I Lied Pt. 05

He agreed but told me to go somewhere and take some time off. Let this family issue get resolved, and then we would get back to business.

Each passing day that Jack didn't call me or text me only caused my anxiety to skyrocket. I was losing my mind, and even though Clark had told me to take time off and go somewhere, I ignored his suggestion and went back to the guest house.

When I arrived, I started drinking immediately--one right after another. The thoughts of Beth and Brad having sex had consumed me the entire week. All the things she had been doing to me while we were together was now a vivid image in my mind of her doing those same things to Brad. I couldn't shake it no matter how much I drank. By the time nine-thirty, that night rolled around, I could barely stand to answer the door when Clark had come over.

"Owen, please talk to me. What is going on?" He pleaded with me.

I couldn't even speak as I broke down crying and dropped to my knees. Clark stood me up, sat me on the couch, made a fresh pot of coffee, and handed me the mug.

"I can't help you if you won't tell me what's going on," Clark said, worried about my state of mind.

I genuinely believed I would've told him that I was in love with my sister if I hadn't passed out.

Clark had taken me under his wing and made sure nobody took advantage of me over the last few years. He was like a father figure to me, and I was like the son he never had. Our relationship was different from the other musicians he had on his roster. He never even took his cut that I agreed to for the first year, and I still don't think he would've charged me, but I insisted. I wouldn't take no for an answer, and after hounding him for days, he finally agreed he would only do it if I signed a new contract stating his cut was three percent. I agreed, and we never talked about money again.

When Jack finally texted me later that evening, I was having dinner with Clark and Jessica, his lovely wife.

"Can you talk?" Jack asked.

My facial expression gave me away instantly.

"Is that Phil from editing?" Clark asked, giving me a way out, so I wouldn't have to explain why I was leaving just as I started to eat.

"Yes," I followed his lead.

"Ok, let me know what he says about track five. I told him three times it needed to be fixed."

"Will do. Please excuse me," I said, and exited the table, and headed toward the guest house.

"Hey, Jack, it's Owen. What's up?"

"Owen, I have some bad news and some potentially good news. Which one do you want first?"

"Always the bad," I replied.

"Ok. Beth and Brad are engaged and are to be married this spring."

"WHAT!" I yelled. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, Owen. I will tell you the exact date if you would like?"

"Let's get to that later. What's the rest of the bad news?"

"That's it for the bad news. The rest of this story is a little far-fetched to believe, but I triple-checked to be sure. This is going to take a while. Do you have anywhere you need to be?"

I could've been ready to walk on stage and would have stopped the whole show to hear what he had to say.

"I have nowhere I need to be. Spill it."

"Over the last week, I have seen Brad a total of four times go and see Beth. He never stays the night and always returns home or meets with Susan. Brad and Susan see each other every day. As soon as her husband leaves for work, she leaves and goes straight to Brad, or she visits a friend across town before she goes and meets up with Brad later in the evening. She is only with Brad, and Brad is only with her from what I can gather.

"How long have they been a couple?" I asked.

"Well, after some deep digging and talking to some people who, just like you, hate Brad. They have been seeing each other for about five years. She went to college with Brad before they both got kicked out for drinking."

"Are you sure?" I asked, knowing that Susan and I had sex during that time.

"Yes. They were actively dating when you and she supposedly had sex," he said flatly.

"How did you find that out?" I asked, feeling guilty all over again but impressed that he figured that out.

"Wait, what did you say?" I finally realized what he said.

"Owen, that brings me to the good news. I don't think you and Susan had sex. I really think you were set up for some reason, but I've yet to figure out why. I have my assumptions, though."

My mouth went dry, and I found it hard to swallow. Nothing was making sense.

"Owen, I need to let you go, but before I do, I want you to know that you can tell me anything, and you have my word I will never repeat. I'm not leaving until I have this figured out. It shouldn't take longer than a week, but please call if you can think of anything that might help me. Remember, I'm on your side and your side only."

"Wait, have you gotten any pictures or video yet?"

"Several of both. Now process everything we just talked about, and call me if you can remember anything that may be of importance. I have to go as a call I'm expecting is beeping in."

"Ok," and I hung up the phone.

Everything came flooding back. 'Why hadn't I questioned it more until now? I was skeptical, seeing her still in her underwear, but I just let it go after she said she was on the pill. Why would she fake it? Was she trying to piss Brad off? Did they get into a fight?' My mind was going a hundred miles an hour. The more I thought about it, the more apparent the picture became.

"Fuck, Brad found out," I said out loud.

