A Beautiful Lie
Chapter 11
Shannon’s relationship with Liz wasn’t going exactly as he’d thought it would. Six months had passed since that day at Starbucks, and he still couldn’t seem to get thoughts of Penne out of his head. If anything, the fact that he was dating Liz made it worse, because now he felt like he was betraying Penne, and every time he looked at Liz, held her, kissed her, all he could think about was the fact that she wasn’t Penne. The guilt was driving him insane. But he went along with it, not mentioning a word to Liz, because fear of hurting her, coupled with the thought of being single again, made his stomach turn. Liz had noticed his less than affectionate behaviour, though, and it unsettled her.
Jared had done as Tam asked and stopped worrying so much about Shannon, and he felt much better for it. He liked the thought of his brother dating other people; it seemed like a sign that he might be finally starting to move on. As for Jared’s life since the wedding, it had been marvellous. He and Tam were now expecting a baby, and thrilled in the whole process; buying toys, going to birthing classes and looking almost obsessively at ultrasound photos of their unborn child.
Tomo and Celia had been holidaying in Australia for five months, renting an apartment on the Gold Coast. Tomo had taken this opportunity to try his luck on a surfboard, and found that he wasn’t too bad at it; he rode waves constantly while Celia watched excitedly from the shore and sometimes swam out to meet him and sit on the board as he caught a wave back in to the shore. It was one of these times, when the two were sitting on the board waiting for a good wave to wash them in, that Tomo asked Celia to marry him. He put a plastic ring on her finger, swapping it for the real thing when they got back to shore. They had arrived home looking very tanned only a week ago.
Tomo and Celia’s engagement had been yet another blow to Shannon, when he was trying so hard not to think about Penne. Everything had started building up inside him to a point where he thought he might just explode. Little did he know what was going to happen next. One day near Christmas, Liz was at Shannon’s place, and asked if she could borrow his old acoustic guitar to see if she would be interested in learning to play.
“Yea, sure, it’s on the top shelf of my cupboard.” Liz went through the house into his bedroom, opening the cupboard and standing on a stool to reach the top shelf. Pulling out the dusty guitar case, she was about to jump down when a plain cardboard box caught her eye, tucked inconspicuously in the back corner of the shelf. Brushing away a thick coating of dust that had collected on it, Liz was able to read the word scribbled untidily on the lid: ‘Penne’.
Intrigued, Liz took down the box and, after making sure that the coast was clear, opened it. Inside were photos, letters, a locket in the shape of a heart and a cracked diamond ring. Shuffling through the contents of the box, she found that all the photos seemed to be of this Penne. The same was true of the letters, which seemed to be very passionately written. Liz quickly closed the box again, not able to look any longer. She couldn’t believe that Shannon was cheating on her… but it certainly would explain his strange behaviour. At that moment, he called from the kitchen, “You got it? Can you find it?” Liz stuffed the box back where she’d found it just as he entered.
“Yea, I was just making sure it was all there.”
Shannon laughed at her, “Of course it’s all there, silly.” She couldn’t tell him what she’d seen, not until she had time to think.
A few days later, Liz had thought about it, and decided to bring up the box with Shannon. The two of them were eating lunch on the grass next to a duck-filled pond near Liz’s house, Liz throwing bread to the hungry birds while Shannon ate as quickly as possible and began to pack up. When she was finished her lunch, Liz stopped him in the process of folding the blankets, “If I ask you something, will you promise to tell the truth?”
Shannon frowned, “I knew there was something wrong, you’ve been acting weird for days. What is it, hon? I promise I’ll tell the truth.”
Liz was looking at him intently; not seeing any sign that he knew what was coming, she said, “Have you been cheating on me?”
Shannon stared. He couldn’t believe Liz would think that, and had no clue how she got the idea in her head. “No, why would you think that? You know I would never cheat.”
“Well, who’s Penne then?” Shannon froze, his insides turning to ice. Liz continued, “I found the box at the top of your cupboard when I was getting the guitar. Full of photos and love letters from a Penne. Who is she? And don’t you f*cking lie to me Shannon.”
By now, Shannon’s head was in his hands. How could he have forgotten that he’d put the box up there? He had no idea what to say to Liz. Come to think of it, he didn’t want to talk about it at all, he couldn’t deal with this, so he told her just that.
“Shan, don’t say that to me, I want the truth. Who is she? I’ll f*cking kill her as soon as I’m done with you.”
Shannon knew Liz wasn’t going to give up until he gave her answers, and he owed it to her to tell the truth. Still, he wasn’t going into detail, he’d avoided it ever since the crash and now wasn’t the time to change that. He took a deep, steadying breath, face still in his hands, and said very quickly, “She was my girlfriend before you. I lied about us breaking up. We were in a car crash, me, Penne, Jared, Tomo and another friend you don’t know, because he died. So did Penne. So I don’t think you’re going to be able to ‘f*cking kill her’ somehow. I really don’t want to talk about it, so can you not mention it again? If you want to know anything else, ask Jared, not me.”
