Live In Position (22 page)

"What do you –?"

Suddenly all of their eyes flashed around the room and then back to her.

"She's here right now." Ilene wiped her face free of the crazy tears soaking her cheeks. Her eyes were smudged where her makeup had run. Their eyes snapped to me.

"Whoa. No! I don't know any Juliet." I put my hands up defensively.

Ilene's laughter picked up and she sounded like a sick hyena.

"No, no…it's not her." She sniffed a couple of times. Then Ilene's eyes turned to Allison.

"Wh-what?" Allison seemed to break before our eyes. She began to wail loudly and collapsed. Jonathan picked her up bridal style and headed toward the stairs.

"Thank your sweet father dear!" Ilene
shouted as Jonathan carried his wife away. Jonathan's head snapped toward Ilene; filled with disgust and hatred.

"Mother," Max hissed.

"Allison is Juliet's daughter?" Dr. Bishop still spoke robotically.

"Don't tell me you’
ve never wondered why she looks the least like any of us." Ilene snorted.

I couldn't believe how callus she was
being. My hands were clenching my thighs so tightly I swore I was going to give myself bruises.

"You cold, he
artless bitch!" Larissa snapped. My jaw dropped.

"Babe…" Max tried to calm her.

"How dare you?" Ilene accused.

"How dare I? You have the nerve to ask how I dare? I'll tell you how I dare." Larissa stepped toward her and slapped her face. "Why
do you have to be so cold? She’s your daughter!"

"
Obviously, she's not," Ilene sneered.

Larissa raised her hand again, but Max grabbed her and took her out of the room. Larissa was still shouting over Max's shoulder
. Obscenities I never thought I would hear from Larissa spilled from her lips.

"Collin, darling?" Her voice was sickeningly sweet toward him.

Dr. Bishop didn't move. He stood staring off into nothing. Then he just fell back into the chair next to me. His arms flailed out, one landing next to me.  The warmth of his arm soaked into my thigh and spread.

"Collin?" Ilene
pleaded for a respond.

"I think you should go lie down
, Mother." He barely got the words out.

"Darling, you know how much I love you. I never wanted any of you to find
–"

"But we did." He looked at her with sorrowful eyes. "And you hurt Allison deeply."

Ilene stiffened.

"I need to be alone." He spat angrily and closed his eyes tightly.

"Very well," Ilene brushed away nothing from her skirt and stood. She held her chin high as she climbed the stairs.

I shifted slightly and stood quietly,
his arm lost contact with me.

"Is that what happened?" I froze at his voice, "With Jonathan?"

"Yes." I said in a whisper. "Nothing happened and nothing will happen." I didn't turn around.

"The night of the dance recital…there was…"

"Yes, but I handled it." I was eying the doorway out of the room like it was the Holy freaking Grail.

"You should’
ve told me." He said in his robotic tone.

"I handled it." I took a step to leave.

"I believe you." I heard the chair creak. Glancing over my shoulder, I watched him disappear into another hallway.

Chapter Thirteen

"What the hell happened?" Amber hissed. Having just stepped onto the third floor when she grabbed me by my arm, pulling me into the room she shared with Ryan, all I could do was shake my head.

"Don't even ask." I groaned.

"I can't believe Jonathan did that to you." She exclaimed, my eyes widened and shot up to her face. They had heard that too…ugh.

"I can't believe Allison isn't Ilene's daughter." William mumbled.

"It's all just one big freaking circus." I sighed and shook my head to trying to clear it. "Where are the kids?" I looked around.

"They're watching a movie with Victoria." William motioned over his shoulder and back out the door.

I sighed again. It was obvious they’d heard the majority of what happened. I slouched down into a chair and hid my face in my hands.

"Sophia?" Amber's voice sounded worried.

"Hmm?"

"Are you okay?" I felt her presence and when I looked through my fingers, I saw her kneeli
ng down in front of me. William stood behind her.

"Yeah, just tired." Removing my hands from my face, I forced a smile.

"If you don't want to talk about it, we understand." William winked and offered his hand.

"Thanks." I smiled and allowed him to pull me up on my feet. "I think it's going to be a pretty tense house for awhile."

They both nodded in agreement.

"Let's go watch a movie." I bumped shoulders with Amber and we headed out to the hall. There was a feeling inside me that the craziness had only just begun.

"Get out!" Allison's screech was unmistakable.

"What the hell is going on?" Max's voiced boomed up from the second floor.

