Authors: Sadie Grubor
William and Amber got in the water, until Amber decided it was getting too dark to swim. They both walked out of the water and wrapped themselves in towels. That was when the soft glow of a beach fire caught our attention. A group had formed. We sat watching the group, realizing a couple of the people were drunk down there.
"I think I'm gonna go shower and relax until the kids return." Amber sighed and stood up.
"Me too." William stated quickly. I had to bite back a chuckle at his eagerness.
"I think I'm going too," I was about to join them when someone interrupted.
"Sophia?" I turned.
"Dominic?" My voice was shocked.
"Hey." He held up one finger to me and turned to a couple of people he was walking down the beach with. "I'll catch up with you guys later." He approached me quickly.
"You don't have to –"
"Nah, its fine, I'll see them all weekend." He smiled brightly at me. "What are you doing here?"
"Oh, the Bishops are vacationing, so here I am." I smiled. "What about you, vacation?"
"Sort of, my grandparents own a house here and this is a big weekend, so I came to visit with the rest of my family."
"You mean the fireworks and –"
"Yeah
, that, but it's also my grandparents anniversary." I was getting irritated by his constant interruption when I tried to speak.
"That's…nice. How long have they been married?"
"Sophia, we’re going to head up, okay?" I turned to William and nodded.
"Yeah, I'll see you guys soon. I'm heading up." I waved, and turned back to Dominic.
"So, how many years?"
"You are heading up? You aren't going to stay down here?"
"We've been down here for awhile and since it's my free night I kind of just wanted to go and relax. You know?" I shrugged.
"Yeah," I could tell his smile was forced, but then grew bigger and genuine. "Unless I convince you to hang out with us for awhile," He grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the fire.
"Really, Dominic, I just want to relax." I argued.
"You can relax with us. We're just sitting around the fire." He objected and pulled me to the fire with him.
After uncomfortable introductions, I sat on a large log with Dominic next to me and listened to his family talk. When people started to disperse from the gathering I took it as my opportunity to follow their lead.
"I should really get back." I stood and smiled at Dominic. "Thanks for letting me crash your gathering."
He popped up quickly.
"I'll walk with you."
I was going to argue, but the beach was dark and I figured it couldn't hurt.
"Okay."
Dominic was talking about his job at the hospital as we walked down the beach. Finally I couldn't take another second of his rambling so I kicked water at him. He paused, shocked, for a moment before an evil grin spread and he grabbed me up, carrying me into the water.
"Dominic, don't," I screamed, but couldn't help the bursts of laughter bubbl
ing out.
"You started this
, Ashwood," He yelled and threw me into the water.
I resurfaced.
"You ass," I charged him, shoving him till he fell into the water.
While he was under, I ran to the shore and started to ring out the long cotton dress. We were both laughing when we reached the wooden stairs.
"Thanks Dominic." I hugged him. "It was nice."
I pulled back and watched his eyes drop to my lips. After the time I'd spent with Dominic, I realized we wouldn't be anything but friends, ever. So, I patted his shoulder light and quickly turned before he got any ideas. Three steps up, I turned around.
"Good night."
"Yeah, good night
, Sophia." He smiled dejectedly and walked back in the direction of the fire.
I sighed, wrung more water from my dress, tied it into a knot at my thigh, and continued with my head down. I stopped short when I realized there was a figure on the first landing. My head snapped up with a quick intake of breath.
"Ms. Ashwood." Dr. Bishop's cold tone penetrated my ears.
"Dr. Bishop."
His piercing gaze froze me into place. It looked like anger. I swallowed. "Is there something you –?"
"Is this how you behave when you're with my daughter?" He snapped.
"Excuse me?" Then things fell into place; Dominic, water…crap. "You were watching me?" I blurted without thinking.
He stiffened. That's a big
yes.
"I came out to get some air and just happened to witness…your behavior." Disgust saturated his words and infuriated me.
"What I do on my personal time is none of your business," I argued and started by him.
"When it involves my daughter
–"
"But it didn't," I
spun on him. "She wasn't with me tonight, was she?" It was his turn to receive an icy glare. He didn't speak or move.
"Good night, Dr. Bishop."
I stomped toward the house.
Coming out of the shower the next morning I saw my phone flashing. Picking it up, I saw numerous messages. The first was from Miranda wanting to see how I was and how things were goi
ng. The second was from Dominic wanting to get together before he went back to Seattle. The last was from Dr. Bishop saying he’d taken Victoria down to the park. I smiled at the thought of him doing something with her.
Once finished
dressing, I went down to the kitchen. William and the boys were watching cartoons in their pajamas, Amber was playing cars with Ryan, Larissa was feeding MJ, Allison and Ilene weren't in sight, but Jonathan and Max were sitting in the dining room, both of them on laptops.
Quickly I grabbed a bagel and some orange juice, exiting to the small, empty breakfast nook off from the kitchen. I sat looking out at the ocean. I'm not sure how long I sat there lost in my own head. All I knew was loud voices pulled me out.
"What the hell is this?" Dr. Bishop's voice was harsh. Worse than I’d heard before.
"What?" Max exclaimed. "Isn't that for your custody hearing? It's from your lawyer's
–"
"This isn't mine," He sneered.
Victoria was sitting with Amber and Ryan. I moved toward her.
"What's going on?" Larissa interjected when Max and Collin appeared in the living room, Jonathan close behind.
"Well what is it?" Jonathan snapped, irritated.
