Life's Curveballs Ch. 02

People have different ways to cope with grief. Elliot's father, Byron Sutton, focused his attention on his work just to keep getting out of bed, the very same he once shared with his wife. He owned the only grocery store in town but the Suttons were neither poor nor quite rich. Just more than enough to keep on falling to either category. Byron was a bear of a man and yet had the mannerisms of a puppy, softspoken and humble, a complete contrast to his quiet lanky teenage son. He was a gentle giant. Byron busied himself with the day-to-day handlings of his work, managing costs and turning profits. Whenever a batch of stock was soon to expire, he had to cut his losses and sell them at a discount so as to suffer a minor loss rather than a complete one.

They were solitary creatures, the Sutton men.

But as the economy buckled with each passing year, Elliot's father wasn't the only one feeling the plummeting economy. Other business owners outside and within town too felt the grip of the rising inflation and toll it took on their livelihood. To counter this, communities all over the county formed associations to help one another and figure out solutions and other entrepreneurial ventures to boost their businesses.

In one of these associations, Elliot's father came to know Katherine Morgan.

Katherine is an entrepreneur hailing from a well-off family on the East Coast but was cut-off and disowned after she decided to struck out into the world on her own rather than follow the rigid designs of her stuck-up kin. She made her way across the country until eventually landing herself in Oregon. She made some smart investments with the money she saved up before being cut-off and turned some sizeable profits since then. Now a single mother of two, she finally decided to settle down here on the West Coast and make a stable life for her and her two girls, Kassidy and Kinley. She bought farmland not far off Strathurst and chose to cater her produce to the locals and other businesses outside the county.

She had been looking for buyers at one of the association meetings when she met Elliot's father. Byron was looking for ways to lessen the cost of purchase for his goods while still maintaining great quality product. They went back and forth over each other a lot of times.

When Elliot met Katherine for the first time was when the teenager had been helping around his father's grocery store. Elliot had been doing inventory when his father walked in followed by a blonde woman near his age, wearing a smart business suit. She had an air about her that made people open up to her, her smile was electric and infectious and would have made her the life of any party that she was part of. Byron showed her around the store for a short minute or so before proceeding to his office. Elliot heard muffled laughter through the walls for quite some time as he did his work around the store.

Elliot didn't pay the adults much heed aside from the fact that whenever Katherine stopped by, his father would smile like hadn't for years since his mother passed. Elliot didn't put much further thought into it.

Which is why it coming to such a shock when they announced that they were getting married.

Then one day They took Elliot to a restaurant on his fourteenth birthday. There they buttered him up. What was he supposed to say? He was unsure and simply relented and pretended when in truth he didn't know what to think. Elliot had mixed feelings, still possessing the phantom pain of his mother in his heart. But on the other hand, was somewhat glad his father had begun smiling again.

Katherine was an affectionate person, a bit like his mother. She would hug those who she deemed close friends and family. The dour, reclusive Elliot would freeze up since he made no move towards closing the gap. This was a trait he had possessed long before his mother's death. He had and always have been just content on watching others, never closing or getting to know them. He wondered if there was something wrong with him? Come to think of it he didn't have much true friends among his classmates and kids his age.

That doesn't mean to say that he does find some excitement in the same interests kids his age. He likes video games, tv shows and whatnot. He just preferred to enjoy them alone. A habit formed for being an only child. A habit that won't last forever.

Perhaps Elliot should have been suspicious, that things were much more serious than it first seemed. He certainly couldn't have guessed, what with the Katherine's visits becoming more and more personally motivated rather than business oriented. Each and every time, she makes time to talk with Elliot. It was the usual topics an adult would ask a teenager: how was school, what were his interests and if he had a girlfriend.

Then one day, his father picked him up from school. He seemed to be in pretty good mood these days. They weren't taking the usual route back home and eventually arrived at the best family restaurant in the county. Waiting just outside was Katherine.

"Hey Katherine, What's the occasion?" he asked.

"Happy birthday kiddo!" she ran up to him and hugged him tight in a bearhug.

Elliot was surprised. They hadn't properly celebrated his birthday in years, even when his own mother had been alive, just orders some extra food. But Katherine seemed to pull no stops and had made reservations at the best restaurant in the county.

In their table there sat two blonde girls his age. They looked almost like twins and was hallmarked by their crystal blue eyes and blonde hair, easily deduced that they were Katherine's daughters that she always talked about, Kassidy and Kinley.

"These are my daughters; Kinley, stop chewing your hair. Kassidy, say hi dear." The two looked him up and down, sizing him up. There was something cold in that gaze of theirs that made Elliot just a bit queasy on the stomach.

Elliot tried to keep his face placid, inwardly groaning if this was some sort of "playdate".

It went on swimmingly for the most part. The sisters hugely ignoring him, which was even better. He sucked at making conversation, not knowing and never trying at making the effort to carry one.

"So, we have some big announcement," Katherine chipped in all of a sudden as they were eating. All eyes turned to the head of the table were both adults sat side by side. They all looked at Katherine expectingly.

"I know this may seem like a shock but Byron and I have been talking about and we have decided.........THAT WE ARE GETTING MARRIED!" Elliot's jaw went slack. Kassidy and Kinley nearly dropped their forks, blue eyes wide.

Kassidy and Kinley exchanged looks with Elliot. In just their brief time, Elliot could tell they did not like him.

But their parents were so happy, they did not have the heart to form protests. He expected them to gripe but were otherwise quiet. Elliot recognized the stiff smiles that was plastered on their face as he was wearing one himself.

"We are going to be one big happy family."

Elliot's eyes met the gaze of the two sisters and the look in they had didn't seem to be one of happiness.