The Nuclear Family - Chapter 7

[:::: Authors Note ::::]

I fell this week.

A few things happened, and I’ve spent more time with tears in my eyes than not. I ended up having to walk out of the office in front of my team, as yet another expense in shutting down my business has taxed my resources past breaking point.

I’ve lashed out at a few people, and I should not have. I’ve ignored others and been snippy with my family.  To be honest, that photo of me the other day with the welcome, I was faking it.  I was upset and needed a coffee, while I was drafting a very, very dark concept, I don’t know that I can finish it, it was that dark ☹

For those of you I have been rude to, I’m sorry!

But in it, we take one step forward at a time and in the background, I’ve been working on Part II of Nuclear Family, working on Heartbeat and at last finishing the draft of ‘On the Streets’ with an ending I am satisfied with.  Lastly, I’m working to finish the review of my draft for Disrespect and DNA Part II, as writing this week has been my safe space.

Now, with that said, let's get into Chapter 7 😊

John Other

[:::: Go back to Chapter 6 ::::]

I sat back on the couch and raised an eyebrow in question.

“So an ambush, eh?” I asked, taking a much lighter tone with Georgia’s little sister than with my sister.

Amy blushed.

“I’m sorry, Robbie,” she told me. “As you know, I travel a bit with my job.  I was over in the States when all this happened. And I only returned home last month.  Both families are in a tizzy and trying to figure out what went wrong.”

She now knew now that it wasn’t a state of confusion on both sides.

“What did they tell you?” I asked her quietly.

Amy looked at me and thought for a moment before replying.

“Well,” she explained. “For the most part, Mum, Dad, Ruth and I were told that Georgia and you had a huge fight that got your parents involved when you quit Total Build.”

“And?” I prodded.

“And…” Amy said, smiling slyly. “You were being an asshole, you were wrong and needed a serious talking to so that you would see reason and come home. Come back to Total Build.”

I couldn’t help it, I looked away and guffawed.

“But Robbie,” Amy said, her brow now furrowed. “You have to believe me, I had no idea that your family.  My Sister. How could they do any of this?  That she… she... Your brother.  What the hell is wrong with her, with them?”

It felt good that someone who knew the family dynamic was on my side.  Darren and Toni were great supporters, but they didn’t know the people involved that well.  That Amy was so upset made me feel slightly better.

“That is the sixty-four thousand dollar question, isn’t it?” I asked.  “I knew nothing until that night I took an earlier flight home.  It was partly me being in a rush to get home, partly the circumstances that had me watching something I did not want to see.

“Three years, Amy,” I said, blowing a hard breath between my teeth. “Three years, I found out that night.  Three years, perhaps longer, they have been sleeping together, I don’t know.  They were sleeping in my bed together anytime I was out of town.  I hope you can see why I had to leave.”

Amy nodded slowly and then hesitated again.

“Then does that mean it’s true as well?” she asked. “I mean that he’s not your son?”

“He, my son?” I replied, confused. “Oh, Georgia’s baby. So she had a boy.”

I sat ruefully for a moment, feeling a sense of loss that it should have been my kid.

I shook my head.

“It is almost certain,” I replied.  “I heard both Georgia and Brad talking about it when I caught them in my bed together having… relations.”

Amy looked shocked once more as she could see the disgust on my face, as I once more relived images that I would rather forget.

“My lawyer, Nathan, has my DNA to prove I am not the biological father.”

“What if you are?” she asked me.

“On the small chance that I am,” I told her. “I will provide child support, and I suppose try to be part of his life. But I’m certain I’m not the donor.”

“However, Georgia and I are done regardless of the outcome.  I could not live with her when she is sleeping with someone else. Especially since it is my fuckwit of a brother.”

I closed my eyes once more and shook my head.

“Sorry, Amy, I should not be swearing like this.”

It was her turn to snort and then smile at me.

“It's alright,” she told me. “I understand.  I mean, you’re on your way home to spend time with your pregnant wife, being a good husband, and you walk in on what is the absolutely worst thing in the world.

“Then finding out your Brother is the person in bed with her. Your sister and parents are complicit, and it's been going on for years.  Robbie, you are doing much better than I would be in your situation.  I would either have done something drastic or needed to be committed.”

“And what about your Mum and Dad?” she asked. “I take it you haven’t spoken to them?”

I leaned forward on the couch and put my arms on my legs, letting my head fall forward and shook my head.

“They knew all about it, Amy,” I told her. “Not just that it was happening.  That they had been facilitating it.  Keeping me from finding out. I don’t have any intent to be in the same room as them again if I can help it.”

