(2014) Deep Inside

by Jack Parker

  She twirled once again and sat back in the seat. "You must have the wrong person. Now, if you will excuse me, I have to wait for Andrew to come and pick me up." She let out a wistful sigh.

  Carmon took a step forward. "Mum –"

  "Don't call me that," she snapped. She stood up again and flipped back her hair, then cast her gaze over Lia. "Men are extremely persistent, aren't they?" She giggled again, as if she had made some brilliant joke. She brought her hand to her lips and stopped giggling. "But you mustn't tell Andrew I said that. He might become offended. And we can't have that, can we? Mother always said that we must keep our men in tow." She giggled again, then shuffled her feet. She looked like a self conscious teenager. "My hair does look okay, doesn't it?"

  Lia smiled lightly. "You look beautiful."

  She beamed. "Thank you." She tugged on her hair, then looked toward them. Her eyes looked watery. "He still hasn't come, you know. And I've been waiting for ages." She pulled off her slippers, then lifted one up and stroked it gently. "I must change my shoes. That's why he hasn't come, isn't it? He doesn't like my shoes. He always did say that my shoes resembled those worn by his dead mother. Do you think that's why he hasn't come yet?" She tilted her head to the side, her eyes blank.

  Lia bit her bottom lip. Carmon appeared rigid, but she could feel his arm shake beneath her grip. "I don't think –"

  She exhaled sharply and her gaze went cold. "It is the shoes, isn't it?" She let her gaze rest on the slipper for a moment, then brought it forward and hit it on her head. "It's the FUCKING SHOES," she screeched. She hit herself on the forehead with her slipper again, harshly. "These FUCKING SHOES are the FUCKING reason he won't come. He's been gone for so FUCKING LONG."

  Carmon stepped forward to stop her.

  "STAY AWAY FROM ME," she screeched. She hit herself again, then again, then again. The door behind them was flung open and a few nurses hurried inside, grabbing her arms and taking the slipper from her.

  Her face was red and she was panting.

  Lia pulled on Carmon's arm. He was shaking. "We better go."

  He nodded, slowly. They made their way through the door.

  "Wait!"

  They stopped, then turned to face her.

  She smiled sweetly. "Carmon, dear, please do bring Jude and Dan along next time. We can all sit down and have tea."

  Lia led him out of the room.

  * * *

  Jack pulled her toward the building, then stopped.

  She shook her head. "Jack, no. This place looks way too expensive."

  Jack shook his head. "Exactly, which means there's less likelihood of you meeting someone you know here."

  She shuffled her feet and frowned. "I don't know…Are you sure?"

  He smiled. "It's on me."

  Melan's eyes widened and she shook her head. "Are you joking? I'm not going to let you pay for all of this on your own."

  "I don't think you have any other choice."

  Before she could reply, he had already pulled her into the restaurant and toward the main desk. He asked for a table near the window, but toward the corner where no one would see them. She would probably feel more relaxed that way rather than sitting somewhere where everyone would watch her.

  Jack paid, not without Melan's continuous arguing, then they made their way toward the table.

  And stopped.

  Jack heard a pair of familiar voices. Melan dropped his hand, her face pale.

  "But why did you kiss Val? I thought you said you wanted me Damien."

  "She came on to me."

  He heard a dry laugh. "Oh, please. Val hates your guts. Why the hell would she come on to you?"

  "Kel, stop being so melodramatic."

  Melan took in a shaky breath, then made her way toward the voices. Jack heard a gasp.

  "Melan…"

  "Whoa, babe, you look a wreck."

  Jack followed her quickly and stood behind her.

  Damien raised an eyebrow. "Jack?"

  Melan took in another shaky breath. "Kel," she hissed.

  Kel looked shocked for a moment before she regained her composure and regarded Melan placidly. "Hello, Melan."

  "You bitch."

  "Mind your language. You're in public."

  Melan was shaking. "Why the hell –"

  Kel stood up suddenly, causing the table to shake. She raised an eyebrow, her eyes fiery. "You want to know why, right, Melan?" she hissed.

  Jack placed his hand on Melan's shoulder as she regarded Kel icily. "Why?"

  Kel let out a dry laugh, then regarded her, seemingly unruffled. "Melan, Val and Kel," she cooed. "Val, Melan and Kel. Val, Melan, Damien and the skinny Cadlian girl. Oh, what was her name? Oh yeah, Kerri? It's always been you, Val and then me. I've always been the third wheel, always the last one to get noticed by guys, always the last one to get noticed by anyone. And then, for once, someone notices me. Your guy notices me." She tilted her head to the side. "I don't intend to be the third wheel forever."

  Damien looked towards Jack. "Dude, girls have issues."

