Now Starring Ch. 08

I managed to get myself together and was enjoying my second cup of coffee by the time everyone returned from church. My brother, Michael, and his family were there too. Since there was such an age gap between him and me, I never really got to know him very well. For his part he still seemed to see me as a small child and not worthy of much regard, so the likelihood of us becoming best mates was pretty much out of the question.

Fiona bustled into the kitchen, "You're awake. Can I make you some breakfast? The rest of us have eaten already."

"No thanks, I'm not much of a breakfast eater." I replied.

Michael regarded me over the rim of his glasses, "you don't look like you eat anything, full stop," he scoffed patting his own sizeable stomach, "good thing you weren't turned sideways or we'd never see you." With that he and the rest of the family, save my father, went into the front room.

"Your brother just found out that they are giving him his own parish. He is having a welcoming fete this Tuesday," my dad took a seat opposite me, and Fiona set a cup of tea in front of him, he said nothing for a while and then leaned in, "You will come of course."

Since it wasn't really a question I didn't feel the need to answer so he went on, "it's a proud moment and the family should be there to witness it."

"I'd be happy to attend," I lied, hoping I sounded sincere.

"You should have your lady friend come down from London to attend. It doesn't look good for a young man to go to these things stag, it's not right."

"I'm not really sure that's a good idea," I protested, as I flashed on the image of showing up to this fete arm and arm with John. The reaction of the people around me akin to when Godzilla attacked Tokyo, women in their church-going best pointing and screaming, men running in horror. The image made me laugh which got me deep frown from my dad.

"You will attend and you will bring a nice girl with you, I won't have you shaming the family!" he banged his fists on the table, making me jump. Then he stood up and came around behind me putting his hands on my shoulders squeezing tightly and making me wince, "you are still my son, and you're not too old to get the strap. I reckon I could still take you."

He let go and started to join the rest of the family but turned around for one more parting shot, "the Bible says; 'honour your father and your mother, as the Lord your God commanded you'."

I could feel something snap in my head as I got up, and walked over to him raising myself up to my full height. I stood in front of him in silence for a few minutes. Then I leaned in and whispered in his ear, "it also says 'thou shalt not kill' so now both of us have something to think about, don't we?"

He glared up at me, but I didn't lower my gaze and finally he stepped back and glanced away, then back at me, "are you threatening me?"

"I thought we were just quoting the Bible, but if you want to take it that way, go right ahead," I smiled at him.

The rest of the day my dad and I had an uneasy truce, he made sure to never be alone in a room with me and I pretended not to notice the occasion daggers he glared my way, or the offside comments about people not knowing their place anymore.

But the problem remained, I had committed to attending, and since John was out of the question, and I had no girlfriend waiting in the wings, who to bring was an issue.

That night after everyone had left, I went up to my room and grabbed Elissa's number out of my jacket pocket. After the fourth ring I had come to my senses and quickly disconnected the call. I started to put my mobile away when it began to ring.

"The number says unknown caller, should I be concerned?" Elissa asked.

"I would think that's a fair assessment," I replied, "I'm sorry to call so late, I just escaped the family and am currently hiding out."

"Are you a good at hiding?" she teased.

"I'm an excellent hider, I won medals in primary school for hide and seek," I laughed "I may even be still playing a game from then for all I know."

"That is good! So what's on your mind, David?"

"OK...hear me out. My brother is a pastor, and he's getting his own parish and this coming Tuesday is a big to-do for him and I need to bring a date. I can't guarantee it'll be fun, and I will understand if you say no, but if you do agree to go with me, I'll make it up to you."

"I'm impressed you got all that out in one breath," she laughed, "a church fete, huh? You sure know how to sweep a girl off her feet."

"Right. Never mind, it was a bad idea, sorry to bother you," I started to hang up.

"No, wait! I'd love to go."

"You'd love to?" I teased.

"Well, not 'love to' but I'd like to see you again, you've been on my mind since the train station," Elissa admitted, "my niece hasn't stopped talking about you so that may be why."

