TWENTY-TWO
Zeus
The setting sun casts a warm glow over the street as I sit astride the bike and wait for Belle to finish. Mud cakes my boots, my work clothes still on since I didn’t have time to head home first.
It’s been a week since I set my worries aside and did what I wanted, everyone else be fucked. A week of her staying at my place almost every night. She’s pretty much moved in, so tonight we make it official.
The lights reflect off the door of the shop when she walks out to meet me. Arms folded across my chest, I smile as she checks both ways and then crosses the street.
“Hey, you.”
“Hey, baby.” I lean over and steal a kiss before she slings her bag around her body and mounts behind me.
I unhitch her helmet from where it rested on the end of my bars and pass it back. I bought her the simple black open-facer on Tuesday, and by Wednesday night she had it decorated with one of her designs.
“One of the guys at work wants you to do a helmet for his missus.”
“Yeah?” She takes it with a smile and pops it on her head, fingers doing up the strap. “That’s cool.”
Anything this girl sets her mind to is hers. I want her to understand that. Want her to make the most of her life, not waste it like I have.
“You ready to get your shit?”
She wraps her arms around my waist, tucking her feet on the pillion pegs. “So ready.”
I ride to John’s with a new sense of ease. He might not be on board with this, but he hasn’t done anything yet to stop it either. We kept our respective distances over the week, and Belle didn’t seem to have any trouble either.
Tonight is the first time I’ve been back here since I stopped by last Monday and told him to get fucked. It’s fair to say I’m feeling the nerves as I bring the bike to a stop beside his work truck.
Another compact sits tucked behind Sharon’s. “Whose is that?”
Belle frowns at the car as she dismounts. “I don’t know.” She wanders over to peer in the windows as she removes her helmet.
“Might be a good thing.” I shrug before swinging my leg over the bike. “If your old man has a mate over, might keep him occupied while we get your stuff.”
“Possibly.” Belle sets her helmet on the seat and takes a deep breath. “Let’s do this.” Her smile is wide as she reaches for me, setting her hands on my shoulders and pushing up on her toes for a kiss. “I want to wake up with you every day.”
“Been waiting for you to say that for years.” I relish her taste, pulling her bottom lip between mine before letting her go. “Come on, then. Sooner we get this done, sooner we can get home and get you naked.”
She laughs as we head for the front door, only to be headed off by John in the entrance. “Belle.” He steps outside, forcing us back a step. “Zeus.”
“What are you doing, Dad?” Belle grins at her old man, but the uncertainty is clear.
“I tried ringing you, but you didn’t pick up.”
Belle reaches into her bag, saying as she does, “I probably didn’t hear it over the bike.”
“What’s going on, J?”
He jerks his head, indicating I should step aside. I follow him to the driveway as he instructs Belle to stay put.
“Cerise is here,” he whispers. “You might want to just drop Belle off tonight and head home.”
“Like fuck.” He thinks I’m throwing her in the lion’s den like that? “We’re here to get Belle’s stuff. That bitch showing her face doesn’t change anything.”
He swallows, glancing back at Belle who frowns at the two of us. “You wouldn’t stay away from her when I asked you to, so I suppose it’ll be a long stretch to expect you to listen to me this time, huh?”
“You got that right.” I catch Belle’s eye and give her a small nod. “Why is she here?”
“Fuck knows.” He frowns.
Something feels off. I’ve known John long enough to recognise when he’s withholding something. “You telling me she just showed up without any reason?”
He nods. “Pretty much.” John’s eyes dart to Belle as he brings one shoulder up. “Cerise knows Belle is back. Maybe she wanted to see her for herself?”
I call bullshit. Belle has been back for weeks. Her mother turning up here is no coincidence, and if I find out that John is fucking in on it…
I sigh out my nose and then start for Belle. “Come on, J. Let’s get this shit over with.”
“What’s going on?” Belle stares at the two of us, brow pinched.
“Your mother’s here for a visit,” I say flatly. “Sooner we get this visit over and done with, sooner I can take you home where you belong.”
So I can hold her in the fallout and piece her back together with the love and affection she deserves. Fuck.
“I tried to warn you, sweetheart,” John murmurs.
I eye him as he catches up to where we stand on the front step. He casts his gaze my way briefly before choosing to look at his daughter. What are you doing, J?
“It’s okay, Dad.” Belle squares her shoulders. “She doesn’t scare me anymore.”
The two of us exchange a look as Belle pushes the front door open and steps inside. Her voice carries back out to us as she says with almost believable surprise, “Oh. Hi, Cerise.”
I walk in to find the bitch seated in the living room with Sharon, who looks as though she’s glad somebody is back to save her from the one-on-one.
