When he saw Molly and Maude, he immediately stood.
“Molly, this is Aegeus. Aegeus, this is my sister, Molly.” Aegeus reached out for Molly’s hand and slowly brought it up to his lips then gently kisses it.
“Aegeus?” Molly asked.
“Yes, it’s Greek. I’m Greek. I’m named after the mythological figure who was supposed to have a hand in the founding of the city of Athens.”
Molly said, “Will you excuse my sister and me for a moment, Aegeus?”
“Sure.”
Without looking, Molly reached over and tightly clasped her sister’s shirt and dragged her to the kitchen.
“Who the hell is Aegeus? And why the hell did you want me to meet him?”
“I figured you two could go clubbing together.”
“What! Are you out of your mind? Are you forgetting I already have a boyfriend?”
Maude shook her head disappointedly at her sister. “No, I didn’t forget about Seth. God, how could I? You never shut up about him. I just want you to see that there’s more to life than Seth.”
“Such as?”
“Well, his family is well off, he has a job and a steady paycheque. He owns a brand new Mercedes.”
Molly stared at her sister.
“What is it, Molly, that doesn’t impress you?”
Molly slowly shook her head.
“All right, here’s the other thing. He’s tight. Aegeus has cast iron pecks, thighs that could choke a bear and an ass so gorgeous it’s like it came directly from Mount Olympus.”
“I can’t believe what I’m hearing.”
“What’s wrong?”
“My own sister wants me to cheat on my boyfriend.”
Maude thought for a moment.
“No, I don’t want you to cheat; I don’t condone that. I just want you to have a good time, and if you cheat on Seth, that’s your problem.”
With a little more coaxing from Maude, Molly finally agreed to go out with Aegeus. She was totally dedicated to Seth, but it was just something about Aegeus’s old world ways and European charm that, over the next couple of days, attracted Molly to him.
She started blowing off her plans with Seth to hang out and be intimate with Aegeus. She started missing work too. June 15, Seth’s 24th birthday, would be the last time he would ever see Molly again.
And it was the furthest thing from a happy occasion. Molly started dating Aegeus officially on June 13, and for the past two days Molly had been rapidly falling out of love with Seth.
She only attended Seth’s birthday barbecue party to see if there was anything left between them. If there wasn’t, she’d have to painfully tell Seth it was over.
Before the party guests arrived, Seth and Molly were in Seth’s bedroom having a conversation.
She reached into her purse and pulled out a wrapped box. “This is for you, birthday boy.”
“Thank you.” Seth unwrapped the box and opened the lid. Inside was a copy of the Buddy Valastro book, The Essential Cake Boss, and a beautiful blue, short-sleeve dress shirt.
“Thank you, honey!” Seth leaned over and kissed Molly. He noticed she was acting strange; when he kissed her, her lips were really hard, and he got the feeling something was up but decided to ignore it and flipped through the book.
Molly inhaled deeply. “Seth, I’ve been thinking a lot about a few things lately that have been bothering me.”
“Okay.”
“And I was hoping you could shed some light on them for me.”
Seth closed his book and turned to Molly. “Sure, if I can.”
Molly cleared her throat. “I was thinking about Mr. Fisher. You remember the paramedic that was texting me when you were going to the hospital?”
A terrible feeling hit Seth like a ton of bricks. His face got red and his stomach throbbed with pain. “Yes, what about him?”
“That’s illegal for him to have texted me. How did he even have your pass-code?”
Seth thought carefully for a moment. “I guess I told him the code when I told him to text you.”
“But it’s illegal for him to do that. Something doesn’t add up here. Either I missed something, or something isn’t right in general.” There was a moment of extremely thick, awkward silence.
“And what about your parents?”
“What about them?”
“They didn’t seem to worry about you, or have never mentioned the fact that you were ever in the hospital. Why is that?”
Seth took a moment. He didn’t know how to answer.
“Just as I thought. Maybe I’d better go and ask your parents myself!”
“No, no! Don’t!”
“Why?”
“Because I didn’t tell them!”
Molly was finding this a little hard to swallow. She didn’t know what to think. “You didn’t tell your parents you were in the hospital?”
“Correct.”
Molly shook her head. “If I was a parent, I would want to know everything about my children. And another thing, Seth, what about this film festival? I haven’t been able to find anything about it online.”
He sat there trying to work out what to say, what to do. At this point he knew Molly was on to him, and he sure as hell didn’t want to make things worse.
“Well, I …”
Molly sighed heavily. She was extremely disappointed and upset. “You know, this is hard to believe. I overlooked all of it because I loved you so goddamned much. It was my sister, parents and grandparents who saw right through you.
“For months they’ve been harping on me, and one day I woke up and decided, enough’s enough! I will get to the bottom of this. So please, Seth, please. Tell me the truth, all of it.”
Seth stared at Molly with tears streaming down his face. He knew he’d eventually get caught. “Before I begin, please keep an open mind and try to see things from my point of view.”
Molly silently waited for Seth’s explanation.