"What’
s all this shouting?" The hypocritical Ilene shouted from the balcony before descended the stairs with Allison in toe.
"This," Dr. Bishop snapped
the papers in his hand. "What’s this about?"
Max grabbed the papers and looked them over.
"Is this for real?"
"What are you two going on about?" Allison grabbed the papers and looked. I watched her face shift from annoyance to confusion to anger. "Mother?"
Ilene sighed defeated and plopped herself down into a large overstuffed chair in the living room.
"
Will someone please tell me what's going on?" Larissa whined. I was afraid to move with all the tension floating in the air.
"It's true." Ilene announced and held her chin up high. My eyes flashed to Allison, tears were welling and threatening to spill.
"Why in the hell are you and dad getting a divorce?" Max's voice was laced with disbelief. Larissa appeared at his side and put her arms around him.
"Perhaps you should talk to your father." Ilene spat. "He is the one who has filed, not I." She snipped.
"But…I don't understand…you and dad…" Allison was beginning to sob.
"Why in God's name would dad file for divorce?" Dr. Bishop eyed his mother closely.
"Because your father has been seeing another woman for years," Ilene blurted with years of pent up hurt and anger.
"An-another woman?" Max gasped.
"For years?" Dr. Bishop furrowed his brow.
"Yes, for years." She answered in her all too familiar high and mighty voice.
"You've known for years, but you never –" Larissa started.
"I knew, but our marriage was important."
It was hard for me to think she stayed simply because her marriage was important. Obviously it wasn't important to Connor, so why would she stay.
"You allowed him to be with this other woman all these years, and you did nothing?" Allison shrieked.
"Don't take that tone with me." She scolded Allison. "You should be talking to your father! I’m not having an affair. I would never do such a thing, especially with such a low –"
"Who is she?" Max asked.
"It doesn't matter." A flash of fear passed over Ilene’s face.
"Amber, why don't we all go into the other room?" I leaned down and whispered. Amber nodded in agreement. We collected the kids and took them to the other room.
"I can't believe you’ve allowed this for all these years. You just sat by and allowed another woman to break up our family. How could you?" Allison was shrieking.
"Maybe we should
go upstairs instead." I motioned toward the steps.
"Allison, I told you, I have tried to save this marriage. He wanted to leave years ago, but I stopped him. I've held on for as long as I can. He wants the divorce." I heard Ilene yell as Victoria start up the stairs.
"Who is she?" Allison yelled.
"Al, calm down." The bastard, Jonathan, actually sounded concerned.
"To hell with you, you're no better than my father with your damned cheating! Hell I practically walked in on you screwing Sophia," She flipped one long pointed fingernail toward me. My head spun around, eyes widened.
"What?" Dr. Bishop shouted. "What the hell happened between you two?"
"Nothing happened," Jonathan shouted. "She's being delusional!"
"Delusional? So was I delusional when we had to get rid of Mary because you were fucking her?" She shouted. "You both were leaving the house at the same time and you both had guilt all over your faces the first
damn day we got here!"
How did this go from their parents divorcing, to Jonathan and I having an assumed affair?
"Ms. Ashwood?" Dr. Bishop screamed furiously. He rounded the corner into the kitchen. I stood on the bottom step. "Did you and…were you with…?" His eyes searched me for any kind of answer.
"Of course not," I spat.
"I told you," Jonathan seethed, "nothing happened!"
"I don't believe you for one second!" Allison shouted from the other room.
"What happened?" Dr. Bishop grabbed my arm and pulled me into the conflict. "Did you sleep with Jonathan?"
"N
o," I shouted.
"You're a liar" Allison snapped, "Like you would admit it!"
"That's it," I growled. "You want to know what happened." Dr. Bishop tensed next to me. "Your skeevy husband tried to force himself on me in the hallway and I pinned him to the wall by his arm. I told him to leave me alone. Nothing happened!" I shouted and rubbed my face with my hands before plopping down into a chair with a groan.
"You lying bitch!" Allison came toward me, but Dr. Bishop took a defensive position in front of me.
"Jonathan?" Max growled.
"Did you do that?" Larissa gasped. "Is it true?"
"Nothing happened." Jonathan’s eyes flickered hatred in my direction.
"Who is it?"
Dr. Bishop repeated the unanswered question.
Ilene's eyes filled with tears and one escaped. I thought tears were
impossible for the antichrist’s mother, but obviously I was mistaken. She wiped the tear away and looked into Collin's eyes.
"Juliet Pierce." She said in a disgusted tone.
"Who?" Allison looked around for an answer.
"Juliet?" Max gasped. "Th-that's why she left?" Ilene nodded.
"I thought she left to have her child..?" Collin seemed to become even stiffer, if possible. "Is her child..?"
Ilene broke down into sobs. Holy crap, either she was delivering the performance of a lifetime or she actually had feelings.
"Oh. My. God." Max looked like he was going to hyperventilate.
"We have a brother or sister from their…relationship?" Dr. Bishop spoke robotically.
"Yes, Okay, Yes!" Ilene sobbed.
"Mother
–" Max looked like he might get sick.
"What Max? Your father slept with your nanny and now you have your sibling." She spat out.
"We have a sibling that we've never met?" Allison almost collapsed, but Jonathan caught her. She struggled to get his hands off of her, but he held tight.
"No." Ilene hiccupped and then she broke out into hysterics.
"Mother?" Max said almost breathlessly.
"Oh, you've met your sibling." She had the craziest giggle, she truly had gone mad.