A Twist in My Story

Danielle bit down on her lower lip, clutching her phone tightly in her hand up to her ear. Today was Saturday; the day Kevin’s boss was having that party at his house for all his employees. It was already noon and Kevin had realized that Danielle would not be coming home for the event, no matter the amount of messages he had left throughout the week begging her to do so. He had left her a very lengthy message, saying the same things he had been saying since she left him: she was being ridiculous, she needed to come home, she was being selfish and not thinking about the implications of her actions of him, his job depended on her appearance there, she clearly didn’t love him if she wasn’t making an effort. It tore her heart that her husband, the man she had vowed to love forever and spend her life with, could say the things he did. It clearly showed that she was justified in leaving him. His main concern was still his job. He wasn’t at all thinking about what she was going through or how hurt she was hearing his words and just being away from him in general—not only physically, but emotionally as well.

That’s why she had to stand her ground. She couldn’t back down even though every time she saw his name flash on her phone’s screen she would momentarily contemplate answering his call. Sucking in a deep breath, she deleted the message from her phone—she refused to keep his messages in case she became weak and went to them just to hear his voice. She couldn’t cave to him, not this time.

A soft knock made her look up only to find her sister, Dina, standing in the door-way. She had come to spend the day with her, not knowing that Danielle was in a bad mood today—everyday was different; some days she could be fine, not really thinking about Kevin or their issues and others, like today, she would stay locked up in her room, grieving over the wreck of her marriage. Quickly wiping at her eyes, Danielle sent her older sister a feeble smile.

“Hey,” she croaked out as Dina entered the room she used to share with Danielle whenever their family came down during the summer. Their parents had bought what used to be their summer beach house a year after Danielle graduated high school.

“Hey gorgeous,” she said, sitting next to her younger sister. Danielle had to bite down on her lip to keep her tears at bay—she knew it killed Dina seeing her like this, but she couldn’t help it. “Today’s not a good day, huh?” she asked gently.

Danielle shook her head. “Kevin’s boss is having a party; he’s pretty upset I didn’t go home to go with him like was expected,” Danielle mumbled, sniffling loudly.

Dina gave her a sympathetic smile as she played with Danielle’s long brown locks. Throwing them over her shoulder she said, “I think I know something that will make you feel better.” Danielle raised her eyebrows, signaling for Dina to continue. “There’s a very attractive man downstairs asking for you,” she elaborated.

Danielle’s eyes widened as her heart race picked up. Her first thought was that Kevin had decided to take matters into his own hands and skipped his work party to come get her and bring her to their home, where she belonged.

The look on Danielle’s face—a mix between panic and happy excitement—let Dina know that her sister thought it was her husband she had been referring to. It killed her to have to shake her head, crushing her sister’s spirits. And crush them she did—Danielle visibly slumped further into her bed.

“Who is it?” she asked, wrapping her arms around her stomach.

“Just, come downstairs. I’m sure you’ll be happy to see him regardless,” Dina said, patting Danielle’s knee as she stood up to leave the room. Just before she did, she stopped short in the doorway and turned back around. “Just, wipe your face a little, maybe swipe on some mascara. You look like crap,” she said good-naturedly, leaving without waiting for a reaction. Danielle rolled her eyes at Dina's retreating figure, getting off the bed and following her without following her instructions.

Jogging down the steps, she heard voices coming from the kitchen. As she got closer, she recognized the male voice; her theory confirmed when she walked in. There stood Spencer, laughing at something her mom was saying. “Oh Danielle, looked who stopped by,” her mom said, being the first to see her enter the kitchen. Spencer and Dina turned around, both of them having had their backs to her. Spencer shot her a wide smile upon seeing her, making her smile back as well, though not as wide.

“Hey Elle,” he greeted, using the old nickname he just couldn’t seem to shake.

“Hey Spence,” she said feebly.

Spencer’s eyebrows knitted together for a moment before straightening out. “I was just in the neighborhood. We’re working on a house a few blocks from here and figured I’d stop by and invite you to lunch. You said we’d catch up and it’s been a few days,” he explained his presence.

“Poor Spencer didn’t know Mom was already preparing lunch,” Dina said patting his shoulder in faux-sympathy.

“Yea, I probably should have called first,” he agreed, shaking his head as he laughed at himself along with her mom and sister.

“Nonsense, Spencer. I’m sure Danielle’s sick of my cooking. You can take her,” Angela Deleasa said with a flick of her wrist.

“Well, it’s really all up to her,” Spencer said, turning to face her.

