But hey! A new chapter after who knows how many weeks... O_o I've been working on this before Seasons came out, and yet, I'm only posting it now...
Yup. I'm really really lazy. Anyhow, please continue!
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| "Dude, for Pete's sake, get up. It's not even afternoon yet! It's definitely not a time to be sleeping..." He interrupted me just when I had started to slumber into a deep state of sleep and away from reality. Great. "Hmph. If you're looking for someone to be excited to see that you're back, Mitchell, you're not gonna be getting that kind of attention from me." I felt his foot hit the couch. "You're a horrible friend," he muttered. Perhaps I was, but I couldn't help myself at that moment. A lot had been going on recently, and the change of environment was taking its toll on me. Vala had opened my eyes to the truth, that I had been clinging onto the past. An example of that was to take a job at the art gallery, to be closer to Sarah's favorite things. In truth, I didn't really like the job all too much, as it strayed away from my field of expertise. So I did what was best for me: I quit my job, and took another as a journalist/researcher of historical artifacts and figures. The only downside to that was that there were no more available spots for a journalist at Bridgeport's newspaper, but they offered me a transfer to Sunset Valley instead. After a long debate with my sister, who hated seeing me leave her alone, she agreed that it was probably the best course of action. Of course, she also tagged along, now bunking on my couch in the living room at night. The most interesting aspect of it all was perhaps the fact that Vala and I were now together. As in living together. A couple, or whatever one would call it. Never in a million years would I have thought that I would end up in a relationship with a person whose personality was the complete opposite of mine. |
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| "You're still standing there, aren't you?" I mumbled into the soft cover of the couch. "You guessed it." "Don't you have someone else to bother? Where's Darcy?" He seemed to pause before answering. "Out somewhere," he cleared his throat. "I sent her somewhere to have some fun, so I could have a conversation with you." That caught my attention, and nearly had me sitting upright if it weren't for the sound of approaching footsteps. |
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| "Is he not adorable when he's napping? Oh, I could just tickle him..." Vala nearly cooed like an overbearing mother, and I knew she was itching to poke at me. I had become used to her little habits of joking around with me, and to be honest, it was quite entertaining to me. "Eh, if you say so... But why he would be napping in summer clothes while it's nearly freezing outside is beyond me." That could easily be explained to him, but I was too lazy to do so. In truth, Vala had been persistent lately that I should not be so serious all the time. Her first attempt at getting me to relax was getting me some "comfortable" clothes. The worst thing about the arrangement was that she made it while it was nearly winter. That was why I was huddled up indoors. Vala merely laughed at Mitchell's reaction, saved a moment to kiss me on the cheek, and made her way to the front door. "Where are you going?" Mitchell called after her. "Unlike some people, Mitchell, I do have a day job," she snickered. "Good luck trying to wake him up." In an effort to impress everyone, Vala got a starting job at the local spa as a receptionist. Her bubbly personality was definitely an asset to them, and apparently, the customers loved her when she wasn't insulting them. |
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| After the sound of the door quietly closing was heard, I slowly eased into a sitting position. Mitchell took it as an invitation that I was ready to talk to him. When I looked at Mitchell, I was rather stunned by the new look he had adopted. "Dude, what the hell happened to you?" I asked, referring to his gelled-back hairstyle. "I'm a model in my free time... It required me to modify my look." "What did Darcy have to say about that?" I raised an eyebrow. My sister was not one to like men who ended up with over-buffed egos, which she had stereotyped as men who followed a modeling career. |
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| Mitchell stared at me with uncertain eyes. "She doesn't know... Other things have been on my mind, which I think is more important than telling her about my new career path." "Really? What on earth could be more important than your modelling career?" the sarcasm I delivered was not at all concealed. If he was going to mess with my little sister, he was making a big mistake. "The fact that I'm in love with your sister. So much so that I want to ask her to marry me." |
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| It was hard for me not to be a little bit skeptical. "Seriously? You're ready to put up with all of my sister's crap?" Mitchell groaned. "Come on, dude... She doesn't have that much baggage. Be nicer to your sister sometimes." "I'm just kidding... But honestly... I'm shocked. I didn't know things were that serious between you two. I expected a fling that would eventually break off... But now I see I was wrong. I'm sorry to have judged you two so early. Question is, why are you telling me all of this? Shouldn't you be out there with my sister, getting down on one knee already?" He paused, uncertain how to phrase the words he had in his mind. "That's the thing...," he hesitated. "I'm not really sure how the customs of your family work. Should I ask your father, or ask you, since your dad is too far away? Or should I go all the way to Lucky Palms...?" |
