Heart and Soul

Episode 68

Broken

By Allan Craig

 

A cold morning settled on Oakridge as Alexandra Abbot stood at her window, overlooking the city as she sipped on her first coffee of the day. She’d barely slept the last few days, unable to come up with the right way of talking to John about what had happened.

 

She glanced at the engagement ring he had given her, feeling wrong about wearing it when she hadn’t been honest with him about her feelings; he had, whether he meant to or not, betrayed her. He had left her when she needed him the most to go chasing after some old flame, and a tiny part of her resented him for it; she just wasn’t wiling to take the risk of hoping those feelings went away, when they could easily eat her up inside and ruin what was left of her relationship with John.

 

 

Ashley Abbot zipped up the side of her black dress and tucked her chin length blonde hair behind her ears as she glanced in the mirror. She couldn’t believe this day had arrived; never did she think she’d be burying her father when she herself was so young.

 

“Are you sure you’re up to this?” Will asked as he entered the guest bedroom of his apartment, where Ashley had been staying since she returned to town.

 

“It’s my father’s funeral, I don’t have a choice.” The truth was, Ashley was nowhere near ready for the funeral, she didn’t want to have to watch as a bunch of people who didn’t give a damn about her father when he was going through all his troubles all gather and pretend to mourn a man who, if they’d cared about a little bit, could have stopped what happened. What hurt the most was the fact that she was exactly the same as those people, and no matter what her mother and brother said to try and reassure her otherwise, Ashley knew that she was partly to blame for Wesley’s death.

 

 

At the police station, Rex sat behind his desk, buried in a mountain of paperwork. It was the part of the job he detested the most, but there was no avoiding it. One of his fellow officers, Bobby, entered Rex’s office carrying a folder under his arm.

 

“What you got for me?” Rex looked up from the mundane form he was filing out.

 

“Twenty nine year old female in hospital after having a seizure at Beat nightclub last night. Suspected habitual cocaine user, situation critical.” Bobby explained, placing the folder on Rex’s desk.

 

“You think it’s linked to the corrupt shipment?”

 

“We’re still waiting on the toxicology reports, but it looks likely.” Bobby perched himself on the edge of Rex’s desk. “Luckily for whoever’s responsible there’s been no deaths so far, otherwise we’re looking at a manslaughter inquiry.”

 

“That doesn’t make it any less serious, Bobby. Whoever’s dealing this stuff around time has put the lives of so many people at risk. It has to stop, sooner rather than later.”

 

 

Kyle had got up as usual that day; breakfast was followed by a jog to the gym before he got ready for college and prepared to head back into the city. One thing that hadn’t even caught his mind was the possibility that his routine would be interrupted by the last person he expected to see.

 

“I was hoping that maybe we could talk” said Natalie as she stood on the front porch of the Masters family’s townhouse.

 

“I don’t see what there is to say.” Kyle shrugged as he walked down the steps onto the street.

 

“If you could just hear me out.” Natalie knew that the chances of resurrecting her relationship with Kyle were slim to none, but she hated the way they had left things and wanted to make some sort of amends with him. “I promise, I won’t take long.”

 

“Whatever. I’m running late.” Kyle began to walk away, prompting Natalie to walk and talk.

 

“I just want you to know, that no matter what you think, I didn’t love Leo. I didn’t see myself having any sort of future with him, you were the only guy I wanted to be with.”

 

“You were great at showing it, Nat.” Kyle couldn’t help be sarcastic. Losing Natalie was one of the biggest blows he’d experienced, but he wasn’t prepared to be with someone who loved someone else.

 

“How many times do we have to have this conversation? Leo is the father of my daughter, whether I like it or not we’re going to have to see each other. We might as well be civil.”

 

“It was more than that, Natalie, and you know it.” Kyle stopped dead in his tracks. “I just want to move on.”

 

“I’m not asking you to take me back, Kyle.” Natalie’s nerves were fraught; she wanted to be back with Kyle, but she knew things would have to be one step at a time. “I’m just asking you to consider the possibility that we could at least be friends? We’ve been through too much together to just walk away and never speak to each other again.”

 

“Friends? After what you did?” Kyle wanted to laugh at Natalie’s proposal; he didn’t hate her, far from it, but he couldn’t handle being friends with her so soon after what had happened. Being friends with someone who he might still be in love with wasn’t a good idea, and as much as it saddened him to admit, he had to block Natalie out. “I think its best if you keep your distance, Nat. I don’t have anything left to say to you.”

 

“But Kyle…”

 

“Please, Natalie, just leave me alone.” Kyle slid his earphones into his ears and pushed play on his iPod, strolling down the quiet street and leaving a stunned Natalie in his tracks, trying her best to fight the tears that were welling up in her eyes.

 

 

“I’d understand if you didn’t want to go.” Ashley told her brother as he handed her a cup of coffee.

 

Will took a seat on the sofa opposite his younger sister. While he hated Wesley for everything he had put Alex through, the man had still raised him. “The Wesley that raped our mother and tried to kill her, he isn’t the man that raised us. He isn’t the man I thought was my father. That body lying in a casket in the church, though; I still owe him a lot. I need to pay my respects to the Wesley I knew, the way he was before he lost it. It’s because of him that I’m who I am today.”

