All That We Could Be

Chapter Twenty

It was Sunday night. The night Fallon had originally planned to get rid of William.

Fallon had spent the day working with Christopher on the track. Some of the uneven terrain had been put in, but there was still work to be done. Christopher had done a great job on her Charger. She had come in the morning in a dampened mood, but as soon as she saw her nicely cleaned car, her spirits rose.

Not only had Christopher cleaned the car, he showed her how he had fixed her car’s shocks, checked the brake pads, oil levels, pretty much everything. For some reason he had even cleaned the interior so that everything was pretty much organized. The Charger was ready for another round at the race track. Except Fallon had already agreed that Christopher would drive…so today during the test run she sat with him in the Shelby GT.

After going through the entire race course with him, Fallon couldn’t understand why he had been shouting so much about her driving. Her knuckles were white from holding onto the dashboard. He had made her driving look tame. Christopher had laughed as Fallon had slowly let go.

Fallon had driven home by herself afterwards. Her thoughts coming back to what she was about to do. Either she took the chance and left him, and Cheryl may or may not get hurt…or Fallon could keeps things going a little longer and figure out what was going on.

By the time Fallon had reached home, her mind had been made up. She entered the house quietly. Cheryl still hadn’t spoken to her since last night. Fallon found that upsetting. They had been friends and lived together for so long, and now this was happening.

Fallon hadn’t approached Cheryl at all this morning. Last night when Fallon went to get dinner she had tried to talk to Cheryl, but Cheryl just gave her the cold shoulder.

Fallon got ready by herself. She put on a dark green dress that reached her knees. It was simple and had pleats. She got out a black pair of heels, and put on some eyeliner and lip gloss, she also found a small purse. She grabbed a light coat and walked out of her room.
Fallon knew Cheryl was home. Her car was there. Yet throughout the house there was no sound except that of Fallon’s heels. Fallon hadn’t felt so alone since moving here until now. The fact her best friend was around but pissed off at her wasn’t comforting.

Fallon went outside to wait for William. She locked the door and sat on the steps. It was another beautiful spring day that was coming to an end. The sunset had left magnificent colors in the sky. Already the darkness of the night was creeping in.

Fallon sat by herself, all alone with her thoughts. She didn’t want to think right now. She had already made her choice and rethinking it would just make it harder to actually do. Fallon looked around and found the morning paper. Apparently Cheryl hadn’t gotten it.

Fallon got up and took it. She sat back down and opened it. There on the front page was another reason why she couldn’t risk thinking over her decision. ‘Santos scores double! Man Utd in lead!’ was the headline on the cover, underneath was a picture of Daniel scoring. This time however she didn’t skip the story. Fallon read the whole thing. Her mind was tired of running, it was about time things got back to normal. Starting with this. She may have missed Daniel a lot…but now she needed to get past that.

It was time that Fallon took care of herself. The only way she could help Cheryl was if she could help herself first. Fallon had finally found her resolve.

William’s car came onto the drive way. Fallon folded the paper and left it beside the door. She got up and went to the car. William greeted her with a smile. Fallon managed a smile back. Unfortunately tonight, she wouldn’t be breaking up with him.

Fallon entered her house before midnight. Dinner had been one arduous affair. William had been asking her what she wanted to do after exams, if she wanted to take a trip out of the country. Fallon had politely declined, saying she had to get ready for the tour that would be coming up in a few months. She also told him she was probably going to be out of the country after exams. She didn’t tell him her plans to see her family. There was no way she would allow him to tag along.
He told her they would go out tomorrow to some new restaurant opening. She agreed, trying to play along a little.
As Fallon walked into the living room, she saw Cheryl sitting on the couch, apparently waiting for her. Fallon was a little hesitant, but went to the living room anyway. “So did you ruin me?” Cheryl asked. “Hello to you too.” Fallon said. “Fallon did you leave him?” Cheryl pushed. “No, I didn’t, and because I didn’t, you are going to tell me what exactly what it is that will ruin you if I leave William.” Fallon told, this ultimatum Fallon had already decided on.

“I can’t.” Cheryl told her. “Really? Cheryl, you can’t have it both ways. I can’t go along with this and just be shut out in the dark.” Fallon said, angry once again at being kept in the dark. “I’m sorry Fallon, but you won’t be able to handle it. Even I can’t handle it. I just can’t tell you.” Cheryl said, as she got up to leave. “Tell me why I’m doing this for you. How is it that you already know I can’t handle it, when you won’t even give me a chance.” Fallon told her, it was maddening not to know what was going on.