“What brings you over?” Belle asks, dropping her bag by the door.
“You do.” Cerise clasps her hands in her lap, the picture-perfect guest. “But your father said you were at work.”
“I was,” Belle grits out as I come to a stop behind her. “But I’m not here long either; I’m headed to Zeus’s.”
I rest my hand between Belle’s shoulders. Cerise looks well, healthy even. There’s colour in her cheeks, and I’d almost say she’s put on weight since I last saw her.
Her heart is still ugly though, that much is clear as she sneers at our contact. “You didn’t tell me it was this far along, John.”
“There was no need to,” Sharon states.
The two women exchange heated stares while I bore a hole in the side of my best friend’s head. What have they been talking about?
I don’t know what the hell possessed John to stoop this fucking low, but I do know what’ll happen if we stick around to let him play out his childish game: as usual, Belle will be left in the crossfire.
“Maybe you should fill your mother in on the trip home,” I tell Belle, “and I’ll go get your bags on the bike.” The faster I can make our impending getaway, the better.
She nods, her hand finding mine briefly. “We won’t be long, babe.”
“Ugh.” Cerise rolls her eyes. “You hosting sleepovers now, Zeus? Got the popcorn and nail polishes ready?”
“More than you ever did for her,” I snap back.
She appears suitably chastised as she slumps into her seat.
With a nudge from Belle, I head down to her bedroom to collect her things. I’d much rather stick around, but like I said—the quicker the getaway the better.
Two duffles sit packed on the bed; the surfaces in the room are clear although her childhood keepsakes remain. I draw a laden breath as I stand in the centre of the room, hands on my hips. Memories were made here. Lines were crossed. I still don’t know with one hundred per cent certainty whether that was a good or a bad thing.
All I know is I’m still enough of a selfish prick that I wouldn’t change a thing, whatever the answer is.
I heft the bags to my shoulders, twisting to get through the doorway, and then pause in the hall as the conversation filters through the house.
“Tell me, John: Are you okay with this?” Cerise asks.
“You know I’m not. But there isn’t a lot I can do about it.”
“Dad,” Belle sighs. “Stop being mad at Zeus for what I want.”
He takes me by surprise when he answers, “I’m mad at you, too.”
“What?”
“You spent two years dating Damien, and then you drop him within a week of getting back.”
I edge closer, still out of sight, and keep listening.
“I broke up with him because I don’t love him,” Belle protests. “I told you that. You want me to be unhappy?”
“No,” John says. “I want you to spare a thought for the poor guy you used and tossed aside. I raised you better than to treat people like that.”
“I didn’t use him,” Belle says quietly. “If anything, we used each other.”
“It doesn’t make it better,” John reasons.
“No. But neither does his behaviour.” Belle pauses before continuing. “It was bad enough that he decided to keep travelling rather than come back with me, but he fucking cheated on me, Dad. He shacked up with some blonde bitch while on his last trek. Do you have any idea how that made me feel, especially after how much grief I gave myself for not giving Damien a real go at things?”
The fucker better make sure he never shows his face in this town, because so fucking help me….
“I didn’t know that,” John says, quietly enough that I barely catch it.
“Because I didn’t feel the need to tell everyone,” Belle explains. “I’m old enough to fight my own battles, Dad. Also old enough to choose who I want to be with.” She hesitates, before adding, “Ganging up on me about my choices isn’t going to alter them.”
My heart hammers in my chest. I should go in there and back her up, but a part of me argues that they’d likely stop if I did. I need to know more. I need this to develop organically so I can hear what Belle’s honest thoughts are.
“Let me get this straight,” Cerise says. “You’ve only just broken up with that guy your dad told me about, and now you’re going to live with Zeus?”
“Because I love him,” Belle says softly. “I always have.”
“This is wrong, John,” Cerise protests. “You should have called me sooner.”
I lift a foot to move, but Sharon’s interjection stills me. “He shouldn’t have called you at all. They love each other, don’t they? He takes good care of her. Where’s the problem?”
“With all due respect,” Cerise says scathingly, “you’re rather new to this situation, so your opinion doesn’t hold much weight.”
There’s a lag in the conversation where I imagine John’s lack of response backs up Cerise’s opinion.
Interesting.
“I still think you’re selling yourself short,” John says, presumably to Belle. “You’re so young, sweetheart, and there’s still so much you want to do.”
“Am I not able to do it with Zeus?” she argues. Atta girl.
“Look at him, Belle. Really take a look at him. He’s been to prison twice, for fuck’s sake.” So much for my best friend not giving a shit about my record. “He works on the road. What happens when his body gives out and he’s too old to do such physical labour?”
