 |
| WHAT’S BEHIND by Greeboina <<< part 1 PART 2 Sean awoke abruptly. He had a nightmare but he couldn’t remember what it was about. He brushed some of his hair away from his face and sighed. Then he heard someone crying. At first he was confused but then he remembered that Hailey’s sister was staying here because… He turned on the light and got out of bed. He walked down the hall to the room where Catherine was staying. He opened the door and could now hear her crying clearly. He went to the bed, sat on it and took her in his arms. He just held her as she cried for her dead sister. She had to get air to her sorrow. Sean thought as he held the crying woman in his arms, that he had hardly ever spoken to her, but now he was holding her in his arms. After some time she stopped crying. She was exhausted and had fallen asleep again. He brushed her hair away from her face and then tugged her in again. She would probably not remember it when she awoke. He looked her a final time and then he closed the door. Cathrine woke up as she heard someone knocking on her door. She said a rusty ‘Yeah’ and Sean walked in with a cup of coffee. She smiled gratefully and took it from him and sipped at it. Sean looked her with a strange look on his face and she looked at him questioning at him. “Are you feeling better?” “Yes” She smiled but then she looked into Sean’s eyes. “Thank you” “For what?” “For holding me when I cried” Sean blushed and looked down shyly. He mumbled that it was nothing. She brushed some of his hair back his ear and blushed when she realised what she had done. She looked down and fiddled with a button on her pyjamas. “You should believe that we had slept together” Sean suddenly said and they both burst out in giggles. They sobered up but this time it wasn’t an awkward silence. “I thought of that you could stay here till you feel better or if you find somewhere else to stay…” “Thank you, Sean. I don’t want to be a burden for you.” “It’s no problem. You can stay as long as you want. I can help you with the funeral.” She looked up and met his eyes. He was serious about this? She looked into his eyes and saw that he was. She smiled. “Would you? It would be nice if you would help. It all seems so chaotic right now” “Go get a shower and I’ll have breakfast ready.” He jumped off the bed and walked out of the room. She looked after him Was he for real? She had never met a man like Sean before. He was something truly amazing. As she came out to the kitchen she had showered and dressed. Her stomach had made her aware of that she hadn’t had any food since yesterday morning. When she saw Sean she said good morning, sat down and sipped at her coffee. It was a bit strange that they both seemed at ease about the arrangements. She smiled briefly and then she started putting butter on her toast. Later that day she was feeling like she had been run down by 10 elephants. Calling Hailey’s friends had been difficult and she had cried. Sean had told her that she could use his phone and that she just had to call if she needed help. She had heard him working in the kitchen and he had called his cousin James a couple of time. She hadn’t listened to what he was saying but it had probably something to do with the band. She stretched her tired body and reached out for her coffee. She grimaced as she found out the coffee had been cold for a long time. Sean and her had made a deal when they had been eating their breakfast. She would stay as long as she wanted to. They were going on tour in two moths time and Sean wouldn’t be home much. He had told her that he liked it that someone was here to look after the place so he wouldn’t let her pay for staying here. The funny thing was that knowing that he was here had helped her through the difficult calls. She had called all her friends and she had arranged most of the things about the funeral. She missed Hailey but Sean and her talked about her and it meant a great deal for her. She was gently revived from her thoughts when Sean entered the room. He smiled to her and gave her a mug with hot coffee. She said thanks and enjoyed the coffee. “James and Nicky are coming over. Is that okay with you?” “Sean, you live here. I’m just a guest. Do they know I’m here?” “I told them about you and our arrangement. You spoke with Nicky, right? At me and Hailey’s party?” “Yeah, I did. He’s very nice.” “Hahaha. When he’s onstage he got the biggest mouth and ends up in a lot of troubles.” “I know.” “Ah yes. You’ve probably read it somewhere.” “I’ve heard him and his big mouth live” She smiled and laughed when she saw Sean’s puzzled look. “You’ve never told any of us that you’ve been to our gigs. Why didn’t you come backstage?” “I didn’t know if you would remember me and I didn’t like to use your relationship with my sister to get onstage” “Okay.” Then the doorbell rang and Sean got up to let James and Nicky enter. As they came into the living room, Nicky grinned and then went over to hug her. James was standing in the doorway and shortly looked at her before he went over to Sean. “Can I speak a moment alone with you Sean?” Sean nodded and they went to the kitchen. Catherine thought nothing of it and she was happy for being distracted by Nicky. Before long she was feeling better then ever and she smiled when Nicky told of some of Sean’s escapades. When James and Sean came back from the kitchen she looked up and her smile vanished. Sean was looking murderous and James was looking very angry. Something had happened between them but she was not the one to ask. When Nicky and James had left, Sean was standing at the window. She wondered what to do. She knew it had something to do with her being here but she wasn’t sure either. She looked down and stared down into the papers on the table. “Sorry Cathrine. I mean about James” Sean startled her and she looked up. “He’s very protective about me after Hailey stabbed me. He didn’t like the idea of you staying here.” “I can go. I don’t want to get in between you and James.” “I told him to stay out of it. He wasn’t pleased at all. He’s meaning it well but…We grew up together and we are very close. Fuck, we all are. He just doesn’t want me to be hurt again. You are staying here as long as you want to, okay?” “You are doing a lot for me, Sean. I don’t know how to pay you back. I do feel bad about being here after what Hailey did to you.” “Stay, okay?” He turned around and gave her a little smile. She had found out she was starting to get quite dependent on his smiles. You just had to return the smile. She looked down again and started working again. Feeling a lot better. Four days later “How typical” she thought as they went back from the funeral. Few of Hailey’s friends had been there and it had been raining heavily. Some had looked questioningly on her and Sean but they had ignored it. It must have been weird to see Hailey’s sister standing next to her ex-boyfriend. Sean had been a great help through all this. He had been with her when she had went back to her apartment. It had been a tough job packing Hailey’s things but Sean had been there for her. She did wonder why he was helping her but she appreciated it. She knew James was still a bit wary about her but she gave him time. Richey and Jen had welcomed her with open arms. Nicky had already accepted her so it was only James who were like that. Her thoughts were interrupted when Sean laid his hand on her arm. “We are going home to us. You can go with Jen and Richey. I’ll go with the others.” She nodded and went over to Jen who was standing together with Richey at their car. “They should have sat in the car instead of standing in the pouring rain”, she thought. “Get inside, my fair lady” Richey said and opened the door for her. “You could have waited inside the car instead of getting drenched.” “We were soaked through anyway. The English weather sure is unpredictable.” She got inside and they drove back to Sean’s place. PART 3 >>> <<< Greeboina's stories |