  Jack ignored him and watched the two girls as they regarded each other – Kel's expression full of hate and Melan confused.

  Now that he thought about it, he wouldn't have remembered Kel from the party unless Val hadn't been standing next to her.

  He wouldn't have remembered her at all if she weren't best friends with Val and Melan.

  Melan grabbed his arm. "Let's get out of here, Jack."

  He nodded and steered her out of the restaurant.

  It didn't take them that long to near their area. Melan was silent all the way, her expression blank. She was scaring him. She was holding his arm so tightly that he was sure that her nails would leave marks. She lived in the same building as he and Damien did –by now Jack was pretty sure that almost everyone lived in that same building– so it wouldn't be too hard for him to walk her back.

  He had to talk to her. She was way too quiet.

  "Melan –"

  "Why didn't she ever say anything?" she breathed. "She was always so quiet and so passive about everything." She let out a dry laugh. "I would never have guessed that she hated me this much."

  Jack slipped his arm out from her grasp and took her hand, entwining his fingers with hers. "You're not psychic."

  Melan shook her head. "I was meant to be her friend, Jack. As her friend I was meant to notice it, all of it, and I didn't." She tilted her head to the side. "And the bitch took my boyfriend."

  Jack laughed.

  She smiled. "I need to talk to Val."

  Jack bit his lip. "I'm sorry about that."

  Melan shook her head. "It's not your fault. What I'm curious about is why she was kissing him in the first place."

  They turned the corner. Jack was about to open his mouth to reply when, suddenly, they were surrounded by reporters. Hundreds of microphones were pushed into Jack's face as they began to fire questions.

  "What motivated you to sexually assault Jessica Coles?"

  Another microphone was forced into his face, hitting his nose. ""Did you think that she was giving you signs?"

  That microphone was shoved out of his face, only to be replaced with another which hit his cheek. "Did the fact that she is an Elonsican turn you on?"

  Lights flashed and more questions were fired, too many questions for Jack to fully comprehend. He tightened his grip on Melan's hand and pushed the reporters out of the way, trying to make his way through the crowd. They followed him. He shoved them out of the way and ran, Melan at his heel.

  They entered the building and ran through the main entrance, the reporters at their heel. Jack quickly made his way into the lift, then closed it. He leaned against the wall, panting. He turned his attention back to Melan who hadn't said a word throughout all of this.

  She was regarding him with a look of shock.

  Something buzzed in his pocket; it was his mobile. He pulled it out and flipped it open. He had just received a message. Jack opened it, then hi
s eyes widened.

  You'd think you'd learn from your mistakes.

  CHAPTER 13

  Jack laughed.

  His laughter sounded cold, hollow, as it rebounded against the metal walls and echoed within the elevator. Melan regarded him, seemingly contemplating something. She probably hated him.

  He looked at the message again.

  You'd think you'd learn from your mistakes

  "I'm guessing you hate me." He didn't let his voice betray any emotion. He was sick of it, all of it. He was sick of letting people read him, letting people understand his weaknesses only to exploit them and use them against him.

  She wrung her hands, then looked up at the ceiling. "I want to," she began, "but you heard me out and you were there for me when I needed it. So the least I can do is repaying the favor. Anyway-" she bit her bottom lip, then continued, "I'd be a fool to believe anything that Coles says."

  The lift stopped. The doors slid open and she stepped out. Jack followed her onto the landing. He scratched the back of his neck and turned his attention back to her. She was leaning against the wall, watching him bemusedly.

  She tilted her head to the side.

  He creased his brows. "What?"

  Her arms were folded; she shrugged. "Do you … what happened?"

  He ducked his head and shuffled his feet. This was embarrassing. "Do you remember the party?"

  She nodded slowly.

  "She kissed me there. And then yesterday –" he cut himself off. It was unnerving to tell the girl that he liked about all the things that he had done with his boss, even if they weren't technically his fault.

  "Go on," she prompted, though he had a feeling that she knew what he was about to say.

  He scratched the back of his neck. "She invited me to her flat to 'discuss' something. And she came on to me so I kind of, well, I, errhh…"

  Melan sighed. "You're such a guy."

  He raised an eyebrow. "That's more of a compliment than an insult."

  "It is."

  He shuffled his feet. "You and Coles –"

  "What's with the 'I will decapitate your head as soon as I find a sharp enough kitchen knife' look?" She pulled some of her hair out of her eyes.

  What a way to put it. "Yeah…"

  She ran both hands in her hair and began to fiddle with it; she twisted it into a bun, then let it drop again. "She's a bitch."

  He shrugged. "There's more to it than that."

  She smiled at him. "Yeah, there is," she said; there was a sigh in her voice.

  "Are you going to tell me?"

