Conviction(73)

“Morning sunshine,” Sandra greets me with a cheery smile.

“Morning,” I greet back.

“Dad.” I give him a smile and a nod.

“You want a coffee, boy?” he asks and I shake my head no.

“I had one earlier, thanks.” I grab a carton of orange juice from the fridge and pour myself a glassful, only too aware of the two pairs of eyes on me. I put the juice back in the fridge and turn back around to face my audience.

“What?” I ask, looking between both of them.

“Have a good weekend, son? We watched the show on the telly. The crowd seemed more than pleased with you and that Carnage bloke.”

“Yeah, it went well thanks. I haven’t had a chance to watch it back yet.”

“No, well, we saw you had company yesterday. That’s why we stayed out of the way,” my dad says. Sandra wipes at non-existent crumbs on the worktop.

“You spoke to Ty, didn’t you?”

Sandra turns around with a huge grin on her face. “How’d it go, Con? Can you believe it, after all these years? I noticed she didn’t leave until this morning.”

“So it is true?” my dad joins in.

I’m staring between him and Sandra. Glass in one hand, the other on my hip. My mouth probably hanging open.

“I don’t believe this. Don’t take long for news to travel around here, does it?”

“Oh, come on, Con. Over ten years I’ve been with your dad and I’ve never known you to have a proper girlfriend. I’m just pleased for you.”

“Who says she’s my girlfriend?” I ask.

Sandra and my dad look at each other. “No need to get on your high horse son. Tyler said that you bumped into that Nina girl that you went out with years ago, at the show Saturday,” my dad says.

“Yeah, and that you left with her,” Sandra adds.

“Well, Tyler’s got a big f*cking mouth,” I reply.

Sandra’s face falls and I feel bad. I love Sandra, she’s been a mum to me longer than my own mum was. A better one too.

“Sorry,” I tell them both. “We’re just trying to keep things quiet for now. We need some time to get to know each other again before the press are all over us. I’m just worried about them finding out and ruining things.”

“Well, they won’t hear anything from us. You should know we’d never say anything. This is your home, we’re your family. What goes on here and between us, stays here and between us. I thought that went without saying,” my dad gives me daggers as he speaks. Shit, now I feel really bad. I walk over to the dining table and sit down. My dad and Sandra join me.

“I know that Dad and I’m sorry. That didn’t come out like it was meant to.”

I look at them both. “I like her. I mean, really like her. She’s concerned about how we’re gonna make this work. What with me doing what I do and her having a business to run.” I take a swig of my juice. “I don’t want to scare her away before we get a chance to work things out. I don’t wanna lose her Dad. I can’t lose her, not again.”

I know I sound like a whiny little bitch, but I need my family on board with this. I need them to know how important Meebs is to me.

“All right son, we understand.” He seems to study me for a minute.

“So, did you find out what happened, all them years ago? Did she tell you why she didn’t show up?”

My dad knows the entire story of me and Meebs. When he went through rehab, we also had family group therapy, along with my brothers and we talked about a lot of things, including Meebs. We have very few secrets between us now. I might have money in the bank, have met the Queen more than once, and have a Grammy or three sitting on shelves around the place, but I have very few secrets that I keep from my family.

I spend the next half hour telling them about what happened that fateful New Year’s Eve. They’re as shocked as I was when they hear the story and can’t believe the lengths her brother went to, to keep us apart and the more I think about it, the more I wonder if her husband played a part in it too.

I’m going to make some calls later and give someone the job of digging up every piece of dirt that can be found on those two. I’ll do it quietly and discreetly, but one way or another, they are going to pay for what they put her through.

“You know her mum’s an MP now? You’re gonna cop it from all angles when the press gets a hold of this. Especially with your past.”

My mouth goes dry when I think about this. Heat rises, along with a sense of panic. Up from my toes to my chest and suddenly I’m struggling to get a breath.

Fuck!

My dad reaches out his hand and covers mine.

“Slowly boy, slowly.”

When my breathing is more under control, I speak, “I can’t lose her Dad, I can’t. I’ll give it all up. I’ll walk away.”

I stand up from the table, walk outside and pull my T-shirt over my head. It’s a beautiful summer’s day so I head down the steps from the deck and jump into the pool.

After a few lengths, I feel calmer but I keep swimming until my lungs burn. Once I’m out of the pool, I collect my dogs from my dad’s back garden and take them for a run with me around the grounds of my house. I’m just trying to kill time until Meebs gets back. I’m embarrassed to think about the amount of times I’ve checked my phone since I’ve been out of the pool, but I’ve not heard from her by twelve and I’ve got to say, yeah, I’m a little disappointed.