We made arrangements to meet on Tuesday, I jotted down her address and folded it together with her phone number and placed it back in my jacket pocket.

I could hear the sounds of my father and Fiona getting ready for bed, but I was not even remotely tired. I felt like a caged animal and needed to get out of the house for a while. Being Sunday not a lot of people were on the streets and most pubs shut early. I found a park and a bench and just gazed up at the stars for a while.

Part of me felt really guilty for asking Elissa out on a date, but the other part of me reasoned that it was pretty unlikely to be a romantic evening, and the time I would spend alone with her would be next to nothing, so there would be no room for straying. Yet, in some other small part of the back of my mind, the idea of going out with someone new was strangely exciting.

Monday my dad and I carefully avoided each other. He went off to his club and I let Fiona show me off to her little old lady friends. By time we got back to house Dad was entrenched for the night in front of the TV. Fiona served his dinner on a tray while she and I talked in the kitchen over our meal.

By the time Tuesday came around I was a nervous wreck. I couldn't figure out why I agreed to attend this church function in the first place, let alone going with some woman I barely knew. Several times that day I considered taking the cowardly way out, just packing up and heading back to London without alerting anyone to my plans. But somehow that seemed too much effort, and so before I could act on my impulses it was time to pick Elissa up and take her to the fete.

I hadn't really planned on having to get dressed up during my visit, so I wound up wearing the only pair of non-jeans I had brought and a jumper.

"We can't wait to meet your lady friend," Fiona gushed as she patted my arm, "I'm sure she's a lovely girl." With that they got in the car and left.

I drove Fiona's car to pick up Elissa, when I arrived she was already at the curb, I could see her niece watching from the window, so I waved at her as Elissa got in. Elissa saw me and smiled, "Chrissie has been telling all her friends you and I are dating now. She has some fantasy about you becoming her uncle I think."

"Let's see how this first date goes," I laughed, "then we'll talk about marriage."

When we arrived at the fete my family swarmed Elissa and asked her a million questions about herself, thankfully she was gracious and took it all very well. After a few minutes of this I dove into the fray rescued her, leading her to the drinks cart and away from the clamouring hoard.

Sadly the strongest thing they had was tea, followed by a very sickly sweet looking punch that make my teeth ache just looking at it swirling in the punch bowl, I poured her a cup of tea and waited until she took a bracing sip before attempting conversation, "Sorry about that. They mean well and really you're the first person I've dated that they've actually met."

She laughed, "I find keeping my love life and family life is best too, but you sort of broke the mould there."

I put my arm around her shoulder and gave her a quick squeeze, "thank you for being such a good sport!"

As I started to let go of her she turned a bit and put her hands on my shoulders, pulling me forward and gave me a kiss. Before I had time to recover from the shock of that I heard a series of clicks off to my left. I disengaged myself to see a photographer quickly snapping several pictures of us and then he disappeared into the crowd.

Elissa watched the photographer high tail it off and then looked up at me linking her arm in mine, "uh oh, is that going to cause trouble back in London?"

"Possibly," I admitted, then determined to not let it ruin the rest my day I tried not to give it another thought.

Emily came over to us and announced that it was time for Michael to make his welcoming speech, and people were taking their seats inside the church. I saw this as an opportunity to slip out unnoticed and led Elissa to the car park.

Just as I opened the door for her, I heard the clicking sound again. This time the photographer made no move to run off, "kiss her again!" he prompted, camera raised.

"Sorry, I don't do requests," I replied, and quickly moved around to the driver's side. To my dismay he followed me snapping more pictures. I got in, started the car and didn't look back until we had gained the main road.

At the stop light Elissa put her hand on my knee, "You must get that a lot..."

"Actually that was my first time."

She smiled, "I'm sure you're in for more of that. I hope your girlfriend is a forgiving person."

I hope so too, I thought.

I dropped Elissa off at her brother's house, after making some vague plans to meet up one more time before she went back home and went for a drive to clear my head before heading back to my dad's house. On the way I stopped at an off license to buy a flask of whisky, hoping that it and a sleeping pill would gain me a nightmare-less, deep sleep for the first time since I came home.

