‹ Prequel: Never Meant to Be
Status: Whenever I can
Ghosts of Our Past
Chapter Five (Edited)
June 25th, 2027
Saturday
Newcastle Therapy, Newcastle, ME
8:45 A.M.
Trenton sat in the waiting room as his mom went into talk to the therapist. It had been three days since he had come home hung over from Damon’s party. He wasn’t too happy. She’d dragged his ass out of bed at 8:00 to get to his 8:30 appointment. He sat alone on the bench in the room, looking out the window wishing he could instead be on the lake with Jason with a boat full of girls. He considered just getting up and leaving when his mom came back in.
“I’ll be back for you at 9:30, please behave yourself and don’t be difficult.”
“Whatever you say,” he said getting up and walking into the room. The room was the small but had a cozy feel to it. There was a couch lined up against the wall and opposite a middle aged man sat in a cushioned chair. The man smiled at him and said
“Hi Trenton,”
“Hi,” he said feeling awkward.
“You can sit where ever you like,” he said smiling at him. Trenton went over to the couch and sat across from him. “I’m Rob,” said the man. Trenton didn’t say anything back feeling even more awkward. “Your mother tells me you play hockey and you like the Bruins.” Trenton nodded not wanting to speak. “I have something for you,” he said. Rob reached into a bag next to him and pulled out a puck. He passed it to Trenton. He saw it was a Bruins vs. Vancouver Stanley Cup Finals puck.
“These are expensive and hard to find,” said Trenton looking at the puck amazed.
“You can have it,” said Rob smiling.
“Are you sure?” Trenton could have been considered a lot of bad things; he heard the words people used for him around town. Alcoholic. Cold-hearted. Violent. Failure. But one thing he wasn’t was a thief.
“I’m positive; I actually have a few more back at my house.”
“Thanks,” said Trenton, still looking at the puck.
“You have a lot of other Bruins merchandise?” asked Rob.
“Oh ya tons at my house,” said Trenton starting to feel more comfortable.
“How things are at home?” asked Rob. Trenton knew he’d ask him. Determined not to give anything away he said
“Good,”
“Any problems?”
“Nope nothing to complain about,” He knew Rob knew he was being stubborn. “I have the perfect family,” he said almost laughing at his own words but deep inside he was swallowing sadness.
“Your mom told me how you like to go out a lot.”
“I have a lot of friends,” he said.
“What do you guys like to do?”
“Anything really,” he said.
“Alcoholism, especially when you’re underage can become a horrible problem Trenton,” said Rob. Trenton shrugged and said
“What does it really matter what I do with my life?”
“What do you mean?” asked Rob writing something down on his clipboard.
“Who really cares,” he said. “Everyone ends up the same in the end anyway, six feet under in the ground,”
Nathan heard his alarm clock go off and his eyes opened to see the white ceiling of his house. He sat up and saw the same thing he did every morning. Tammy still asleep next to him, and a dark room with sunlight streaming through the corners of the window shades. He got up out of bed and over to the closet. He found a pair of jeans, a shirt, and his boots and went to get ready for the two hour ride up to Maine. He was using the same excuse he did every week with Tammy, Dylan, and Zach; he was going up to the Canadian border to see his sick cousin. He went into the bathroom to shower and as he was looking in the mirror at himself he noticed the new wrinkles that had formed at the corner of his eyes. He was getting old and he knew it. He didn’t have much to complain about; at least he hadn’t hit forty yet, or gotten a gray hair. Tammy was 43 and the minute she’d found a wrinkle she’d gone and gotten botox. He was one of the oldest players on the Bruins like Recchi had been back when Nathan had first joined the Bruins. He wanted to do the same thing as Recchi had planned, play hockey until he couldn’t anymore, or win the Stanley Cup again in his forties and ride off into the sunset. Hockey was the only thing in his life anymore that wasn’t a façade. He had been appointed captain of the Bruins two years ago and the younger players seemed to follow his instructions as well as they would with the coach. A whole lot of people had enormous respect for him when he was out on the ice; he’d led the Bruins to the cup three times before with his skilled goals and smart play tactics. But at home everything was so fake. His relationship with Tammy was fake and strained, and he and his sons had seemed to have faded out of the father-son closeness they had had a few years before. On the outside to everyone else, his fans, his extended family, his friends, everything seemed so disgustingly perfect. He stared at himself a bit longer in the mirror before getting into the shower.
“I hope you were open with him,” said Evangeline to Trenton as they drove home.
“Oh ya sure,” said Trenton not looking at his her and instead out the window at the passing lake. She felt so frustrated with him, everyday he seemed to care less and less about anything. They pulled into the driveway and got out. Trenton walked down to the boat and she said
“Where are you going?”
“Out,” he said.
