implications.’
‘The implications?’ I frown, ‘what the
bloody hell are you talking about?’
‘I’m working Oliver’s investigation,
babe,’ he reminds me. ‘I get involved with you now it could be perceived as a
conflict of interest.’
I freeze at Oliver’s name, what am I
doing? I am having a party, and my brother is lying on a slab in some
Denver mortuary?
‘Sophie,’ he feels my muscles
tense. ‘Don’t shut down, babe,’ he purrs. ‘I swear as God is my
witness, this is going to happen,’ he promises.
‘Step away,’ I push against him.
‘No!’ both his hands cup my face, his
eyes penetrate mine, ‘don’t pull away, Soph,’ his lips move down and kiss me
softly. ‘Rain check, yeah?’ he whispers against my lips.
‘Nate,’ I push again, and he reluctantly
steps back. ‘You need to go,’ I murmur, quietly, feeling guilt swoosh through
me like a high-speed train. ‘This is wrong. Oliver!’ I remind him.
He closes his eyes, and when he opens
them again, they are inexpressive. ‘Okay, but we will be revisiting this,
Sophie,’ he promises. I lower my eyes, unable to bring myself to look at
him. I all but threw myself at him; he rejected me. The story of my
life.
********
I wake to the thumping effects of the
Tequila of last night ringing through my head. Shit! I drank way
too much. I cringe as the images of Nate filter through my hazy
mind. What did I think I was doing?
I am here for Oliver, to stand in his
corner and ensure justice for his murder, to lay him to rest. That
reminds me, I need to arrange a funeral. I have no idea how to arrange a funeral
so I will have to speak to the authorities to arrange for Oliver’s body to be brought
back to Krystal. He would want to be here, amongst his friends.
What’s the alternative, Boston, where our father is? No, I will lay him
to rest here.
I have heard nothing from my dad, other
than the initial phone call I received last week to inform me of my brother’s
death. Even then he was cold and clinical, ending the call with a
sentence that chilled me to the bone. I thought you might want to
know, anyhow! What the fuck! Why the hell would I not want to
know that my brother was dead? I was so stunned by hearing his voice for
the first time that I let his comment slide.
Our father knew that we had recently
reconnected and were building up to a relationship that would someday be as it
should, an unbreakable bond between siblings. He never encouraged it, and
sometimes even discouraged it, according to Oliver, reminding him that I was a
stranger to them both and announcing his suspicion that I was seeking a pretend
relationship with my brother to gain financially.
My father’s accusations couldn’t have been further from the truth. I desired nothing from my father,
as far as I was concerned he was a name on a birth certificate, he was never a
father of any description, towards me.
Oliver and I had almost reached the point
of achieving that resilient bond and were growing closer by the day, but I still
always saved a bit of me, for me alone. I never gave anyone all of me,
willingly or otherwise. I had been living a solitary life for as long as
I could remember, it was a hard habit to break.
Dragging myself out of my bed, I enter
the bathroom and duck into the shower. Today, I can hopefully move into
Ollie’s and attempt to piece together the events of the past few months.
********
Chapter Five
I walk into Ellie’s Diner to apprehend
that I am in fact alone in my hangover.
‘How do you look bright eyed and bushy
tailed?’ I complain as I plonk down onto my usual table.
Ellie laughs, ‘girl, I can almost drink
my brother’s under the table, I don’t suppose I’ll have much trouble with a
slip of a girl like you,’ she teases. ‘Tea?’
‘Coffee, please,’ I gently pull the
oversized sunglasses from my eyes squinting at the daylight.
‘Wow, you must
‘The implications?’ I frown, ‘what the
bloody hell are you talking about?’
‘I’m working Oliver’s investigation,
babe,’ he reminds me. ‘I get involved with you now it could be perceived as a
conflict of interest.’
I freeze at Oliver’s name, what am I
doing? I am having a party, and my brother is lying on a slab in some
Denver mortuary?
‘Sophie,’ he feels my muscles
tense. ‘Don’t shut down, babe,’ he purrs. ‘I swear as God is my
witness, this is going to happen,’ he promises.
‘Step away,’ I push against him.
‘No!’ both his hands cup my face, his
eyes penetrate mine, ‘don’t pull away, Soph,’ his lips move down and kiss me
softly. ‘Rain check, yeah?’ he whispers against my lips.
‘Nate,’ I push again, and he reluctantly
steps back. ‘You need to go,’ I murmur, quietly, feeling guilt swoosh through
me like a high-speed train. ‘This is wrong. Oliver!’ I remind him.
He closes his eyes, and when he opens
them again, they are inexpressive. ‘Okay, but we will be revisiting this,
Sophie,’ he promises. I lower my eyes, unable to bring myself to look at
him. I all but threw myself at him; he rejected me. The story of my
life.
********
I wake to the thumping effects of the
Tequila of last night ringing through my head. Shit! I drank way
too much. I cringe as the images of Nate filter through my hazy
mind. What did I think I was doing?
I am here for Oliver, to stand in his
corner and ensure justice for his murder, to lay him to rest. That
reminds me, I need to arrange a funeral. I have no idea how to arrange a funeral
so I will have to speak to the authorities to arrange for Oliver’s body to be brought
back to Krystal. He would want to be here, amongst his friends.
What’s the alternative, Boston, where our father is? No, I will lay him
to rest here.
I have heard nothing from my dad, other
than the initial phone call I received last week to inform me of my brother’s
death. Even then he was cold and clinical, ending the call with a
sentence that chilled me to the bone. I thought you might want to
know, anyhow! What the fuck! Why the hell would I not want to
know that my brother was dead? I was so stunned by hearing his voice for
the first time that I let his comment slide.
Our father knew that we had recently
reconnected and were building up to a relationship that would someday be as it
should, an unbreakable bond between siblings. He never encouraged it, and
sometimes even discouraged it, according to Oliver, reminding him that I was a
stranger to them both and announcing his suspicion that I was seeking a pretend
relationship with my brother to gain financially.
My father’s accusations couldn’t have been further from the truth. I desired nothing from my father,
as far as I was concerned he was a name on a birth certificate, he was never a
father of any description, towards me.
Oliver and I had almost reached the point
of achieving that resilient bond and were growing closer by the day, but I still
always saved a bit of me, for me alone. I never gave anyone all of me,
willingly or otherwise. I had been living a solitary life for as long as
I could remember, it was a hard habit to break.
Dragging myself out of my bed, I enter
the bathroom and duck into the shower. Today, I can hopefully move into
Ollie’s and attempt to piece together the events of the past few months.
********
Chapter Five
I walk into Ellie’s Diner to apprehend
that I am in fact alone in my hangover.
‘How do you look bright eyed and bushy
tailed?’ I complain as I plonk down onto my usual table.
Ellie laughs, ‘girl, I can almost drink
my brother’s under the table, I don’t suppose I’ll have much trouble with a
slip of a girl like you,’ she teases. ‘Tea?’
‘Coffee, please,’ I gently pull the
oversized sunglasses from my eyes squinting at the daylight.
‘Wow, you must
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