The Broken Ones: Chapter Two

Chapter Two: Umwanted Attention

(Adam)
After arranging to go house hunting with Sarah Wallace, I sat in my little flat in my pants and moped like a saddo! I was feeling a weird mixture of emotions, I felt sick at the thought of another pack of lies, and yet I was excited to spend the following day with Sarah...

...yeah I was a complete and utter creep! But something about her, the professionalism she showed when we were in her office, if I didn't know about her recent bereavement I would never be able to tell she'd been widowed six months ago! It was like she had a switch, and she could project this altogether young lady at work and then melt into this helpless little thing in the safety of her home...and I did that to her!

And now the emotion I was feeling...was shame!

(Sarah)

"So Una tells me that you're helping some guy find a house!"

"Excuse me?" My brother scoffed and sneered at me. He'd come by to have a go at me!

"Don't make me repeat myself Sarah!"

"Uh...it is my job Mark! I help people find homes, that's what an estate agent does!" His face turned beetroot red and the veins in his neck pulsed.

"WHO IS HE???" What was his problem?

"Una said he knew John!" His eyes began to dart from side to side and he licked his lips nervously. "I don't want him to set you back, you've only just returned to work. Don't overdo things Sarah!"

"Anyway, how come Una is telling you this? Since when were you two friends?" Mark almost choked, "Oh...I see! Pillow talk eh?"

"We're doing nothing wrong, I'm single and she's single and we're consenting adults so..."

"Hey!" I held up my hands, "I am not judging, whatever makes you happy big brother!" He sighed and his demeanor changed.

"Look sweetie just...take things slowly. I thought you were restricted to office work for a while?"

"Mark, it was YOU who wanted to keep me chained behind my desk! I am perfectly capable of doing my job, and doing it well!"

"He is a friend of J...he knew him Sarah..."

"He barely knew him, they worked in the same call centre. Do you know everyone at your office, hmm?"

Mark and I sat in silence for a few moments, he knew he was being irrational. But he was the one who found me a week after John's funeral, I was up to my waist in the water, my pockets full of stones...he ran in to get me...

...and he cried on the shore. "My baby sister, oh God my baby sister!" He mumbled incoherently rocking me back and forth and that was all I could make out, I hadn't seen him cry since we were children. I had mild hypothermia and spent the night in the local hospital. I was going to drown myself, but I just stood waist deep in the water for who knows how long in the middle of winter. Mark would ring me every night to make sure I was okay, but that night I didn't answer, and when six hours went by and he still didn't get a reply...he came to the house and then he found me.

I looked at my big brother, he was so strong and together when it came to work, but anything family related brought him out in a rash. He was a police detective, and he tried to assist in John's case, but being his brother-in-law they wouldn't let him near it. I could sense that he was relieved though, it was so much easier for him to investigate strangers...but John was his friend, they'd met in high school and led each other astray right up until they left for University.

I remember when John came back to Brindleton Bay for Christmas, he'd shot up and bulked out...and my 14 year old heart was forever captured. He was no longer my brother's annoying friend, he was now everything! 

And when he graduated and moved back permanently, I was 18 and he was almost 23. Mark had gone ballistic, he warned him not to break my heart or he'd kill him. 

Well actually he said "Hurt my sister, break her heart? And I will end you Wallace, I will tear you apart and throw you to the seagulls!"

They drifted apart after that, their exchanges awkward, and when we got engaged on my 21st birthday, that was the end of their friendship. And I never understood why! Mark worked his way through all the girls in town, then got Alannah pregnant...married her...lost the baby...got divorced a year later, and now he was screwing Una! His professional life was impeccable, but his personal life was a shambles and always had been! I used to try and talk to John about it, but he didn't want to know. Whatever they had drifted apart over, it had really severed their friendship!

But it turned out that Mark needn't have bothered to get so riled about Adam, he stood me up the next day! He sent me a text telling me that he had better things to do. Maybe it was for the best, but that night I found myself reading his message over and over. It stung that he'd abandoned me, I had finally found something to take my mind off of everything and get back to work as well. Hopefully I would find another client, because thanks to Adam, I now had the motivation again!

(Adam)
I had been thinking about severing ties with Sarah, then I got a text, withheld number. An amateurish threat, but I took it as a sign. This was the wake up call I needed! I cancelled our meeting, I couldn't go on like this! I had made up my mind, I was getting out of this town and out of Sarah Wallace's life!