 

A knock at the door caused Will to get up from his seat and open the door, revealing a tall, dark, handsome man standing in the hallway. Instantly he wrapped his arms around Will in a friendly hug, patting him on the back. “Good to see you, cuz. Sorry to hear about…well, you know.”

 

“Come in, come in.” Will stood aside to let his cousin in.

 

“Cal! I thought you couldn’t make it.” Ashley jumped up from her seat and hugged her cousin, overwhelmed to see a friendly face.

 

“Sometimes my mother thinks that she still speaks for me.” Cal explained as he perched himself on the edge of the sofa. “Just because she’s too caught up on husband number three’s business function in Sacramento to miss her own brother’s funeral, doesn’t mean I am as well.”

 

“Well, we’re glad you could make it.” Will walked over to his open plan kitchen and poured his cousin a coffee.

 

“It’s just a shame it wasn’t under happier circumstances.” Cal shrugged his broad shoulders.

 

“Whatever. You’re here now and that’s all that matters.” Ashley chirped in. “So how’ve you been? I haven’t seen you in like forever.”

 

Cal’s arrival had been just the thing Ashley needed to perk her up. Suddenly she didn’t feel guilty for grieving for her own father after everything he’d done to Alex and Will.

 

 

A last minute call from Alex had saw John rush over to her place, pondering her sudden decision to attend Wesley’s funeral meant she had totally lost her mind. He watched as Alex unbuttoned her knee length black coat and gathered her things in preparation of her departure for the church.

 

“You don’t have to do this.” John couldn’t help but think that Wesley’s funeral could prove to be a little too much for Alex to handle so soon after her ordeal.

 

“Yes, I do.” Alex checked her hair in the mirror before turning to John. “I have to be there for my children. I might not have been too good at it in the past, but now that I’m here, I’m not going to screw up any more.”

 

“I’m sure Will and Ashley would understand if you didn’t attend, Alex. I mean after all, the man dragged you to hell and back. Why would you want to pay any sort of respect to him?”

 

“It’s something I have to do. For my children and for myself.” Alex hated that John was making her explain herself. All she wanted from him was a little support from him, not the Spanish Inquisition.

 

“What do you mean, for yourself?”

 

“Yes John, for myself. I need to know that Wesley is dead. I need to look at his dead body lying there and know that he’s never going to be able to hurt me again.”

 

“For crying out loud, Alex…it’s closed casket! The man’s dead, Alex. And in a few hours all that will be left of him is a pile of dust hopefully flushed down a toilet somewhere.” John yelled. He didn’t mean to lose his temper, but he couldn’t fathom why Alex was so keen to attend the funeral of a man who had raped and almost killed her. “You don’t need to go to any funeral to know that Wesley’s gone…why pretend to mourn him? He’s gone, if anything we should be celebrating.”

 

“How dare you?” Alex muttered through gritted teeth. “All I’m asking is for a little support, John. If you don’t want to be there for me when I need you, then fine. Don’t. I’ll go alone. It wouldn’t be the first time you…”

 

“The first time I what?” John raised an eyebrow after Alex’s abrupt silence. “Come on, Alex. Spit it out. We’re meant to be getting married, you should be able to tell me anything.”

 

“It’s nothing.” Alex attempted to calm the situation down and move on before she said anything she would live to regret. “Can we just forget I said anything? We need to go or we’ll be late.”

 

“I cant believe you’re putting that bastard’s funeral before our relationship.”

 

“John will you just drop it?”

 

“Not until you tell me what it is you were going to say” deep down John knew what he had done; he had left Alex in her time of need because of Natasha’s presence in town at the time. He was already berating himself for letting her down, but it was gut wrenchingly painful to know Alex felt the same. “I know I let you down, Alex. I know that I should have been there for you when you were dealing with everything. I shouldn’t have let what happened with Natasha and April get in the way of our relationship. Really, I am truly, truly sorry.”

 

Alex sighed, barely able to look John in the eye. She didn’t want things to come to this, but at least he had saved her the task of having to bring it up with him. “How did you know?”

 

“Call it a hunch.” John wrapped his arms around Alex and gave her a kiss. Just because it was out in the open and because he had apologised, it didn’t take the guilt away, “I love you, Alex, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. And if you feel the need to go to Wesley’s funeral to gain whatever sort of closure it is that you need so that you can move on with your life…our life together…then so be it. I’ll be right there with you, whenever you need me. I promise you, I’m never going to let you down again.”

 

 

Shane and Jessica had met for a working lunch in a cosy bistro downtown, where Shane’s initial idea of an intimate gathering to celebrate Kendall’s 21^st birthday had quickly escalated into a circus. Suddenly canapés and champagne had been replaced by a cocktail bar and sushi chef, as Jessica allowed her imagination to get the better of her.

 

“I don’t know about all of this, Jessica.” Shane winced as Jessica raised the idea of a jazz quartet. “Kendall still doesn’t know many people in Oakridge, and I think having such a big event would only make her feel even worse about that. A small gathering of close friends and family is far more what I had in mind.”

