TANGLED HEARTS.
- THE PAST.
BONUS chapter sponsored by Anonymous ❤️
“Amerie, I asked you a question,” her father says when she doesn’t respond the first time.
She doesn’t know what else to say because she has already answered. She was prepared to be civil with her sister but Isabelle on the other side is clearly determined to show their parents that they aren’t getting along at the moment. Now their father is questioning her.
“Isabelle just isn’t talking to me at the moment,” she says.
“I can see that. I’m asking why,” he persists and when he gets no response. He tells his wife to go get their eldest daughter.
He loves having his daughters home. When they moved away, it was the hardest thing for him but he tries to make the most of the time that he gets with them when they are here and he loves seeing them get along. He’s not going to allow a quarrel between the two siblings under his roof. No one is going to spoil family time and his first mistake would be to let his girls go to bed without speaking to each other, it will make for a very bitter Saturday and he doesn’t want to waste time on that instead of having fun with his children.
Isabelle comes back without Noah, who was left busy in his mother’s bedroom. Her and their mother join rejoin Amerie and their father in the living room “Sit next to your little sister,” their father says and it’s not a request so she does as told without complaining.
“Isabelle, since when do you ignore Amerie when she speaks to you and even go as far as walking out on all of us?” his tone is stern and both daughters are not facing him. “Am I talking to myself?”
“No,” She mumbles.
“Answer me then, what is going on between you and Amerie?”
“We had a fight and Amerie was rude to me,” she says bitterly and Amerie can’t believe that Isabelle is ommiting this much information. Yes they don’t speak about boyfriends with their father but she’s the one who decided to drag this home and she’s not going to take a very short cut and explain parts that favor her only.
“What was the fight about?” he asks and Isabelle looks at her sister then looks away “Will someone talk,” this time his voice is loud. He is losing his patience, this is not how he imagined his weekend starting.
“I’ll talk but I’ll have to start at the beginning,” Amerie says.
“Go ahead, we have all night to sort this out because no one is going to bed before this is resolved,” He tells her.
“I was in a relationship with someone, I know we never speak about this with you…”
“You’re both at an age where I know you might be seeing someone, continue,” he says and she nods.
“Okay, so weeks back I found this guy getting… Intimate with someone else, walked in on them… Yeah… You know… So I ended things with him,”
“And you did the right thing, I’m proud of you for that. You don’t stay with a man who doesn’t respect you, not unless you want me to end up behind bars because no man will continuously break my daughter’s heart and still get to be in her life.” he says and she gets strength to continue, at least their father understands.
“So this guy ran to Isabelle when I wouldn’t speak to him. At first she called me and tried to convince me to listen to his apologies and I refused. That caused a minor fight between us but we soon apologized to each other and then Isabelle pretended to have made peace with my choices, she sounded like she wanted to make peace with me and she invited me to go out with her. I agreed thinking it was just going to be the two of us but when I arrived I found that she deceived me and invited this guy so he could forcefully try to talk me back into getting back together with him. To make matters worse, she left me there with him and he wouldn’t stop harassing me until I dodged him, she didn’t care about my wellness” Amerie sings like the last born that she is. She really was prepared to pretend all weekend but Isabelle had to play dirty and leave her then have the nerve to ignore her when she’s the one in the wrong.
” That’s not true, I was only trying to help, ” Isabelle tries to defend her actions.
” By forcing things after I told you how much Chase hurt me? Why would you take his side after what he did and invalidate my feelings? Make it seem like I’m the wrong one for leaving? ”
” Isabelle, is this true? You tricked your sister into meeting this stupid boy who played with her heart? ” their mother asks.
” I was only trying to help, ”
” To help who? Amerie? By making her see him again and even worse ,planning this without her knowledge? Leaving her with him?” their father sharply asks.
” But she said some hurtful things too why isn’t she answering for that? ”
” Dad, I only told her to stop forcing me to go back to him, that she may be okay with forgiving such things but I’m not and I don’t want to, “Amerie says and the room grows silent.
Damn it. She’s done it again.
Their father carefully eyes his first daughter ” Isabelle, has your boyfriend been doing this to you? ”
” What? No! Romeo would never. I did suspect him at a time and I made the mistake of telling Amy because now she uses it as a weapon when we fight, ”
Amerie watches as her sister lies through her teeth. Romeo has cheated and she has caught him, at some point she even forwarded chats between him and another girl to Amerie but you know what, she’s not going to argue this, it’s none of her business.
” Well maybe you should stop trying to force me to get back together with someone who hurt me. You are my big sister, you were supposed to look out for me, not him. My feelings are supposed to come first before a stranger’s feelings and if you feel that I’m making a mistake by leaving him then let me. Instead, you lie and deceive me and then you leave me stranded when you know that we travel together to come home,”
The room goes quiet” You cannot choose other people before your sister, Isabelle, this boy is nothing to you and Amy is your sister, your little sister. You are meant to be protecting her instead of pushing her to the very thing that hurt her.”their mother says, sounding disappointed.
