Damaged Ch. 07

Chapter 7

It was Saturday afternoon. Alan sat up in his bed, his back propped up on a pillow as he gazed out the window. He never saw the point in regarding how it looked like outside until now. It had been a bright, sunny day. It was beautiful.

He turned his head and looked at the woman lying on the bed beside him as she napped.She was beautiful.

Teri had drifted into slumber about an hour ago while Alan remained awake, watching over her.

He shifted to his side, leaning on an arm. Slowly he reached out with the back of his hand and gently caressed her bare shoulder with his knuckles. Her light, milky skin was so soft and smooth. With a light, deliberate touch, he pulled at the blanket covering her, slipping it down her body towards her legs, exposing more of her delicate flesh.

"Mmm...Alan, it's cold," Teri said frowning and pulling her arms close to her body.

He slid the blanket past her bum admiring the curve along her waist to her smooth, round buttocks.

"Alan," she grumbled again and rolled over on to her other side to face him. Her eyes closed, she smiled, "Give me back the blanket."

He let go of the blanket and she quickly pulled it up back to her chest. Alan slipped back down onto the bed and the two shifted closely together, her head resting on his arm, against his shoulder. Opening her eyes, she skimmed her hand over the soft hairs of his chest.

"So much for this being just a brunch," she scoffed playfully as her fingers circled lightly over his pecs, "But I think I know now what sort of Teri Medal to give you."

Alan actually smiled. It was slight, but it was an honest smile. He curled his arm around her, clasping his hand on her rounded shoulder. This all felt so...normal.

Teri sighed thoughtfully, "I feel so sorry for Dean. We keep leaving him by himself."

"He's fine," Alan said, "Dean's a good son."

Teri chewed her upper lip as she thought. The she asked, "Whatever happened to his mother?"

"She left town," he said after little hesitation.

"Just left? She didn't want to take Dean with her?"

"No. She didn't want Dean," he said.

Teri frowned, "I can't imagine what it would take for a mother to abandon her child like that."

"We were both young," he said, "Neither of us had any interest in staying together and being a family. I wanted Dean. She didn't."

She sensed his love for his son in his words and voice.

Teri nestled in closer to Alan, draping her slender leg over his. This felt so right.

They were content to continue to stay like that in bed for the rest of the day but then Alan's phone rang. He picked it up from the nightstand. "Yeah," he said, "Hi Kendall...Oh yeah? Yeah...okay...sure. Give me about 15 minutes. Right."

As he placed the phone down, Teri asked, "Going somewhere?"

"Problem at Kendall Duncan's place," Alan replied, "Switchbox shorted out."

He didn't want to but he moved away from Teri and stepped out of bed. He went to get dressed.

"Should I leave?" Teri asked.

"No, you can keep Dean company if you want," he replied, "I'm not sure how long this will take but can you stay for dinner?"

"Sure," she nodded and stood up.

Alan watched her walk around the room, her lovely, petite nude body lit up by the sunlight filtering through the shades, as she picked up her clothes.

He moved towards her, coming up from behind. Wrapping his arms around her, he pressed his chest and torso against her back. Teri dropped the clothes she had picked up back onto the floor as she leaned back and craned her neck around to meet his lowering lips with her own. She felt his soft length twitch and slowly harden against the small of her back.

Alan's hands came around to her front, brushing the pendant he had given her hanging around her neck. One gently cupped her soft breast, the other slid down past her belly. His fingers stroked the line of her slit and rubbed her quivering clit.

Teri sighed and gasped, her body twitching unsteadily as Alan's fingers swirled around her body. As she leaned forward, she braced herself on the bedroom dresser. Her mouth and eyes widened the moment she felt Alan's hard shaft drive into her from behind. Feeling his firm grip around her waist as he pulled her against his crotch with stiff tugs, Teri gripped the dresser, the piece of furniture shaking as their bodies quickly found a pointed rhythm.

Kendall Duncan would have to wait about 40 minutes.

**********

A little later, Teri sat on the sofa listening to Dean talk about a book he had read about fishing. She smiled. This was the most she had heard the boy speak in one sitting.

He talked enthusiastically about how he and his dad would go fishing in the nearby pond.

"Are there actually any fish in that pond?" Teri asked, "It's so hard to see anything more than 6 feet deep."

Dean didn't answer as he looked at her. She noticed that he was focusing on the pendant-locket around her neck again.