Danielle tried not to let her face fall too much. She really didn’t want to leave the house, but she had promised to go out with him and catch up on their lives. With another forced smile, she said, “Let me just go get ready.” With that she turned and went to change.

*~*

“I can’t believe this place is still here,” Danielle said, shaking her head as she slid into the booth at the diner she and Spencer used to come to all the time when they were younger. They would spend an hour here during lunch after spending all morning at the beach. The small diner definitely brought back memories of long summer days and young seasonal romance.

“Yea, I don’t think the owners will ever give this place up. I think they just handed it down to their kid or something,” he said, sliding in to the seat across from her.

Danielle gave him a small smile. She barely had time to glance at the menu before the waitress came and got their drink orders, rushing off with those again. Before Spencer could start a conversation, she buried her head in the menu, even though by the looks of it, it hadn’t changed in the past ten years. She didn’t know why but for some reason she felt like she was a pre-teen again on a date with Spencer…and that notion was ridiculous. She was a married woman. But she was out with another man—she felt the heat creep up her neck and into her cheeks.

They sat in silence until the waitress came back and took their lunch orders. By then Danielle felt sufficiently awkward. “Uhm, I’ll have a bacon cheeseburger and fries,” she said after Spencer put in his order, closing her menu and handing it over to the waitress. She was worried that she wouldn’t have it to hide behind, but when the waitress walked away and she looked at Spencer, she saw that his eyebrows almost reached his hairline. “What?” she asked.

“A bacon cheeseburger? Last time I saw you, you were all about turkey burgers and organic stuff,” he said with a chuckle. “What happened to being a vegetarian?”

Danielle flicked her wrist. “Oh please, that didn’t last more than a few months. It’s impossible to be a vegetarian with all the hardcore Italian food my mom makes,” she responded. “Besides, I’ve been craving one so bad lately,” she added in reference to her food choice—she could thank the pregnancy for that one.

Spencer chuckled at the face Danielle made. “Well, it definitely looks like you’ll be fulfilling your craving,” he stated with another chuckle. Danielle gave him another small smile. “So, what have you been up to? What are you doing back home? Doesn’t your husband miss you? Man, I can’t believe you’re married!” Spencer prattled.

Danielle fought the frown that wanted to tug down on her lips. “Uhm, yea, he does,” she said, not sure if that was really entirely true. “I just really missed my parents. Kevin’s been really busy with his job recently so I figured now would be a good time to get away for a few weeks,” she said, not completely lying, but definitely stretching the truth.

“That’s cool. So, how long do you plan on being in town for?”

“I’m not sure,” Danielle said, her eyes falling to her lap. When she glanced up Spencer was giving her that same curious look he gave her in her mother’s kitchen earlier. “Well, I can imagine it’ll be a while now that I’ve taken on the job of decorating the Henderson’s,” she amended.

Spencer was still looking at her dubiously, but he nodded in acceptance of her comment. She knew he could tell there was something wrong with her, so she quickly changed the subject from her life. “So, how about you? How have you been all these years? How was the rest of high school? Did you go away for school?”

Spencer was silent for a few extra seconds before answering all her questions and then some. They spent a long time in the diner, catching up. Spencer did most of the talking, telling her all about his high school years and how he went to community college for a little while before joining his father’s contracting firm and helping him with the business. They also reminisced on their youth and all the summers they spent practically attached at the hip.

“I’m really glad we did this,” Spencer said once they were in his truck on the way back to her parents’ house. “I’ve really missed you, Elle,” he confessed.

Danielle looked over at him and gave him a wide smile—they had gotten wider as the afternoon progressed. “I’ve missed you too, Spence,” she admitted. “Thanks for inviting me out.”

“No problem. I’m just glad I could make you really smile. Don’t think I didn’t notice all those forced smiles you were giving me before,” he stated, glancing over at her just in time to see a shade of crimson creep into her cheeks. “You look really pretty when you smile. Like, it’s like there’s this glow about you,” he added, making her blush further. “Your husband is a really lucky man.”

And she really hoped the smile hadn’t fallen off her face at that comment.

“Is there anyone special in your life?” Danielle asked, mostly to avoid having to speak about Kevin. She had tried to avoid it during lunch. “I couldn’t help but notice you didn’t mention a wife or girlfriend while we were talking.”

“No, there’s no one like that in my life,” he answered after a long moment of silence. Spencer had a stone face on, one she knew he wore when he was deep in thought. She didn’t dare push the matter because clearly that was something he didn’t want to talk about. The remainder of the drive was silent. Luckily they didn’t have far to go. When Spencer pulled into her parents’ driveway, he cut off his engine and just sat staring straight ahead.