” That wasn’t what I was trying to do. I was upset, that’s why I left her, ”
” And now I know not to depend on you for a ride, I’ll get my own car soon.” this might be her being petty but she doesn’t care, the least Isabelle could have done is let her know she won’t be traveling with her anymore.
” We are not going to let this continue. I will tell you this once, when someone betrays you the way that the stupid boy did then you don’t stay, you never stay. I don’t see anything wrong with what Amerie did, she’s still young and cannot be stuck with someone who does not respect her. He hurt her and broke her trust and as her older sister you should have protected her from him when he came to you asking to set them up again, what you did is enough to make Amerie think you don’t wish her well and I wouldn’t fault her if she thought like that because in what world is it okay to take the side of your sister’s cheating ex? To deceive her to the point of making her meet with the person who hurt her? ”
” It’s not okay… And I didn’t realize that it would look like that, I was only trying to help, ” Isabelle explains
” That’s what you said the first time, then you went and did what you did, ”
” I’m sorry… I really thought I was helping the two of you but now I see that I overstepped. I shouldn’t have and I will block his number and have zero contact with him,”
“And as for your sister?” their father asks.
“I will do better, I’m sorry for leaving you behind. That was uncalled for,”
“Amerie?” their mother asks when she doesn’t respond.
“Ma?”she asks like she doesn’t know why she’s being called.
” Don’t you have anything to say? ”
She looks at Isa”I don’t enjoy fighting with you, I hate what’s happening right now and I apologize if I offended you with what I said. I just ask that you respect my relationship choices and if you’re going to leave me behind then please be kind enough to let me know on time so I can make arrangements to get home before night time,”
” It won’t happen again, I promise, “Isabelle says and Amerie internally rolls her eyes. She’s heard this line before but for the sake of peace, she will let it go.
They begin to make peace and things start going back to normal. When Shane calls, she excuses herself to the kitchen” Hey, ”
” Love, I’m home, ”
” Great, now I can relax, ”
” How are things there? ”
” They started off rocky but we are getting there, ”
” That’s good, this might not be a bad weekend after all, ”
” I hope so, what are your plans for tomorrow? “she asks him.
” I’m meeting with Frank at the golf course, ”
” You need to take me with you sometime. I’d like to see you play, ”
” I can teach you too, ”
” No, my primary focus will be on watching you while I relax on your cart, I can dress the part though.” she laughs a little.
“Consider it a date.”
” You should get some rest, let’s talk tomorrow, ”
” Enjoy your night, baby, ”
” Thank you, have a great one, “she says then hangs up and smiles at the screen even when it has gone black.
” Who is making you smile this much?”Isabelle asks when she finds her in the kitchen.
” Just someone, ”
” Hmm, could it be that you’ve already moved on? It would make sense why you were determined to completely cut Chase off, ”
” Are we still there, Isabelle? ”
” No, I’m just saying. I’m sorry I didn’t realize I was hurting you by trying to make the two of you talk, I’ll stay out of it now, I promise, ”
” Thank you… And is there a reason why you didn’t tell dad the truth about Rom? ”
” You know how things went between me and Noah’s father, Amerie. I’m tired of being a disappointment, ”
” You wouldn’t be a disappointment, you heard what he said about me leaving Chase, ”
” That’s because you didn’t walk out with a baby. Look, I’m okay with who I’m with, please stop talking about the past, ”
” Alright, I’ll stop. You’re an adult and you know what you are doing, ”
” Exactly and so are you, so now tell me, who is the new guy? ”
” No Isa, I’m not telling anything, ”
” Oh, come on. Just a little, “she says and they start goofing around. It’s starting to feel normal again.
*******
” You look different? ”
” How so? ”
” I don’t know, man but something has changed with you,”
“Or it’s all in your head,” Shane decides to mess with Frank.
“I’m not the only one seeing this, Judith has seen it too and people at the office,”
“What I’m taking from this is that you and other people have been gossiping about me,” he raises his eyebrow at Frank
“You call it gossip and we call it noticing the difference with the big boss, so? Out with it, what’s happening?”
“Life, Frank. Life is happening,”
“Are you about to do that thing with me where you don’t even answer my question? You could just say that you don’t want to talk about it, you know?”
“Alright, I don’t want to talk about it,” he says and Frank narrows his eyes at him, making him laugh “What?”
“And you’re laughing more, it’s a woman, isn’t it?”
“I can neither confirm nor deny,”
“Come on, just this once,”
“Patience, Frank. You will find out when you are supposed to find out,”
“Will you bring her to the Christmas party?” Frank proceeds to ask. Their company allows the staff to bring a plus one and each year,Shane shows up alone.
He has thought about inviting Amerie, as much as he doesn’t want people poking in his personal business, he also doesn’t want to deprive himself of a good time with his woman. He doesn’t want to keep her a secret, there is a fine line between privacy and secrecy but if she feels like she’s not ready to go public with him yet then he will respect that, he’s always attended these things alone anyway, what’s another year?