"Do you like this?" she asked, "Would you like to see it?"

The boy shook his head and said, "It looks like the one dad has hanging in his closet."

"He has a pendant like this in his closet?" She held it up and asked, "Did it belong to your mother?"

Again Dean shook his head. He stood and hurried off to his dad's bedroom. A minute later, he came back and held out his hand to her.

Teri looked at the boy, blinked, and then took the silver locket-pendant from his hand. It was very similar to hers: a silver, oval shaped locket. It was engraved with the letters "S" and "J" with a treble clef in the middle. It had been well preserved, polished to a smooth shine. She opened it up. It was empty -- the picture had been removed.

She stared hard at it, tilting her head as her mind worked with the little information that she had. She was so lost in thought as she held it in her open palm that she never even noticed when someone entered the room from the backdoor of the home,

"It's so very pretty, isn't it Teri?" Sophia said standing a few feet in front of her.

Teri shirked back and gasped, surprised.

"It belonged to a so very pretty woman, too," the taller blonde woman with the pointed face said. She dropped her purse on the coffee table and sank into the chair across from Teri. "She wasso very pretty not unlike yourself. In fact, almost identical to you...well, in nature anyway. She didn't have your lovely Oriental looks."

"What are you doing here?" Teri said, her small eyes narrowing on the woman. She could feel Dean shift closer beside her.

Sophia scoffed to herself.The gall of this stupid girl! she thought.

"We need to talk," Sophia insisted, "Woman to school teacher....adults only."

Her eyes set on the woman across from her, Teri patted the boy gently on his back. "Dean," she said softly, "Can you go into the backyard and play for a bit?"

He got up and walked out the door to the back. Sophia's cool green eyes followed him out and then just as smoothly returned their gaze upon Teri.

"Did Alan tell you that Dean's mother didn't want him?" she said, diving right in.

"He said that she left him with Alan," Teri replied calmly.

"Yes, well it does make him the noble one, doesn't it? Young man of 22 or 23 left to take care of his son on his own?" Sophia said whirling her hand in the air.

Teri noted how the woman wore a sharp smile, but there was nothing warm about it.

Sophia inhaled deeply then said, "He begged me to pay off that woman so she'd give him the kid and leave town."

Teri's frown deepened.

"Poor Alan," Sophia continued, "All the slut needed to say was that she wanted the boy and it sent the man into a panic. She didn'tcare about Dean. She just had him to keep Alan around. When she decided to leave, she just wanted some money. Not much at all, either, for the little mute."

Teri looked out the sliding back door and saw Dean tossing a ball in the air. She was relieved he wasn't in the room to hear any of this.

"I gave her the money, of course. Isaved him from that woman!" Sophia sniffed, "Alan never knew that she had no intention of taking Dean. But he wasdeeply indebted to me...and we both know how well he can show his...appreciation, don't we Teri?"

The younger woman glared back at her, the blood beginning to race through her veins.

"He certainly demonstrated that with you, didn't he?" Sophia said, angling her head downward. Her lips curled at the edges, "Especially at the shack? That 'Hobo Hut' last Saturday night? My goodness! Tsk-tsk, Ms.Yao!"

Teri's mouth fell open, her eyes widening. She was more than caught off guard by Sophia's words.

"Oh, was that supposed to be a special, intimate moment you shared with Alan? Your sweet romantic secret, hmm?" Sophia goaded as she smelled blood in the water. She leaned forward in the chair and said, "I guess no one told him the rules of keeping a secret because I knowevery dirty detail of your nasty littlefuck-fest in that rotting shack!"

Teri's fists were clenched. She wanted to scream and then pummel the spiteful woman's face in until she didn't have a mouth to speak with anymore. It was her thought's about Alan, the twisting confusion in her mind about him, that held her in place.

"And you actually thought he did that all for you?" Sophia laughed, "Fixed up that shit-hole just for you? Lured you with his cool, quiet charms because he hasfeelings for you? Alan? He has no feelings! He was playing out a sick, sordidfantasy, Teri! Just wanted to get his rocks off on any pretty young thing!"

Teri looked away, her upper lip curling under her lower one. Her vision blurred. She was ready to burst but she didn't want to cry -- not in front of this woman.

"It's sad isn't it? When you realize your prince is so tarnished," Sophia settled back into her seat, "He's a broken, twisted man, Teri. What's even sadder is that you don't know just how damaged he is. Do you think someone as naïve as you can save him? You don't even know when he's just using you for a good fuck!"

