Balance (The Balance Series Book 1)

by Janelle Stalder

  “Those are his,” she said staring into his grey eyes.

  “I know, Mother,” he sighed. Same routine as always.

  “Where are my eyes?” she asked sadly, looking in the distant.

  Collin could see from her posture that she was entering one of her depressed states, so he suggested they go inside for some orange juice. The change of topic snapped her out of it, and she smiled, taking his offered hand and strolled back towards the main building with him. On the way she pointed out all the new flowers that had sprouted just that week. He enjoyed listening to her talk, almost convincing himself there was nothing actually wrong with her.

  In the dining area, they sat and ordered some juice, and two sandwiches. His mother told him gossip about the other patients there, the majority of which were worse off than her. It was almost cruel to keep her with this company, but he knew she didn’t mind. She was happy enough being here where her days were all the same. As they finished eating, Collin saw her doctor enter the room and waved him over to their table.

  “Mr. Banks, what a pleasant surprise,” he said, shaking his hand. “I’m glad you were able to make it out. We were hoping someone would come in to speak with us.”

  “But of course, I apologize for having taken so long. My brothers are both overseas, so we’ve been a bit busy,” he explained, offering him a chair. The doctor sat down.

  “So Nora, how are we this afternoon?” he asked, turning to her.

  “I’m perfectly happy. One of my boys has come to see me,” she said, smiling across the table at Collin.

  “I know, it’s wonderful isn’t it? How about you go play us some music before Collin here has to leave?” he suggested.

  Collin saw a brief pang of panic cross his mother’s face at the mention of him leaving, but she agreed to play a song, and walked gracefully over to the large piano in the corner of the room.

  “I hope you don’t mind,” he began, “I hate talking about them as though they’re not around when they are sitting right there. It feels somewhat demeaning to me, and I don’t want her getting upset.” He looked apologetic.

  “No worries,” Collin answered. “So tell me, what has been going on? She looks like she hasn’t had enough rest, and she feels slightly feverish. She says she’s been a bit restless.”

  “Restless is one way to put it I suppose, especially when we’re talking about your mother. She always makes things seem smaller than they are,” he said with a tired chuckle. Taking off his glasses, he rubbed at the bridge of his nose. “The truth of the matter is, your mother hasn’t slept in about three days. I’m not sure how much more stress her body can take. Just her normal day to day activities are wearing her down, because she won’t let her body get any rest. The fever is just adding to the problem, causing her immune system to go into overdrive. Without sleep she can’t get better, and everything gets weaker,” he explained seriously now. “I’m not sure what we can do, aside from drugging her.”

  “Why haven’t you already tried that?” Collin asked, alarmed. He didn’t like the idea of his mother being drugged, but it seemed like a better solution than letting her wear herself out.

  “Well naturally we would have, except that she is very suspicious of everyone, and refuses to take anything from us. I think she knows that we’re trying to slip her something. She insists she cannot go back to sleep.” He looked defeated. Collin didn’t know what to do either.

  “When did this start?” he asked, as he watched his mother play.

  “It started four nights ago. She went to bed fine, and then during her sleep she developed a fever and was sweating profusely. It looked like she was having a bad dream. Her skin started to look discoloured in certain spots, and then she woke up and hasn’t gone back to sleep since.”

  Collin narrowed his eyes. He knew there was more to this than these people realized. “Really?” he said, his mind racing. “Did she tell you what she had been dreaming about?”

  “No, she insisted it was nothing. Said she could barely remember it, but I think she was lying. The fever hasn’t gone away since, because her body is too run down to fight it off.” He mopped at his brow. “I’ve never seen something like this, Collin,” he confessed.

  Collin looked back over at his mother, and knew he had to call Caleb. Something wasn’t right about the situation, and Caleb would know what to do. He felt slightly torn, knowing he would be choosing a side if he called Caleb, but what other choice did he have?

