WHAT’S BEHIND  by Greeboina

PART 1

Sean sighed relived as James went out in the kitchen. He loved his cousin but after the ‘Hailey thing’ as James and the others call it, he had been very protective. Sean knew he meant in a good way but it was getting on his nerves. He looked out of the window. It was six months since Hailey, his ex-girlfriend, had stabber him with a knife. Luckily for him they didn’t have a tour so he had had time to recover. He hadn’t turned her in. He didn’t know why but he guessed he didn’t want the publicity. Hailey had serious problems but he wouldn’t be there for her anymore.

Sean turned around a bit and looked at the person who just entered the room. It was Richey’s Jen. He smiled to her and she smiled back to him. She had been the one who had helped him through all this. She walked over to where he was sitting and sat down next to him. They didn’t talk for a while. Sean could feel there was something she wanted to tell him but he could wait. She had to tell him it.
“He asked me to marry him”
Sean looked up at her. He smiled as he saw her happy smile and her sparkling eyes. Richey had finally found the courage to ask her. Richey had finally won over his inner demons. He took her hand and squished it gently.
“You told the others?”
She shook her head.
“I’m waiting for him to get here. We’ll tell it when Nick and the others are here too.”
They sat again in silence. Then she squished his hand. Sean smiled and looked out at the world outside.
He heard when Nicky entered James’ and his apartment with a joyful shout of ‘hello’. Then he heard Jen giggling. Nicky probably did his ‘Baby, I’m home’. Sean smirked as he heard James telling Nicky to stop groping Jen and grope him instead.
Then Richey and Martin entered the apartment and it all started all over again. Sometimes they all were like kids but he wouldn’t miss it for all things in the world. Soon everyone entered the living room holding all kinds of Chinese food. They were all chattering and telling people what had happened today. Sean just sat in silence and smiled when someone had said something funny or when they were making fun of each other.
Then Richey stood up and announced that Jen and him were getting married. Everyone cheered and both Jen and Richey gleaming from joy and happiness. Sean hugged Jen and just to tease Richey kissed her on her mouth. Richey shooed Sean away from her but took Sean by surprised when he dipped him and kissed Sean. There were a roar of laughter and Sean joined in when Richey finally let go of him. Before Sean let go of Richey he whispered into Richey’s ear: “take good care of her”. Richey nodded and then they both joined the others .

Sean finally made it home. He was tipsy and in a better mood then he had been in for months. Watching Jen and Rich beaming of happiness and Nick and James fooling around like two in-love kids had been entertaining and he had felt the happiness. Never had he felt he was an outsider. Their friendship was too strong for that. The fight between Jen and Richey that had nearly cost Nick and James relationship was forgotten now and they had all moved along. Richey and Sean had had a talk and Richey’s insecurity was long gone.  But he had to admit that when he came back to his empty apartment he felt the need for being loved.  He had slowly forgiven Hailey for she had done. She had problems she needed to take care of. But he knew that he wouldn’t go back to her. He had stopped loving her. She had hurt him a couple of times and hit him but he hadn’t left her. The final straw had been when she had attacked him.

He placed the keys on the table and went into the living room. He turned on the light and saw that his answering machine was blinking. He turned it on. His mum, Sue and then James asking if he would join him and Nick for dinner Saturday. Sean smiled as he heard Nicky saying something about bringing some new bags for his Dyson with him. His smiled vanished when the next message started.
“Hello, erm, Sean. This is Catherine. You remember me? Hailey’s sister? I don’t know how to tell you this. I had hoped you would be home…”
There was a sound of someone crying and then the sound of someone trying to gain the ability to speak again. Then she continued:
“Hailey is dead. She…killed herself. An overdose of prescription medication. I know what she did to you but could you please call?”
There were no more messages. Sean looked at the machine shocked. Hailey was dead? He remembered her sister. He had met her a couple of times. Hailey and her had been so unlike each other. Hailey was a quite tall blond woman while Catherine had been dark haired and was a bit taller then him. He had gotten the impression that they didn’t exactly get along well. Hailey had been rude to Cathrine a couple of times. He bit his lip and then went to call Jen.
“Helloo?”
Richey sounded very drowsily as he picked up the phone.
“Sorry to call you, Rich but can I talk to Jen?”
“Of course”
He heard Richey wake up Jen and then Jen was at the phone.
“What’s up, Sean”
She sounded tired but also worried.
“Hailey is dead”
“What?!”
He heard Richey saying something and Jen answering him back.
“What happened? “
“I came home and there was a message from her sister Catherine. She killed herself…”
“Oh god.“
“She asked me if I would call”
“Call her, Sean. She probably needs you now. You told me that Catherine was her only family. Call her”
“I will. I just needed to tell someone about it.”
“It’s okay. Richey wasn’t up for anything anyway.”
Seam smiled when he heard Richey protesting in the background.
“Goodnight”
“Goodnight Sean”
He sighed as he turned off his telephone. He wondered if he should call Catherine now and decided that he would call her now. He looked for her number and found it on the fridge beside James’ ugly drawing of Sean. He sat down on the couch while he waited for her to pick up her phone. When he heard her voice he cleared his throat.
“Hey Catherine. It’s me. Sean”
“I’m sorry I had to tell you it over your answering machine.”
“It’s okay. What happened?”
“Hailey’s been on the hospital for quite sometime. She was handed in after she had cut up her arms. She was released a week ago. She stayed at my place afterwards. Her friend Nina, the brunette who dropped her phone in the punch at my party, found her dead last night in her bedroom. She had had an overdose. She had left a letter so it was clear it was on purpose…”
Sean heard her trying to stop the tears from falling. He couldn’t stand hearing her being so distressed.
“Are you alone? I can come to your place?”
Then he realised she had said ‘my place’. Was she there now?
“Cathrine, are you there now? In your apartment?”
“Yes. yes, I am”
“You could come to my place. Pack some clothes and stuff you need and you can stay at my guestroom. You need to get away from there. My address is Mountain Spring road 23B. You were here once with Hailey. Please come”
”You sure? I know what she did and…”
”You have nothing to do with what happened between us. I don’t want you to be there all alone.”
”I’ll be there in 30 minutes.”
She hung up. Sean looked around and decided it was okay. He thought of Cathrine while he found the tea in the cupboard. She had been very silent and had seemed quite shy when he had met her. He had to admit he hadn’t talked a lot with her. She had been drowned in Hailey’s rather boisterous crowd of friends. He couldn’t remember what she was doing for living. Just that she had some quite amazing blue eyes. He looked up and saw that she should be here any minute now. He took the teapot and some mugs into the living room and placed them on the table. As the doorbell rang he wondered what all this would bring…