“When Keri left me the way she did after four years, I was devastated. I fell into the deepest, darkest depression imaginable. The generally good, decent person I was died that day, and after that, I referred to myself as a walking zombie. I never thought I’d fall in love again. I ate and ate and gained so much weight. But then, after a couple of years, I decided to make a movie. A film might help with the depression, so I mad it.
“Skip forward to September 13, 2013. At the premiere I meet this gorgeous woman with the most beautiful amber eyes I’d ever seen in my life.”
As angry as Molly was, hearing that made her smile.
“We talked, we laughed and we enjoyed each other’s company. Being with this woman, a woman I had never met before that night, brought up feelings I had long forgotten, feelings I didn’t even know I had anymore. I knew after that night I had to see her again.
“I knew you enjoyed acting, so I concocted a story about a film festival and wrote a screenplay.”
It really hurt Molly hearing Seth admit this. The whole time of filming, she thought she was making this film for a good cause, yet the whole time it was all just a trick.
Seth could tell Molly was upset. He continued anyway because she asked. “The more time we spent together, the more those feelings within me woke. Then pretty soon, being friends wasn’t enough.”
“Wasn’t enough, Seth? What do you mean?”
“Friends was fine at first. But I started falling for you. I fell hard in love with you. Friends love each other, yes. But the way I felt about you wasn’t friendly. It was romance. Even though I knew you had a boyfriend, I was determined to make you mine.” Seth took a bit of a rest for a moment.
Molly was absolutely hurt. She started to cry.
“I fed on your relationship’s faults to muscle my way to you. Then when we started having the affair, I knew you
loved me as much as I loved you. That was my golden ticket, if you will. My opportunity to start your relationship transitioning. But before I had the chance, you texted and called me to threaten you would drop out of the film if our affair continued. Honestly Molly, that hurt me. If you would have stabbed me with a knife, it would’ve felt the same. I didn’t want to lose you. We weren’t dating yet, but goddamn it, you were the best thing that ever happened to me.” Seth took a moment to take a breath.
“I then decided to play the sympathy card. Yet again, I concocted a story about a heart problem brought on by stress, just to get you feeling sorry enough to come running back to me.”
Molly wiped her eyes. “What about this Mr. Fisher?”
Seth’s eyes dropped and focused on his bed. “There is no Mr. Fisher. I texted you as Mr. Fisher. I figured I would text you as a paramedic first, just to get your blood pumping, and then a little later on as a friend of mine to see how you felt about me. It was my way of getting you to tell me how you felt about without telling me directly.
“If you didn’t feel the same way as I did, I never would’ve pursued you.”
Molly cried hard, very hurt.
“God, I am so, so sorry, Molly. I never wanted to hurt you.” Seth became emotional, and tears rolled down his cheeks. “Everything, everything about my love and feelings for you is 100 percent legit.”
“You didn’t have to lie, you son of a bitch! Everything about you is fake!”
“That’s not true! Not at all.”
Molly got off the bed and walked to the door. “Listen, Seth. I will stay for this barbecue dinner. But I’m going home right after. I think it would be best if we didn’t see each other for a while.”
Seth immediately jumped off his bed. “What! We’re breaking up?”
“I didn’t say that. I just said we shouldn’t see each other for a while. It’ll give us time to think things out.”
For the rest of the evening, Molly was distant with Seth. She was mingling with other guests but not once stopped to talk with Seth.
Seth sat with his aunt Betty, finishing his dinner.
“Is everything all right with you and Molly? She’s been awfully distant tonight.”
“I’m sure everything’s just fine, Aunt Betty.”
“I see.” Aunt Betty drank her water. “Seth, I was wondering if you could do me a favour next month.”
“Sure, what is it?”
“Your cousin Sarah is taking me to New York City for my birthday and—”
“Your birthday isn’t until September.”
Aunt Betty chuckled. “Sarah has summers off, remember? It’s an early birthday present. Anyway, it’s only for the weekend, and I don’t have anyone to watch the dog. Could you come to the house and watch her for me?”
Seth looked over at Molly and then back at Aunt Betty. “Yes, I would love to.”
“Great!” Aunt Betty leaned over and gave Seth a big hug.
“We’ll be leaving on July 3 around one-thirty in the afternoon and returning on July 7. So if you could be at my place by noon on the third, that would be perfect.”
Seth smiled at his aunt. “I’ll be there with bells on, Aunt Betty.”
Seth saw Molly heading for the house. He got suspicious and followed her. “Molly, where’re you going?”
“I’m going home. I told you I would only stay until after dinner.”
“I understand you’re mad at me, and you have the right to be. But are you ever not going to be mad?”
Molly turned and walked into the living room where she had her purse. She opened her purse and reached for her keys.
“I don’t know, Seth. I don’t know. Right now I’m just a well of emotions. I’m furious, hurt, disappointed, etc.”
“When’re we going to see each other again?”
“At this point I really can’t say, because I don’t know how long it’s going to take me to calm down.” Molly walked to the front door.
“Molly, wait! Wait, please.”
“What, Seth, what?” Molly said, annoyed.
“If I promise not to contact you, and really work on myself, will you join me at my aunt Betty’s house on July 5? I’ll cook dinner for you and everything, just to show you how sorry I am, and to see if we can iron everything out.”