I went to a bar, I downed a few drinks into the wee small hours, something I hadn't done since that night over six months ago.

I met a woman, and not just any woman...

...man eating co-worker of Sarah Wallace! "Well well well!" Oh shit, not now, please not now!
"Oh hey there Ursula!" She pouted at me and sat down.

"My name is UNA!" She was three sheets to the wind, it didn't make me feel better. "So what is a pretty boy like you doing moping at a bar all alone at this hour? And why did you cancel on Sarah? You found a better company than Webster and Baird?" Webster and Baird were the estate agents she and Sarah worked for. And no I had not, I had been told to back off by some random and I was tired of playing games with that poor girl, but I wasn't telling this harlot anything!

"A job offer came up..." I lied, I was getting good at that, "...too good to pass up!" Her eyes were watery, and she looked really down. "What's brought you out here at this time?" She pouted and squeezed her eyes shut.

"I was...seeing someone, but this morning I caught him going through my computer!" She started to weep, it was messy!
"Oh...why was he doing that?" I didn't care, but I needed a distraction, and it was taking the heat off of my Houdini act that morning.

"I don't know, he wouldn't say! All he said was that it involved a case he was working on, he's a detective, so..." She sniffed and blinked back a few stray tears before continuing, "...it turns out he was just using me to get the information. He just said it involved drugs and a recent house sale we did, that's it...then he dumped me!" And then we were onto full on wailing!

"I didn't...know he could be so...cruel!" She stood up and staggered outside, and I almost let her go, but I'd not lost my chivalry just yet...

...I followed her out, it was pretty light, I looked at my watch and it was almost 5am. She was crying her heart out, "Fucking Mark Caldwell! Fucking micro penised bastard!" I spat out a laugh as she turned to face me with a startled look on her face...

...then she laughed along with me. "Well he has!"
"I'll take your word for it!" I nodded, "So maybe you should go home and get some sleep hmm?"
"Yes!" She nodded enthusiastically.

I walked her home, she was only round the corner, but I had to make sure she was okay. She invited me in, and I stupidly accepted her invitation. I wasn't thinking...and I felt sorry for her.

She told me to make myself at home, I just sat on her couch as she disappeared, the decor, it was...so her! I looked around as I waited.

Then she came back in, with nothing on...

...and came straight at me with a determined look in her eyes! "Ohhhh fuck!"

I staggered backwards towards the door and tried to avert my eyes. She did have an incredible body, there was no doubting that...and if she'd been sober and we knew each other better...good God she was hot, and it had been so long, but I ignored the swelling in my jeans and found my voice, "No Una, this...this is all wrong!"

Suddenly she gasped and placed a hand over her mouth. She cried silent sobs, her body shook with every one, and my heart went out to her. She was just a poor, lonely girl who wanted someone to love her. "Una..."
"No!" She croaked, "I'm...I misread the signals I..."
"Please don't cry?" She lunged at me again...

...but this time, all she wanted was to be held. "Shhh!" I rubbed her back, I tried to soothe her. God this Mark guy was a piece of work...wait...Mark???

"Una, sweetheart you're beautiful! I want you to know that! Okay?"
"They all say that!" She sniffed, "But you're kind Adam, you're not like the others."
"This...Mark! He's not worthy of you and one day you'll find someone who is. I have baggage, way too much! And you're drunk honey! It wouldn't be right!"

"Why did you have to be so wonderful? Why? When I can't have you!" Her body shook with even more sobs, and I wished that I could be what she wanted. But I'd been burned, so had she! A bit of strange is great, but not when you're broken like us!
"Una, trust me I am far from wonderful. And maybe in another life we could have..." She squeezed me and tutted mumbling,
"Stop talking, just hold me!"

I lay her down in her room and covered her with a blanket. She fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

And I thought about this Mark dude, Sarah's brother! I was joining the dots, he had been seeing Una until he raided her computer that morning...then I got a text...coincidence? Or was I being paranoid? Was he the one who warned me to stay away from his sister? And if so, why? He was a detective, did he know? Was he onto me?

I had already made up my mind, screw the confession! Sarah didn't need to know, I didn't want her to know, she'd hate me! I wanted her to like me, and think I was a good guy like Una did! So I was getting the hell out of Dodge...and fast!

To Be Continued...

Previous Chapters:
Prologue
Chapter One: An Unexpected Visitor