“If I tell you and William finds out…everything I’ve worked so hard for will be over. So it’s better if you don’t know.” For the second time in two days, Cheryl left Fallon standing alone and frustrated.

It was Monday morning, Fallon woke up bright and early. She had classes later in the afternoon, but today she was calling home. She wanted to tell her parents she wanted to come home for two weeks, right after she finished exams.

She called her parents house. No one picked up. Next she tried her father’s laboratory. No one was there either. Puzzled, Fallon tried the cell phone that she had gotten her mother for her last birthday. Three rings later her mother finally picked up.

“Hello, mom?” Fallon asked. “Hello, sweetheart. How are you?” Her mother asked. “I’m fine, mom. I wanted to tell you that I was going to be coming home next week…right after my exams are done. Where are you anyway? I called home and no one picked up…and daddy’s not at the lab…” Fallon trailed off.

“Oh Fallon, I’m so sorry. I forgot to tell you, but you’re uncle invited us to Africa. You know how your uncle was always talking about learning how to network with other companies. So he and your father decided to actually go so your father could open up another branch here and make some more business contacts. In the end we all decided to go, so now we’re here. Your sister and brothers are loving it though. They love the wildlife and the experience is going to be good for them.” Her mother told her.
Fallon felt sad to be missing out. “I wish I was there.” She told her mother. “I know, honey. It was just all of a sudden. You can still go home if you like, keep an eye on the lab. Besides I’m sure your cousins are dying to see you.” At this Fallon perked up. That was a great idea. She could go visit her cousins. Even the one who had moved to Calgary after getting married last summer.

“Yea I could do that. So how long are you in Africa, mom?” Fallon asked. “Probably a month. You’re dad just wants to find some stuff for the company and go to a couple of conferences. Well there’s a lot he wants to do. So a month will give him the time.” Her mother replied.

“When did you leave?” Fallon asked. “I think it was Thursday night. You’re father’s class had their exam on the first day of the exam week. So he got off early. It worked out quite well. Anyway enough about this. How is everything going? How’s school? How’s Cheryl?” Her mother asked in return. Fallon paused. “Everything is fine, mommy. School’s almost over, but my grades are good this year. Cheryl’s…well Cheryl’s okay.” Fallon said, a renewed sadness came over her.

“Come Fallon, what’s wrong dear?” Her mother asked her kindly. “It’s nothing, mom.” Fallon said, glumly. “Alright honey. So what else have you been doing?” Her mother asked. “Not much. I worked a little bit on my car, but that was a while ago. Nothing else is new around here.” She told her mother. “So where’s daddy?” Fallon asked. “You’re dad is at a conference today. I’m sorry honey, maybe you can talk to him later. Besides, I have to go your brothers and sister are making a racket outside. They probably saw something or some one…those kids…anyways I love you Fallon, and send my love to Cheryl too.” Her mother said. “I love you too, mom. Say hi to the three of them and daddy. I miss you guys.” Fallon said. Her mother agreed, and the two of them hung up.

Fallon thought about her family for a while longer. It would be really weird going back to an empty home. Maybe she could ask one of her cousins to get her from the airport, and just stay with them for the week. Or she could go at some other time when her family was home. It was just Fallon really wanted to go home. She knew she wouldn’t get much of a chance in the summer because of the tour, and right now things with Cheryl needed to cool down. Fallon chose not to decide the date just yet. Instead she went on to the computer and looked at the prices for the three tickets she would need to buy. One from England to Toronto, the other from Toronto to Calgary, and the third from Calgary all the way back to England. Although it was more likely she would have to go from Calgary to Vancouver to England.

Fallon thought the prices were fairly reasonable, considering she was only going for two weeks. They could have been a whole lot worse.

Fallon glanced at the time and decided to get ready for school. It was going to be exam review in class, so there was no point in missing it. Fallon pulled on a pair of pants, t-shirt, and a light cardigan. She felt weird sometimes, without long sleeves. She got her sneakers, and took her backpack, as she left the room. Once outside she closed her room door.

She went into the kitchen and got herself some lunch for school, and a little bit to eat for breakfast. It was still quiet around the house, although it was almost eleven o’clock.

Fallon left the house quietly, stopping only to lock the door. As she drove away, she made up her mind to try and help Cheryl, because Fallon didn’t want this or anything else to come between them.