  Unless, he realized, that was the point? Did his father want him to call Caleb and get him over here? He ignored the thought and the implications that came with it, and decided that whatever the underlying plan was, his mother’s health was what was really important. He thanked the Doctor and told him he would talk to his brother about what they should do. The doctor agreed, and said he’d continue watching her to make sure her condition didn’t worsen.

  He kissed his mother goodbye after they finished with the doctor, and promised her he would be back soon. “Make sure you get some rest,” he said, as if he were talking to a child. She smiled politely at him, and gave his hand a slight squeeze.

  On the way to his car he pulled out his phone and started to dial his brother’s number. He felt bad dragging Caleb all the way back home, but Collin knew it would be what he wanted. He suspected his father might have something to do with this, but thought it could also be something she’d conjured up herself. Caleb would know better, he convinced himself.

  The recognition that with Caleb here, Vivian would be there by herself, didn’t escape Collin’s notice, but he had to make a decision that he felt comfortable with. As bad as he would feel should something happen to her, his mother was more important, so he waited for Caleb to answer and prepared himself to give the bad news.

  The sun warmed the back of my eyelids as I slowly slipped back into consciousness. Caleb’s arm was wrapped around me, and his gentle breathing let me know that he was still asleep. It was a long weekend, so we had an extra day to laze around.

  Lifting my head, I checked the clock and saw it was already eleven. Quietly, I shimmied my way off the bed and tiptoed to the bathroom. When I got back, Caleb was watching me through hooded eyes, his arms stretched out, waiting.

  “Good morning,” he said, kissing my forehead.

  “Did I wake you?” I asked, snuggling into him.

  “No not really, it’s time to get up anyway. Shall we have breakfast?”

  “Yes, I’m starved,” I replied. Caleb went off to grab something, while I set up a nice blanket on the rooftop, and bathed my white skin in the summer heat.

  My mind started to think back to my actions the night before, and wondered if I should confess my spy manoeuvres to Caleb. I decided it wasn’t worth arguing over, and I was too embarrassed to admit it anyway. It felt horribly dishonest.

  The sunlight beat down on me, causing sweat to pool behind my neck. I wasn’t sure how long I lay there before Caleb blocked out my rays with his return.

  “Coffee and a muffin, my lady?” he offered, holding out a plastic cup and paper bag. I thanked him, and began nibbling at the fruity muffin.

  “What other family do you have?” I asked curiously, breaking our silence.

  He looked confused by the question. “What do you mean?”

  “Well what about your aunts, uncles, grandparents – you know, other family members?”

  “Oh, well, I don’t really know of any I guess. My mother’s side is around I suppose, but I never see them. I can’t remember actually meeting them very often when I was younger,” he said, thinking back.

  “Really? Not even your grandparents?”

  “No.” He set his coffee down, watching me. “Why do you ask?”

  I shrugged, looking away. “Just wondering.”

  We continued our breakfast in silence. I couldn’t understand why he was lying about his grandmother. Had I not just found a picture of the woman in his wallet? It didn’t make sense, but I couldn’t reasonably press the
topic without looking suspicious, and I didn’t want to fess up to my deceit.

  “What would you like to do today?” he asked, interrupting my thoughts.

  “Why don’t we go swimming?” I suggested. I hadn’t gone swimming yet that summer, which was such a waste of good weather. What better time to do it than on our day off?

  “Sure, my place has an outdoor pool for all the residents to use. Would you like to go there?” he asked getting up, and cleaning away our mess.

  It was a bit nerve wracking going to his house, what with his father being around, but I knew with Caleb there with me he wouldn’t say anything rude. I told him it was a great idea and ran off to change into my bikini. I pulled shorts and a t-shirt over, and slipped on my flats, before running down to meet him outside. He was already waiting in his car. My parents didn’t seem to be home, so I locked up and hurried to the car.

  “Excited, are we?” He smiled as I climbed in.

  I laughed, slightly out of breath from rushing so fast. “Just a little. It feels so nice to be doing a normal summer activity.”