Teri stood and strode over to Sophia. With a flash of her hand, she slapped her hard across her cheek but the woman made no attempt to avoid the blow, accepting it like a medal of honour. Sophia smiled and touched her cheek as it seeped with a red hue from beneath her skin.

Teri dropped the locket on the table and hurried towards the front door.

"Maybe you should go for a jog," Sophia called to her, "Clear your muddled little mind a bit."

Teri slammed the door shut as she left.

*********

Alan drove back to his house in the late afternoon. He allowed himself a twinge of excitement anticipating Teri to be there waiting for him to return. It just as quickly dissipated the moment he realized Teri's car was gone and Sophia's big SUV was parked on the curb side. He stopped on his driveway, got out of the car, and ran into the house. He smelled the juniper and violet scent the moment he entered.

Sophia was still sitting in the easy chair, legs crossed, her head turned away as she looked out the window.

"Where is she?" Alan scowled at her.

The woman turned her head slowly and glared back at him. She threw something at him. Alan caught it against his chest and looked at Sheryl Jennings' pendant.

"Why do I always have to clean up your messes?" she said shaking her head.

"Where is she?" he repeated, a touch more remorsefully, as he stared at the small bauble. "What did you tell her?"

"I told her just enough to get her to leave and to distract her," Sophia insisted, "Just something for her to chew on while you and I figure out what to do with her."

'What to do with her...' Alan knew how Sophia's mind worked. She already knew 'What to do with her'.

Alan shook his head and said, "She doesn't know anything. We can just let it go."

"Oh come off it, Alan!" Sophia stood from the chair, "She'll figure it out eventually because you're going to get on your knees and confess to her like she's some freaking angel! Isn't that right? You were so obsessed to just fuck her and now you think youcare for her? She's no one! You only screwed her because she reminded you of the pure and innocent Ms.Jennings! And you can't keep away from her because you think she's going to save you somehow? Make you a better,normal man? Meanwhile, you keep piling your sins up one on top of the other!"

The woman paced the floor like a gorilla striding back and forth in a cage, puffed up and angry. Alan continued to stare at the pendant.

"I paid the mother of Dean because you asked me to. She's gone. That's done with!I had the guys from the warehouse beat down that boyfriend of Teri's because you needed to live out your stupid obsession and be done with it. And you did it. You had your fun with the angelic Ms.Yao or Ms.Jennings or whoever the hell is in your messed up head. Iallowed you to fuck her! It's done! She's not an angel anymore! She's a whore like every other woman now. She can't do anything for you!"

Alan looked up at her, a vicious gleam in his eye. "I'm not the one who started this," he said, "Do you really want to discuss sins, Sophia?"

Sophia closed her eyes and calmed herself. She spoke with a low, slow voice, "Alan, we've taken care of each other for so long now. Haven't I been good to you? I've let you go with your little indiscretions because I knew you'd always come back to me. We need each other because we share in the same dirty little secret. Do you really think that she'll stay by your side if she finds out the truth about you? If she goes to anyone about this, what will happen to Dean?"

Alan grimaced. She always knew how to tangle her words and ideas into his mind, finding a sick logic in the poison she spewed.

"And she will find out, won't she Alan?" Sophia said picking up her bag and walking towards him, "She already has a puzzle piece, that shiny thing in your hand. That woman seems like the type who can't resist solving a good mystery...especially if it involves the man she's in love with."

They stood shoulder-to-shoulder, facing in opposite directions. He could end this now, stop Sophia in her tracks. It would be simple. He would be free.

"I'm not going to let the little tramp screw up my life. How about you? You know that you've already lost her from what I just told her," Sophia said. She nudged him and nodded towards the hallway. Dean was clutching at the corner, staring at them anxiously. "Now, are you willing to risk everything else for her?"

He let her continue to the door.

"Don't worry Alan. You're still young. You've got drive," she said with a indignant sneer, "There's a lot more pretty, young school teachers where she came from."

Sophia exited the house and drove off. Alan stayed rooted on his spot as the sunlight slowly faded from the room.

"Dad?" Dean said softly from the hallway, "I like Ms.Yao."

Alan quietly turned around and left the house.