The house was dark, no one had returned from the fete yet, so I took a hot shower, a sleeping pill and washed it down with a small water glass' worth of whisky.

It must have worked because it was light out when a persistent ringing sound woke me out of a deep sleep. I fumbled for my mobile on the bed stand, and because I am blind without them, I was trying to recall where I had left my glasses when the ringing stopped. I stood and went over the chair by the window and searched the pockets of my jacket, locating the glasses and was putting them on when the phone rang again. This time I could see the number, it was John's. I sat back down on the bed and was half tempted to not answer it but on the third ring I picked it up.

Before I could say anything, he started in, "OK, who is she?"

My brain was still asleep, so I didn't quite catch on straight away. John took this as an excuse to repeat the question, this time at full volume, "who is she?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't get cute with me David," he hissed, "I saw the cute picture of you kissing some bint in the tabloids."

I came fully awake at that, "her name's Elissa, she's someone I met on the train coming here. We were at a church function, so it was not like I was at an orgy or anything. And I wasn't kissing her, she was kissing me."

"Yeah, I can see you were desperately trying to stop her," he sneered, "I guess I should have known you were not to be trusted. You couldn't wait to get away from me, and I can see why now."

I took a deep breath, "you've got it all wrong..."

"I can see that, obviously this is all just a misunderstanding," John continued, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Actually, it is. Right after that picture was taken I dropped her off at her brother's house." I could hear him breathing but he said nothing, "you'll have to just believe me, it went no further than that picture shows."

"Why should I believe you?" He countered.

I could see him in my mind's eye, his jaw set in a firm line, his hands clenched and the burning light in his eyes that he got when he was angry, and it made me feel completely drained. I just didn't have the energy to argue, "Because it's the truth." I finally answered.

He sighed, "are you going to see her again?"

"I'm not sure."

John laughed humourlessly, "you're not sure?"

"I like her. She seems really nice." I sighed.

"What about me?" He asked, his voice low and pleading, "do you still love me?

"You must know that I do," I replied, "but the whole idea behind me coming here was to get some distance from everything. To get some perspective."

"To get away from me, you mean."

I took a deep breath, "remember the night before I left? You said you wouldn't wait for me, if someone came along that you fancied you were going to act on it. Do you recall saying that?"

"I was hurt, and angry, I didn't mean it."

"Maybe you should find someone else," I started, but then there was a knock on the bedroom door, "look I have to go, I'll call you later."

I disconnected before John could say anything else.

Fiona came into the room and regarded me over the rim of her glasses. She saw the bottle of whisky on the nightstand but aside from a slight frown said nothing, instead she walked over to the window, pulled back the curtains and opened the window, "your dad was disappointed you didn't stay for your brother's speech."

"I had to get my date home," I replied.

It wasn't really a lie, but not the true reason I left and from the look on Fiona's face she didn't quite buy it either. She took a seat next to me on the bed, "David, I love you like you was my own. I still remember the first time I set eyes you, you were all legs and arms and looked like a lost pup. You were always such a sweet child, and I think you're still that sweet boy deep inside. What are you are really doing here? You and your dad seem to be on the outs, you run from your brother and sister like they've got the plague, and you seems miles away like you're not really here or wish you weren't."

She reached over and brushed some hair out of my eyes, "I may seem like a daft old woman but I know you aren't happy." She gestured to the nightstand, "that ain't healthy and you don't eat enough to feed a mouse."

I stood up, "If you want me to leave I'll get out of your hair."

"Don't be daft, you are welcome to stay as long as you want. This is your home too!" Fiona looked up at me, "when you're ready, you can talk to me, I know I'm not your real mum, but I like to think I am at least a good runner up."

I took her hands in mine, and lifted her off the bed, and gave her a hug, "thanks."

She pulled me tightly towards her and then just as quickly let me go, "it's past nine, if you want breakfast come down and I'll make you some." With that she bustled out of the room, shutting the door after her.

After breakfast I got dressed and went into the front room where my dad was watching one of his favourite programmes he eyed me warily as I sat down next to him. I waited until the adverts came on before I spoke, "I'm sorry we got this visit off on a bad note..."