  Caleb laughed, the sound surprising me, and leaned over to kiss me quickly on the lips.

  “You’re cute,” he said, and started up the car. I hated being called cute, but being calling cute by a smiling, laughing, somewhat playful, Caleb – I could deal with.

  We pulled up to his building, and a man in a black suit came out to take Caleb’s car away. “Why don’t you go get us a spot on the patio, while I go change?” he suggested. He showed me the way out to the pool area, and then we briefly separated.

  The pool and surrounding patio were beautiful. I could only imagine what people paid to live in this building, especially the penthouse like Caleb’s. The pool was massive, with what looked like a medium sized hot tub on one end, separated by a small wall. The water was blue and inviting. There were people in and around it, but it wasn’t too crowded. The area surrounding the pool was all a light pink patterned concrete. They had huge umbrellas and white lounge chairs all around the pool for people to sunbathe on.

  I chose two that were a little out of the way, so we had a bit of privacy, but where the sun still hit, so I would stay nice and warm. I lay out my towel on one of the chairs, and undressed quickly before lying down.

  My arm was thrown across my eyes to block out some of the sun, but I could still sense his presence as he walked up. “Took you long enough,” I called out.

  “I didn’t realize you were waiting for me,” a voice replied, amused.

  My blood instantly cooled, and I silently kicked myself for not checking who it was first.

  Dropping my arm, I stared up at Dermot, who stood smiling down at me. I smiled politely, trying to hide my unease. “Oh, Dermot, I’m sorry, I thought you were Caleb,” I replied, sitting up slowly.

  “I gathered. Do you mind if I join you?” he asked, motioning to the empty chair beside mine. He didn’t wait for me to reply before he sat down, facing me. He leaned in my direction, elbows on knees, as we watched each other closely. The predator and his prey, face to face. Each of us on guard, and we knew it.

  “So how have you been? I heard you were ill,” he said.

  “I feel a lot better now, thank you for asking.” I didn’t know what he wanted, but as usual when I was around this man, I felt like there was more to what he was saying than what lay on the surface.

  “Well that’s good,” he said, looking away from me to watch the other people with a sort of haughty disinterest. As though all of us around him where beneath him, simply inferior. “Hopefully you got a lot of rest.”

  His words hung in the air as we both sat there, tense and awkward. The statement was filled with implications, which made me observe him suspiciously. What was it about this man? I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.

  “Ah, here comes my son now. I guess I shall leave you two young lovers alone,” he said getting up as he watched Caleb’s approach. He turned and smiled down at me. “It was lovely speaking with you, Vivian.” He walked away, stopping to speak with Caleb further down the patio where I couldn’t hear.

  “That was odd,” I whispered out loud.

  I watched as father and son spoke to each other, with what looked like very tense words. Neither one appeared particularly happy, although Caleb seemed worse. Every muscle in his body was strung tight like a bow. His mouth was set in a firm line, his eyes almost invisible beneath dark, lowered brows.

  Dermot always had an air of boredom, mixed with scorn about him when he spoke to other people. It was his ego, I decided, that made him look slightly amused by what other people had to say. He didn’t quite have that look now though, as he faced his son.

  Abruptly Caleb walked away, leaving his father standing there for a second, before he too went off.

  “Sorry about that,” Caleb said as he reached me.

  “Is everything alright?”

  “Everything is fine, everything alright here? My father wasn’t rude to you was he?” he asked, his shoulders still tense.

  “No, oddly enough he was pleasant. What were the two of you talking about?” I asked, glancing back at the now empty spot where they had stood.

  “Nothing important, just family stuff,” he replied, brushing it off. Removing his shirt, he stretched out down the chair beside me. I didn’t want my mood to be completely ruined, so I put the awkwardness behind me, and focused on the beautiful day again.

  Easy to do with Caleb bare-chested in swim shorts, beside me.