The rest of the night, I went over everything from the first night that he began to hang around to my last show at Tilley's. I don't know when he found out, but somehow I had now convinced myself that he knew. Did he plan to embarrass Beth in front of all her friends the day they were to be married? 'Why would he do that? Why would he jeopardize his whole wedding to make his point? Didn't he know people would think he was just as much of a piece of shit as she was?'

I asked myself those questions and a series of others until I lost consciousness around four in the morning.

The following morning, I woke up and called Jack. I had no choice but to tell him. It was the only way I could save Beth because she wouldn't answer my calls.

"This is Jack."

"Jack, it's Owen; we need to talk."

"Owen, you don't need to say anything. I figured it out. After we got off the phone, the phone call that was coming in was someone who used to be real close to Susan, and she told me everything."

"You know?" I asked.

"Yes, or I need to retire because I'm unable to perform my job the way I should," he chuckled.

"As I was saying, she told me everything that happened the night you played at Tilley's. It started long before that, though. Brad convinced Susan that you and Beth were sleeping together, and he set out to prove it. Brad made sure to introduce you two at a show you had over the Thanksgiving Holiday. That way, the night she showed up at Tilley's, you would be comfortable with her."

"That motherfucker!"

"Owen, it gets worse. Beth and her friends were given bad food on purpose so that she wouldn't make it to the show. After you finished playing that night, they somehow got you to drink something."

"Just before I left, they wanted to do a toast with me," I blurted out.

"That's how they did it; from what the ex-friend tells me after they got you fucked up, they took you back to Susan's place so you and she could have sex. Except, by the time you got there, you were so fucked up from the roofie it knocked you out cold. Since you couldn't have sex, they positioned you to look like you were having sex with Susan and then took pictures of you two and sent them to Beth to get her reaction."

"That's how she knew so quickly," I said. "Does she have the pictures?" I asked, trying to change the subject.

"She has just one. It was one she took with her camera phone. The best part is she took it without them knowing, so Brad is in the picture, and he's taking a picture of you and Susan. It's legit, and she sent me a copy. She doesn't want anyone to know she has it as it's her backup plan if they try to blame her for anything."

"So what you're saying is the plan backfired?"

"Yes, Beth didn't freak out when she received the anonymous text with the pictures. She just replied, 'That's disgusting. He's my brother, so stop sending that to me."

"So, how'd they get together?" I asked.

"Owen, the only thing I can come up with is he made sure to be somewhere she was at and started talking to her, and one thing led to another."

"I have to tell her."

"I'm catching the next flight out of here back to Nashville. Don't do anything until I get there. I have some ideas we can go over. I know you want to say something, but we need to be sure we have everything right before we say something."

"If Beth knows he's cheating, she will leave him on the spot, trust me."

"Owen, trust me. I know this is hard, but...."

"You have no idea," I said sharply, cutting him off.

"I'm illegally married to my first cousin, Owen, so I understand entirely," Jack said quickly. "Please wait for me to get there before you do anything. Can you do that?"

"Yes," I answered begrudgingly.

"See you soon," he said just before he hung up.

All the pain I had pushed so far down resurfaced in a matter of seconds. The anger I had from hearing everything sent me straight to the kitchen to pour a drink. But, I fought the urge, not trusting myself not to call Beth's job a hundred times before Jack could get here and tackle me.

I didn't have a clue what to do or even where to start. I was happy to have Jack's experience when it came to these sorts of things. Still, it bothered me for the rest of the day that Beth was being totally mislead.

"How are you holding up?" Jack asked as he walked in and sat down.

"Not good. I can't sleep, and I want to cry."

"So, how long had you and Beth been sleeping together?" Jack asked.

"Almost six months," I choked out.

"Let's talk about that later. I've thought of a few different ways we can do this. The first is to head over there together and confront them while they are out in a public setting like you want. I personally don't think that's a good idea. Second, we can mail her the pictures and the video with a note saying call my number when you've finished watching this. Third, we get a plan together and do it at the wedding. What do you think we should do?"

"The wedding," my answer was instant, and I knew what I wanted to do.

"Ok, looks like we have some work to do."

We only had two weeks to get our plan together. After going back and forth all day over what to do and how to do it, we settled on an idea and called it a night.

I waited an hour or so to call our parents and ask them if they knew Beth was getting married, and if they did, why would they hide it from me. I had finally calmed down enough or as much as I was going to.

"Breath, Owen, it's going to be okay. It's not their fault. Don't take this out on them," I said as I called Mom's number.

"Hey, Mom. How's it going?" I asked and took one more deep breath.

"Hi, Owen. Larry, Larry, Owen is on the phone," Mom exclaimed, happy to hear from me.

"Mom, please put the phone on speaker."