 

“She’s turning 21, she isn’t going to want a boring middle aged party.”

 

“And she wont have that. She’ll have Leo, she’ll have Kimberley.”

 

“Oh her brother and her cousin.” Jessica rolled her eyes. “Score.”

 

“What do you want me to do, all of her friends are in California. What do you want me to do? Fly them all across the country for one night? I wouldn’t even know who to contact, and I could hardly ask Leo; even if he didn’t hate my guts, he’d still probably have screwed at least half of them.”

 

“I just think you should give Kendall a birthday to remember. Now that you’re in her life, you’re the closest thing she has to a father.” Jessica’s memories of her own spectacular birthdays were the only inspiration she needed to throw Kendall a fabulous party, but with Shane signing the cheques and wanting something completely different, she didn’t know how far she would get.

 

 

Following a stressful day at college where all he could think about was his run in with Natalie, Kyle had decided to stop by Kristen’s place and ask for his sister’s take on the morning’s events. Kristen, meanwhile, had attempted to take her mind off of Greg by watching Bridget Jones’ Diary for the umpteenth time.

 

“Looks like I’m interrupting something.” Kyle joked as he closed the door behind him and took a seat on the sofa.

 

“Just a chill out day, Kyle.” Kristen insisted, but it was clear to her brother that she was dealing with a little drama of her own.

 

“I know you better than that, Kris. What’s up?”

 

Kristen bit her lip, Kyle had predicted things with her and Greg would all end in disaster, so telling him the truth would be like admitting defeat. But then she couldn’t keep pretending that everything was fine with Greg, if anything, she wouldn’t let herself live such a lie and become one of those sad, pathetic women who needed a man to validate them.

 

“It’s nothing.” Kristen stood up and smoothed down her sweater, walking over to her sideboard and pouring herself a drink.

 

“I saw Natalie today.” Kyle quickly changed the subject, sensing that whatever his sister was hiding, she didn’t want to talk about it.

 

“So you guys are back together?”

 

“Not even close. I don’t think we ever will, to be honest.”

 

“And does that bother you?”

 

“Not as much as I thought it would.” Kyle explained. If anything, he’d only been stressed about his relationship with Natalie coming to an end, rather than devastated. “I don’t know, maybe it just wasn’t meant to be.”

 

“A lot of things aren’t.” Kristen muttered.

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“I broke up with Greg. And before you say ‘I told you so’ I don’t need it, Kyle.” Kristen cut her brother off before he had the chance to say anything else.

 

“I won’t, but why?” Kyle stood up to face his sister. “I thought you were madly in love with the guy. Sure, he’s your sister’s ex husband, but you loved him?”

 

“I don’t need your sarcasm, thanks.” Kristen rolled her eyes.

 

“But seriously, why did you guys break up?”

 

“I think…okay, this is going to sound stupid, but I think he’s still in love with Carrie.”

 

Kyle couldn’t help but find it weird that both he and Kristen had just split up with people because of their exes. “I don’t know, Kris, they have a kid together.”

 

Kyle couldn’t help but find the parallels between he and Kristen’s circumstances a little scary; did being attracted to someone who was emotionally unavailable because they were still involved with their exes and had kids with them run in the family?

 

“This is too weird.” Kyle sat back down on the couch. “You wanna do something tonight? No point in both of us being cooped up thinking about our break ups.”

 

“Why not?” Kristen shrugged. “It’s not like I’m doing anything else.”

 

 

“How are you feeling?” Cal asked as he handed Ashley a warm cup of tea, hoping it would calm her down after the funeral, which had clearly taken it’s toll on her.

 

“Yeah, I’ll be fine; I think I just need a lie down.” Ashley explained, feeling particularly drained from the day, “Not that I’ll sleep or anything. I think I just need to be alone for a while, sorry.”

 

“No problem, kiddo.” Cal smiled warmly at his cousin as he exited her bedroom and walked into the living room of Will’s apartment, where Will sat.

 

“How’s she doing?” Will asked from the couch.

 

“She seems pretty worn out by the whole thing, to be honest.” Cal explained as he sat down next to Will. “Give her time and I’m sure she’ll be fine.”

 

“I hope so.” Will stared off into space, worried about how much Wesley’s death had affected Ashley. No matter how much he tried to convince his sister that the whole situation was in no way her fault, he knew she was going to be beating herself up over being away for so long, and the last thing he wanted was for Ashley to lose it like Wesley did.

 

 

Closing the door to her apartment, Alex rested her purse on an armchair and unbuttoned her coat, folding it over the back of the chair as she took a seat on the sofa, followed by John.

 

“How are you feeling?” John sat down next to Alex, wrapping his arm around her as she rested her head on his shoulder.

 

“Tired,” Alex tilted her head back, closing her eyes for a split second in a failed attempt to forget about the funeral, but all she could think about was how  much Ashley would be blaming herself for everything that happened, and Alex was determined that her daughter would get over what happened, whether she wanted to or not.

 

TO BE CONTINUED…