When Sean opened the door he saw Hailey’s sister standing in front of him. She was pale and her eyes were red and swollen. He showed her inside and closed the door behind them. He showed her into the living room and told her to grab some tea and asked if she was hungry. She smiled and said no. They both sat with their mugs in their hands but none of them said anything. Sean cleared his throat.
“Why?”
“After she did what she did to you, she was getting more and more unreliable. I was starting to get worried about her when she was handed in to the hospital. She had more or less cut her arms into…”
“You don’t have to go into details.”
“Sorry. She was there for some time before she was released. She seemed okay or as okay you can be. She stayed at my place and for the first time ever she was nice and seemed to be better. I went to work and then Nina called and told me that…”
“It’s okay. You said she left a letter?”
“A letter for you, Nina and me. I wanted you to have it. I don‘t know what is standing there.”
She gave him the letter and he opened the envelope and started reading the letter.

Cathrine watched Sean as he was reading the letter. She had always wondered why Sean and Hailey had ended up together. Sean was not the kind of man Hailey preferred. They had talked briefly at Hailey’s party and she had thought he was very nice. Okay,  she had to admit she found him quite attractive but he was Hailey’s. She had been here in his apartment once but she had only talked to Nicky. She had bought their albums and had been to their gigs. She didn’t like to use her sister to get backstage, so she hadn’t used it. It had been a been a shock when Hailey had been brought to the hospital. When she got out again she had seemed alright but then Nina had found her.  It had been a big shock and she hadn’t found the letters after she got home from the hospital. They had tried to save her but it had been too late. When she had found the letters she had called Sean and given Nina her letter. In Hailey’s letter for her she had written she was sorry but she couldn’t stay like this. Her last words had been ‘Take good care of him’. She had been puzzled by it at first but she realised Hailey had been talking about Sean.

She took the teapot and poured some tea into her and Sean’s mug. She looked at him as he put the letter back into the envelope. He rested his head in his hands and sighed. For a long time no-one said anything. He looked up and he had tears in his eyes.
“I knew she had problems but not that it was so bad.”
“She never told you?”
“No. Never”
“It started when we were teenagers. She got help and when she felt better she stopped taking her medication. In the end, I guess, she couldn’t stand it anymore. We never were close but I miss her.”
“James thinks I’m nuts because I didn’t turn her in when she attacked me. I didn’t want the bad publicity of course but also because of Hailey. I knew she had problems and I wouldn’t get her to court”

They sat in silence again. Sean smiled a bit when he saw her yawning. It must have been a long and terrible day today for her.
“Where are my manners? You must be dreadful tired. I’ll show you the guestroom.”
He stood up and when she tried to take the teapot he told her to leave it. He would take care of it. He showed her the bathroom and where the towels were and then he walked down to the guestroom. She thanked him and then he left her. She looked around and she liked what she saw. It was held in brown colours and it had a masculine touch to it. She placed her bag at the table and sat down on the bed. She could feel how tired and exhausted she was. The day had been a living nightmare and she was Sean ever grateful that he had offered her to stay at his place. She needed to get away from the apartment where Hailey had died but first when Sean had told her to get to his place, had she gotten out of her semi-trance. Now her body told her to get some rest. She had to plan everything tomorrow. The funeral and all the other things. She went out to brush her teeth and get into her pyjamas. She got into the bed and before her head rested on the pillow she was asleep.


PART 2 >>>


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