CHAPTER 11 - THE TRUTH WILL OUT, READ IT AND WHINE AND RECOGNISING YOURSELF
LINDSAY
I sit down slowly and put my head in my hands briefly, before I raise it, with tears in my eyes.
“Oh yes, that’s the start of her I’m about to lie my ass off routine! Anytime she did that with me, I would believe the opposite of what she said!” Mel’s sneering tones startle me.
“Mel, maybe you can tell us what the truth is then?” Annabella asks.
“Well for a start we are, wait...we were, engaged but not married. As for the baby aspect, Brian, and, upon reflection, I must apologise to him for that, heard we wanted to start a family and offered, but neither of us wanted that. Me more than Lindsay. We weren’t kind in our refusal, either. Naturally, when he became an overnight millionaire, she changed her tune, but he went travelling for 2 years before she could ask him properly. When he came back, he had already made plans with...actually, what did she say was going to happen? What’s with the incubator comment?”
“Oh, that’s how she described Daphne.” Diana replies and I want to sew her mouth shut! “A few weeks back, we were here and she was telling us of her plans to raise a baby with a very rich friend and how happy the two of you were going to be. Melissa overheard and was seething. Now we know why. Cynthia’s folks must be thrilled...” Diana continues. “...and I love the Bumpy Grandson moniker. So sweet! He is going to be one spoilt little boy.” She frowns. “Sorry, I’m Diana Vanderlink. Where do I know you from? I do know you.”
“Melanie Marcus. And, I have seen you before, but can’t quite place you either. Look, I’ve got to go. I have to be in court in…”
“Thatcher vs Colton!” Diana exclaims.
“What about it? Which side were you on?” Mel asks warily. That case was a thorn in my side for months; she was so fixated on it.
“Colton, of course! Sarah is a dear friend of mine. So glad you wiped the floor with that guy’s hairy ass! And oh...I’ve just remembered how we met.” She goes pink and Mel has a ghost of a smile...
“Yeah, so have I.”
“I can assure you that I am not normally like that!” Diana adds, hastily.
“Is that?!” Annabella gasps. “Oh my goodness!”
“I was very flattered, but like I said at the time I was in a committed relationship.”
Flattered?!
“But you’re not now?” Annabella.
“Well no, but…”
“Are you in a mourning period for the end of your relationship?”
Mourning period?!
“God, no! Once I realised I wanted out, I couldn’t leave fast enough!” She giggles...actually fucking giggles!
“Before we proceed further...” Annabella continues as if I am not in the room. “I’m Annabella and a true friend to Diana, unlike some. Do you like children? You may not be aware, after all she lied about you, so Lord knows what she said about us, if we were mentioned at all. But Diana has a child. So would you have a problem going on a date with a single mother?”
Date?! Since when is Diana a fucking lesbian and everyone knows?!
“No, not a problem at all. I have always wanted children. It just took a while to realise it wasn’t what I wanted with Lindsay.”
“Understandable.” Annabelle snickers. “Right, do you have a card? We, the lovely ladies of Warrendale, will act as Yentas and make sure that this date happens!”
“Now just a minute!” I exclaim. “You can’t do that!”
“Why not? You and your husband have just broken up, not you and your lesbian fiancé! So then Mel, about this card?”
“Mel…” I turn to face her. “If you have any common decency, you would…”
“I have plenty of common decency, but what I don’t have is time for you, as I have said before. Annabella, here’s my card. Diana, hope to hear from you.”
With one more derisive look at me, she turns and walks away.
“Now then, Lindsay. Please settle your part of the bill on your way out so that the Yentas can get to planning.”
When I look around the room, I feel and see nothing but the coldness of dismissal. As I walk out, I can’t believe what has just happened! It should be me with Gus! It should be me with the house that Brian has apparently given her! Everything that is good that is going on should be happening to me! And I shall make sure if I don’t get it, then nobody does!
MICHAEL’S HOUSE - SAME TIME
LOUNGE
MICHAEL
I am looking through this ludicrous agreement I was tricked into signing! I would never have signed this piece of shit. As if I would agree to support and sustain himself for the rest of his life without any further monetary assistance from Brian Aiden Kinney and...ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?! The whole point of having a fucking parent is that they support you unless they are infirm! And she most definitely is not fucking infirm!