Danielle stared at him, curious about his demeanor. Clearing her throat, she said, “Again, thanks for a great afternoon. I’ll see you around.”

“I’ll walk you,” Spencer said suddenly, opening his door and jogging to her side to get hers before she could react. He walked her up to the front door and turned to face her. “Sorry about that back there,” he said, sending her a sheepish smile. “We were having a wonderful afternoon and I didn’t want to ruin it with depressing talk of my former love life,” he stated.

“Oh, that’s okay,” she said, surprised he had actually come clean about his mood—that was more than she could say about herself.

“A story for another time I guess,” he said with a humorless chuckle.

“Only if you want it to be,” she replied.

He looked her in the eyes at that. “I’d really like it if we can hang out more while you’re here. Like I said before, I’ve missed you, and today was fun. Kind of like a trip down memory lane.”

She smiled and nodded, “Yea, definitely. I’d like that too,” she replied. She could use a friend while she was in town.

He smiled at her and leaned in, planting a kiss on her cheek. “Guess I’ll be seeing you around, Elle.” With that he turned and walked back down the driveway and climbed into his truck. Once he was gone Danielle turned and entered her parents’ house.

Angela was sitting in her living room when she saw her daughter walk through the front door. Danielle didn’t venture further into the house, but rather walked up the steps and to her room. But Angela saw the giant smile that was spread on her middle daughter’s face—it was her first genuine smile since she arrived at their doorstep a few weeks ago—and Spencer had been the one to bring it on. This notion brought a smile to her own face—she was always their number one supporter, having to talk Danielle’s dad down when she told them she was dating Spencer. Angela wasn’t opposed to the match. He always knew how to make Danielle happy and it seemed he hadn’t lost his touch.

*~*

Kevin groaned in frustration as he slipped on a pair of boat shoes for the event tonight. Mr. Rich told him it was a casual barbeque, so he had decided on a pair of khaki shorts and a polo shirt along with the shoes. He was already running late just because he couldn’t decide on a shirt and that only added to his aggravation that had built as the day went on. He had woken up early and waited—waited for Danielle to pull into their driveway and fall at his feet, apologizing for leaving him in turmoil the way she had. But when noon had rolled around and she still hadn’t made an appearance, he knew that she wouldn’t show up—there was no way she could drive all the way back and get ready on time. And after having left her a message where he held nothing back, he had locked himself in the recording studio down in his basement and worked on the albums his artists were working on.

It took him a while to get to his boss’ house—Mr. Rich lived in a very nice house in upstate New York. There were cars parked in the driveway, so Kevin pulled up behind the last car, getting out of his car at the same time as another car pulled up behind him. At least he wasn’t the only person late. He froze when he saw another one of the producers for the label open the car door for his wife and she climbed out, a giant smile on her face as she wrapped her arm around his and the other held tightly to a basket of some sort.

Were they supposed to bring food or alcohol to this party? He tried not to slam his car door too loud, cursing himself for not having thought of that—it would have been common courtesy to bring his hosts a gift. Oh well, there was nothing he could do now. Walking up the drive, he followed his colleague and his wife.

“Hey Kevin,” Josh said, smiling at him. “How’s it going?” he asked as they waited for the door to swing open.

Kevin didn’t even have a chance to reply before the door was pulled inward to reveal Mr. Rich and his super-model wife. “Welcome,” she stated, with a bright white smile.

“Josh, how wonderful of you to come. And you brought your wife; so lovely of you to join us Mrs. Lampson,” Mr. Rich exclaimed, shaking her hand as he ushered her and Josh in.

“Thank you for having us. This is for you,” Josh’s wife said, handing over the basket whose content was a mystery.

“Thank you. Laura will take this,” Mr. Rich said, handing the basket over to his wife. “Kevin,” he said, his tone surprised when he saw him standing there like an idiot, “I didn’t see you standing there.”

“Yea, I got here just before Josh,” he replied dumbly. “Sorry I didn’t bring you a gift.”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s not like it was a requirement,” Laura Rich stated with an easy smile that momentarily blinded him. “Was your wife not able to make it? Gregory mentioned she’s been feeling a bit under the weather lately.”

“Unfortunately she couldn’t. I guess those extra doses of chicken noodle soup didn’t do any good. She sends her regards however,” he said, lying straight through his teeth.

“That’s too bad. You’ll tell her we missed her though, and that we hope to see her next time?” she questioned, already looking like she was going to leave and attend to her guests.

“Absolutely,” Kevin replied to her retreating figure.