She nodded.

“And that nice lady who helped me inside?”

“Toni. She’s my Muay Thai mentor's girlfriend.  They have been great friends, helping me out for the last few months.   Darren gets me to the ring, helping me fight, taking some of the rage away.  Toni has me help out around the house, ensuring I don’t drink myself to death.” I looked away.  “Why?”

She shrugged, “Just wondering.”

“So why did they keep it from you?” Amy asked, bringing us back to the main topic of discussion.

“Profit apparently,” I shrugged.

She gave me a funny look. “Profit, that’s it?” she asked disbelievingly.

“Yep,” I told her, and then I started pacing. “That is what they told me.  Apparently, keeping me ignorant kept me happy and productive.  Keeping me productive meant keeping profits coming in to the company, so they all kept it quiet.  Even Georgia.”

“I don’t know how they thought they could have kept it a secret forever, and when I found out, I think they thought I would be upset, but they never thought I would just walk away from everything.”

I stopped pacing and sat for a few moments. Amy took turns looking out the window and then over to me.  For my part, I did some breathing exercises to help me calm down after Joanna left.  I was perhaps five minutes later when the atmosphere changed.  Amy sighed, stood and walked over to the couch I was sitting on.

Her eyes glanced over me, and I think she contemplated sitting in my lap.  But she sat beside me and picked up my hand.

“I am truly sorry, Robbie,” she told me.  “You did nothing wrong to earn their scorn. And it sounds like even after being exposed, they are still trying to lead you down the garden path.”

She picked up my hand and held it to her chest a moment, and I tried not to shift uncomfortably from the feeling of my arm in an intimate place.

“What do you have to be sorry for, Amy?” I asked her.  “You haven’t done anything wrong. And it wasn’t just me they were spinning their lies to and trying to convince to follow them down the garden path.  It looked to me like they were trying it on you, too.”

She shook her head and grasped my arm tightly. 

“No, I’m sorry for what you are going through, it’s not your fault,” she told me, releasing my arm and shifting on the couch to face me, her eyes bright and direct at me. “I am sorry that I am related to that skank who has, along with your family, tried to ruin one of the best men I know.”

I snorted at the skank comment, and we both blushed a little at her ‘best man’ comment. 

We both relaxed, but I felt like something had changed, yet I couldn’t put my finger on what.

“Thanks, Amy. It does help that someone gets it.”

Again, I felt the room change, and Amy stood and spun, looking at me.

“So,” she asked, a playful tone now coming through in her voice. “What was the plan for today?”

I leaned on the arm of the couch and shrugged.

“Not much,” I told her. “I have the day off training today.  Lunch, perhaps a drink or two, why?”

She smiled, and I could see a shrewd intelligence behind those eyes.

“Well. How would you feel about things if I were to take your mind off things and treat you to lunch?”

Once more, the room changed, and I could see that Amy was nervous, like she had asked me the world's biggest favour.

I stood and smiled once more, “Sure.  How about I get changed?  I can be ready in five?”

Suddenly, Amy was hugging me.  “Sounds good.” She was rubbing parts of herself against me, that were stirring a reaction in me that I didn’t think was appropriate, but I don’t know if she was conscious of it.  She was just happy, and I can admit, it felt nice.

When she stood back, you would think I had just changed her life and given her a million dollars.

“I’ll order us an Uber,” she told me. “No arguments, my treat, I drive.”

I hesitated a moment and then nodded.

Finding a decent pair of jeans and a plain black T-shirt, I applied deodorant and brushed my hair.  Looking in the mirror, I felt a sense of nervousness.  Why, I wasn’t sure.  This was Georgia’s little sister. 

It wasn’t like it was a date.  Was it?

[::::: - ::::]

Amy took me to a new steakhouse that had just opened. The trip in the rideshare was more like we were old friends that had not seen each other in years, rather than the little sister of my soon-to-be ex-wife.  We joked about some of the mutual people we knew, steering clear of the obvious ones.  We talked about some of the construction happening around the coast, and I learnt that Amy loved to surf, so we talked easily about our experiences in the surf up and down the coast.

When we got to the restaurant, Amy shook hands with the maître d, who immediately took us to one of the nicer seats in the place.  A booth that looked out over the entire place.  When I asked, she told me she knew the owner and had been here a few times.  She thought I might enjoy a high-quality meal.

And high quality it was indeed.  I had a perfectly seasoned, medium rare wagyu steak, which included chips, a well-dressed salad and a nice red-wine jus. When I looked at the menu, I almost got the loaded Chicken Parmigiana, but Amy smiled and told me next time, I should try the signature steak. Amy had a smaller steak that looked no less amazing; however, in place of chips, she had an extra-large salad.

