The Next Best Thing

The large man stood in front of Alex raised an eyebrow at him.

"You must be Alex," he said. Caren walked forwards and placed down the take-away they got moments before.

"Yes he is, but don't start any of your trouble," Caren said defensively. Rachel stood slouched against the kitchen counters. Her head in her hand. She stared at the ground, tears threatening to spill from her eyes.

"You," the giant man said, pointing a finger at Alex, "You're the famous Gaskarth," he said.

Alex felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. A cold chill ran down his spine and he felt on edge; somewhat defensive. Who was this man? And why was there so much hatred lacing his voice?

"Yeah, that would be me," he said quietly, not sure whether this man would start throwing his weight around.

"You're the man who ruined my daughters caree-"

"Dad!" Rachel shouted out. She slammed her fist down on the counter beside her and shook her head in disbelief. "Stop right now, because this won't solve anything. That was in the past, get over it." She gushed.

Alex stood confused. What on earth was going on?

"I'm Mason Green," the tall man said. "Rachel and Caren's father. Angie's ex husband."

Alex raised a quizzical eyebrow. Ex husband? Why was he here then?

"Dad, can you just leave?" Caren said, stepping round the side of the island counter and walking away from the situation.

Mason puffed his chest out, his bald head gleaming from the kitchen lights. He crossed his arms, obviously unhappy about something.

"No hello dad, how are you?, nothing?" he asked, directing it at Caren.

She laughed humoured by something. "I can't believe this," she muttered, shaking her head. "You leave us, don't get in contact for over eight years and then have the cheek to appear in my apartment, try to start an argument with Alex and obviously upset Rachel. Who do you think you are?" she hissed. "And what are you doing here?"

"I'm getting married," he said simply.

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Jack paced backwards and forth, not a call from Alex and Rachel, nothing.

"I'm sure he's fine. They would have called if something terrible had happened," Rian said, flicking through the newspaper. Zack continued playing on his games console, the three of them had agreed to have a quiet evening in.

"Yeah, what Rian said," Zack muttered as his car crashed into another on the screen. He wailed, throwing down the control and turned to face the others. "They'll be fine, just wait until the call you," he continued.

Jack huffed, folding his arms and shaking his head. "I'm just scared for them both." Then his face lit up. "We should go see them!"

"NO!" Both Zack and Rian said in unison.

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"So what the hell just happened there?" Alex said. His eye were wide and he sat confused on the sofa.

"That's our dad," Caren said. Rachel was still slouched against the counter and her face was emotionless. She was completely blank; even if the world was away to blow up, Alex knew this wouldn't even make her stir. She was empty.

"Are you okay?" He said, standing up. But Caren stood in from of him, pressing a light hand to his chest.

"Just leave her," she whispered. "She won't talk for a while."

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Darkness had already crept its way into the room and Alex lay on his back staring up at the ceiling. Rachel too, lay on her back - wide away, staring straight in front of her.

"Why is this all happening?" she said. This was the first time she spoke since her dad had been here.

"I really don't know," Alex said. He reached across, pulling Rachel into his arms. She rested her head on his chest and before he knew it, Alex felt small wet tears drip onto his chest. "Shhh," he said, stroking Rachel's back and hugging into her. "It'll be okay," he said soothingly.

"No, it won't." She said, "Do you know what he said to me?"

Alex waited for her to continue, a small knot in his stomach tightened and he felt his breath catch in his throat.

"He said he wished he had never met my mother," she sobbed. She wiped the tears from her stained blue eyes. "He said he wish he had met his new fiancé before her, and that his life would have been so much better if he had never met my mum."

Alex felt rage build up inside him, he didn't know Angie that well but apart from being slightly bossy and caught up in her work. He didn't feel she was that bad.

"And that's not it all," she continued. She sat up, the darkness in the room engulfing her. "He said she was the reason he split."

"But you know that's a lie," Alex said lightly. He sat up too, his arm wrapped loosely around Rachel's waist. He saw the silhoutte of Rachel's head shake.

"It's all a lie," she whimpered. "She was the reason they split... She, she..."

Alex waited until she was ready to continue.

"She had an affair with another man. She... she wasn't at home, because she already had another family with another man."