Bad Choices, Worse Decisions

The banging on my door roused Maritka from the kitchen and grumbling, she wandered out to the foyer, giving a quick glance through the side window before opening the door. Her actions showed that my battle with Gervais was affecting everyone in my life in a disturbing negative manner. This was a town where we used to open our doors without fear of the world, now we are a town turned upside down by the madness of unbridled power thanks to the insanity of Gervais and the cowardice or reluctance of his family to confine his hubris. Maritka opened the door revealing the surprising view of Zizi, Jojo and Braith who now appeared to be one of us despite that no invitation had been extended. I gave up trying to control this enterprise, which like a hydra kept springing up new heads willynilly.

My unexpected and somewhat unwelcome guests were shown a cautious reception in the drawing room. I was not amused that not only were Zizi and Jojo having a trite fling in the middle of an endeavor spawned in part by her but also now, Braith appeared to have invited himself along for the ride. Jojo gave me a cheeky grin that only made me want to set his hair alight while Zizi sat down with a cool proprietary grace that once again brought the shadow of Liselle into memory. Braith gave me a solemn look that belied that warmth of his blue eyes, as it was his entry into our group that confused me more than the shenanigans of the rest of my cohorts. Maritka bustled away to get coffee but not before giving the unexpected Vanderhaven a long considered look. Unconscious or unconcerned of his impact he sat down and I felt overwhelmed by his presence, he filled the air about me and I could not do more than stare into the endless sea of his blue eyes. Zizi broke the spell by saying,

“I know this looks strange but we thought it has to be this way.”

Strange my arse, I wanted to snarl at her, of course it has to be this way because there is a good reason why I do not want idiot boy amongst our ranks, our past notwithstanding, he has managed to fold every time Gervais held out a lure. She ignored my frosty glare and Jojo smirked in a manner that led me to believe he did not realise how much he was putting his life in peril. Only Braith remained calm and I saw the self-control, the man beneath the polished exterior, this was the man Gervais should have become, the man who used the resources of his heritage wisely.

Zizi continued, “We had to let him think it worked.”

“Let who think what?” I interjected thinking that this was a very poor way to excuse their behaviour. Jojo and Zizi gave each other glances, not like lovers but conspirators and it was then that I realised that I jumped to a conclusion, the conclusion they had wanted everyone to jump to—including Gervais. As the thoughts clarified in my mind, I murmured his name aloud without realising.

“Yes Gervais!” Confirmed an excited Jojo. “We knew something was up because it wasn’t right.”

Jojo was his usual incoherent silly self and I was about to ask Zizi to clarify when Braith kindly filled in the gaps. I stared at the floor as he spoke, uncomfortable with the burden of his masculinity, something I had never bothered to acknowledge as he had firmly belonged to Jazz. Braith continued,

“Zizi and Jojo” he said, (which I translated as Zizi for Jojo was too stupid to notice if he had shoes on) “observed that they were starting to have quite a few chance meetings, too many to ignore and since they move in different social circles they thought maybe Gervais was engineering it.”

It resonated of Gervais, of course he was trying to put a cog in the works by bringing Jojo into the mix. He was well aware of the public threats of Jojo, how he would react without thinking and how this would put our plans into disarray. Zizi took up where he left off,

“We thought if we gave Gervais what he wanted it would put him off guard as he would never suspect that we are onto him. It gives us a time to perfect our plans.”

I gave Zizi a glare that screamed shut up the last thing we needed were more partners in crime, especially those would try to take control and interject their own agenda into the process, this was not revenge, this was a surgical strike, a clean removal of Gervais from the lives of all of us. A crash from the kitchen had Braith leap to his feet and I followed him into the back of the house. Maritka stood holding a tray while a bunch of pots lay on the floor. She shook her head at us saying there was no problem, the tray had been caught up in the pots. As we walked back to the drawing room, I grabbed Braith by the elbow and pulled him into the study closing the door behind us.

“Just what are you up to, coming here?”

I whispered, my voice betraying my urgency. He smiled the cool smile of someone did not allow life to fuss him and folded his arms the way guys do when they are about to annoy the hell out of you.

“Something wrong with a friendly visit, to say hello?” He asked cheerfully leaving me to scowl the response,

“ This is not a friendship visit, this is you interfering. I told you that I have everything under control and the last thing we need is Jojo running amok and you trying to put your foot in the door.”

He put his fingers under my chin and lifted my face to look into his and for a second I floated away lost in the blue dream of his eyes. He perplexed me, mesmerized me, alarmed me for I had not expected his presence to affect me so profoundly.

He said “More than my foot is in the door, you forget I was witness to the burden you are failing to carry. You can’t do this alone, you can’t do this with a bunch of girls and in fact, you can’t do this at all. Leave Gervais alone, leave him--“

“—to the men?” I interrupted heatedly. “The men of this town have done nothing about the Dubois family for centuries, you all cower behind your country clubs and positions, hoping the money in your bank account will wash away your fears. I am not going to live my life in exile or as a slave to the whims of Gervais to be tossed away broken and useless once he bores of me. I am reclaiming my life even if it costs him his.”

His eyes flashed and I saw the man behind the urbane suit, the edge of steel that tempered his soul and here was the man who survived the cut- throat of industry. He grabbed my shoulders and pulled me close until his eyes bore into mine.

“You know nothing of dealing with people like him, his entire heritage has prepared him to be what he is and it will not be brought down because some crazy girl thinks she can take him on. Lucinda you will fail and you will pay a terrible price, you have to stop this before you are hurt any worse than you have been.”

I narrowed my eyes “Why do you care what happens to me? Aren’t I just one of Tiah’s brainless friends that you ignore?”

A flicker creased his lips, not quite a smile but an emotion that I could not understand.

“When Gervais ruined my wedding it was you, not Jazz who stood by me, you who believed in my innocence and you who still spoke to me. The woman I was ready to spend my life with reacted like a little girl as if it was some high school romance gone wrong. She should have believed in us, in what we had. She should have fought as you fight for your life. She didn’t care enough to struggle for it.”

I wanted to tell him that I was just as weak as Jazz for when it came down to fighting for Simon I had also walked away, unable to cope with the reality that followed him about, his legacy of Gervais. I could not betray Simon’s privacy and I tried to tell Braith what I could. I explained how a similar thing had happened to Simon and me and that I had failed as Jazz failed him. There are some things that are so consuming that it is not a matter of fighting but the inability to save something shattered beyond redemption. He nodded and we sat for a second each reflecting upon lost dreams.

The doorbell rang and thoughts of Gervais had me freeze, how like him to turn up when I had a full house, he would enjoy trying to pry information from his unfriendly audience. Maritka stomped past and we followed in her wake watching her check the curtains before flinging open the door to reveal Jazz Sedero looking not to pleased at the sight of Braith. She gave me an evil look before brushing past Maritka into the drawing room causing my heart to sink with the thought that she might think I was trying to interfere and reconcile them. Braith gave me a stern look and I shook my head questioningly as we followed her into a room already filled with enough contradictions to last a lifetime.

Previous Next