As we ate, I asked her about her career.  She hesitated but told me she worked with a lot of technology, and that while not really a secret, she wasn’t at liberty to talk about too much.  So, as our bellies filled, we moved on to the more serious topics.  Namely, her sister and my family.

“Robbie,” She asked at one point as things were getting deeper. “Do you know why they chose today for Joanna to come around to have her attempt?”

I grabbed hold of my drink and took a sip. It was a spiced rum, Kraken, with a splash of Coke. It was surprisingly tasty and went well with the steak.

“Well, if I had to hazard a guess,” I said after a moment. “I’m quite close to being divorced from your sister, and last week they were forced to put the rest of my money into my account or they would have had public legal proceedings commenced against them.”

I paused a moment and looked at Amy. She had nothing on her face that told me she was in league with them. I took it that she was not in the know.

“You know,” I told her. “I’ve never really been a rum man before.  Bundy is too sweet. That Captain Morgan’s was too heavy for my tastes, and someone once gave me something called ‘Holy Dollar’ rum. Rocket fuel!”

“But this, Kraken,” I held out the glass, and she smiled, sipping on a glass of her own, Kraken as well. “I like this, not too sweet, not too spicy.

Holding the glass in my hand, I took another sip.

“I would say they know that between the payout and the divorce being final, there is not going to be anything connecting us anymore.”

Amy nodded, “And with everything going on, it's not you as a person they are worried about…”

I nodded in return and tipped my glass towards her, she was clued in.

“Yeah… Profit.”

Amy shook her head.

“I get profit,” she told me, then shot me a glance. “But this is something else.”

I shrugged my shoulders.

“I kept things running, I fixed the mistakes, righted the fuc… screwups. They figure if they can’t entice me back, then they would try to shame me back to work.”

Amy snorted.

“Really,” she told me incredulously. “Is that what that was?”

“Joanna was never the best person to intimidate, but they all knew anyone else would never have made it through the door. They need me back at Total Build, anyone else won’t put up with their bullshit long enough to dig them out of the hole they're in.”

“You got that right,” Amy said over the rim of her glass. “They are hemorrhaging big time.”

I caught another look as if she had just told me something she shouldn’t have.

“So what now, then?” she asked me.

I looked out over the restaurant and absorbed the ambience.

“Not a hundred per cent sure yet.  With the payout, I’ve got enough to put a decent deposit on a house.  But likely not around here.  My father has pretty much blacklisted me to all the usual suspects around here that I would find easy work with.”

“Will you talk with them again?” she asked, like she was calculating something. “Your family, that is?”

“If I never talk to one of them again before I die of old age, then it will be too soon,” I declared to my lunch benefactor. I then gave in to my baser thoughts. “Why are you here to advocate on behalf of your sister.  If that’s the case, then that will end about as well as Joanna telling me to go back to work at Total Build.”

The look of horror on her face told me that my instincts were correct; she had nothing to do with any of it.

“Robbie, please believe me, I had nothing to do with any of it.  Mum, Dad, Ruth and I thought this was entirely different.  We knew it was bad, but we never thought…”

She stopped, drew herself up, then blew out a breath, deflating somewhat and started swirling her drink just a little.

“Mum and Dad have not seen a lot of Georgia over the past few months,” she explained.  “Mum has been to see her at your… your old place.  But she’s never been able to get out of her mind what is going on, only that you have had a big fight and have moved out.

“She is constantly crying about how you have abandoned her with the baby on the way, and none of us could figure out why.”

Amy looked at me, and she gave me a wan smile.

“We threw the idea of infidelity around, but dismissed it.  We knew you, Robbie, and you are as loyal as they come.  The way Georgia told it, it was all your fault, and you were running away,” she explained. “It made me angry with you, Robbie, really angry.  The Robbie I knew would never do what she told us you had done,  just walk out on her as she was moving into her last trimester. Not you.”

She looked at me harshly.

“You… You really pissed me off.”

I cocked an eyebrow, and Amy gave me another sad smile, then blushed.

“I have a feeling you know this, but I have had a crush on you for years,” she admitted, as if it had cost her a part of her soul. “When Georgia first brought you home, I was immediately smitten.  I mean, here was the big hunk of a man in our house, all those muscles, that stunning hair and intense eyes.  Robbie, you were every teenage girl's dreamboat.”

I laughed and she did too.

