by Angel Devlin
We both stood up and hugged our brother in turn.
“Do not get that shit on my face.” Milo pointed to Ezra’s lips. “My woman will smack me first, ask questions later.”
“I’m looking forward to meeting her.” Ezra said. “I’ve access to psychologists for her, to test her mental state at living with you and accepting your proposal.”
Milo placed his hands on his hips and his legs wide apart. “She’s already done that, big bro, so ner-ner na ner-ner.”
There was something about when any number of us got together, that we dropped back into being childlike. It usually resulted in someone having their head rubbed with knuckles.
“You never said you were coming.” I chastised my brother, although good-naturedly.
“And spoil the surprise!” He sat himself down on Milo’s lounger. “Get us a beer, Miley.”
Milo chuntered but walked off through the gate towards his own house.
“So how long are you here for?” I asked Ezra, though it was weird seeing as he looked like someone else entirely and not even the right sex.
“About a week in London filming. I start Wednesday and will need to travel down Tuesday. So, I’m only here a couple of days, but I thought I could meet Eli. Be good to not be a stranger to him.”
“He’s coming to stay tomorrow until Friday, so he’ll love it.”
“That works out perfectly then. Obviously, I’ll try to surface at a reasonable time in the morning, but I’m five hours behind you, so wake me up if I’m dead to the world. Don’t tell him I’m here either. It’ll be a nice surprise for him.”
“God, he’ll be starstruck. He can’t believe he has a famous actor for a brother.”
Ezra laughed. “So, if Eli’s coming then he’ll be in Milo’s old room, right?”
“Yeah, Finn has it all set up for him.”
“I’ll see if I can stay in Milo’s spare room then.”
“Nah, your family will want to see you. You can take my room and I’ll sleep on the sofa for a couple of nights. It won’t hurt. Can’t have your delicate acting skin damaged by sofa surfing. I’ll make sure to order some thousand percent Egyptian cotton sheets.”
Ezra stuck out his tongue at me.
“How come you’re not staying in a hotel like usual?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe it’s something to do with the whole Eli sitch. I just feel like if Dad can accept Eli then I shouldn’t carry on being an arse pain to him. Should try to smooth things over.”
“So you’re no longer blaming Dad for Mum leaving now you can see she has form?” I arched a brow.
“Ouch, those words were a bit barbed, but yeah, something on those lines.”
“I think having Eli around is helping Dad to deal with things a little. Angela helps.”
“Angela? Is he dating?”
“God, no. Angela is Eli’s mum. She’s been there since he was a baby. Put up with his dad’s behaviour it would appear, to make sure Elijah had someone.”
“Good job really, because otherwise goodness knows how the kid would have ended up, with an absent mother and junkie father.”
“Exactly. Anyway, I think Dad speaks to her regularly on the phone, only she’s very protective of Eli and I think she’s nervous that she might lose him, given that she’s not a blood relation.” I laid my head back on my own lounger and placed my hand across my eyes to block out the sun.
“I wonder where she is?” I stated.
“I take it you mean our errant mother.” Ezra replied.
“Yup. She could be anywhere in the world. She could even be dead.”
Ezra snorted at that. “You’re so dramatic. Thought of writing for Hollywood?”
I took my hand away from my face and squinted over at him. “She could be. Violet didn’t know Dan was dead.”
“Dan was a weak-arsed junkie. Our mother was strong enough to walk out on six children.”
“Seven.”
“Fuck, yeah, seven.”
“There could even be more. Who knows if she did it again?”
“Some people weren’t meant to be parents.” He said bitterly. I flinched, but of course Ezra didn’t know I couldn’t have children. His words weren’t meant for me.
Milo came back to the gate, Vi behind him. I realised he’d been a long time in getting Ezra a drink and decided to wind him up about it.
“That drink was a long time coming, did something else come up?” I winked.
