Page 8 of Erotic Behavior (Observant Behaviors)
“I’m tired of having these conversations, Ashlee.You need to leave here,” I said as I leaned over and placed William in her arms.
She ignored me, turned and walked towards the wing of the house where she and William had been staying.Four years ago, when he was born, her asshole ex disappeared after taking one look at his newborn son.Ashlee did what she could to stand on her own two feet, but she was a young single mom and I would not let her fail.I supported the both of them, but her refusal to move out of our family home was a constant strain between us.
I walked to the master and found my mother sprawled out on the floor.The smell of gin permeated my nostrils as I got closer to her.Today’s drink of choice: gin and tonic.The woman wasn’t a one-kind-of-liquor alcoholic.Since my father had died, all she did was drink and pass out.I bent down and pulled her frail frame into my arms, then laid her down on the bed.Looking down at her sleeping peacefully, you would never know what a terror she could become.As a kid, I used to sneak in at night and watch her sleep.I’d tell myself fantasies about how she would wake up in the morning and be better.That she wouldn’t be angry the next day and we would do some normal family thing, like go out to the movies, or go out for ice cream.None of those things ever happened, though.I pushed the hair back from her face and pulled a blanket over her.Then I went around and straightened her room, turned out the lights and closed the door behind me.I felt guilty over my happiness that tonight wasn’t going to be much of a fight.I needed to get to the auction, but I also needed to be here for my sister.The constant feeling of being pulled in two directions wasn’t foreign to me, but it didn’t mean I liked it either.
“Beck.”Ashlee’s voice startled me as I walked down the hallway toward William’s room.“He’s in here.”
I looked at my sister and noticed for the first time the red mark and slight swelling over her left eye.“Go get some ice on your face.I’ll get him tucked in.”
Her sad eyes nearly wrecked me.How had our lives turned into this mess?
I found William sitting up in my sister’s bed holding his stuffed panda that I’d given him when he was born.It had seen better days, but there was no way he’d let anyone replace it.Believe me, I’d tried.
“Hey buddy, are you ready to go to sleep?”
He shook his head no, but gave me a small smile.
“Come on, I’ll read a story to you while we wait for mom.”
I lifted his little body and carried him down the hall.A few small bounces in the air and his laughter filled the hallways of an otherwise desolate house.When we got to his room, I laid him down on his little bed and pulled his covers over him.I reached for the book on the nightstand and took a seat on the floor.I was only about three pages into the story when I looked up and found him sound asleep.I kissed his little forehead and then went to find my sister in the kitchen.
“Hey, sorry it took me so long to get here,” I said when I found her at the counter with an ice pack held up to the side of her face.
“It’s okay.Honestly, I shouldn’t even be bothering you with this crap, but I didn’t know who else to call.”
“It’s fine, really.”
“I know you get pissed at me.”
“Only because you insist on living here.I don’t understand why you won’t let me get you a place near me.”
“She doesn’t have anyone but us, Beck.If I just left her here, she’d die.”
“That’s a bit dramatic, don’t you think?”
“No, I don’t.”
“You are living in a nightmare.One that repeats every day.I know when you left, life was hard, but it doesn’t have to be that way.I can help you and William.You don’t have to rely on anyone else.”
“No, absolutely not.I’m serious.She wouldn’t make it.I couldn’t live with the guilt.”
“Then I’ll hire someone for her.A nurse or something.You can’t stay here anymore, Ash.It’s time to move on.”
She sat there quietly, then looked over at the clock.“You should go.You’re going to be late.”
Ashlee was the only person besides Leo that had any idea what I was about to embark on.Leo knew the whole story, but Ashlee only knew pieces of it.As far as she knew, I was using a matchmaking service called ‘A Forever Match’ to find a woman to marry.I loved my sister, but there were far too many things in my world that would destroy her.I walked the straight and narrow path as far as she was concerned and I wanted to leave it that way.When Dad died, everything was left to me.She didn’t argue.She had always known I’d take care of her.But what she didn’t know was what I did with a bulk of the money.Now, I was faced with the one condition of his will I hadn’t fulfilled and I was running out of time.If I didn’t follow through with his final request, we would all lose everything.
The problem was, between lying to my sister, keeping my mother in the dark, running two businesses, and orchestrating my plan to purchase Raven Wessex, I was balancing a lot of fucking balls, and one was about to drop.
The Agreement
Raven
Thiswasit,onefinal chance to back out.We had submitted all the required documentation online with the agreement that they wouldn’t finalize anything until the night of the auction.Now I was sitting alone at a table reading through a one-page document listing all the previous forms I signed, with an attestation that I was who I said I was, and that I agreed to everything previously submitted.Adeline and Nigel sat waiting for my signature.Nigel’s behavior only worsened for the rest of the afternoon, leading me to believe he knew way more than he was letting on.Talia and I hadn’t met any other girls all day, which seemed strange.You would think at this point in the game our paths would have crossed with someone, but no, just us, and now just me.
“Can you tell me again where Talia is?”
“She’s just down the hall.This is the last step and we want to make sure you both are entering these agreements of your own free will.Once you both sign, we will move you to the waiting area and you will see her again before the auction begins.”