  She folded her arms again and leaned back. "I don't know…" She looked up again and their gazes met. "I guess so…since you told me."

  He scuffed the carpet with the sole of his trainer.

  She looked at him for a little longer, then took in a deep breath. "My dad, he used to work in a factory." She shuffled her feet and looked up at the ceiling, then continued, "He had a problem, a back problem, and the doctor –he told him not to life heavy things. He told this to his boss and his boss' boss was Jessica Coles." She bit her lip. "If that makes any sense."

  Jack smiled. "Go on."

  She sighed. "They moved him off of the heavy stuff for a few weeks, but after a while they moved him back onto them and said that there were no lighter jobs, so he had to cope. He decided to take it to court, because they still refused to give him a lighter job –" she cut herself off and sighed again, "–Jessica Coles decided to pay us a visit. She tried to bribe him into not taking it to court. He refused." She ran her hand over the wall. "He was always so stubborn…" She licked her lips, then let out a dry laugh. "He lost the case. And, of course, Coles just couldn't stand the fact that someone had 'defied' her. She fired him straight after to make an example of him and she made sure that he couldn't get a job after that. He fell ill shortly after and now he can barely even walk." She looked down. "My whole family, I'm their only source of income."

  He bit his lip. "I don't know what to say."

  She tilted her head to the side. "Do you want to know why she hates me?"

  "Isn't it because of –"

  She shook her head. "No. Well, sort of."

  "Go on, then. Tell me."

  She grinned and stared up at the ceiling. She looked like she was remembering something that she was especially proud of. "When she tried to bribe my dad, I tipped milk over her skirt. She's hated my guts ever since."

  Jack laughed. Before he could reply, she was already behind him and peering over his shoulder. He flipped shut his phone, quickly, but she managed to catch the message beforehand.

  Melan wrinkled up her nose. "What does she mean?"

  He shoved the mobile back into his pocket. He didn't want to tell her; he had told her enough already and he didn't want to embarrass himself further. It was bad enough that she knew about the Jessica Coles ordeal, but if she found out about what had happened a few years ago it was unlikely that she would ever trust him again.

  He didn't want her to have a bad opinion of him. Too many people seemed to have a bad opinion of him and, for once, he felt as though he had established some sort of ground with someone. He wasn't going to give that away.

  "She's probably talking about the party or something," he replied.

  She didn't look convinced. "You're lying," she stated.

  "No, I'm… not."

  He was such a bad liar.

  "You're such a bad liar." She looked amused.

  He dug his hands into his pockets and shrugged. "I guess I am."

  Melan sighed. "Tell me."

  He didn't want to tell her, though. It was far too embarrassing and he felt as though he had told her enough already. He may have liked her, but that didn't mean that he was going to spill his guts out at the first opportunity that he got.

  "I don't want to."

  She pouted. "Please?"

  She was way too persistent. "No."

  "Please?"

  He wasn't going to tell her. "No."

  "Please? Please? Please?"

  It wouldn't work. "No."

  "Please? Please? Please? PLEASE?"

  "No."

  She pouted again. Her eyes had gone watery. "Okay, then. I guess you don't have to tell me…"

  He hesitated. "It's not that I don't trust you…"

  She blinked. She had expected him to tell her. "Oh?" She sounded angry.

  How could he explain it to her? It was complicated. He didn't want to tell her, not now anyway. Maybe at another time, another place, but for now he had told her enough. He opened his mouth, then closed it. He must have looked like a gaping fish.

  "I told you."

  Her need to latch onto such immature logic annoyed him.

  "I've told you the Jessica Coles thing."

  He was tired. There was only so much he could go through in one day.

  She let out a dry laugh. "You don't trust me, do you? You think that I'm going to blackmail you, so you want to have equal dirt on me to make sure I don't –you want a fact for a fact."

  What the hell?

  Her words were laced with venom. "I had no idea you thought so lowly of me, Jack."

  How twisted was that?

  "What's with all of the warped logic?" he bit. He wasn't usually an angry person but even he had his limits.

  She pushed herself from the wall and regarded him placidly. "If you trusted me, then maybe there wouldn't be any 'warped' logic."

  A thought suddenly occurred to him. Why the hell were they having this sort of conversation? Why were they talking about trusting each other? It wasn't as if they were going out or something, so why did it matter so much?

  "You take everything too seriously." As soon as the words left his mouth, he knew that it had been a stupid thing to say.

  "What is it with you guys? I mean, everything is always way too serious for you. Everything always has to be so laid back for it to fit your ideal conversation. Can't you ever talk like adults instead of children?"

 
Oh, God.

  "Why can't you ever try to relate to someone?"

  How had the conversation suddenly turned into something so complicated?

  "Melan –"