Milo scowled as he came closer. “Did it hell. I’ve had to wait while she’s got changed and done her hair and make up.” He kept his voice low near my ear while Violet introduced herself to Ezra like she’d just met the Queen.
“Look, she’s even got a copy of a bloody women’s magazine he was on.” He grumbled, as we watched Vi shake the magazine and pen she was holding in Ezra’s face.
“You don’t think she accepted my proposal just to get near him, do you?” He asked, showing an air of vulnerability seldom seen in my brother.
“Don’t be ridiculous. She’s just fangirling. Let her have this moment, because soon she’ll get to know the real Ezra and the starry eyes will disappear. He’ll just become another member of the Waite family to her. He farts like the rest of us.”
“So are we all going to go down the pub later?” I shouted across to Ezra. “Let the local superstar have his moment.”
“I’ll go looking like this.” He pointed to his face. “Then I’ll be left in peace.”
"Yeah, right, as if Geoff won't have you covered." I laughed.
“Go and get that crap off your face and spend some more time in the house with Dad, Finn, Silas, and Jules.” Milo said bossily.
“Noooooo. They can come to the pub later as well, can’t they?” Violet pouted. “I’m chatting to Ezra right now.”
Milo huffed through his nose. It was audible to me, but not to the still starstruck Violet.
He left it for a further few minutes and then he told me he’d see me later, went up to Violet, kissed her cheek and went back into the house. Ten seconds later I saw Ezra and Violet looking extremely uncomfortable before she yelled, “That fucking man.”
She went stomping off in the direction of her house and I looked questioningly at Ezra. “Milo farted,” was his simple response.
I needed to be careful what I said to Milo. It obviously gave him ideas.
Ezra did clean all the make-up off his face before we went to the pub. Jules told him straight that she wouldn't be able to take it if people declared him the prettiest Waite. She provided him with a pack of cleansing wipes and told him to hurry up.
Eventually, everyone was ready to go, and we walked en masse down the road and around the corner to the Half Moon pub. As we walked through the door, the landlord, Geoff, spotted Ezra and banged the gong that usually heralded last orders, making a few customers double check their watches and another couple stand up quickly to head to the bar. As everyone went quiet wondering why Geoff had signalled last orders at eight thirty at night, he clapped his hands together as we approached and began to shout, "Well, well, well, if it isn't Willowfield's golden boy Ezra Waite, returned from the Big Apple and La La land, now back where he belongs.” As Geoff beckoned him over and asked him what he wanted to drink on the house, a low hum of chatter travelled around the bar. Some of the patrons, the regulars on a Sunday night, knew that Ezra Waite was the local boy done good and smiled at him or walked over and patted him on the back. The Willowfield regulars did not treat Ezra with any starry eyes or special treatment. Neither did they expect him to get his hand in his pocket and buy them all a drink. In fact, it was the reverse. They all wanted to buy him a drink to let him know they weren't after his riches. The landlord banged his gong again and shouted at the top of his voice, "Anyone caught annoying Ezra for an autograph tonight or taking photos of him will find themselves barred from the pub. Leave the lad alone with his family and let him enjoy a night of peace in his hometown." The regulars clapped, cheered, and who
oped as we walked over to one of the larger tables and then carried on with their evening like we hadn't come in at all.
"How come Ezra always gets a free pint when he's stinking rich, but those of us who have to graft hard for every penny have to bloody buy theirs." Moaned Finn.
"I have to graft bloody hard too." Ezra picked up a beer mat and flung it towards Finn. "I‘ve been wearing four-inch heels all week while being on a film set from five am until one am."
I noticed that Violet was sitting watching the interaction between the brothers with silent rapture, while Milo sat with his arms folded across his chest, pouting like a child who’d just been denied an ice cream.
"That barmaid, Lisa, keeps looking over here, Callum." Milo stated, his eyes meeting mine. Ezra's head quickly turned to look at me.
"Lisa?"
Milo nodded. "Callum asked her out the other week. Well, he meant to ask her out, but instead, he ended up giving her a business card and himself a headache."