“Why at your aunt Betty’s?”
“Because my cousin Sarah is taking her to New York City for the weekend and I’m dog sitting. I figure this way we’ll be alone with no one to disturb us.”
Molly knew there was nothing Seth could do to win her back. She was dating Aegeus now, the man of her family’s dreams.
She stared deep into his brown eyes and knew he was sorry. She did still love him. But her family hated him.
“Okay, I’ll be there.” Molly left, and Seth followed her onto the front porch. She didn’t say another word to him.
As Molly walked to her Sportage, an overwhelming sadness fell over him, a feeling as though he was never going to see the love of his life again. Molly slowly backed out of the driveway and onto the street and hit the accelerator.
Molly was gone. Seth started to cry; he felt absolutely horrible. He felt better now that the truth was out, but he knew this wouldn’t go without consequences. He just hoped it didn’t mean the end of his relationship, because that would just kill him.
Seth did what he promised. He didn’t contact Molly once in three weeks, because he spent those three weeks locked in his room severely depressed. He didn’t make time for anything else.
Finally, July 5 arrived, and Seth was nervous. He hadn’t slept in two days. Actually, if he was lucky, he might’ve gotten four hours sleep in the past three weeks. He promised Molly a home-cooked meal, so around noon on the fifth he decided to walk up to the supermarket down the street and buy ingredients for a lovely chicken and beef stir-fry.
Around one-thirty, when Seth was rounding the corner to go back to his aunt’s house, he received a text message.
He gently placed the bag down on the front porch and read the text.
Seth, I really hate to say this, but I won’t be coming tonight.
Seth began to cry. He didn’t know the reason for Molly’s sudden decision to bail, but he felt his worse nightmare had come to life.
He went inside where he could cry in private. He placed the groceries on the kitchen table and went into the sitting room to text her back.
What! Why?
Seth’s stomach turned and filled with pain at the thought of Molly’s next text.
Seth, I can’t trust you right now, and my respect for you is gone. And when there’s no trust and respect in a relationship, that’s not a relationship worth having. That’s not a relationship I want.
Seth rushed over to the bathroom and violently vomited.
As of now, our relationship is over.
Seth continued vomiting, to the point of hardly being able to breathe.
It’s obvious to me, and the rest of my family, that you’re sick. You have mental problems, and that’s okay. Look, I love you. That’s why I’m totally open to being with you in the future. But in order for that to happen, you need to make some life changes, and they are as follows.
1.Seek professional help from a psychiatrist.
2.Get a job, sir. A real job with a yearly income of at minimum $30,000, or go to school and train as a chef or baker.
3.Get yourself a driver’s license. It’s goddamn annoying having to pick you up, drop you off and do all the driving myself, and if I feel this way, you can bet your ass other women feel that way too.
That’s the way it has to be, and until you make those changes, you’re going to be alone in this world. I’ll keep your number on my phone, but DON’T bother contacting me until you’ve made these changes—good-bye!
Seth was crushed. In a way he saw this coming,
but he just brushed it off and thought positive. “Stupid me!” Seth said to himself. “Instead of thinking positive, this whole time I should have been preparing for my world to end.”
Seth spent another three hours in the bathroom, hanging over the toilet.
Suddenly something happened.
Seth stopped vomiting and his eyes ran out of tears. He looked at his watch. It read a quarter to five. Seth stood up, flushed the toilet and washed his hands. He looked into the mirror and saw an extremely pale-faced, mean-eyed man staring back. This person scared him. Seth saw him once before in 2009 and knew what was coming next.
Seth clapped for Aunt Betty’s dog, the adorable salt and pepper coloured miniature schnauzer, Mckenzie.
“Come on, Mckenzie, time for a walk!” Little energetic Mckenzie rushed over to Seth. Seth grabbed Mckenzie’s leash and clipped it to her collar. When they got back from their walk, Seth refilled her water bowl and then made his way to the kitchen. He opened the cupboard, reached to the back and pulled out an unopened bottle of Glenfiddich 12-year-old Scotch.
He took a seat at the table and opened the bottle. He gently brought the bottle to his lips and took a long sip, and then another and another. Before he knew it, the bottle was half gone.
Seth reached across the table for his blood pressure pills. With the Scotch in one hand and his blood pressure pills in his other hand, he made his way to the sitting room. He sat on the love seat in front of the huge window and began to cry again. Slowly he twisted the lid off of his pills, took a deep breath and filled his mouth with the pills. He let the bottle drop out of his hand and hit the floor.
He then raises the bottle of Scotch and took a massive mouthful and slowly swallowed this deadly concoction of drugs and alcohol. When he swallowed the last little bit of Scotch, he got up and walked over to the dining room table, where he had two speakers hooked up to his iPod.
He turned on his iPod and played the Genesis album We Can’t Dance. He immediately turned to “Since I Lost You,” a song Phil Collins wrote for Eric Clapton’s son Conor after the child’s tragic death on March 20, 1991. Seth thought this would be appropriate.
Growing Pains Page 20