Living In The Shadows Ch. 04

He was about to speak when my mother came in with guns blazing, "You, stupid girl! What the hell were you thinking?"

"I was supposed to be a joke just to get back at her. I never thought it would be as bad as it was."

"No one found it funny, and you may have damaged a good marriage," dad said. I sobbed so hard my body trembled. I couldn't catch my breath. You always hear about someone hyperventilating but no one's ever seen someone do it. I believe I was hyperventilating; I couldn't breathe.

Mom put her hand on my back and said, "Calm down, Mel. You have to breathe, baby." She rubbed my back and tried to calm me.

"Every...one...hates...me...I'm...so...sorry," I choked out.

No one said anything to dispute that, and it upset me more. I stood and ran to my bedroom.

I locked the door and ignored the knocking of all three of them. I couldn't face my parents and I certainly couldn't face Joe. He was upset with me too and it hurt deeply. I glanced at my packed bag on the floor and realized I'd have to leave for the airport soon. I wondered if anyone would care.

***Ken***

I was beyond sorry, and as soon as I walked in the door, I groveled at Lainey's feet for forgiveness. I knew she was mad at me, so I had to tread lightly. I could also tell she was upset that it happened at all. For a moment, I felt bad for Keri. She wasn't going to come out of it unscathed.

I lay next to my wife after a vigorous round of make-up sex and kissed her. I rubbed Lainey's stomach and kissed her cheek. "Do you think it's a boy," I asked with excitement.

"Does it matter?" She asked.

"Nope," I lied. Of course, I wanted a boy after having a girl for our first child. I would, of course, love her as much as anything if she were another girl, but who wouldn't want one of each?

"Liar," she said and playfully slapped my shoulder.

"Why didn't you tell us at Thanksgiving?" I asked. It made more sense to me than waiting another month.

"I don't know. I guess I wanted to make sure I was farther along before telling everyone. I don't know, maybe that's silly."

"I would've liked to know," I said quietly. I was upset that she held it back from me. Why shouldn't I be told before the rest of the family. I wondered if there was something she wasn't telling me, but I quickly forgot about that train of thought as she grabbed my spent soldier.

She asked, "Wanna play, Jace Stryker rescues his assistant?"

My cock jumped and hardened as she smiled. I growled, "Miss Jameson, aren't you going to show your rescuer some appreciation?"

Lainey shrieked and said, "Sorry, Mr. Stryker. I'll get right on it. You know you're my hero for rescuing me again. What would I ever do without you?"

I sighed as she kissed her way down my body. Life did not suck.

***Melanie***

An hour later, I walked downstairs with my bag and realized no one was home. I wasn't surprised Joe left, but mom and dad had Isabella. I could only assume they took her back to Lainey's or to lunch or something. I was saddened. They knew what time I was leaving for the airport, and they weren't there to say goodbye. They didn't even bother to leave a note.

I cried as I ordered an Uber. I'd be later than I wanted to be, but I'd still have time to make my flight.

I sat at the kitchen table and tried to eat a banana. I couldn't even eat half as my stomach was so upset. I screwed up so badly I wondered if I would be welcome to go home for Christmas. I couldn't imagine how I could be so stupid as to play that joke. I mean, my parents were so pissed at me they weren't even seeing me before I went back to school. I wondered what Joe thought of me.

My Uber pulled in the driveway, and I walked out as if I were walking on death row. I looked back at the house once more before I sat in the back seat. I cried as the driver pulled out and wondered how I could repair my relationship with my sister and parents. Then I began to sob harder when I wondered if Ken would stop paying for my school. The driver got worried about my crying, but I assured him, I was just upset to be leaving my family.

***Angela***

I watched my granddaughter eat her ice cream as Ryan made funny faces at her. He did the same thing to our girls when they were little, and Isabella made the same mess they did as the ice cream drooled from her mouth down her chin.

I thought it was too cold for ice cream, but she didn't mind, and Ryan felt she wasn't reacting well to the excitement of the morning. I wasn't either.

Mel messed up big time and it would take a long time to repair her relationship with her sister. I couldn't understand why she did it. Lainey told us about sending condoms to her room in California, but that didn't warrant the escalation Mel took. That's not even much of a prank. But what Mel did? Christ, if I found a condom in our room, Ryan's ass would have a permanent footprint on it from when I'd kick him out of my house.

Thankfully, our granddaughter took our minds off of Mel and Lainey for a couple of hours. When Mel locked herself in her room, I knew from previous tiffs that she was going to shut down for a while and then snap out of it and we'd begin the process to make it right. It was when I was thinking of that, I realized i lost track of the time.

"Ryan, what time is Mel's flight?" I asked.

He looked at me with his cute clueless expression and said, "I don't know. It's on the paper on the fridge."

I saw that it was almost three o'clock and panicked. "I think her flight was at 2:30." I grabbed my phone and called her; it went straight to voicemail.

"Damn it, Ryan. It went to voicemail."

"Call the house," he suggested.

I shook my head. "She never has her phone off." I started crying. "Oh, my God! We missed her flight. I didn't get to say goodbye."

"Let's go," he said and started to wipe up the mess Isabella made.

***

We walked in the house and saw the flight was at 2:40. We missed it. I sat down and cried. "She must think we hate her."

Ryan said, "No, she'd know better."

"After what happened today? Everyone ganging up on her. She's on a plane back to California and thinks her family hates her. Oh, God!"

I picked up the phone and called her again. After the voicemail beep, I said, "Melanie, baby, we're so sorry we missed taking you to the airport. No matter what, we all love you and wanted to see you off. Please forgive us and give me a call as soon as you get this. I'm so sorry."

I ended the call and cried again.

***Joe***

I was waiting for my flight at the airport lost in thought when someone plopped into the seat next to me and sighed dramatically.

"I suppose you hate me too," Melanie said, surprising me.

"No," I said, "I don't hate you. You're on the 2:40? I didn't know that."

"Yeah. Keri is flying out later," she answered quietly.

"I don't hate you, Melanie. I'll be honest and say I'm questioning what kind of person you are if you could do that to your sister though."

"It was supposed to be a joke, Joe. She was supposed to recognize the brand as the ones she sent me. They weren't supposed to split up."

She wrapped her arms around herself and cried. I wanted to put my arms around her and make her feel better, but I was still torn on what I was going to do.

I struggled with what to make of what she did to her sister. Was it just a bad joke that was way over the line? Or was it part of her personality that she could hurt someone like that in return for an immature prank?

"Melanie, I don't know what to say."

"I'm not bad person, Joe. I made a bad decision and I wish I could take it back. Lainey wouldn't even talk to me to let me apologize and Ken pretty much told me to fuck off. My parents left and didn't even come back to see me off. I'm dying over this, and I feel so alone."

She melted me. I turned and opened my arms to her. She rushed into them and sobbed into my shoulder. "Please don't leave me too," she begged.

I would have loved to tell her I wouldn't, but I had no idea of what I was going to do.

To be continued...