Holiday - Chapters 3 and 4

[fbrobey.livejournal.com]

Yay!!! About time Livejournal has been really plying up for me lately, but thank goodness it is up and running, so time for some new chapters, especially after the quietude of responses on chapter 2 lol! Anyway onward with the story, here's Chapters 3 and 4 for you to sink your eyes into... Enjoy!!

Title:  Holiday
Chapter(s): 3 and 4
Character(s) : Wayne, Greg, Jennifer and Melissa
Rating: 3 - PG, 4 - 15 (for language)
Words:  3 - 677, 4 - 1,164
Summary: Wayne has a holiday he'll never forget.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything, except the story.  This did not happen, as it is purely a fanfic.

 

After a wonderful, home-cooked dinner they were all full to bursting and retired to the lounge. From what Wayne could see in the dim of the twilight it was a large, eloquently furnished room with beautiful paintings lining the walls and handsome, expensive furniture filling the space nicely.

Shia was asleep on the rug by the fireplace purring contently. Greg smiled. Melissa had to exercise all her self-control not to run over and disturb the beautiful cat.

Flicking on the television for background noise Greg shuddered as Drew Carey’s voice thundered, “Good evening everybody and welcome to Whose Line Is It Anyway?”  He was just about to change it, when Melissa squealed.

“Greg, that’s you.” Her face lit up to see Greg wink at her from the screen.
“And Daddy?” The Wayne on screen smiled cheekily. 
“Yeah, that’s how I met Greg.” Wayne explained.
“Please can we watch it? Please?” Melissa pleaded.

Chuckling Greg set down the remote and flopped down onto the sofa. Wayne joined him shaking his head at his daughter’s enthusiasm at such an old programme.  She had settled herself on the rug next to Shia, with her back leaning against her Father’s legs. Opening a bleary eye Shia leapt gracefully onto Melissa’s lap and curled her legs in. 

The big cat was heavy and hung over the edge of her legs. Still Melissa felt happy that the ocelot chose to sit on her. “Lets go on to a game called Superheroes” Drew announced.
“As you missed the introduction sweetie, you won’t really understand but the idea was for us to just make everything up. We didn’t have a script or anything” Wayne explained to his daughter.

“Captain Dandruff” a member of the audience suggested for Greg. Melissa giggled.
“GREAT LEAPING SNOWY FLAKES OF DEAD SKIN!” announced Greg on the screen, causing Melissa to collapse in a heap laughing on the floor. Wayne and Greg watching with her laughed too, in spite of themselves.

As the game progressed Melissa laughed and clapped as her Dad started tap dancing.
”Who was that man? I wanted to spank him”
“Damn, I forgot I said that,” muttered Greg as Wayne cracked up next to him.

Further still both the Greg on screen and the Greg sat watching roared with laughter at Wayne in film and theatre styles doing a “Spanish Soap Opera” The Wayne off screen mimicked the Wayne on screen and started giggling at Greg’s raucous laughter. 

To their surprise both improvisers enjoyed watching the old show as much as Melissa did. Jennifer also found herself giggling uncontrollably once she had joined them.  They had watched both of the episodes being shown, before Wayne realised Melissa had fallen asleep still leant against his shins.

“I thought she’d gone quiet” Wayne commented more to himself than Greg or Jennifer.  Greg knelt to the floor and prised the ocelot from the young girl, so that Wayne was able to scoop his daughter gently into his arms and put her to bed.

Setting Shia softly on the sofa, Greg turned to Wayne.
“I’ll show you where Melissa’s sleeping”
“Thanks Greg.” He readjusted Melissa as gently as he could in his arms, as she had begun to slip. “I don’t think she normally stays up this late.”

Leading Wayne through his large, grand home Greg opened one of the walnut doors not far from the stairway. Wayne finally caught up with Greg panting slightly from climbing up the stairs leading to the upper floor.
“Why is your house so damn big?” Wayne grumbled good-naturedly.
“To keep visitors in shape” quipped Greg.

Wayne entered the comfortable room and deposited Melissa on the bed.
“Will you find your way back?” Greg winked.
“My sense of direction sucks, would you wait outside the door for me?” Replied Wayne.

Having got Melissa ready for bed and tucked her in, Wayne’s heart swelled with warmth and pride. He felt like a father again for the first time in months. He smiled as he shut the door behind him, dampening the sound of Melissa's soft snoring.

 

 

It wasn’t long before Wayne and Melissa had settled comfortably in Greg and Jennifer’s large home. It was modern and beautifully furnished, clean and had very little clutter. In turn Greg and Jennifer had slowly become accustomed to their house being considerably fuller than normal, in particular the experienced for the first time what it was like to have a child around.

Melissa in particular was very excited in exploring the vast house and it’s enormous gardens. The lounge was her favourite, a pretty pale yellow with elegant wooden flooring. 

A soft fuzzy rug lay opposite a large and elaborate fireplace often lit in the evenings to both Melissa and Shia’s delight. The television was enormous with a mixture of every film genre imaginable lining the shelves around it. Three large white leather sofas formed a square lining the edges of the rug, a large coffee table in the centre. On this table stood a large crystal vase holding dozens of beautiful pink and white lilies from the garden outside.