"I want him out!"

"Allison, calm down and get a hold
—"

"Go to hell Jonathan! Get out. Go away! I can't even look at you anymore."

We froze in the hallway, listening to the commotion on the floor below. A door slammed loudly, causing Amber and I to both jump. Then the loud pounding began and Jonathan's yelling followed.

"Let me in
, Allison. We need to discuss this in private."

There was loud muffled screaming, but the door made it inaudible.

"Fine Allison, Fine! That's what you want…then Fine. It's always about what you want or what you decide anyhow."

The distinct sound of thumping footsteps, a door slam, and car tires spinning on gravel were heard. We looked at each other with wide eyes and hurried toward the kids.

After the kids fell asleep, we took them to their assigned beds before climbing into our own.

The following morning
everyone was quiet, except the kids. They were their typical selves. The twins were arguing over who had more syrup, Victoria was humming songs from the little mermaid, Ryan was demanding Amber's attention, but only because she was holding M.J.

I took M.J. so she could tend to Ryan. When Victoria was finished eating she cleaned up her plate and waited for me to take her upstairs to get dressed. I turned to Amber, who was still busy with Ryan.

"Hey, you go ahead and eat. I can take him up with us."

"Are you sure?" She examined my face for confirmation. I readjusted M.J. against my chest before nodding.

"Sure. No problem at all. Do you have clothes set out for him already or do you want me to just wait?"

"His clothes are on the dresser, but I'll try to get up there in time to take care of it." Amber grabbed a plate and some food before sitting down to the table. "Thank you so, so, much."

The three of us headed toward the stairs. Victoria and I looked to our left when we heard a door open and footsteps against the hard wood floor. Dr. Bishop stopped when he spotted us, his eyes examining us closely.

"Good morning Daddy!" Victoria's chipper voice sang out to him.

He hesitated for a moment and then his eyes rested on M.J. I suddenly got nervous. Would he get angry if I was helping with another child? Would he say Amber wasn't doing her job?

"I, uh, I'm just helping Amber out this morning." My words were quick, hoping he wouldn't get angry.

His brow furrowed before he looked down to Victoria.

"Good morni
ng, Victoria." He smiled warmly.

I quickly ushered her up the stairs. The feeling of his intense gaze followed us until we were finally out of view. I
released the nervous breath I’d been holding and continued up to the third floor.

Victoria, M.J., and I were fully dressed when we passed Amber and Ryan coming up the stairs. "Geez, you're fast." Amber giggled. "Two kids taken care of, along with yourself, that's
impressive."

"What can I say…I'm good." I winked. She put her arms out for M.J. I handed him over.

"Thanks Sophia. I owe you."

I shrugged. "Don't worry about it. He was a perfect angel." Victoria and I continued down the stairs.

"What’re we going to do today?" She turned and looked up to me.

"Hmmm…" I rubbed my chin. I decided it would probably be best to get out of the house after everything that had happened. "How about we see if there's a movie playing at the theater?"

She smiled brightly. "I'll get my shoes."

I laughed as she ran toward the coat closet and started digging out her shoes.

"Hey, don't throw everyone else's shoes all over." I laughed and moved to help her find her shoes. Once our shoes were on, I grabbed my bag, slinging it over my shoulder and across my chest.

"Where are you two
going?” I spun at the sound of Dr. Bishop's voice.

He stood before us in a pair of khaki cargo shorts and a white t-shirt, a pair of leather sandals on his feet. It was quite a different look than what I was used to and it wasn't until Victoria spoke that I snapped out of my lingering appraisal of him.

"We're going to the movies!" Victoria jumped around me with a big smile for her father.

"Oh." He seemed to stare without focusing on Victoria's face. Then he snapped out it.

"What are you going to see?"

"Umm…" Victoria looked up at me with a furrowed brow.

I shrugged and looked to Dr. Bishop.

"I don't really know what's on." I half smiled and then pulled her under one of my arms. "We'll just check it out and see what's playing." I shrugged again.
The nervous feeling he invoked began to creep across my skin.

Dr. Bishop stayed silent, so Victoria and I turned to head out the door. Victoria bounced toward the car. I shook my head
.

"We aren't taking the car?" I shook my head again. "Then how are we going to get there?"

"Bikes," I grabbed her hand and pulled her along with me to the bikes.

"Bu
t that's a long ride." Victoria whined.

