Jennifer felt absolutely horrible for pulling William away from everyone, but she didn’t exactly want to walk home and she definitely didn’t want to be alone. The problem was that being with William made her feel comforted and guilty at the same time. Every time she looked at him, she would feel calm for a second and then feel like she was going to have a panic attack a second later. He seemed pretty drunk, but she trusted that he was in control enough to get them home. She was grateful she had not finished her second drink. If she had gotten drunk things might have gotten a lot worse. When he asked if she was ok, she stayed silent for a moment. No, she did not look too well and something did happen. At first she shook her head, but it was a lie and she knew it. “Later,” she promised, so she was forced to spend the entire car ride home thinking of what in the world she would tell him. Certainly not that she made out with Galtem. But she would have to tell him something and she could not lie.
The ride seemed like it took hours and seconds all at the same time. It was not near enough time for her to come up with something, yet time had all but stopped as she sat there, horrified at what had just happened. They got home and she got out of the car without a word. She went to unlock the door with her keys, but realized she didn’t have her purse. She must have left her purse at the bar when she’d seen that stupid Manzenli kid and had not gone back to grab it. That meant her phone, wallet, and keys were either stolen or would be turned in at the bar. Where Galtem worked. She considered sending William back for them in the morning but she didn’t want William any closer to Galtem than she was. But it might be worth it if it meant she didn’t have to go back to face him. Instead she was forced to wait for William to come up to the door and unlock it. “I left my purse at the bar. I’ll go back tomorrow, I guess,” she muttered and went in the house.
The first thing she did was go to the bathroom. She looked in the mirror and noticed she looked a lot better than she thought she did. Makeup worked wonders. After a moment of calming herself down, she walked out into the bedroom and lay across the bed, looking over at William. “Galtem’s back in town.” She surprised herself with how calm she stated the fact. Apparently she’d said it enough time in her heads for it to come out very casual. It was as if it didn’t bother her at all, nor did it excite her. Just a simple statement. As if she were telling him it was somewhat warm today.
William just shrugged when Jennifer told him she would tell him later what had happen to her, he just hoped it wasn’t anybody that got under her skin, but he wasn’t really on his mind to think about those stuff for that long. While he drove, his mind was only about the road, and only that, he barely looked at Jennifer, because he didn’t wanted to get distracted.
After awhile, they was finally home, William parked his car, and huffed out in relief. Finally done, they were home, and he didn’t needed to be stressed about driving drunk, they also had some lucky that no cops come up to them during the way, or else, they would be into serious problems. He watched Jennifer already walking up to the door, and William just followed her, after locking his car, he noticed that she didn’t had her purse with her, and chuckled when she said she forgot it at the bar.
“Clumsy.”
He teased her with a chuckle, as he reached for the house keys that was inside the pocket of his jeans. Unlocking the door, he stepped inside, and waited for her to get in as well, whenever she did, he just closed and locked the door. He walked up stairs to their bedroom, and just began to remove his clothes, first thing he done, was remove his shoes, then he just dropped his jacket over a chair and began to remove his shirt as well, leaving him shirtless, he totally felt a huge freedom feeling, everything was more cold, and more free. He dropped his body over the bed, and closed his eyes, enjoying how comfy the bed felt, nothing seemed to ruin this night.
However, there was always something that could destroy this all, and it was when Jennifer got in the bed, and told William, Galtem was back in town.
“He what?!”
He quickly pushed himself up, and allowed himself to sit up on the bed. He asked with a surprised tone on his voice, as he stared at her with a serious expression on. Why was he here? This clearly made him wake up from his drunk mode, well just a little.
“That’s impossible, that’s not what he said, that’s not the promise.”
Now he noticed he just spoke too much, and facepalmed himself.
“Ugh, now I said too much.”
He never wanted to tell Jennifer about that promise, because she would start seeing there was some good in Galtem, and that would only do bad to their bond. He huffed out, and dropped his body over the bed again, he grabbed on a pillow and shoved it into his face, frustrated.
Jennifer just stared back at him when he asked what. She knew he had heard him and didn’t know if she could keep as calm of a voice if she repeated it. William was not happy about this new piece of information and she didn’t blame him. Every relationship problem they had ever had had been because of Galtem. Maybe not ever, but all of the ones that mattered. Of course he didn’t want him back. And of course he would be devastated if he knew what went on up in the VIP bathroom while he was drinking with his buddies. It all was too horrible and she wanted to go hide in the bathroom again, but somehow she continued to look at him with a blank stare. But then he brought up the promise. The promise she now knew that Galtem had made to William. The promise William had never told her about.
“Promise?” she asked, pretending to have no idea what he was talking about. “And what promise would this be? Galtem made a promise to you? Did he tell you he was leaving? Even though I was an absolute mess after he left, you didn’t tell me that you’d seen him?” Her voice started to get a little angrier, and she sat up like he did. It was not his fault. He was just trying to protect her. And if anyone was at blame in this situation it was definitely her. But she felt a little hurt that he had kept this piece of information from her. They told each other everything and he’d kept this a secret. For a hundred years he’d kept it a secret. Well, now the truth was out and she wanted answers. But not like this. She took a deep breath to calm herself down.