*********

Alan sat on the old log staring at the shack in the darkness. It was so quiet. He held the necklace and pendant in his fingers, rubbing it like it was a string of rosary beads.

After he had left the house, he had first gone to the pond, a place that had always comforted him. But now when he was there, the black pool of water offered him little solace. So he came to the shack.

He sat there for a long time, unaware of the creeping chill in the air. He figured if he sat there long enough, he would be isolated from Sophia's plans. The woman seemed to drag the inevitable along with her, he couldn't stop her. It was best to just stay out of her way.

He inhaled deeply, squeezing the pendant in his hands. Sophia was right: Teri would never forgive him . He was going to lose her eventually. She had to be cut loose. He knew that once it was done, he could go back to the way he was.

The way he was...

Alan began to shake but not from the cool night air. He frowned, squeezing his eyes tight and hit his forehead with his fist over and over as he clenched the locket. A steady rumble growled up through his throat.

"GAHH!" he yelled and stood up. He flung the pendant at the shack then stumbled towards it.

As he screamed in a rage, he tore and clawed at the wooden structure, pulling off nailed in planks of wood and siding. He pounded it with his bare fists, bashed the windows in with his forearms and kicked in the door.

His strength drained, he leaned back against the side of the shack and collapsed to the ground in a heap, trembling and groaning. He looked up towards the sky but saw only darkness, clouds blocking out the stars above.

Alone in the middle of the woods, for the first time since he was a teenager, Alan cried.

**********

Teri sat in her kitchen staring at the phone. She wanted to call Alan's house but had no idea what to say if he answered. Actually, at the moment it wasn't even Alan that she wanted to talk with. Sophia had gotten her so worked up in a blind rage that she stormed out of the house leaving Dean alone with that bitch.

She held her breath then finally picked up her phone and dialed. Each ring twisted the anxiety in her stomach tighter and tighter. She was actually thumbing the "end call" button in case Alan picked up.

"Hello?" a soft, small voice answered.

Teri exhaled, feeling relieved, "Hi Dean. It's Teri...Ms.Yao. Are you okay?"

"Yeah," the boy replied.

"I'm sorry I left like that today," she said. She hesitated then added, "That...person, Sophia, did she bother you?"

"No," Dean said, "She just sat in the chair until dad got home. They got into a fight."

Teri closed her eyes and shook her head. No, she didn't want to think about what might have happened, what was said, and she didn't want to ask the boy. She already regretted that he was there to experience it first hand.

"Is..." the next question was the hardest for her, "Is your dad there?"

"No. He left right after she did."

Teri leaned forward in her chair and continued to squeeze her eyes shut as she rubbed her temple. "Okay," she said, "So you're fine?"

"Uh-huh."

She sighed, "Alright. Have a good night, Dean. Sleep tight.."

"Ms.Yao?"

"Yes?"

There was a long pause on the other end. Then he said, "Nothing...it's okay. Bye."

Teri put down her phone. She stayed in her chair, feeling restless, thinking about what to do now. Speak to Alan if she could find him? Confront Sophia and get her to tell her everything already and then pull her blonde hair out by their roots?

She had fragments scattered in her head but none of them seemed like they were even part of the same puzzle. She finally recollected that the initials S & J may have stood for that teacher Sheryl Jennings who got hit by the train along with her boyfriend 16 years ago. But why would Alan have her locket? He would have been a teenager back then. Would he have taken it from her or was he going to give it to her? What would that have to do with him and Sophia?

"Oh god Alan," she winced. Every time she thought of him, she felt the strain on her heart. "What the hell is going on with you?"

A vicious emotional circle wracked her head. She realized now just how much she cared for him because it hurt so much to feel betrayed like this.

Despite everything, she wanted to be with him now more than ever.

Teri leaned back in her chair rubbing her legs as she shook them up and down. This was no good. If she continued thinking about this all night, she'd go crazy. Her choices were either to go curl under her sheets and cry or go burn off some anxiety with a hard run. She refused to cry. Through all of this, at least she hadn't broken down.

She would find Alan and speak to him tomorrow.

Teri went to put on her jogging gear.

**********

It was an overcast night making it even darker than usual when Teri went for her nightly runs. Everything was cast in an eerie greyish-blue hue. She ran hard through the darkness, just under a sprint, hoping her quick pace would burn away the distracting thoughts running through her head. However, as classical music played through her MP3 player Teri still found her mind drifting while her body pushed itself harder and harder.