“After those first few times, you also showed me how to treat a woman.  You were always respectful to Georgia, you doted on her, but didn’t spoil her.  Mum and Dad loved that you were always friendly with them, and I think I became totally infatuated with you on my birthday.”

“Your birthday?” I asked.

She nodded slowly.

“You bought me a present,” she said and reached under her blouse, bringing out a silver pendant. “I was seventeen, and you were thoughtful enough to buy your girlfriend's little sister something.”

She tucked it back into her clothes.

I smiled back at her. I recalled the look of joy on her face when she opened it and showed it to Georgia.

“I’m good at operations, Amy. The detail on a plan makes me good at what I do.  I don’t say this to cheapen the gift, as it was given with all affection and meaning.  But making sure my girlfriend's little sister and her parents were on my side was always the plan.”

Amy laughed, a hearty laugh.

“I know Robbie,” she said, still grinning. “That’s the point.  You were wonderful as my brother-in-law.  It just did not make sense to me the bullshit that Georgia and your family were spouting about you.  There is no way I could equate the loving and caring man that I knew to someone so heartless that he would just quit his job and walk away from his pregnant wife and unborn child.

“It was frustrating as I couldn’t have got back in the country any earlier than I did. But three nights ago I drove down to Mum and Dad’s and then Joanna offered me the opportunity to come with her this morning to come and talk ‘some sense’ into you.”

She smirked at me and raised an eyebrow.

“There was no way I was going to miss the chance.”

Her face dropped.

“But I didn’t expect…”

She stopped and looked at me, directly, with intense eye-to-eye contact.

“If you had walked out on her, just because you fought over something, a disagreement.  I think I would have lost my faith in men and relationships.”

“I mean that much to you?” I asked curiously.  Amy nodded.

“Robbie, what Georgia and your family have done to you is horrendous,” she said, looking out the window of the restaurant we were eating at.  “They hid their oldest son having an affair with the wife of their youngest son, then, adding insult to injury, knowing the older son had knocked her up, they were perfectly fine with letting it be.”

Her voice was low, and I could sense a pain that I had come to know all too well.

“But then to just claim they hid it from you for reasons of operational profit… Robbie, who the fuck does that?”

She reached across the table and put her hand in mine.

“They don’t love you, Robbie. I don’t know what happened, but they see you as a thing, not a person,” she told me. “You were right to walk away. If I had been through even half of what you have told me, I would not have just left, but moved countries.”

I barked a laugh and released her hold on my hands, grabbing my drink and downing the last of it.

“Don’t think that I haven’t been looking at that,” I told her, then leaned forward in conspiracy. “I have had a couple of offers from engineering mobs for work in Dubi.  Very lucrative and well out of the reach of family.”

As I leaned back, Amy looked concerned.

“Why haven’t you taken it?” she asked, then swallowed.

“I haven’t needed to,” I told her. “I don’t really need the money, and I’m not thinking about moving from Australia.  I can afford to take a little time.  Sooner or later, though, someone will offer me something that can pique my interest, and I’ll get on board and leave it all behind.”

We again lapsed into a comfortable silence.  I finished up my chips, mopping up the gravy on my plate.  I knew Amy had something she wanted to ask, so I waited.  She took a deep breath and nervously caught my attention.

“Robbie,” she asked, a sparkle in her eyes once more, but almost a look of pure panic on her face. “If I asked, would you run away with me?”

“Amy, she might be a cheating slut, but my soon-to-be ex-wife is still your sister!” I chuckled in reply.

“Half-sister,” Amy giggled in return.  “Despite the cheating slut she is… you're not staying married to her, and as you’re almost single, there is no law against me asking.”

I nodded, “True.”

“Perfect,” she smiled like it had all been decided, “then you can run away with me.”

I laughed, and her panic had now turned into a big grin, but her eyes now told the story; she was deadly serious.

“Amy, you… You're serious, aren’t you?”

The smile turned playful.

“Absolutely,” she told me.

“Amy, I can't do that.”

“Why not?” she asked.

“Well, for one thing, money, I don’t have enough to uproot everything and run away,” I pronounced. “Nor for the two of us.”

She sagely nodded, her smile still there.

“And two, I’m still married,” I told the now noticed, good-looking woman across the table from me.  “So even if it is only for the next little while, I think I should be here for the legal side of things to end my marriage to Georgia.”

Again, she nodded, still smiling like she knew something.

“And lastly, Amy, as you have mentioned, you’re Georgia’s sister,” I pointed out.   “Wouldn’t it be weird if I were to run away with you?”

She grinned yet again.