“It really is a shame she couldn’t make it,” Mr. Rich stated with a shake of his head. “Well, right this way folks,” he said a moment later, leading Josh, his wife, and Kevin back to where the rest of the party was happening. Kevin once more cursed Danielle for not showing up to accompany him to this party.

*~*

“It really is unfortunate he chose this moment to go on this trip. He was so looking forward to working for the label, but the moment presented itself and he just had to take it. But he really is looking forward to coming back as soon as he can and getting started. He has a good work ethic too; he’s very dedicated to whatever he sets his mind to.”

“Sounds like he’ll be a great addition to our team. For the time being you’re doing a wonderful job at filling his place. I truly am sorry you were socked with all that work, but our intern, who was put in charge of all the paperwork aspect of the business really made a mess of things. Kevin did a good job of fixing them up though,” Mr. Rich said with a smile. “Ah, speak of the devil,” he stated, gesturing behind the man he was talking to as Kevin approached.

He had been schmoozing with the artists and socializing with the other people that worked at the label for two hours already and he was ready to go home. Every other person asked him about Danielle and every time he had to say she was sick, he just felt worse knowing that she really didn’t want anything to do with him at the moment. He was just finding Mr. Rich to dismiss himself and thank him for inviting him. However when he approached Mr. Rich and the man he had seen him talking to in a corner of Mr. Rich’s expansive yard, he froze.

“Dad?” he asked, confused to see the man Mr. Rich had been talking to.

“Hi son,” Mr. Jonas said, smiling at his oldest boy. “It’s about time we ran into each other.”

“What are you doing here?” Kevin asked, completely confused.

“He’s one of my new employees; he was invited,” Mr. Rich stated with a chuckle. “Didn’t you know your father is temporarily with the label? He offered to fill in your brother’s place while he went on his trip.”

“Oh,” was Kevin’s response.

“Mr. Rich, will you excuse us?” Kevin Sr. asked politely. Mr. Rich looked between the two men before nodding once and walking away to talk to other guests. Kevin Sr. turned back to face Kevin. “Son,” he started off before Kevin cut him off.

“You’re with the label now?”

Kevin Sr. took a hold of Kevin’s elbow and led them into the house where others wouldn’t overhear. “Yes, I am. I told you your brother ran off gallivanting to who knows where and that I had to cover for him with your boss. He suggested I come in and take over what Joe’s job was supposed to be, which is apparently paperwork and contracts and such.”

A light bulb went off in Kevin’s head. Ever since the summer, he had been asked to do all the paperwork at the label along with producing, since the intern that had been in charge of it all had messed up and been fired. Since he had started off doing just that, Mr. Rich thought he would be the perfect man for the job. The other day Mr. Rich had told him a new person had been hired and that he could go back to focusing solely on producing his artists and managing their latest artist. His father was that person.

“I see Danielle isn’t with you,” Kevin Sr. stated, bringing Kevin back to their conversation.

He looked around to make sure no one was around. “No, she’s still at her parents’ house. I’ve been telling everyone she’s been sick, so if anyone asks you, she’s been sick for a few weeks,” he mumbled.

“Fair enough. If anyone asks you, tell them your brother got an offer to go translate at a conference overseas,” Kevin Sr. instructed. “That’s what I told Mr. Rich he had to do; although I don’t believe he’ll ever put all those degrees to use,” he grumbled, still disappointed in the life style his second son had chosen for himself.

“Fine,” Kevin agreed. “Now I have to go find Mr. Rich and say my goodbyes to him and his wife.”

“You’re leaving? Dinner hasn’t even been set out yet.”

“I really don’t feel like being here. Not when everyone keeps asking about Dani and I see all these people with their dates.” Kevin Sr. nodded his head in understanding. “Tell Mom and Frankie I say hi,” Kevin stated before turning and walking back out to find his boss. He and his wife were talking to someone from the catering company, probably giving them instructions on when to set out the buffet style barbeque food. “Mr. and Mrs. Rich,” he said once they were done, “Thank you so much for inviting me. I had a wonderful time.”

“You’re leaving already? But you just got here,” Mr. Rich exclaimed.

“I know, but I feel bad leaving my wife alone all night in her condition,” Kevin fibbed.

“Oh we understand,” Mrs. Rich assured. “You go home and take care of your wife. And tell her we missed her and hopefully she gets better.”

“I will. Thank you, once again,” he said, shaking both of their hands. He heard Mr. Rich make a fleeting comment about seeing him at the label on Monday but he had already turned and started making his way to the house.

Buckling his seatbelt, Kevin settled in for the drive back home. A home that would be empty upon his arrival.