"Leave me alone. I told you I need practice. It's been a long time since I dated anyone and I clearly forgot how to talk to women." I raised my hands at him in a gesture of surrender.
"So she didn't agree to go out with you then?" Ezra queried.
"No, I honestly don't think she even realised I was trying to ask her out."
Milo looked back to the bar area where Lisa's gaze flickered over in our direction before her attention had to return to serving a customer.
"Yup, definitely looking over with interest. You might want to try asking her out again. Only this time try it in English rather than nervous gibberish." Milo advised helpfully. “What do you think, Silas? You're the one who knows how to woo the ladies." He shouted across to Silas. Silas had been chatting with Jules and was oblivious to my conversation, so Milo filled him in on my desperately lacking chat up skills and explained once again how he wanted the expert’s advice. Of course Silas lapped up the compliment.
"Look, Callum, you just need to go over there, tell her she looks lovely tonight and then ask her if you can ring her sometime to arrange a date."
"That's what was supposed to happen last time, but he almost ended up testing her electrics instead of her mattress." Milo quipped.
Violet elbowed Milo in his arm. "Leave him alone, Milo Waite. Your own chat up lines leave a lot to be desired. They belong more to a Carry On film than they do the 21st century."
"You fucking love it, Princess."
As Violet rolled her eyes at him, Milo stood up, picked her up, and put her over his shoulder.
“Say goodnight to everyone, Princess.”
“Put me down, you brute.” She cried, banging her fists on his back.
“Goodnight all. I’m off to remind my woman how much she loves my c—”
“The next words out of your mouth better be ‘caveman ways’, Milo Waite.” Violet yelled.
He laughed wickedly and then walked out of the pub still carrying her over his shoulder.
"So who is betting that Violet will be back here within five minutes, followed by a red cheeked Milo?" Jules asked with a raised brow.
"No, she digs it really." I turned towards my sister. "I have been watching them closely lately and they really are just madly in love with each other, warts and all."
“It’s good at least one of us has managed to find someone.” Ezra exhaled a deep sigh.
“So you’re not hiding anyone in the Big Apple then?” I asked him.
His eyes widened and for a moment he looked uncomfortable and I recalled the female voice I’d heard in the background when I’d called him about Eli. But then his face became composed and he shook his head, another sigh leaving his mouth.
“No. There’s no secret love of my life in New York.”
When I had enjoyed a couple more pints that my siblings brought to the table, I finally got up the courage to go to the bar and attempt to ask Lisa on a date once more. She might well say no, but I needed to practice anyway. Plus, I'd kept looking over at her and on more than one occasion—several in fact—she'd been looking back over at me. Feeling brave, I approached the bar.
"Hey, Lisa. How are you?" Way to go, Callum. Bowl her over with your amazing repertoire, why don't you? I thought sarcastically. It was better that I treated this like pulling off a plaster. "Do you fancy going out one night, for a drink?" I looked at her face with its hesitant features and then I realised what I had said. "God, of course you don't want to go out for a drink; not when you spend your time serving them to other people. How about dinner instead?"
She smiled at me which put me more at ease. "It must be nice to have Ezra home. Is he staying long? Only won’t you want to spend time with him?"
What a thoughtful person, I acknowledged, while my mind wondered if she was giving me the brush off again. "Oh, he's only here for two days. He goes to London on Wednesday. So if you fancy that meal on Wednesday evening, Ezra will have left."
"Wednesday evening it is then." Lisa said and then she peeled the covering paper off a beer mat, picked up a pen and scrolled her phone number across the mat before picking it up and handing it to me. "Send me a text to let me know the details." She added. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'd better get back to work."
I returned to my seat with a huge smile on my face. Ezra looked at me as if I was under a microscope. "So you went to the bar to get me a drink but came back empty-handed." He raised a brow, "care to explain?"
