Thanks Lois for the beta...you're the greatest! Chapter 2 – The Quiet Storm Later that Same Day…(Day 14) Later that afternoon, Lindsay was sitting at their shared desk, with a stack of articles and print outs in front of her. Melanie entered the room and tried to look over her partner’s shoulder to see what she was doing. There was a look on Lindsay’s face that Melanie had never seen before. It was as if Lindsay’s mind was clearly somewhere else. “Lindsay, what are you doing?” Melanie asked. “Oh…I’m updating a scrapbook,” Lindsay whispered. “Oh…Gus and Jenny?” Melanie asked hopefully. “Oh…no…no…I subscribe to a clipping service to keep track of stuff about Justin. They send me material and information, but I’ve gotten behind updating things…updating the scrapbook…you know,” Lindsay explained. “He’s really amazing isn’t he?” Lindsay said, with a far away look in her eyes. “And, he keeps getting better and better.” “I don’t know a lot about art, but I do know that the painting he sent to me looked different that the stuff he usually paints. But in spite of that, it was a magnificent painting,” Melanie said with pride. “Justin is always so cutting edge, but he never sacrifices the beauty of the painting.” “I only wish I had what he has,” Lindsay said with a sigh. “My life would have turned out so different.” And with that, Lindsay returned to her realm in the other world, working on her scrapbook. It was an innocent enough statement to make, and if Gus had been running around the house, the statement probably would have gone unnoticed. But Gus wasn’t running around, not this time, and Melanie was paying attention. Melanie felt a chill in the air, a cold snap. Lindsay was completely oblivious to the powder keg that just exploded. Internally Melanie went ballistic with the statement that Lindsay just made, but Melanie tried to maintain her calm exterior. So she calmly walked over and checked on Jenny Rebecca. Seeing that her daughter was happily playing with her toys, Melanie walked into the kitchen and poured herself a glass of white wine. She wanted something stronger, but she was afraid she might need to keep her wits about her. Melanie felt as if she had been slapped, and she couldn’t understand how Lindsay could just sit there quietly as if nothing had happened. All Melanie could feel was the pain, and the more she thought about things, the worse it hurt. Then Melanie thought about Brian, and her mind repeated, “pain management” with every sip of wine, and she silently thanked Brian for his many lessons. Finally her racing heart began to calm as her mind replayed Lindsay’s last remark: ”I only wish I had what he has, my life would have turned out so much different.” Melanie felt she now understood it all. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ All during dinner, Melanie kept her mask in place. Never once giving a hint to Lindsay that anything was wrong. Lindsay, in complete oblivion to the brewing firestorm, chatted about Gus and upcoming events at the gallery. Dinner conversation was light and pleasant. That evening after dinner, Melanie asked her cousin to keep Jenny Rebecca for the night. Lindsay was imagining an evening of candlelight and romance, as she waited in the bedroom for Melanie to return. Lindsay was sorely disappointed when a very business-like Melanie entered their bedroom, and took a seat at the foot of the bed. She was now in full lawyer mode and ready to begin her interrogation. “Lindsay, I’m going to ask you some questions, and I need you to be completely honest with me, Ok?” Melanie began, trying to control all that she was feeling. “Sure, what’s going on?” Lindsay asked, trying to figure out what was happening. Lindsay could see that Melanie was tense, but Lindsay couldn’t understand why. “Tell what you meant by ‘I only wish I had what he has, my life would have turned out so much different.’ Tell me what you regret.” Melanie demanded calmly. “Do you remember when we first met Justin? He was so young, so innocent. He wanted Brian. He had no idea what he was letting himself in for, but he grabbed on and he held on with both hands. He successfully rode the tiger. He succeeded where others had failed. Brian wanted to marry Justin. Can you imagine? Michael and I have known Brian a lifetime; yet Justin understands things about Brian that Michael and I never even knew existed. Do you know what it’s like to watch this little kid come to understand things that you never even saw?” Lindsay explained. “Lindsay, are you jealous of Justin?” Melanie asked. “No. Not really. It’s just that Brian seems to give Justin so much. He always has.” “What do you mean?” “Brian has always earned a good living. He’s always had money. Justin came along, and money suddenly became important to Brian. Brian did the Pool Boy campaign so that he could earn the bonus and with it, he could pay off his loft. That’s not Brian. Brian wanted to pay off his loft because Justin was there. And in his own convoluted way, Brian wanted to take care of Justin. Brian wanted Justin to be secure.” “I see.” “Then Brian paid for Justin to go to PIFA, so Justin could develop his talent.” “Well, you were the one who suggested and encouraged Justin to go there.” “Yeah, but I never expected Brian to pay for it. I thought his parents would pay. But instead Brian spent his money on Justin.” “Lindsay, with all the shit that Justin had to put up with in dealing with Brian, there is no amount of money that Brian could spend that would even begin to compensate Justin for his agony.” Melanie said with a smile. “Melanie, Brian has a son. He should be lavishing all his money on Gus not Justin.” Lindsay pointed out. “Is that why you wanted Brian to be the Gus’s father, because of the things you thought he would give Gus that you and I could not provide? Was that what you were thinking?” Melanie asked in horror. “No...no...that’s not what I meant.” Lindsay tried to explain. “Because, we told Brian if he agreed to be the donor, that he would be absolved of all financial responsibility. Yet every time I turn around you’re always asking Brian for money for some reason or other for Gus,” Melanie accused. “And you’re no different. You demanded the million-dollar life insurance policy on Brian’s life right after Gus was borne…so, you tell me how is that so different?” Lindsay inquired, demanding to know. “ I demanded the life insurance to protect Gus. You ask for money from Brian out of a sense of entitlement because you have his child. Likewise because you have his child, you expect him to fulfill his pseudo husband role and to take care of YOU as well as his child,” Melanie acknowledged. “The problem is, in this scenario, I have no place.” “How can you say that? I told you if it wasn’t for you I wouldn’t have had Gus.” “Sure. If you didn’t have a partner you would have never had Brian’s child. You would have never had your pseudo family. After all you had to keep Brian longing for more and more of this son, for that’s a part of what keeps him bound to you. The more he wants to see his son, the more you get to see Brian. It becomes an never ending cycle and it keeps Brian bound to you as well.” “No! You’re wrong!” Lindsay protested. “Am I Lindsay?” Melanie asked. “You use to think that Brian and Justin were just cute together, didn’t you. You never expected it to last, did you?” “No. I didn’t,” Lindsay whispered. “And I never expected him to buy that fucking mansion for Justin. How could he? Well at least they’re not living in that place.” “What did you say?” Melanie asked in complete disbelief. “Well?” And with that Melanie couldn’t take anymore. She couldn’t believe what she’d heard. She wanted to run from the house crying and screaming, but she knew that wasn’t an option. Melanie walked over and kissed the top of Lindsay’s head and said, “Lindsay, I’m so sorry about the way things turned out for you.” Then she quietly walked into the guest room and closed the door. Melanie crawled into the bed and pulled the covers over her head. Melanie lay in stunned silence until she fell asleep. Lindsay was left sitting in bed trying to figure out what just happened. Here she had been anticipating a romantic evening with her partner. Instead she was subjected to the grand inquisition. Lindsay knew Melanie was upset; the fact that Lindsay found herself alone in their bed was a real tip off. But as Lindsay sat there trying to understand why, there were no answers in sight for her. In her state of confusion with no answers in sight, Lindsay turned out the light and eventually drifted off to sleep.