"I think you can handle it." I laughed and pulled
a bike out for her.

"So, is there room for another?" Both of our heads looked up from the bike to Dr. Bishop. He approached with an unusual grin. It was
both coy and suggestive. My stomach flipped.

"Really?" Victoria had the
handle of the bike in her hand. She stared at her father in anticipation of his affirmation.

Dr. Bishop's grin grew into a smile and he nodded. I was too thrown by his casual smiles to look away when his eyes shifted to me.

"You don't mind?"

I snapped out of my own thoughts after a moment. "No, of course not," With a quick response and pulling my bike next to Victoria, I focused my attention on her.

"You lead, so I can keep an eye on you. Okay?" Victoria nodded and started to pedal. I let her get a couple of feet ahead of me before I started riding behind her.

Dr. Bishop appeared in my peripheral vision and I had to literally fight the urge to look over at him. That was until he inched ahead of me and rode next to Victoria. Her head turned to him and I could see her cheeks give way to a large smile. I smiled at her, but then my attention turned to Dr. Bishop. He was smiling at her before turning his attention back to the road. For a moment Dr. Bishop seemed 'real'. He was so out of character with his manner of dress and the even more unruly hair, which the wind, from the bike riding, was currently wreaking havoc upon. I started
to get lost in his appearance and his 'real' behavior with Victoria. My tire hit a crack in the blacktopped road. The shaking of the handlebars pulled my attention back to the road.

He's the antichrist, don't let him fool you
. It’s how he draws you in to barter your soul.

After a few crosswalk stops, we arrived to the small theater. They had two movies showing; one for adults and an animated film. We leaned our bikes against the small wrack they had out front and headed to the ticket window.

"Good afternoon." A middle aged woman with brown hair smiled through the glass panel to greet us.

"Three for the animated film, please." Dr. Bishop stated.

"Fifteen dollars."

H
e handed her some cash and she returned his changed and the ticket stubs, "Theater two." She wore a warm smile as we walked passed her and into the building.

"Can we get popcorn?" Victoria grabbed at my hand.

"Of course," I squeezed her hand, walking to the counter.

"What can I get for you?" I looked into the face of a possible pageant contestant for Miss Teen USA.

"Medium popcorn and a regular soda, please," She turned and started scooping popcorn into the paper bucket. After putting the popcorn on the counter, she turned around and filled up a soda cup.

"Here you go."
Her perfect white veneer's practically glittered. "That’ll be seven dollars."

"Actually, could
I get a box of junior mints?" I turned my head. Dr. Bishop leaned toward the counter.

"Y-yes…" I heard her stutter and then giggle. She was eyeing Dr. Bishop as she grabbed the box of candy and slid it across the counter toward him. "Will there be anything else
I
could get for you?"

I raised one brow at her and tried not to burst into laughter. The flirtatious show she was putting forth was priceless.

"No, that will be all. Thank you." Dr. Bishop stated and handed her some cash.

I noticed him shift uncomfortably as she returned his change and brushed her fingers across his hand. I fought back a snort and quickly grabbed Victoria's hand, leading us into theater two.

There wasn't really anyone in the theater, maybe three other small groups of people.

"Where do you want to sit?" I looked down at Victoria.

"All the way up front!" She ran to the first row.

"Are you sure about that?"

She sat down and looked up to the screen. "Um…" She furrowed her brow.

"It's a lot of screen isn't it?" I laughed. She smiled sheepishly.

"Let's try a few rows back." Motioning with my head, I turned abruptly.

Crashing into Dr. Bishop's chest squeezed the popcorn container between us
. The popcorn exploded around us like buttery fireworks. His hand gripped my elbow, trying to steady us both. My eyes widened as his intense green gaze lingered on me. An unreadable emotion flashed across his face before Victoria snapped my eyes away from his.

"No, not the popcorn," she cried out in her best dramatic performance.

I looked down at her and started laughing hysterically. Dr. Bishop's laugh shocked me the instant it hit my ears. I returned my gaze to him.

"I’
m so sorry. I didn't realize you were standing that close –"

He shook his head and put his hand up. "My fault for following so closely behind you," he chuckled. "I shouldn't have been almost on top of you." His eyes widened and his laughing stopped, nervousness crossed his face and tension thickened between the two of us. "I'll just…uh…I'll get some more popcorn." He turned on his heals toward the door.

I watched his nervously retreating form and could hear him mumbling words I wasn't distinctly able to understand.