself.-she wasn't about to fuck up another relationship for her son.
“Thank you. For looking after him”
The words came out stiff and awkward, and she quickly turned on her heel, shutting the living room door behind her.
She didn’t care to hear Dottie’s response.
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"Did you have a good time with him?" Agatha said with a little more venom than she intended.
"Yeah, it was fun. We went to the zoo." Nicky replied awkwardly. He could sense the tension between his parents despite his unwavering cheerful disposition and was fidgeting with the hem of his shirt to try and distract himself. He didn't want his Mami to think he had too much fun without her
"Right," Agatha sighed, her foot pressing down harder on the accelerator. The car fell silent.
Nicky glanced out the window, bored.
“Mami!” he called out suddenly, making Agatha jump. “Can I play on your phone? Please?" he whined, meeting his mom’s gaze in the rearview mirror. He did his best puppy dog eyes, pouting. He knew his mother couldn't resist letting him have his way, especially after he'd spent some time with Ralph.
Agatha chuckled at her son’s request, passing her purple iPhone into the back.
“Be careful with it, I don’t want any scratches or cracks, hm?” She cooed, trying to keep the stress out of her tone.
Nicky hastily grabbed the device, his eyes lighting up at the bright colors on the screen The phone opened on Instagram; it seemed his mother had been viewing someone's account. The profile was a mix of photos of a girl modeling dresses and clothes, stupid reposted memes, and drunken group pics. One of the pictures made Nicky pause. It was clearly Rio, in a short dark green dress, dancing with a girl with red highlights in a club. Nicky laughed, holding out the phone to his mother in the front, who gently swatted it away.
“Mami! Why are you looking at Rio's Instagram?”
"What?" Agatha swerved the car, cringing as she tried to keep cool. “Oh, honey, don’t look at that. It’s just a work thing.”
She had been doing a little profile stalking when she was stuck in traffic on the way. She told herself it was just a quick scour for any potential blackmail for future use. Just a standard background check. Still, she enjoyed scrolling through all of Rio’s pictures and videos, admiring how she looked in the photos and laughing at the drunken dance videos she'd made with her friend a couple of nights ago. It made the long drive go a lot faster.
Nicky giggled mischievously, kicking his legs lightly against the back of Agatha’s car seat.
“You aren’t following her Mami! That’s mean” He said flatly, frowning.
“Nicky, I told you to stick to playing your games, not looking at my private things,” she said, irritation creeping into her voice “Stop kicking the seat”
Nicky huffed, sticking his tongue out.
“Sorry. I’ve sent her a follow for you” he smiled proudly.
“Nicky!” Agatha groaned, trying to snatch the phone back while keeping them somewhat on the road. The phone vibrated with a message.
“@thegreenwitch accepted your follow request”
"Nicky, I swear to god-"
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“You’ve got nerve blackmailing her like that,” Jen said, popping up behind the table Alice and Rio had been taking up for the past hour. She’d been listening in to Rio’s retelling of the afternoon's events, eager to get the gossip.
“Oh, it was all Alice’s idea” Rio insisted, a wicked grin on her face. Alice blushed profusely, burying her head in her hands as Jen put a hand on her shoulder.
“Damn, never knew you were such a badass” Jen smirked. “I’m impressed”
Alice groaned. “I didn’t think she’d actually do it, I literally told her not to”
“Yeah, but you dropped it pretty quick once I mentioned you getting a new guitar from her. She’s agreed to it as well” Rio laughed. “She was pretty pissed though”
“You blackmailed Agatha Harkness into buying you a new guitar? Seriously? You could have picked anything and you chose a fucking guitar?” Jen laughed. It was such a painfully Alice thing to do.
“Hey! Guitars are cool” Alice frowned, laughing a little at Jen’s reaction.
“No, no. It’s cute." Jen insisted "You gotta bring it to mine sometime and play for me”
Rio gasped melodramatically, “You’ve been to her house Alice? Damn, I’ve missed this chapter”
Alice flushed, but Jen simply smiled and nodded. “Jealous Ri?”
Rio rolled her eyes, pushing her phone across the table to Alice. “Pick what guitar you want so I can email Agatha which one to get you.” She said, smiling mischievously. “Make sure you pick an expensive one, it’ll annoy her more.
Alice smirked, picking up the phone and typing away
“Oooh, send her some dresses, I’m dying for the latest pink Chanel release” Jen butted in, which made Rio roll her eyes.
“We can’t just force her to buy us anything, she’ll lose it eventually” Rio insisted, shooing Jen away from the table.
Jen ignored her, pulling up a chair and sitting down next to Alice. “Uh, yeah we can. You have all that dirt on her right?”
“Not anymore. I think she shredded it and ate the paper-”
Rio's phone buzzed.
"@a.harkness sent you a follow request"
“Oh my god, Rio,” Alice said suddenly, breaking the girls’ bickering.
“What?”
“She’s sent you a follow request on Instagram”
Jen snatched the phone, immediately accepting the request. She and Alice cackled as Rio sat dumbfounded, not even attempting to get her phone back. How the hell did Agatha find her burner Instagram account? It had like, twelve followers, and four of them were her alts. Either it was just a mere coincidence that Agatha had stumbled upon the profile...or she’d been stalking her.
The thought that Agatha had seen her posts was a little nauseating. They were mostly half-made dresses or messy designs that she was modeling, but a couple of embarrassing videos of her and Alice were interspersed throughout.
Rio blushed and tried to snatch her phone back.”She was probably just researching staff. Like protocol or whatever. It's not a big deal"
"Holy shit, this is like, her personal account. There’re pictures of her kid on here.” Jen laughed, scrolling through Agatha’s profile. She opened up the message feature and began frantically typing, her long pink nails clicking away at the screen.
“Hi Agatha” She typed, along with a couple of heart emojis just to annoy Rio. The latter was still trying to wrangle her phone out of Jen’s grip.
Alice sighed, “Give her it back Jen”
“What? No way, I wanna see what she was to say for herself” Jen argued, her eyes widening as she saw the chat bubble.
“Vidal. Apologies, Nicky must have taken my phone.” Agatha replied.
“See!” Rio said triumphantly, finally getting her phone back. “It was just her kid messing around. He’s a pest.”
“Oh, sure. A likely story. A nine-year-old managed to steal his evil mother's phone for long enough to find your personal Instagram account, stalk the posts, and follow it? Impossible. Babe, it has about five followers, Nicky didn't just stumble upon it.” Jen laughed. "She's into youu~"
“I have twelve followers thank you very much, and she is not into me.”
Alice and Jen shared a knowing look, smirking.
"Just because you two are gay as hell doesn't mean everyone else is!" Rio scowled. "Pick your damn guitar and let me get outta here."
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