“I’ll be back in a couple of hours,”
“I don’t know if I should trust you or not,” she said. Trenton rolled his eyes and said
“If it makes you feel better I’m going to Jason’s to swim, they just got that new water trampoline. You can call his mom to confirm I’m there if you want.”
“Alright, well make good choices,” she said. He didn’t answer her as he unhooked the boat from the small wooden dock and backed out. She watched him go and then went into the house. Lucille was at a friend’s house for the day and she was at the house alone. She set her things down on the kitchen table and decided to go for a swim herself. It was a pretty hot day and she wasn’t going to spend all her time in the house. She’d gotten used to being alone when the kids were out with friends. She went upstairs and put on her swimsuit. She looked at herself in the mirror once she’d put it on. She thought she looked pretty good for thirty in a swimsuit. Nothing was sagging or drooping yet. She grabbed a towel and went outside. She lowered herself into the water by the ladder Trenton had screwed onto the end of their dock a year ago. The water was warm today and she floated on her back enjoying the sun beating down on her.
Nathan came into the small town of Newcastle and smiled, he was close to seeing her again. He drove past the school he assumed Trenton and his daughter attended, and down a long windy wooded road. Most of the roads around this place were densely wooded except for farmland. The whole town was considered the backwoods. He finally got out of the woods and came to another small town-like area. He saw the small food store up ahead and knew he was close to Evangeline’s. He saw her house coming up, the average-sized white ranch-styled house. He drove past it and saw her car was in the driveway and then turned around and parked back at the food store. He crossed the street and walked along the road. He looked down at the lake and then up ahead by Evangeline’s house. He saw her floating along in the water by herself on her back. Her eyes were shut as she relaxed in the sun. He got up closer so he could see her better and hid behind a bush. He saw her eyes open and she climbed back up onto the dock. She was as good looking as she was sixteen years ago. She went back into the house and Nathan quickly moved to hide behind a tree closer to the water. He leaned against the tree’s small trunk which hung over the water. He saw her come back with a bottle of sun screen and she began rubbing it onto her shoulders. He felt himself getting turned on at the thought of rubbing it onto her himself. He was too lost in his sexual thoughts to notice that the tree had begun to lurch forward. Before he could get away the whole tree fell forward sending him down into the water. He yelled as he hit the water and felt it envelope him as he sunk downward. He began to swim back up and knew he was caught before he even hit the surface.
__________________________________________________
Thanks for reading :) Please comment.
Saturday
Newcastle Therapy, Newcastle, ME
8:45 A.M.
Trenton sat in the waiting room as his mom went into talk to the therapist. It had been three days since he had come home hung over from Damon’s party. He wasn’t too happy. She’d dragged his ass out of bed at 8:00 to get to his 8:30 appointment. He sat alone on the bench in the room, looking out the window wishing he could instead be on the lake with Jason with a boat full of girls. He considered just getting up and leaving when his mom came back in.
“I’ll be back for you at 9:30, please behave yourself and don’t be difficult.”
“Whatever you say,” he said getting up and walking into the room. The room was the small but had a cozy feel to it. There was a couch lined up against the wall and opposite a middle aged man sat in a cushioned chair. The man smiled at him and said
“Hi Trenton,”
“Hi,” he said feeling awkward.
“You can sit where ever you like,” he said smiling at him. Trenton went over to the couch and sat across from him. “I’m Rob,” said the man. Trenton didn’t say anything back feeling even more awkward. “Your mother tells me you play hockey and you like the Bruins.” Trenton nodded not wanting to speak. “I have something for you,” he said. Rob reached into a bag next to him and pulled out a puck. He passed it to Trenton. He saw it was a Bruins vs. Vancouver Stanley Cup Finals puck.
“These are expensive and hard to find,” said Trenton looking at the puck amazed.
“You can have it,” said Rob smiling.
“Are you sure?” Trenton could have been considered a lot of bad things; he heard the words people used for him around town. Alcoholic. Cold-hearted. Violent. Failure. But one thing he wasn’t was a thief.
“I’m positive; I actually have a few more back at my house.”
“Thanks,” said Trenton, still looking at the puck.
“You have a lot of other Bruins merchandise?” asked Rob.
“Oh ya tons at my house,” said Trenton starting to feel more comfortable.
“How things are at home?” asked Rob. Trenton knew he’d ask him. Determined not to give anything away he said
“Good,”
“Any problems?”
“Nope nothing to complain about,” He knew Rob knew he was being stubborn. “I have the perfect family,” he said almost laughing at his own words but deep inside he was swallowing sadness.
“Your mom told me how you like to go out a lot.”
“I have a lot of friends,” he said.
“What do you guys like to do?”
“Anything really,” he said.