Liz’s mouth was hanging open, but she didn’t notice. She was so stupid, thinking he’d been cheating. Feeling terrible, she closed her arms around Shannon and hugged him tightly. “Oh, Shan. I’m so sorry, I should never have thought-”
“Yea, apology accepted. Now can we change the subject please?” Taken aback, Liz promptly started talking about what she’d done on the weekend. There was one thing she knew, and that was that she had to speak to Jared.
Jared had done as Tam asked and stopped worrying so much about Shannon, and he felt much better for it. He liked the thought of his brother dating other people; it seemed like a sign that he might be finally starting to move on. As for Jared’s life since the wedding, it had been marvellous. He and Tam were now expecting a baby, and thrilled in the whole process; buying toys, going to birthing classes and looking almost obsessively at ultrasound photos of their unborn child.
Tomo and Celia had been holidaying in Australia for five months, renting an apartment on the Gold Coast. Tomo had taken this opportunity to try his luck on a surfboard, and found that he wasn’t too bad at it; he rode waves constantly while Celia watched excitedly from the shore and sometimes swam out to meet him and sit on the board as he caught a wave back in to the shore. It was one of these times, when the two were sitting on the board waiting for a good wave to wash them in, that Tomo asked Celia to marry him. He put a plastic ring on her finger, swapping it for the real thing when they got back to shore. They had arrived home looking very tanned only a week ago.
Tomo and Celia’s engagement had been yet another blow to Shannon, when he was trying so hard not to think about Penne. Everything had started building up inside him to a point where he thought he might just explode. Little did he know what was going to happen next. One day near Christmas, Liz was at Shannon’s place, and asked if she could borrow his old acoustic guitar to see if she would be interested in learning to play.
“Yea, sure, it’s on the top shelf of my cupboard.” Liz went through the house into his bedroom, opening the cupboard and standing on a stool to reach the top shelf. Pulling out the dusty guitar case, she was about to jump down when a plain cardboard box caught her eye, tucked inconspicuously in the back corner of the shelf. Brushing away a thick coating of dust that had collected on it, Liz was able to read the word scribbled untidily on the lid: ‘Penne’.
Intrigued, Liz took down the box and, after making sure that the coast was clear, opened it. Inside were photos, letters, a locket in the shape of a heart and a cracked diamond ring. Shuffling through the contents of the box, she found that all the photos seemed to be of this Penne. The same was true of the letters, which seemed to be very passionately written. Liz quickly closed the box again, not able to look any longer. She couldn’t believe that Shannon was cheating on her… but it certainly would explain his strange behaviour. At that moment, he called from the kitchen, “You got it? Can you find it?” Liz stuffed the box back where she’d found it just as he entered.
“Yea, I was just making sure it was all there.”
Shannon laughed at her, “Of course it’s all there, silly.” She couldn’t tell him what she’d seen, not until she had time to think.
A few days later, Liz had thought about it, and decided to bring up the box with Shannon. The two of them were eating lunch on the grass next to a duck-filled pond near Liz’s house, Liz throwing bread to the hungry birds while Shannon ate as quickly as possible and began to pack up. When she was finished her lunch, Liz stopped him in the process of folding the blankets, “If I ask you something, will you promise to tell the truth?”
Shannon frowned, “I knew there was something wrong, you’ve been acting weird for days. What is it, hon? I promise I’ll tell the truth.”
Liz was looking at him intently; not seeing any sign that he knew what was coming, she said, “Have you been cheating on me?”
Shannon stared. He couldn’t believe Liz would think that, and had no clue how she got the idea in her head. “No, why would you think that? You know I would never cheat.”
“Well, who’s Penne then?” Shannon froze, his insides turning to ice. Liz continued, “I found the box at the top of your cupboard when I was getting the guitar. Full of photos and love letters from a Penne. Who is she? And don’t you f*cking lie to me Shannon.”
By now, Shannon’s head was in his hands. How could he have forgotten that he’d put the box up there? He had no idea what to say to Liz. Come to think of it, he didn’t want to talk about it at all, he couldn’t deal with this, so he told her just that.
“Shan, don’t say that to me, I want the truth. Who is she? I’ll f*cking kill her as soon as I’m done with you.”
Shannon knew Liz wasn’t going to give up until he gave her answers, and he owed it to her to tell the truth. Still, he wasn’t going into detail, he’d avoided it ever since the crash and now wasn’t the time to change that. He took a deep, steadying breath, face still in his hands, and said very quickly, “She was my girlfriend before you. I lied about us breaking up. We were in a car crash, me, Penne, Jared, Tomo and another friend you don’t know, because he died. So did Penne. So I don’t think you’re going to be able to ‘f*cking kill her’ somehow. I really don’t want to talk about it, so can you not mention it again? If you want to know anything else, ask Jared, not me.”
Liz’s mouth was hanging open, but she didn’t notice. She was so stupid, thinking he’d been cheating. Feeling terrible, she closed her arms around Shannon and hugged him tightly. “Oh, Shan. I’m so sorry, I should never have thought-”
“Yea, apology accepted. Now can we change the subject please?” Taken aback, Liz promptly started talking about what she’d done on the weekend. There was one thing she knew, and that was that she had to speak to Jared.