“All good points, Robbie, but again, Georgia and I are only half-sisters,” she told me for the second time in two minutes.

“Of course,” I replied.  Georgia and her older sister Ruth had the same father.  However, right after Georgia was born, their father, Steve, ran away with another woman.  Their mother, Rayne, met and married Peter Brown.  Shortly after that, Amy came along. I had always thought Peter and Rayne had a great marriage.  I guess Georgia got the cheating genes from her father. 

“Good, I’m glad you understand, Robbie,” she stated in a way that brokered no disagreement.  “Because from this moment onwards, I want nothing to do with her.  The less that anyone draws to our relation, the better.”

I smiled. I could understand that feeling.

“But to your other two statements…”

She paused, and once more, I felt something shift, something substantial.

“What if…” she hesitated once more. “What if the money and resources were available to make the issue of your divorce and even relocation to an area away from your family's influence no longer an issue?”

The gleam in her eye told me she was not only serious but that the crush she had on me was still there in a big way.

I looked at her once more.  We didn’t know much about what she did for a living, but she was always travelling and lived somewhere a few hours north of Brisbane. No one had ever been to her house, though, as she always travelled to see her family.

“You really are serious, aren’t you?” I asked, wishing I had not finished off my drink. “You think you can make it all go away if I run away with you?”

She nodded slowly, then shook her head.

“Robbie, it doesn’t matter if you want to ‘run away’ with me or disappear.  The offer is genuine either way.  I know I can sort out the legal details, and I can arrange a job for you in any number of places.  But…” She looked at me, and I felt my heartbeat just a little faster. “I really would love it if you would consider coming with me.”

“I think I know Amy, but can you say it out loud, can you tell me why?”

“Because, Robbie, if you are free, if you are open to it, I want the chance to see if there can be something between us.  And I believe that given that chance, I can be everything and more than my stupid sister.”

“I also know that even if it doesn’t work out between us, I have helped out someone I care about very deeply.  I’ll get you away from a toxic situation.”

“Can I think about it?” I asked.

She laughed, “Of course, the offer is good anytime; you just need to call me.  But I’m only visiting my parents for another week before I head home; then, I need to head overseas soon.  I’d love to have you go with me,” she raised her eyebrows.

The rest of lunch flew by as we ordered desserts, and we spoke of inconsequential things, travel, things we would like to do, and places to visit.  Amy asked a lot about my training, and we enjoyed the time together.

We caught an Uber back to Darren and Toni’s, and Amy gave me a hug, which I affectionately returned.  She felt good in my arms, and I can admit that her offer was enticing.  But was I ready for another relationship so soon after my last ended, and even more to the point, how would a relationship with the sister of my ex work?  Was it too cliche?

During the hug.  I could feel Amy wanting more, but she was holding herself back.  She felt similar to Georgia, but also warmer… or perhaps closer was the word.  Over the past several months, I have looked back over so many elements of my last few years with Georgia, and I can see that there were signs.  Signs like the way she hugged me, how her eyes watched me as opposed to longed for me.  In Amy, there was desire and passion barely restrained beneath the surface of her hug, and I knew that if I took her up on the offer, it would not take me long to fall for her.

Walking into the house, Toni still wasn’t home, so I walked up to my room and just lay on the bed.

I didn’t mean to, but I fell asleep, and my dream was vivid.

In it, I was with Amy, we were happy, but my family kept interfering. Any time they came up, it was like a darkness came with them; there were still secrets to be told that made me shiver.

I was fighting a lot, using moves that I didn’t understand, fighting opponents whose faces I couldn't see.  Amy yelled support at me from the sidelines, even while dark forces tried to take her away from me.

I awoke in a sweat, remembering each moment of the dream and feeling more than a little disturbed.  I could hear Toni out in the kitchen; she had come home while I was sleeping. So, I got up, went to the bathroom and splashed some water on my face as the dream began to recede.

“How was lunch with Amy?” Toni asked as I wandered into the kitchen, grabbed a potato, a peeler, and started peeling.

“Good,” I told her.  “Much more enjoyable than talking with Joanna.”

Toni smiled.

“Want to tell me about it?” she asked.

I thought for a moment as I finished on a potato and picked up the next.

“I do, but I would like to talk to both Darren and you together if that’s alright?”

She gave me a double-take.

“That serious, huh?”

I nodded. “But in a good way.”

[:::: End of Chapter 7 ::::]

[:::: Go to Chapter 8 ::::]

[:::: Find all chapters at: The Nuclear Family story page ::::]

[:::: Read any of John’s Stories on John’s Story Guide ::::]