Live In Position

by Sadie Grubor

  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 going. 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?"

  "No," 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 direct
ion.

  "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.

  "What do you –?"

  Suddenly all of their eyes flashed around the room and then back to her.

  "She's here right now." Ilene wiped her face free of the crazy tears soaking her cheeks. Her eyes were smudged where her makeup had run. Their eyes snapped to me.

  "Whoa. No! I don't know any Juliet." I put my hands up defensively.

  Ilene's laughter picked up and she sounded like a sick hyena.

  "No, no…it's not her." She sniffed a couple of times. Then Ilene's eyes turned to Allison.

  "Wh-what?" Allison seemed to break before our eyes. She began to wail loudly and collapsed. Jonathan picked her up bridal style and headed toward the stairs.

  "Thank your sweet father dear!" Ilene shouted as Jonathan carried his wife away. Jonathan's head snapped toward Ilene; filled with disgust and hatred.

  "Mother," Max hissed.

  "Allison is Juliet's daughter?" Dr. Bishop still spoke robotically.

  "Don't tell me you’ve never wondered why she looks the least like any of us." Ilene snorted.

  I couldn't believe how callus she was being. My hands were clenching my thighs so tightly I swore I was going to give myself bruises.

  "You cold, heartless bitch!" Larissa snapped. My jaw dropped.

  "Babe…" Max tried to calm her.

  "How dare you?" Ilene accused.

  "How dare I? You have the nerve to ask how I dare? I'll tell you how I dare." Larissa stepped toward her and slapped her face. "Why do you have to be so cold? She’s your daughter!"

  "Obviously, she's not," Ilene sneered.

  Larissa raised her hand again, but Max grabbed her and took her out of the room. Larissa was still shouting over Max's shoulder. Obscenities I never thought I would hear from Larissa spilled from her lips.

  "Collin, darling?" Her voice was sickeningly sweet toward him.

  Dr. Bishop didn't move. He stood staring off into nothing. Then he just fell back into the chair next to me. His arms flailed out, one landing next to me. The warmth of his arm soaked into my thigh and spread.

  "Collin?" Ilene pleaded for a respond.

  "I think you should go lie down, Mother." He barely got the words out.

  "Darling, you know how much I love you. I never wanted any of you to find –"

  "But we did." He looked at her with sorrowful eyes. "And you hurt Allison deeply."

  Ilene stiffened.

  "I need to be alone." He spat angrily and closed his eyes tightly.

  "Very well," Ilene brushed away nothing from her skirt and stood. She held her chin high as she climbed the stairs.

  I shifted slightly and stood quietly, his arm lost contact with me.

  "Is that what happened?" I froze at his voice, "With Jonathan?"

  "Yes." I said in a whisper. "Nothing happened and nothing will happen." I didn't turn around.

  "The night of the dance recital…there was…"

  "Yes, but I handled it." I was eying the doorway out of the room like it was the Holy freaking Grail.

  "You should’ve told me." He said in his robotic tone.

  "I handled it." I took a step to leave.

  "I believe you." I heard the chair creak. Glancing over my shoulder, I watched him disappear into another hallway.

  Chapter Thirteen

  "What the hell happened?" Amber hissed. Having just stepped onto the third floor when she grabbed me by my arm, pulling me into the room she shared with Ryan, all I could do was shake my head.

  "Don't even ask." I groaned.

  "I can't believe Jonathan did that to you." She exclaimed, my eyes widened and shot up to her face. They had heard that too…ugh.

  "I can't believe Allison isn't Ilene's daughter." William mumbled.

  "It's all just one big freaking circus." I sighed and shook my head to trying to clear it. "Where are the kids?" I looked around.

  "They're watching a movie with Victoria." William motioned over his shoulder and back out the door.

  I sighed again. It was obvious they’d heard the majority of what happened. I slouched down into a chair and hid my face in my hands.

  "Sophia?" Amber's voice sounded worried.

  "Hmm?"

  "Are you okay?" I felt her presence and when I looked through my fingers, I saw her kneeling down in front of me. William stood behind her.

  "Yeah, just tired." Removing my hands from my face, I forced a smile.

