Nothing Is Ever Simple

JOHNNY

Johnny finished clearing up the mess from New Year while Amelia and the kids were at the beach. He was trying to get his head together while she was out and he tried to figure out what he was going to say to her when they finally had the talk. Deep down he wanted her to leave Bam and come and live with him but he knew that was a long shot. He didn’t even know if she wanted a relationship with him and he didn’t want to scare her off. Instead he thought he would wait and see what she had to say. Amelia was the one with the most to lose.

He heard the front door open and the sound of footsteps approach the living room. Amelia peered her head around the door. “Hey.” She smiled, looking windswept but as beautiful as ever.

“Hey. Have fun at the beach?” he asked as she walked over at sat beside him on the sofa, curling her legs up underneath her. Brandon followed after and tried to climb up on to Johnny’s lap.

She nodded and grinned as Johnny pulled Brandon up into his arms. “Brandon loved it, and I had a nice chat with Madison.”

Johnny smiled. He was glad that she and his daughter got on so well. It was a shame that Mel would be picking Madison up later.

“Johnny.” She murmured quietly, looking at Brandon absent mindedly. “I’ve had some time to think. About us.”

Johnny’s heart fluttered anxiously. It was now or never. “And?”

“I need to go back to Westchester.”

Johnny nodded and tried to hide his disappointment. He had suspected that she would be returning to Westchester but it did not make it any easier to be confronted with this truth. Amelia looked as if she was waiting for Johnny to reply to her, but what was there that he could say if she had already made her mind up. Asking her to stay would only make things awkward between them in the future and he didn’t want that.

At that moment there was a knock on the door. They exchanged looks before Johnny reluctantly got up to answer it with Brandon still in his arms, wondering if Mel had turned up early. He was unpleasantly surprised to find Bam standing there looking calm and collected.

“Knoxville.” Bam greeted him, pulling off his shades and smiling at his son.

“Bam.” Johnny acknowledged and passed Brandon over to Bam. “You better come in.”

Bam hoisted his son up onto his hip and followed Johnny inside and into the living room. The look of horror on Amelia’s face suggested that she too was suitably surprised by Bam’s appearance.

“Bam…” she hesitated as he strode into the room and took a seat beside his wife on the sofa. “What are you doing here?”

“I’ve come to bring you home.” He said with no hint of anger or annoyance in his voice. There was no discussion, no apology, just a simple statement. He sat Brandon to the side and took Amelia’s hands in his. Johnny reasoned that Bam seemed to be in a much better mood than he could have been considering the situation. As far as Johnny knew, Bam had no reason to suspect that there was anything going on between him and Amelia, but the idea that his wife had been staying with another man was enough to make any husband upset. He wondered how Bam had found out her whereabouts.

“I…” she hesitated, glancing over at Johnny as if for his help.

Johnny looked sadly at Amelia and shrugged his shoulders. There were a million things he wanted to say to her but he had missed his chance. He didn’t want to makes things more difficult for her now that Bam was here.

“Come on Amelia, let’s go home. I’ve got the tickets.” Bam said surprisingly gently. Whatever else was on his mind, he obviously did not want to say in front of Johnny.

She continued to stare at Johnny helplessly but he was not sure what she was waiting for. Hadn’t she already made her decision to return?

“I’ll get my bags.” She sighed eventually, dropping her gaze to the floor as she stood up.

Although it pained him to see her cave in to Bam so easily, Johnny knew that what she was doing was probably for the best. He sat and watched quietly as Amelia went upstairs to fetch her belongings and Bam went to put Brandon in the car. In a matter of minutes she was all packed up and ready to leave. Johnny stood in the doorway and watched her walk out of his life once again.

“Bye Johnny.” She whispered as she walked past. She was gone just as quickly and unexpectedly as she had arrived.

“Bye.” He stared after her, realising he was soon going to regret keeping his mouth shut.

“Dad, mom’s here!”

Johnny raised his head from the couch, acknowledging his daughter. Since Amelia’s departure a few hours ago, Johnny had sunk into a state of denial over his feelings and everything that had happened that week. After all, there was no point in dwelling on missed opportunities and that was exactly what had happened. He had missed his chance to ask her to stay and even though Bam had interrupted their talk, he was sure her mind was probably set on returning. However, he could not shake the image of the look of desperation on Amelia’s face.

He did not move from his sprawled out position on the sofa as Madison looked at him pointedly. “Aren’t you going to at least come and say ‘hi’?” she put her hands on her hips. Johnny shrugged, unable to think of a reason why Mel would be offended if she didn’t see her ex husband’s face.

“Ugh, fiiine.” She sighed dramatically and made a point of dragging her bags towards the front door.

Johnny was trying to find the energy to get up and say goodbye to his daughter but before he could get to his feet, a tall, slim figure had appeared in the room. “Happy new year.” Mel smiled amiably, taking off her shades as she made her way across the room to hug him.

Johnny sat up and embraced his ex wife, burying his face into her blonde hair. The smell of her perfume always brought back memories of their time together but it felt like a lifetime ago now. “Hi Mel.” He said, as convincingly happy as he could.

“Where’s Amelia?” she asked, not waiting for an invitation to sit down and cross her long legs.

“Huh?” Johnny frowned and moved across to make room for her, wondering how she knew so much all of a sudden.

“Oh come on PJ, did you really not expect Madison to keep me up to date this week.” Mel laughed gently, rubbing his arm with an exquisitely manicured hand. “I still care about you. Am I not allowed to want you to be happy?”

Johnny shrugged slightly, there was no point trying to hide anything from Mel. She could see right through him. “Amelia’s gone.” he said bluntly.

Mel’s gaze softened and she kept her hand on Johnny’s arm. “You let her go didn’t you?”

Johnny nodded silently, surprised at how comforting her voice sounded. “There was nothing I could do. She belongs in Westchester. That’s how it’s meant to be.”

Mel sighed slightly and shook her head. “You need to fight for her Johnny. We never fought for our relationship; don’t let that happen with you and Amelia. We need to learn from our past mistakes.”

Johnny stared into the eyes of the woman he had once been madly in love with. Despite all their faults as a couple, Mel was really a great person and while he no longer felt anything romantically for her, Johnny was glad to have her as a friend and there would always be a place for her in his heart.

“There never was me and Amelia Mel, it’s too late.” he sighed.

“It’s never too late PJ.” Mel said quietly into his ear as she pulled him into another hug.