"Ok, just a second," I heard fiddling with the phone before she came back on the line. "Owen, are you there?" Mom asked.

"Yes, Mom, I can hear you. Dad, can you hear me?"

"Yeah, Son, I can hear you."

"So why didn't you guys tell me Beth was getting married?" I asked, changing my tactics and getting straight to the point.

After a long pause, my mother spoke first. "Owen, we wanted to, but Beth made us promise that we wouldn't tell you. She said she wanted it to come from her. Did she just call you?"

"No, I haven't talked to her in over three years. How long have you guys known about her wedding?"

"I think it's been almost a year now," Mom answered.

"Damn, Mom. I can't believe y'all wouldn't tell me that," I muttered.

"Son, I'm sorry for the way things turned out for you guys. I know you loved your sister, but after she came clean to us about what happened between you, we decided that it was best if we stayed out of it," Dad said.

"Wait, she told you?" I asked, shocked.

"Yeah, I think it was about six months after you left. She came home one night and told us about that night." Mom said like it was common knowledge.

"What night?" I questioned.

"The night before your last show at Tilley's, when she told you she was in love with you. Beth said you took it badly, and you told her not to come to the show. Is that what happened, or did she lie to us?" Mom sounded worried.

"No, that's what happened, but I didn't realize that she was going to cut me out of her life completely." I lied to keep Beth from looking bad to our parents

"I think she's embarrassed about it. She doesn't talk to us much either. I will say I think Brad is treating her well, and he even stopped drinking; Beth said." Mom sounded happy for Beth.

"My agent is calling; I'll call you guys back in a little bit. Love you, bye," I lied and ended the call.

"Fuuuuuuuuuck!" I yelled out.

*

I hoped Beth would call each passing day, but she never called me or sent me an invitation to the wedding. The day before the wedding was set to occur, I called and told Mom and Dad I wasn't going, and if she wanted me there, she would've called or sent the invitation. They apologized for how things had turned out and promised to take pictures for me to see later.

Early the following morning, I boarded the jet with Jack, and we took off. Having a private plane had its advantages; when you needed to get into a city unnoticed. Jack and I took separate rental cars, so we were not seen together, and I was to arrive well after he got to the church to get everything set up.

After finding a place to park away from the other attendees, I stayed in my rental car until Jack finally told me the coast was clear and to come in the side entrance.

"Follow this hallway until you come to a set of stairs. Take them up and sit on the far left. The massive pillar will block you, and Brad won't be able to see you when he turns to see Beth walk down the aisle," Jack said.

Even though the place was huge, with over twenty-five hundred people on the guest list, I took my seat and kept my head down. I didn't want to take the chance of getting noticed and drawing a lot of attention.

A large screen hung down from the ceiling and gave the people in the back an up-close view of the couple getting married. It was over the top, just like Brad's parents, and their need to flaunt their money was precisely what we had planned for.

Something I could sit and listen to all day was the beautiful sounds that came from a piano, but today wasn't one of those days. The moment she began playing, it sounded like nails on a chalkboard.

The camera switched from its view of Brad standing at the altar to the grand entrance of the church. Oo's and aw's filled the church when the three little girls placed a single rose petal on the ground every few feet until they reached the end.

The moment Beth walked through the doors, my heart started pounding in my chest. She looked like an angel sent from heaven, and I wanted to call the whole thing off when I saw her and Dad's smile come into view on the screen. 'Don't do this, Owen.' I repeated the words with each step she took, arm in arm with our father.

With tears in his eyes, Dad handed over Beth to Brad. I saw a change in his facial expression when Brad looked at him with a smug look. It was a look of disgust. I had seen that look from Brad during my first two years of high school. It said, I'm better than you, and you're lucky I let you breathe in my presence. Beth also noticed it, and her lovely smile fell from her face.

I prayed she would take off running toward the door and leave Brad standing there looking like the fool he was. But, she didn't; she froze. Pleading with her repeatedly in my mind, I knew it was a lost cause, but the longer she stood there, the better my chances became. Brad began to fidget, not knowing what to do, and looked at the preacher for help. Even with her veil covering her face, almost everyone knew what was happening just before them. You could hear the congregation sigh when Beth reluctantly took his hand to stand right before him, sealing her and Brad's fate. I wanted to let Beth do this herself, knowing it was bound to happen, but it was too late.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to join this man and this woman in holy matrimony, which is commended to be honorable among all men, and therefore -- is not by any -- to be entered into unadvisedly or lightly -- but reverently, discreetly, advisedly and solemnly. Into this holy estate, these two persons present now come to be joined. If any person can show just cause why they may not be joined together -- let them speak now or forever hold their peace."

"I can."

To be continued...