He seemed surprised at my words, "I keep forgetting you're a grown man, you will always be a child to me," was all he had to say before the programme returned. I had hoped for more of a conversation but I took the hint that it was all I was going to get and left.

I still felt a bit muddle-headed from my chemical experiment the night before, so I decided on a good walk into town to clear my brain. I found a newsagent's and was just about to go in and buy a paper when Elissa came out of the shop, nearly running into me.

"Are you following me?" she laughed.

"No, it's just a happy coincidence."

"Really? You seemed in a massive hurry to dump me off last night."

"Sorry that photographer unnerved me a bit and I think I overreacted, it was not to do with you at all." I took her hand in mine, "in fact if you're not busy can I buy you a cup of tea?"

"Make it a coffee and you're on," she curled her fingers around mine and flashed me a wide grin.

At the coffee shop she opened one of the bags she had been carrying, "Did you see this?" with that she thrust a paper in my hands, and pointed at the picture of her and I kissing.

I looked at it a moment and could clearly see why John had been so upset when he saw it, it would be very easy to leap to the wrong conclusions. I handed it back to her.

"My niece is going to die when she sees this," she laughed, then she grew serious, "I hope I didn't get you in trouble with your girlfriend."

I chose not to answer that and took a sip of my tea, "what are you up to the rest of the day?"

"My brother and his wife are at work, and Chrissie's in school so I'm free all day. What about you?"

"Nothing planned either."

She finished her coffee before continuing, "how about I take you back to the house and show you my etchings?"

"You have etchings?"

She leaned it very close and clarified, "no silly, I want to take you to my room and fuck your brains out." Then she smiled widely at me and waited for my reaction. I must have stared a bit longer than I meant to because she quickly sat back then started to gather her things to leave.

"This is awkward. Can we just pretend I didn't say that?" she begged.

"I handled that badly, I'm sorry, you just took me by surprise is all." I stood up and took Elissa's hand, "I am very flattered by your offer."

"But?"

"I'd like to get to know you first," I kept my voice gentle, as she looked like she was about to burst into tears, "I have made the mistake of rushing into a relationship recently, moving too fast, too soon. And I think you're worth spending time on.'

She tightened her grip on my hand and pulled herself up to embrace me, "I have never had a man tell me no before." I wrapped my arms around her tightly, and said nothing, just enjoyed holding her. After a bit she pulled back, "so what's the secret? Are you married? Impotent? Or gay?"

I tilted her head back and kissed her, by way of an answer. She grabbed the lapel of my jacket and licked my lips before thrusting her tongue in my mouth and kissing me back. Just when I thought I was going to pass out from lack of oxygen I felt a tap on my shoulder.

Elissa let go of me and her eyes got really wide. I had just enough time to turn around to see John standing behind me, his eyes blazing, before he cocked his fist back and punched me in the jaw. His blow spun me around and I bounced off of the wall behind me, then slid to a semi-sitting position before the world went black.

The next thing I knew I was laying on a bed in an unfamiliar room with Elissa holding an ice pack to the side of my face. My head throbbed in time with my heartbeat and the room seemed to be slowly spinning around me. I tried to sit up but she put her hand on my chest stopping me.

I was still trying to piece together the events that led me to this when I heard the door open, and John came into the room.

He glanced at me briefly then at Elissa, "is he alright?"

She removed the ice pack for a second and touched my face, "I think he will be, no thanks to you."

The room began to spin faster so I closed my eyes and could barely make out their voices before losing consciousness again.

When I came around again the room was dark and I was alone. I sat up cautiously and aside from a slight dizziness and a nasty headache I felt more with it. I took in my surroundings and came to the conclusion I was in a hotel room, most likely John's. I walked into the main room and found Elissa and John sitting across from each other having what looked to be a staring match.

Elissa saw me first and rushed over to me, "are you OK? You shouldn't be out of bed!" with that she took my hand and led me to the sofa to sit next to her.

John watched us in silence, his head resting on his hands.