“It’s not that far away, really,” Cerise snipes.
I scowl, flexing in response. I’ve got plenty of years left in this body. I’m thirty-eight, not eighty.
“How is he going to provide for you?” John continues. “He’ll be ready to wind down when you’re only just getting settled in life.”
“Why does he have to provide for me?” Belle bites back. “I’m building my own business, my own worth.” The room falls quiet for a beat before she whispers, “Do you not think I can do it?”
“I never said that,” John says.
“It was implied.” Belle’s mood changes, the ice clear in her words. “We’ll be fine on our own. We’ve never needed anybody else’s approval, so why worry if we don’t have it now?”
“It’s not the approval I have issue with.” John’s tone seems tired, exhausted.
“It’s what happens when he’s older,” Cerise explains. “What happens when you want to start a family?”
“Why would you fucking care?” Belle scathes. “To be honest, the fact you give enough of a shit to come here and back Dad up baffles me anyway.”
“That’s the point, sweetheart,” Cerise sneers. “I’m here to back him up. Your bratty arse won’t listen to him, so he had no option but to bring me into it.”
And there’s the truth…
Belle remains quiet. I’d pay to see her face right now, read what she’s thinking. Deep down, does she believe the lame shit they’re feeding her? Does she care?
“I think you’re making a mistake, sweetheart,” John reiterates.
“Well I don’t think she is, for what it’s worth,” Sharon snaps before I make out the sound of her walking toward me.
I move for the front door, passing her as she steps through the doorway into the hall. Her eyes go wide, before they soften and she gives me a small smile. I hate pity, but at least it’s nice to know I have someone on our side.
My head aches as I step outside and secure Belle’s gear to the back of the bike. Like it or not, John has a point: Belle won’t even be fifty by the time I get my pensioner card in the mail. Maybe right now we can swing this age gap thing, but what if when we get older she grows to resent me for holding her back?
I pull the straps tight on the bags and then pull in a deep breath before facing the lot of them. All I wanted in life was to be what somebody needed, what made somebody happy. So far all I’ve done is bring hurt and stress to those who know me.
Is it too much to ask to be the fucking good guy for a change?
Belle’s gaze finds me as I step through the living room door. She seems relieved, a soft smile on her lips as I cross between where John and Cerise sit to take my place on the arm of Belle’s chair.
“Everything okay?”
Belle’s hand rests on my leg as Cerise answers. “Wonderful. Belle just finished telling me about her plans now that she’s home.”
Interesting way to put it. “You ready to go, then?” I look to my girl, terrified that this is the beginning of a downward spiral for us.
I only just got her back—like fuck I want her to leave again because of a few things her fucking family said. But the possibility is there and I’d be a fool not to recognise that.
“Yeah. I am.” Belle rises from her seat, as does John. “I’ll catch up later, Dad.”
“Sure.” He doesn’t hug his daughter same as he normally would. He stands there, hands in pockets, and looks at her with what seems like guilt.
“Where’s Sharon?” I make a point of looking around for her.
“I think she wasn’t feeling the best,” John lies. “I’ll pass on that you said goodbye.”
I nod, holding his gaze. Staunch indifference greets me; the look I know means John is more than set in his way and nothing will sway him.
I can’t believe he stooped so low. I can’t believe the man I knew, the one who would hold his daughter high above everything and everyone else, would do this to her.
He’s systematically cutting her down, an inch at a time until she breaks.
I don’t think I can say I know the guy anymore. This isn’t John. The guy I know wouldn’t have called Cerise, let alone allowed such a distance to grow between him and his child.
“Good to catch up, Cerise,” I quip as I take Belle’s hand. “Wherever you are these days, it seems to be a good place for you.” She glowers before I add, “You look well.”
Bitch knows the message between the lines. Fuck the hell off back to where you came from and stay there.
Belle takes the lead, pulling me by my hand toward the front entrance. I throw a wave over my shoulder as we head outside, John following to shut the door behind us.
“Well.” I hand Belle her helmet. “That was awkward.”
“Yeah.” She clips the straps and then climbs on to shunt herself back up against the bags.
I put the key in and then pull back to stare at her.
“What?” Her brow furrows a little, but her mouth remains sour.
“You don’t believe them, do you?”
She frowns.
“I heard what they said.”
“Zeus….”
I lift a hand. “On second thought, this conversation can wait until we get home.”
Like fuck I’ll risk putting myself in a hell of a mood before I have to get us home. Nope. Sometimes it’s best to put off the things you know are going to hurt, just so you can be sure you’ll keep focus on what matters.
And right now, getting Belle safely back to where she belongs is what matters most.
Only time will tell if I can keep her there.