  By late afternoon we were both sun and pooled out. We packed up our things and headed to the main building. I hadn’t been to his place since the night of the ball, which brought back some fond and dire memories.

  When we entered the home, Caleb brought me through one of the side doors in the main circular foyer, just off to the left. Behind the heavy, wooden door was the kitchen. The floors were a beautiful beige slate, and the counters were deep green granite. The cupboards were a dark cherry wood, like most things in his house, and in the middle was a huge island with copper pots hanging over it, and a large stainless steel sink in the middle.

  Along the whole left wall was a large floor to ceiling wine rack. Multiple doors framed the, what had to be hundreds of bottles that lay inside. My mouth hung open as I took in the new room.

  “What’s the matter with you?” Caleb asked, clearly amused at my expression.

  “I’ve just never seen your kitchen before. It’s beautiful,” I said, letting my eyes sweep over it again.

  “It’s just a kitchen, Vivian,” Caleb chided, pulling me by my arm to one of the stools that surrounded the island.

  Caleb whipped up some lunch for us, and we both sat happily in the kitchen as we ate. The kitchen door opened and Kellan strode through, throwing a big smile at me.

  “Well, well, well, look what the cat dragged in,” he said, walking over and ruffling my hair.

  “Gee, thanks,” I said, trying to fix the mess he had just made of my head.

  “I haven’t seen your pretty face around here for a while. Is Caleb hiding you from the rest of the world?” he asked, leaning against the counter.

  “She’s been sick, Kellan,” Caleb answered, his voice flat. I didn’t know what was going on, but I got the impression the two brothers were in some sort of tiff.

  “How have you been?” I asked, trying to lighten the mood.

  “I’ve been alright, keeping busy with work and other things,” he said, winking at me. I didn’t know what the wink was for, but I saw Caleb tense beside me out of the corner of my eye. I hated missing things when they were happening right in front of me, but Caleb hadn’t mentioned he was in a fight with either his dad or Kellan, so I didn’t know what to make of it.

  “Talked to Lily lately?” I asked, genuinely interested.

  “I’ve seen her at work, but we haven’t gone out since the ball. I’ve been too busy,” he shrugged. Reaching into the fruit bowl, he grabbed an apple, crunching into it as he stared at us. The phone in y
our room has been ringing all day, by the way,” he said to Caleb.

  “Thanks,” he mumbled back, grabbing both our plates and putting them in the sink. “Let’s go to my room, Vivian,” he said, walking toward the door.

  I half fell off the stool, not expecting our immediate exit, and threw a goodbye over my shoulder. Kellan just raised his hand as I walked out the door.

  “What was that all about?” I asked as we walked down the hall to the main room.

  “Nothing,” he answered quickly. I rolled my eyes, but didn’t press. Issues between brothers were none of my business, I decided.

  “I’m just going to check my messages quickly,” he said as we entered his room. “It was probably Collin calling.”

  “Of course,” I replied, nervous about what Collin had to say. “I think I’ll actually call Amanda while I wait.” I went over and sat on his bed, pulling my cell phone out of my bag and dialling her number. We only spoke briefly, since I was preoccupied with the look of concentration on Caleb’s face as he listened to his message. We agreed to meet up the following night. Amanda would call Blake and let him know as well.

  “I’m so happy you’re feeling better,” she was saying.

  “Me too,” I replied, looking away from Caleb. “We have lots to catch up on, so I’ll see you tomorrow?”

  “For sure.”

  We hung up and I waited for Caleb to be finished as well. As soon as he placed the phone back on the receiver I asked. “Well what did he say?”

  Caleb watched me for a moment, his face unreadable, before closing the distance to sit beside me. He threw his arm around my waist, pulling me against him. It was only when I rested my cheek against him that I released the breath I hadn’t known I’d been holding.

  After a moment he slowly lowered us to the mattress, and we lay there in silence, neither of us wanting to face reality for a few more precious moments.

  “He said she’s bad, and that she needs me there.”