4) The Discussion

John, Matt, Lisa and Brad discuss Lucy

4) The Discussion

We sat in sticky silence. At least, we adults did. Lisa and Brad sat side by side on the sofa, drinking coffee, while I sat in the recliner without reclining, and Matt sat in a chair from the kitchen table. My nephew Sam was curled up on the other side of the sofa, ear buds in and playing a game. Lily was asleep in Matt’s bed.

“So,” Matt finally said. “Hi. I’m Matt.”

My sister smiled wryly. “Lisa, John’s sister. And this is my husband Brad.”

“It’s nice to finally meet you guys,” Matt added awkwardly, so different from his normal jumpy personality. I smiled inwardly. I could always count on Matt to sober up when I needed a bro.

The silence settled over us again until I finally sighed and got up. I began to pace up and down in front of my sister and Brad. I didn’t notice Lisa hand Brad her coffee and stand up until she came close to me and put an arm on my shoulder. I stopped and turned to face her sympathetic face. And that’s when I crumbled into her arms and let my tears come.

I felt Lisa begin crying on my shoulder too. “She’s a b***h,” she whispered, her voice choked. “A f*****g stuffed-up, bitchy w***e!”

Matt whistled. I turned to him and gave him the finger, jerking my head abruptly in annoyance. “Sorry, man,” he said quickly. I shook my head in an apology of my own and rubbed my sister’s shoulders, quieting her.

Lisa sniffed. I took her out of our embrace and put my arms on her shoulders, wiping away her tears with my thumbs. “Shh,” I said comfortingly, and brought us both to the sofa where we sunk into it. Brad began to rub Lisa’s back comfortingly to replace me, and I quietly spoke to her. “Crying and calling her names isn’t going to help, Lisa,” I told her.

“Speak for yourself,” she sniffled. I handed her a tissue and she gratefully took it. “I can’t believe she would do that, though!” Lisa cried. “And here I am being a b***h and crying while I should be comforting you!”

“Mom, you’re gonna wake Lily up,” Sam spoke up. I looked up, surprised at his gesture of concern. “Then she’ll want to use my iPod. So shh.”

Ah.

“It’s okay, Leese,” I said, in response to her self-critical statement.

Her sobs slowly subsided and the room was quiet once more.

I spoke up suddenly. “Why did you guys come anyway?” Matt coughed slightly. I turned to him to see a sheepish look on his face. “You wouldn’t…you didn’t…” I said in shock. “Duuude!”

“It’s not his fault,” Brad cut in. “We kind of pressured him to tell us whether you were proposing or not.”

I glared at Matt. “He was still the one to crack.”

Matt looked contrite. “I really am sorry John.”

“Nah, it’s cool,” I said, waving my hand in a gesture of dismissal and sighing. “I guess it kind of worked out nice in the end. Sort of.”

“The elephant in the room just got bigger,” Lisa muttered.

I laughed " my first real laugh since Lucy had turned down my proposal.

Lisa smiled, and then stood up suddenly. “I’m going up there,” she announced.

“What?!” I yelped, jumping up. “No way in f**k!”

She ignored me. “I’m going to give her a piece of my s**t!” I raised an eyebrow. Lisa glanced over at me and Brad, who had gotten up too. “It sounded good in my head!” she said in defense to her weird statement.

“If anyone goes up, it should be John,” Brad said simply.

“What? Are you nuts, babe?” Lisa said.

“No, he’s right,” Matt agreed, joining the standing party. “It should be John. If she’s asleep, let her be asleep. If she’s not, John can give her the silent treatment or s**t.”

I smiled wryly, but nodded. “You know what, I am gonna go.”

 

Author's Note

Warning: Mature. For over 13.

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