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| He might have said more, but the sound of the front door opening and closing with a bang interrupted the previously relaxed state we had found ourselves in. "That is the last time I'm ever accepting a request from Vala for a fun filled day at the spa. Do you know what happened? They put me down on a massage table and put hot stones on me! The nerve..." "Sounds awful," Mitchell sympathized with her, putting our conversation in the past, yet the hint of it remained. He sounded detached and stressed. Perhaps he realized he might have to face my father soon, who was not easy to please when it came to his daughter. Like most fathers, he was overprotective. "It was...," she nodded, seemingly oblivious to his lack of interest in what she had said. "I still want to make this a memorable day. So, if you don't mind, Mitchell, how about we go out for a drive?" "I don't know..." Mitchell hesitates, possibly wondering if we still had much to discuss. "Yes, please, go forth young couple, for I do not wish to be cooped up with a crazy chick that's really pissed off." "Haha," Darcy eyed me, not in the least humored. "You're hilarious, Daniel. Ever since you and Vala hoo-" "Okay, time to go," literally jumping off of the couch, Mitchell grabbed his car keys from the table near the door and steered Darcy out of the house without even saying goodbye. I didn't mind his lack of manners at all, since he had spared me from getting into an argument with Darcy. It was a well-known fact that she always won when it came to a verbal fight, mostly because she had a habit of bringing up past occurrences that were embarrassing to me. |
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| I looked out the window, seeing them speed down the road like they didn't have a care in the world. It reminded me of that one summer in Paris... With Sarah. It was pathetic, really, how the memories of her still lingered while I was with someone else. But you couldn't just forget about someone whom you were planning to marry. That was the kind of person I was. One who found the right girl, and planned to settle down with her, have a family...crap like that. But with Vala...things weren't going to be the same. No matter how I felt over her, I wasn't sure if she would ever accept a proposal from me. |
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| Yet again that day, someone was at the door, but this time it was a quiet rapping against the door, instead of it being thrown open and slammed shut again. All of that meant that we had a visitor. Pushing my recent pondering to the back of my mind, I went to open the door, finding a total stranger on the front porch. |
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| Clearing my throat to catch her attention, I politely inquired her reason for being at my house. "Excuse me, can I help you?" As she turned to face me, a haunting feeling stirred inside me. Like I knew her. Yet, I couldn't put my finger on it. She did look familiar. Most of her features were, but I couldn't place them. "You don't remember me?" she raised an eyebrow, unsure if she should be insulted or not. "I'm Cathleen... Cathleen McMullen. Sarah's mother." It was unreal how, just a few moments ago, I had thought of Sarah, and now all of a sudden her mother stood at my doorstep. Noisily, I cleared my throat, embarrassed by my own stupidity. "I'm sorry for not recognizing you, misses McMullen. I had only met you twice, and to be honest, I'm horrible with faces..." She chuckled lightly, accepting my excuse with a wave of the hand, as if saying that it happens to all of us at some point. "It's quite all right, Daniel." |
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| An awkward silence followed. What on earth was I supposed to say to my ex-fiancée's mother who I hadn't spoken to in years? "Sorry to have to admit this, but I've moved on.", or "I'm so sorry about Sarah...it was a great loss for me as well."? No. I wasn't going to bring back such painful memories for her when she might be here for a whole other reason. But the silence was getting to be too much for me, and I broke it. "So, um...don't you and your husband live somewhere in London nowadays? What brings you to this part of town?" She cast her gaze downwards, hesitating. "I've come to deliver a warning, and tell you the truth." It sounded serious, and a little bit too spooky for a normal confession. Something bad was going on, something she had to have kept under wraps for a very long time. "Okay... Shoot." "I'm going to say this outright. My husband had Sarah killed." Of all the things I could have guessed, I would never in a million years have thought those words would leave her mouth. "E-excuse me?" I spluttered, wondering whether there was something wrong with my hearing. |
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| "You heard right the first time, Daniel," she assured me with a sullen expression. "Oscar, my husband, is in charge of a company. In the day, he's a normal business man, but after hours, or any time he's free, he leads young people to perform crimes for him for a lot of money. That's how his legit company has stayed ahead of the competition." "But...but...killing Sarah? He had nothing to gain from that!" "She was moral, like me. But unlike me, she didn't want to keep her mouth shut. She wasn't afraid of him, because she thought he wouldn't lay a finger on him. In the end...he did." "How could anyone do that to their own flesh and blood...," the shock was too much to handle, and it felt that at any moment, my knees would give out under me and I would lie passed out on the ground. "When you're selfish, and you fear only for your own life, anything is possible. Daniel, it was clear to me when I saw you at the funeral, that you were going to find out who was responsible for it all. That's why I'm coming to you with this information. No longer am I living in the shadows. I have to make a difference, even if it costs me my life." She suddenly grabbed my shoulders, looking me squarely in the eyes. "Please... Help me. Help all of us by doing this. That way...many other people can be freed from his influence." After dabbing a tear away from her eye, she nodded curtly and hurried down the steps, walking down the road. I wondered whether or not she had a ride that would take her away to safety. She was in a dodgy position, and her life was literally hanging in the balance. For her sake, I was going to get revenge. |