I snatch up my phone and dial Ted. It goes to voicemail. “Ted, it’s Michael! I am not happy with this agreement! There is no way on earth that I would ever agree to not approach either Brian or my mother for monetary assistance should they be in the position to provide it! And if there’s one thing that he is in, it’s the position to provide! I am going to tear this up now and carry on as normal!”
KINNETIC - SAME TIME
TED’S OFFICE
TED
I laugh as I wait for Debs to come in. I can hear her proud tones as she comes down the corridor, just cooing over everything. Carl is the first one in and I hold in my snort as he comes in with Gus, strapped to his front. “Don’t say a word.” He grumbles. “It is the only way I get a cuddle!”
“Ah, possessive grandma has kicked up a gear?”
“Just a bit! Right now, she and Cyn are back in reception as she’s redoing the order of the pictures!”
“Michael called.” I tell him. “Want to hear it?”
“Yeah, might as well get the whine out of the way!”
I replay the message and he frowns. “What does Debs have to do with that agreement?”
“We put her in the agreement as well. Since Brian is not going to pay out anymore, Michael would go to Debs. Then Brian, being Brian, would give her the money back. So in short, Michael would’ve gotten Brian to pay anyway. With her in the agreement, he can’t do that. He can yell as much as he wants about carrying on as normal and tear up the document. It is notarized and filed, so there’s fuck all he can actually do about it!”
“So what’s your beef with him? That was a lot of glee there.”
“You know about my sabbatical for three months some years back, before he got the money?” He nods. “Well, it was far from a holiday. I was in rehab... cocaine.” He gapes at me. “Brian paid for it, and Ems dragged me kicking and screaming every step of the way. Said the only people that was going to kill me was them.” I chuckle a little at that memory. It wasn’t funny then, but it was still so Em.
“So where does Michael come into it?”
“A few months after I was discharged, we were in Babylon and there was a tweaked out guy. Michael said that not only should the guy be thrown out of the club, but him and all addicts should be put against the wall and shot if the drugs don’t kill them first. I asked if he would help a family member or a friend if they were addicted and he said, ‘Not to survive, no. I would help them to OD or shoot them myself regardless of who they are. They are weak and don’t deserve to breathe the same air as decent people.’ I pointed out that Brian did a lot of drugs at the time and his response was, ‘He’s different. Brian’s heroically careful and he only does drugs when he’s partying, not when he’s fucking since he likes to be aware.’ Went right off him after that.”
“Did Brian hear any of that?” Carl is rapidly inhaling Gus sweetness.
“No he was off being the Stud and neither did Ems, or they would’ve ripped him in half. Do me a favour... don’t tell Debs.”
“I won’t. You have my word, son.”
BUHL PLANETARIUM - EARLY EVENING
JUSTIN’S CLASSROOM
JUSTIN
Thank goodness that is over and even better, Catherine has been moved to another class. I think everyone was secretly delighted, as she bitched and moaned throughout the trip to the forest. I just about held onto my professionalism, when she complained about it being damp in the forest and it was not being conducive to her hair. But Brian turned around and snapped that it was such a shame the weather god wasn’t informed of her arrival or he’s sure he would’ve had a canopy in place. She then turned to me and demanded that I, as the teacher, rebuke him for his behaviour. I was weirdly feeling proud of what he did and said she was grown enough to defend her own ass, so to get it done. She stomped back to the planetarium, saying she was going to report me. I did worry a bit, but the Dean said that he dismissed her complaints as she also complained about Brian, and moved her to another class...and gave the teacher a head’s up!
I am just checking that the place is cleared of everything when the door opens again and this time, it’s Brian. “Did you forget something?”
“No, sir. I didn’t, but I think you should google this when you get home. Don’t look at it now, sir. Do it when you get home... please.”
Once again, his use of the word sir is a bit disconcerting!
BEN AND JUSTIN’S HOUSE - TWO HOURS LATER
STUDY
DAPH
He is just staring at the screen, then me, then Ben and back to the screen again. “So are you...is he seriously suggesting that I am…”
“Yes. And he’s not suggesting; he’s telling you.” Ben whistles as he reads the print out. “This is so you, Justin!”
“And you do realise why he’s telling you, don’t you?” I smile and then roll my eyes when he shakes his head. “Scroll down to the next page.” I smirk when his jaw hits the floor and his eyes get real big! “So what are you going to do about that...sir?”