Leaning against the headboard of the bed, she covered her face with her arms and leaned back. It was hard just looking at William. She wanted so badly to blame someone else. But there was no one to blame. The reasoning behind what had happened tonight had been because of her. Galtem was a saint compared to her. She was at fault. It was she who would cause William so much pain if he knew. Her sweet William who would move mountains for her if she asked. This whole situation was just a mess. She was a mess.
Penny ran in and jumped on the bed as if she had just noticed they were home. She went straight for Jennifer’s lap, so she took the dog in her arms and held her. It wasn’t a huge comfort, but it was something for her to do. She buried her face in the dog’s fur, unable to look at him still.
By now, Amelia was curled up on the couch, with a packet of Cheese twirls, and watching her favorite re runs of CSI. Dressed in her penguin pajamas, with matching slippers, she certainly looked a lot different from when she had been out at the club. Her spiked collar was off, and she had scrubbed her face clean of makeup. Her black hair that was always in ponytails, was combed out straight. Every so often, she reached for her cup of soda, till it was all gone. Shaking the cup, the ice rattled around, and she decided to go get a top up. Rattles, was lying in his tank, all curled up. Amelia didn’t feel the need to take him out this night. It was something she had always done out of habit, but she knew that he wouldn’t bring her any comfort.
Sighing, she spotted the mess she had made earlier in the room, the cushion’s foam and stuffing strewn about in her moment of madness. It was probably a good thing, since she didn’t go cutting herself. Amelia shuffled across and knelt down, picking up the bits of foam and stuffing it back into the ruined cushion. Thoughts turned back to the night’s events, and she came to realize that it wasn’t her fault. She couldn’t be the caretaker in other people’s lives, nor should she judge them for it. One way or another, the truth would come out, but it would have to happen from someone within the triangle, not her. As for her own misfortune at love…that had come from her own choice. Now at least, she realized where the fault lay, and it was like an awakening for her in a sense. If Lysander had cared for her at all, he would have said, but in the last hundred odd years, he never even spoke to her. Or even asked her to help with the kids. She doubted they even knew she existed. That was Melinda’s job, since she was in fact their grandmother.
Rising up, she felt a change in herself, like a light coming on. The only person that can make a difference in their lives is themselves. She knew what she had to do to change that. Taking the ruined cushion outside, she headed for the trash can. Glancing across, she saw the bedroom light on at Jennifer’s and Williams. No doubt, they were up late, talking about the night at the club. Half of her wished to be a fly on the wall, then the other was like…no. As she placed the ruined cushion in the trash, she heard a tiny meow, come from behind the bin. Curious, Amelia drew the bin back, to see a tiny grey kitten. With big blue eyes, it looked half starved. Timidly, it crawled out from behind the bin and sniffed at Amelia’s penguin slipper. Amelia’s heart almost stopped, right there, right then. She knelt down and picked up the kitty. So tiny in her hands. Poor little thing. Amelia tucked the kitten into her pajama pocket and then went back inside her apartment, whispering quietly to the kitty.
Taking the kitty out of her pocket, she placed it down on her couch, and started to run her finger along its tummy. So cute, it tried to cover up its face with its paws. ~”You must be hungry.”~ she thought to herself, and went off into the kitchen to see what she could rustle up. There was a small tin of tuna. Taking it out, she emptied the fish into a small plate, and then mashed it up with a fork, so it would be easier to eat. Amelia even added a small piece of parsley, like she was serving the cat a meal in a grand restaurant. Giggling to herself, she draped a tea cloth over her arm, and brought the small plate out for the kitty, who was now sitting up and watching TV. ~Dinner is served.~ Amelia placed down the dish on the couch, then sat down beside the kitty, who ate feverishly, while Amelia stroked its back, and went back to enjoying the TV show with her new friend.
<3>
William kept the pillow against his face, while he heard Jennifer speaking about the promise, he knew it would leave her mad because he kept secret, and they didn’t had secrets between their relationship, but she has to understand that would be something he couldn’t tell her. He tossed the pillow away, and pushed himself up from the bed, standing up now.
“No, no, you don’t understand.”
He started speaking, as he walked around and placed his palms on his sides.
“The promise was basically let him disappear again, and this time forever, so you could go back be yourself, stop drinking and being so depressed and angry. He said he wouldn’t interfere in our love life again.”
William continued, as he looked down at the ground, still wondering what in hell he could tell her, right now, he was feeling guilty for not telling her that secret, but at the same time, he was angry, angry that Galtem was back. Why was he here? What was his goals now, did he really enjoyed coming here and destroy people happiness? He thought there really would be some good in him, whenever he made that promise, but now that he’s back, for William, its all gone. He looked up at her and continued.
“I couldn’t tell you that, if I told you that, you would see some good in him, and you would think he changed, when that’s not true. You would see he done that for you, and then you would feel confused, guilty and bad. Then our relationship would go right down to hill, and Galtem would show up again. But its useless now to keep it secret, since he showed up, I wonder if he enjoys to destroy others happiness.”
He just rambled, trying to make out some sense. He noticed that their dog come in, and Jennifer just shoved her face into its fur, not looking at William. He already wanted to apologize, but he decided to not give in so easily, he needed to make out his point in this argument, and make her understand, they only done that for her own good, even Galtem told him, this was only for Jennifer good.