  "If you don't want to talk about it, we understand." William winked and offered his hand.

  "Thanks." I smiled and allowed him to pull me up on my feet. "I think it's going to be a pretty tense house for awhile."

  They both nodded in agreement.

  "Let's go watch a movie." I bumped shoulders with Amber and we headed out to the hall. There was a feeling inside me that the craziness had only just begun.

  "Get out!" Allison's screech was unmistakable.

  "What the hell is going on?" Max's voiced boomed up from the second floor.

  "I want him out!"

  "Allison, calm down and get a hold—"

  "Go to hell Jonathan! Get out. Go away! I can't even look at you anymore."

  We froze in the hallway, listening to the commotion on the floor below. A door slammed loudly, causing Amber and I to both jump. Then the loud pounding began and Jonathan's yelling followed.

  "Let me in, Allison. We need to discuss this in private."

  There was loud muffled screaming, but the door made it inaudible.

  "Fine Allison, Fine! That's what you want…then Fine. It's always about what you want or what you decide anyhow."

  The distinct sound of thumping footsteps, a door slam, and car tires spinning on gravel were heard. We looked at each other with wide eyes and hurried toward the kids.

  After the kids fell asleep, we took them to their assigned beds before climbing into our own.

  The following morning everyone was quiet, except the kids. They were their typical selves. The twins were arguing over who had more syrup, Victoria was humming songs from the little mermaid, Ryan was demanding Amber's attention, but only because she was holding M.J.

  I took M.J. so she could tend to Ryan. When Victoria was finished eating she cleaned up her plate and waited for me to take her upstairs to get dressed. I turned to Amber, who was still busy with Ryan.

  "Hey, you go ahead and eat. I can take him up with us."

  "Are you sure?" She examined my face for confirmation. I readjusted M.J. against my chest before nodding.

  "Sure. No problem at all. Do you have clothes set out for him alrea
dy or do you want me to just wait?"

  "His clothes are on the dresser, but I'll try to get up there in time to take care of it." Amber grabbed a plate and some food before sitting down to the table. "Thank you so, so, much."

  The three of us headed toward the stairs. Victoria and I looked to our left when we heard a door open and footsteps against the hard wood floor. Dr. Bishop stopped when he spotted us, his eyes examining us closely.

  "Good morning Daddy!" Victoria's chipper voice sang out to him.

  He hesitated for a moment and then his eyes rested on M.J. I suddenly got nervous. Would he get angry if I was helping with another child? Would he say Amber wasn't doing her job?

  "I, uh, I'm just helping Amber out this morning." My words were quick, hoping he wouldn't get angry.

  His brow furrowed before he looked down to Victoria.

  "Good morning, Victoria." He smiled warmly.

  I quickly ushered her up the stairs. The feeling of his intense gaze followed us until we were finally out of view. I released the nervous breath I’d been holding and continued up to the third floor.

  Victoria, M.J., and I were fully dressed when we passed Amber and Ryan coming up the stairs. "Geez, you're fast." Amber giggled. "Two kids taken care of, along with yourself, that's impressive."

  "What can I say…I'm good." I winked. She put her arms out for M.J. I handed him over.

  "Thanks Sophia. I owe you."

  I shrugged. "Don't worry about it. He was a perfect angel." Victoria and I continued down the stairs.

  "What’re we going to do today?" She turned and looked up to me.

  "Hmmm…" I rubbed my chin. I decided it would probably be best to get out of the house after everything that had happened. "How about we see if there's a movie playing at the theater?"

  She smiled brightly. "I'll get my shoes."

  I laughed as she ran toward the coat closet and started digging out her shoes.

  "Hey, don't throw everyone else's shoes all over." I laughed and moved to help her find her shoes. Once our shoes were on, I grabbed my bag, slinging it over my shoulder and across my chest.

  "Where are you two going?” I spun at the sound of Dr. Bishop's voice.

  He stood before us in a pair of khaki cargo shorts and a white t-shirt, a pair of leather sandals on his feet. It was quite a different look than what I was used to and it wasn't until Victoria spoke that I snapped out of my lingering appraisal of him.