Books lined the back wall of the lounge, all far too advanced for Melissa to read herself, but that didn’t stop her looking longingly at the beautiful volumes, their titles sounding exciting. In one corner was a desk on which sat an update expensive computer.

In the other corner stood a shining white piano, which Melissa discovered belonged to Jennifer, who agreed to let her tinkle the keys as long as she asked permission first. Melissa could not play properly but she still enjoyed making up little tunes.

The other place Melissa loved spending time was the garden, Shia was often found lurking here and loved having someone as energetic as the 8 year old, who would run around playing with her for hours.

*****

Wayne was walking through the labyrinth of hallways and rooms one evening. Searching for Greg, now that Melissa had gone to bed, he wondered whether his friend wanted to go out for a couple of beers.

Having not explored as thoroughly as his daughter, however he still easily got lost. He wandered along one of the upstairs corridors trying to think where Greg would be, when he heard raised voices coming from one of the rooms, with it’s door ajar.

“What do you mean you mixed up the dates?” Greg’s was seemingly confused, hurt.
“I’m sorry Greg, I got it wrong, alright? I’ve had it up to here with having to remember everything. If I don’t do it, who does? You certainly don’t bother trying to help me out with organising anything do you? Oh no, Jennifer will do it, it’ll be fine.” Jennifer was saying, anger evident in every syllable she spoke.
“There’s no need to snap Jennifer! I was just saying that something so important, how could you forget we were fucking flying to Britain next week? It’s hardly something that slips your mind. I think about it everyday, perhaps she wasn’t that important. Lets just forget her shall we?” Greg’s voice had grown louder too, shooting venom at Jennifer. Punishing her for forgetting whatever it was.

Wayne felt uneasy. He didn’t want to hear his friend arguing with his wife. It was none of his business after all what Jennifer had forgotten to make Greg so angry. To Wayne, Greg was a bit out of line punishing her so harshly for forgetting a holiday to England. Besides who was “she” Wayne pondered. 

Convincing himself he was being incredibly rude and nosey, Wayne made to leave, until the mention of his name held him rooted to his spot by the door.

“It’s not Wayne’s fault, he needed a place to stay and I asked if we were free. I asked you Jennifer! Why didn’t you check if you were unsure?”
“I never blamed him! I just said that because he needed accommodation I forgot! I didn’t even think about how close it was to be honest Greg and how dare you say I don’t fucking care! I loved her just as much as you did, I’ve just managed to move on! I haven’t been moping since it happened Greg!” 

In the crack in the door, Wayne could see that Jennifer had crossed the room away from her husband. Her face was flushed and livid. She was outraged at her husband’s accusations. Wayne didn’t understand. What were they talking about? Had his presence caused this argument? Did this mean they couldn’t go to Britain to meet this mystery woman?

“I HAVEN’T BEEN MOPING!” Greg bellowed. Jennifer’s last comment had evidently tipped him over the edge of a very fine line. He came into view grabbing Jennifer by the tops of her arms. She didn’t wince however, simply stood with her arms folded, her face expressing that of uncontrollable rage. Greg was a braver man than Wayne it seemed. If his wife had ever had that look on her face, it would have left Wayne cowering. 

“YOU ARE AN INCONSIDERATE BASTARD GREGORY PROOPS!” Jennifer exploded shoving him roughly away from her. “DON’T TOUCH ME!” This time Greg didn’t seem to know how to react. Clearly, he had never seen his spouse as irate as this before. He backed out of sight, still Wayne knew roughly where he was because of the direction Jennifer was glaring in.

“Jennifer…” Greg’s voice had dropped to a soft tone. Anger replaced by anxiety. “I never meant to lose my temper… I….” He faltered seemingly unable to express the suitable words.

“You’re a dick!” Jennifer informed him, acidly. “Well I’m not staying here listening to your accusations anymore Gregory. I don’t need this, I’m not feeling good anyway. Not that you’ve taken any notice.” Although she was no longer shouting, Jennifer’s voice was still icy cold, verbally wounding Greg as much as she could. 

Greg was now speechless, whether he dared not to say anything more, or was actually out of things to say Wayne couldn’t tell.
“I’m going to Britain alone next week. I fucked up the dates and I’m sorry, but I’ve had other things on my mind I’ve had to deal with because you apparently don’t give a fuck what I’m going through.” All anger had gone now. Coldness had engulfed Jennifer’s speech, although Wayne was sure he could here sadness, perhaps even fear in her tones. She was done talking. A stunned Wayne only just managed to dive into the next room in time to see her storm out of the occupied bedroom and down the corridor. 

Tears were leaking down her pretty face. The argument had shaken her as much as it had Greg. “Should I go and comfort one of them?” Wayne thought. He decided against it, as that would mean admitting to them he had overheard their fight. Still Wayne couldn’t help wonder what was so important in Britain to cause the couple to fly of the handle at each other. What ever it was, it was bound to be a sensitive subject, one that intrigued Wayne immensely.