“Alcoholism, especially when you’re underage can become a horrible problem Trenton,” said Rob. Trenton shrugged and said
“What does it really matter what I do with my life?”
“What do you mean?” asked Rob writing something down on his clipboard.
“Who really cares,” he said. “Everyone ends up the same in the end anyway, six feet under in the ground,”
Nathan heard his alarm clock go off and his eyes opened to see the white ceiling of his house. He sat up and saw the same thing he did every morning. Tammy still asleep next to him, and a dark room with sunlight streaming through the corners of the window shades. He got up out of bed and over to the closet. He found a pair of jeans, a shirt, and his boots and went to get ready for the two hour ride up to Maine. He was using the same excuse he did every week with Tammy, Dylan, and Zach; he was going up to the Canadian border to see his sick cousin. He went into the bathroom to shower and as he was looking in the mirror at himself he noticed the new wrinkles that had formed at the corner of his eyes. He was getting old and he knew it. He didn’t have much to complain about; at least he hadn’t hit forty yet, or gotten a gray hair. Tammy was 43 and the minute she’d found a wrinkle she’d gone and gotten botox. He was one of the oldest players on the Bruins like Recchi had been back when Nathan had first joined the Bruins. He wanted to do the same thing as Recchi had planned, play hockey until he couldn’t anymore, or win the Stanley Cup again in his forties and ride off into the sunset. Hockey was the only thing in his life anymore that wasn’t a façade. He had been appointed captain of the Bruins two years ago and the younger players seemed to follow his instructions as well as they would with the coach. A whole lot of people had enormous respect for him when he was out on the ice; he’d led the Bruins to the cup three times before with his skilled goals and smart play tactics. But at home everything was so fake. His relationship with Tammy was fake and strained, and he and his sons had seemed to have faded out of the father-son closeness they had had a few years before. On the outside to everyone else, his fans, his extended family, his friends, everything seemed so disgustingly perfect. He stared at himself a bit longer in the mirror before getting into the shower.
“I hope you were open with him,” said Evangeline to Trenton as they drove home.
“Oh ya sure,” said Trenton not looking at his her and instead out the window at the passing lake. She felt so frustrated with him, everyday he seemed to care less and less about anything. They pulled into the driveway and got out. Trenton walked down to the boat and she said
“Where are you going?”
“Out,” he said.
“I’ll be back in a couple of hours,”
“I don’t know if I should trust you or not,” she said. Trenton rolled his eyes and said
“If it makes you feel better I’m going to Jason’s to swim, they just got that new water trampoline. You can call his mom to confirm I’m there if you want.”
“Alright, well make good choices,” she said. He didn’t answer her as he unhooked the boat from the small wooden dock and backed out. She watched him go and then went into the house. Lucille was at a friend’s house for the day and she was at the house alone. She set her things down on the kitchen table and decided to go for a swim herself. It was a pretty hot day and she wasn’t going to spend all her time in the house. She’d gotten used to being alone when the kids were out with friends. She went upstairs and put on her swimsuit. She looked at herself in the mirror once she’d put it on. She thought she looked pretty good for thirty in a swimsuit. Nothing was sagging or drooping yet. She grabbed a towel and went outside. She lowered herself into the water by the ladder Trenton had screwed onto the end of their dock a year ago. The water was warm today and she floated on her back enjoying the sun beating down on her.
Nathan came into the small town of Newcastle and smiled, he was close to seeing her again. He drove past the school he assumed Trenton and his daughter attended, and down a long windy wooded road. Most of the roads around this place were densely wooded except for farmland. The whole town was considered the backwoods. He finally got out of the woods and came to another small town-like area. He saw the small food store up ahead and knew he was close to Evangeline’s. He saw her house coming up, the average-sized white ranch-styled house. He drove past it and saw her car was in the driveway and then turned around and parked back at the food store. He crossed the street and walked along the road. He looked down at the lake and then up ahead by Evangeline’s house. He saw her floating along in the water by herself on her back. Her eyes were shut as she relaxed in the sun. He got up closer so he could see her better and hid behind a bush. He saw her eyes open and she climbed back up onto the dock. She was as good looking as she was sixteen years ago. She went back into the house and Nathan quickly moved to hide behind a tree closer to the water. He leaned against the tree’s small trunk which hung over the water. He saw her come back with a bottle of sun screen and she began rubbing it onto her shoulders. He felt himself getting turned on at the thought of rubbing it onto her himself. He was too lost in his sexual thoughts to notice that the tree had begun to lurch forward. Before he could get away the whole tree fell forward sending him down into the water. He yelled as he hit the water and felt it envelope him as he sunk downward. He began to swim back up and knew he was caught before he even hit the surface.
__________________________________________________
Thanks for reading :) Please comment.