“Maybe,” Shane says as he goes on to win the little competition he had going on with Frank then they start packing up and wait for the transport that will take them back to the front so they can have a drink before going their separate ways.
His phone pings and it’s pictures from Amerie, they have gotten into a habit where she sends him pictures and today she made him take a picture of himself too while wearing his golfing clothes, he could not believe that she got him to stand in front of a mirror and take a picture and she has been drooling over it since. It looks like his woman is more outspoken via texts, wait until he asks her about these things in person, he can’t wait for tomorrow.
Their transport arrives and takes them back to the front where there is a restaurant. Frank is leading the way and when Shane looks forward, he sees exactly why Frank chose this place. His wife is also here with her friend. Frank kisses his wife’s cheek and then turns to her friend “Belinda, how are you?” he asks while giving her a quick side hug.
“I’m good and you, Frank? It’s been so long,”
“Yeah, it has. This is my good friend, Shane,” He says and Shane keeps neutral face as he shakes her hand
“It’s lovely to meet you, Shane,” she has this sultry smile and holds on to his hand a little longer before he pulls away.
“Same here,” he responds and the two men pull their chairs to join the women. Judith is the one who keeps the chatter going.
“Belinda is also into playing golf too,” she says to Shane.
“Is that so?” Shane asks Belinda.
“Yes but I’m not that good yet, maybe you could help me perfect this skill?”
“I could help with suggesting a professional,”
“But you’re good too, Shane. And I think Belinda would be more comfortable with you helping her instead of a complete stranger,”
“I’m a complete stranger to her too,” he points out and Judith’s embarrassment is spared when the two men are served their beers.
“I wouldn’t mind being taught by you. Frank and Judith always talk about how great you are, I’d like to see for myself,” Belinda says.
“Maybe you can come with, the next time we play,” Frank suggests, knowing very well that Shane will not offer by himself. This is him helping his wife, she seems to think that Belinda and Shane would make a good couple so this is her playing matchmaker.
“Oh and there’s a Christmas party coming up soon , Shane, can she come?” Judith asks and Shane is about to reply when his phone rings. He checks the screen and they all see a smile they have not seen from Shane since he sat down with them.
“Uh, that will not be possible unless if she’s the plus one of one of the staff members. I have to get going now, will you settle this?” he asks and Frank nods he grabs his bag and answers his phone before it stops ringing “Love?”
This takes Judith by shock, “Did he just say love?” She asks her husband and he shrugs. She knows very well that Shane is a closed off man. Now as she sits, she’s even afraid to look at Belinda because she told her that Shane is a single man and now he goes and does this to her? Who is this love? This question digs deeply at her heart.
After ending his phone all with Amerie he decides to just go home. He doesn’t appreciate what Judith did and he believes he has told her before that he doesn’t want this. Maybe he was too friendly when he said this, he will talk to Frank, he needs to put his wife in her place.
He is about to head home when a thought from the conversation he had with Amerie creeps up on him again and he finds himself thinking about his aunt Bertha, he hasn’t spoken to her in so many years and he didn’t let it get to him but as of late, he can’t stop thinking about her and the falling out they head. Without thinking twice, he drives to Eldorado park. He hasn’t driven there in years but he could never forget where home used to be, he could come here with his eyes closed, in the darkest of nights.
He stops a couple of houses away. The street is not too busy, there’s just a group of boys who are playing soccer next to the house and he moves his eyes from them to the house is clearly visible considering that it only has a fence around it so he can see through. The color of the house has changed and she replaced the grass with paving. The yard looks well kept.
It suddenly feels like his car seat is burning him and drops of sweat start forming on his forehead. He starts to wonder what would happen if he got out of this car and walked to the house, if he went in… What would aunt Bertha say? This is him asking stupid questions because he knows exactly what would happen. She would throw cuss words at him, call him the devil, a demon that destroyed their family. She would strip him naked with words and leave nothing to cover him or his shame, she would remind him of everything she lost like he didn’t lose too. She would say it all and he would stay there and take it.
He’s reminded of the last words he said to her when she threw him out of this very house “Get out of here, I hope they kill you before you even get far and I hope they throw your body in a river so I won’t be bothered with burying you but if your corpse makes the mistake of landing on my feet, I will personally drag it on this street and dump it in a ditch where dogs will feast in your rotting body! ”
Just as her words resound in his head, he spots her come out of the house and slowly walk to the fence. She has aged since the last time he saw her and she still limps a little when she walks. She goes on to call one of the boys whose playing and he rushes in the yard, when he least expects it, her attention moves to where he is parked. His heart starts beating fast but she doesn’t seem to be alarmed or even annoyed so he knows she can’t make out that it’s him in the car or she would have already started screaming profanities. He decides to start his car but not drive forward because then she might see him. Instead, he finds a way to do a U-turn from where he is then he drives back where he came from with the heaviest heart. He doesn’t know what he was thinking coming here, his presence will only unsettle her and he can’t take any more harsh words from her. Sometimes it’s best to let the past be just that…the past.