Spiralling Skywards: Fading (Contradictions, #2)(13)

“Great. Just fucking great,” I said aloud as I slammed my car door shut and stomped towards my house. All I wanted was a hot shower and my bed—not a lecture from my big brother. I slammed my front door behind me and continued my stomp down my hallway and into the kitchen. My brother looked up from his laptop, and I could see the lecture he was about to give me just sitting on the tip of his tongue.

“Call you to do his dirty work, did he?” Luke stared silently while taking a swig from a bottle of beer. “Oh, and feel free to let yourself into my house and drink my beer.”

I pulled a glass from the cupboard and filled it with the red wine sitting on the worktop.

I drank it down in a few gulps and then refilled it.

“You finished?” Luke asked.

“Not even nearly.”

“Carry on then, don’t let me stop ya.”

“Pffftt. You couldn’t if you tried. It’s my house, I’ll behave however the fuck I like.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“And that includes, exactly like a spoiled thirteen-year-old, does it?”

“If I feel like it.”

“Grow the fuck up.”

“Make me.”

We stared at each other for a few second. Unable to ignore just how ridiculous I sounded, we both started to laugh.

I walked towards my brother, and he stood, holding his arms open for me.

“I miss him. I miss him so much. My chest hurts.” I wailed like a child, too tired and too upset to care much how I sounded.

“I know, and he misses you. He knows he said a shitty thing, and he’s sorry. If I didn’t believe he was sorry, I wouldn’t be here. He hates that you’re so unhappy, and he hates that you’re arguing.”

“He dismissed my job and what I do as nothing. I love my job. I know I don’t earn what he does, but my job’s still important to me.”

“Stop crying. He told me what he said, and I told him he’s a dick. He’s under a lot of pressure over there, Sunshine. How he handles this could make or break the company. He really needs you right now. He’s worried about how you’re feeling. Worried about how pissed off you are with him. Having you by his side would take some of the pressure off.”

“But he left me. He just left on our wedding day—night—whenever.”

“Sarah, I’m gonna tell you something that you might not be aware of.”

I looked up at my brother and waited.

“Del’s roll is to run the Australian and Asian area of our business. He was supposed to do that from Australia but he met you and decided to stay here and make a life.”

He pauses, as if I was supposed to understand what that meant. I didn’t, so I gave a small shrug.

“Go on.”

“That means he runs that side of things from here. He works long hours because he’s covering two timezones. He does it because he met and fell arse over tit for you.”

I felt my shoulders slump and a loud exhale escaped me. How did I not know this?

“I didn’t know this. Why don’t I know this?”

“Because he didn’t want you feeling under pressure about moving to Australia.”

“But I don’t wanna live in Australia. I mean, I’ve never actually been there but...”

“Exactly.” Luke cuts me off. “He knows you wouldn’t wanna leave Nan and Grandad and he would never ask you to.”

I’ve stepped away from him and lean on the bench top between us, facing him.

“It means he has to work longer hours but he makes it work. He does that for you.”

I felt terrible. My heart hurt each time it beat, weighed down by guilt.

“We have Shain over there pretty much running things now, so it’s getting a little easier for him, but when it comes to the big stuff shit like what’s just gone down, Liam’s the head honcho and he has to step up. I love you Sunshine, but you need to be a little more supportive right now.”

“You think I should go then, fly to Australia?”

“Are you able to?”

I shrugged my shoulders and let out a huff. “Yeah, it’s doable. That wasn’t the issue, so much as the way he just expected me to do it. I just felt like I was the only one that’s willing to compromise… but in light of what you’ve just told me, I guess I’m not and a bit of give and take is needed.”

“I think you’ll find that that’s what marriage is all about.”

I looked up at my brother.

“Are you seriously trying to give me relationship advice?”

“No, absolutely not. It’s just a rumour that I’ve heard, the give and take shit, or was that a porno I once watched?”

I rolled my eyes and shook my head at him.

“So am I booking you a flight and arranging a visa? The company will pay, and you’ll fly business.”

I raked my teeth over the corner of my bottom lip for a few moments before shrugging my shoulders in resignation.

“Looks like I’m going to Australia.”

***

I was on a flight to Perth the following afternoon. Liam had no clue. Luke had told him I was still pissed off and refused to speak to him. With the help of his parents, I got a transfer from Perth to Darwin and a car picked me up at the airport to take me to the hotel where Liam was staying. I let myself in with the key card his dad had arranged for me to collect at reception.