"I have a fucking date, bro." I sat back in my seat, my heart beating fast with the adrenaline rush of having taken a chance for once in my life.
"With Lisa?" My brother checked.
I nodded.
"Interesting." He added. “Well done, bro. Now is it a pint you want because I’d better go to the bar?”
Chapter Sixteen
Callum
Ezra’s visit was like a breath of fresh air. All of us were so happy to have him in the house again. He and Dad talked alone for a time and the tension that had been in the house when he’d visited before disappeared. Eli came to stay and was like an overenthusiastic puppy at having his famous brother in the house.
But before we knew it, it was Tuesday and time for Ezra to go on to London.
“Will you get chance to come back to visit us before you return to New York?” Eli asked him, a pang in his tone.
Ezra rubbed the hair on the top of Eli's head. “Not this time, squirt. But I’ll be back in a few months for a premiere and I’ll make sure to see you then. You still want to come to one, right?”
“Fuck, yeah.” Eli asked. Then he sensed my eyes on him and looked to see my raised brows.
“Erm, sorry. Yeah, I can’t wait. Will I need a suit?”
“We’ll sort all that nearer the time.” Ezra told him. “In the meantime, concentrate on school and keeping your mum sweet.”
And then with hugs for us all, something vastly different to the usual Ezra, his taxi arrived and he left.
“Do you reckon he’s fucking dying?” Milo asked. “Cos he’s hugging us like he cares. Best acting of his life.”
“I reckon he’s dropping his mask.” Dad told Milo. “We had a good chat. What your mum did with Eli has made him realise that he couldn’t carry on blaming me. That your mother has form for abandoning her children. We might just have Ezra back.” I turned to see a tear in my dad’s eyes.
We all stepped forward and had a massive family hug. And then dad reminded us there was work to be done.
I took Eli around with me on my jobs. Despite saying he was useless at practical stuff, he soon learned how to make a good cup of tea and began asking lots of questions. His interest in what I was doing was genuine and I found myself enjoying explaining things to him. I realised that while I might never be a father, I could be a good male role model to Eli, take him under my wing a bit, and encourage him to make the right choices in life. Suddenly, a cloud in my life seemed to have lifted. There was purpose in caring for my brother, and then I had a date tomorrow night. Finally, I saw a way forward.
<
br /> Before I knew it, the time had arrived. I was putting on a shirt and a pair of slacks and going on a date. I thought it would be Milo riding my arse about it but instead Finn was on my case.
“You got condoms?” He caught me on the upstairs landing just as I left my room to walk down the stairs.
I tilted my head and then shook it at him in disbelief. “I’m not putting out on a first date.”
“Such high standards for someone whose right bicep is twice the size of his left.”
“Sod off.”
He patted me on the back. “Seriously, bro. It’s good to see you getting back on the horse, and Lisa’s a nice looking filly.”
“Spend less time with Miley.” I ordered him and he just laughed. “What about you, anyway? Seeing anyone at the moment?”
“Nope. I have a friends-with-benefits situation and that suits me just fine.” He replied.
I said I’d see him later and with that I was out of the door, into the car and picking up Lisa from outside her house.
“Hey,” she said as she climbed into the passenger seat.
“Hi. I booked us a table at Bella Italia. Is that okay?”
“Absolutely. I’m craving a pizza so that will hit the spot.” She rubbed at her tummy. Lisa was attractive with freckles across her cheeks and I liked the fact that as she patted her stomach it wasn’t washboard flat. Silas liked the fit types. I preferred someone who’d rather sit with a large popcorn and watch a film. I hoped Lisa was like that.
“So did Ezra get off okay?” She asked me as I drove to the restaurant. I liked that she’d remembered what I said about him going, but then again, I’d said for us to meet today because he’d have left. Stop trying to make her fit your boxes, I chastised myself. Relax and let it come naturally.
“Yep, that’s him off to London filming and he doesn’t have time to come back for now. He says he’ll be back in a few months when he has a premiere.”