Secret Smile Chapter Four
The next day, Miranda came home from her apartment after shopping with Troy, to find the apartment in immaculate clean condition. It appeared that Brendan had cleaned it for her. "See?" said Troy, happily. "Told you he was nice!" The intercom buzzed as Miranda answered it. "Hey! It's Lizzie!" came Lizzie. "Oh, yeah, come on up!" said Miranda as she unlocked the front door.
Then, she spotted a note from Brendan on her bed. Apparently he had taken at least half of Miranda's clothing and took it all down to a thrift store in town. Miranda was outraged. "I don't believe it!" she shouted. "He did it for you!" Troy protested. "What?" asked Miranda, still annoyed. "Well, clutter is bad for your energy! Especially if it's in corners!"
"That's just stupid!" Mirada spat. Troy was looking hurt as he turned and started to leave. "Aw, I'm sorry!" Miranda said, looking remorseful. "Have fun with Lizzie," said Troy as he walked out the door and Lizzie walked in, saying hi to Troy as he passed. "What's up, Miranda?" asked Lizzie. "Look, he's thrown away half of my clothes!" said Miranda, still fuming. "Oh, my God!" gasped Lizzie. "What a jerk!" "I can't believe he's been through my stuff!" said Miranda as she sat down on her bed.
"Well, it's only for a few more weeks, just hang in there, okay?" asked Lizzie, rubbing Miranda's back consolingly.
"I don't know if I can,'' said Miranda. Lizzie smiled sympathetically. "Want some wine before we go?" "Yes," said Miranda broodingly. "Come on," said Lizzie. "Unless he's bloody well cleared it up!" Miranda said irritably.
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That evening, Dean took Miranda out for a drink. Right in the middle of it, her mobile phone rang. It was Troy. "Hey, sorry about today, Can we hang out tomorrow?" "I'm going to the gym with Brendan,'' Troy replied. "What, all day?" asked Miranda. "Yep," "Well can we hang out later then?" asked Miranda. "Guess so," said Troy. "Okay, lots of love,'' said Miranda as she hung up. "He's with Troy all the time now!" Miranda complained. "Maybe it's good for him," said Dean.
The next day, Lizzie was sipping coffee and typing on her laptop when her iPhone rang, as she answered it. It was Miranda and she appeared to be speaking fast and panicky. "Whoa! Whoa! Miranda! Slow down!'' Lizzie said. There was a pause, then – "What do you mean Troy's missing?" asked Lizzie. There was another pause. "Okay! Okay! I'll be right there!"
"What's wrong?" asked Dean, who had been listening. "Miranda said that Troy's missing! We've gotta go!" she said as she grabbed her jacket and purse and ran out the door with Dean and Sam walking behind.
Miranda met Lizzie at her parents house, where they sat in her living room waiting to hear about Troy. After what seemed like forever, Brendan and Kerry walked into the house with Troy. "I remember what it's like when you get into one of those places in your head, you know," said Brendan. "You just wanna retreat,"
Lizzie repressed a snort of derision. He has no idea! She thought.
After Troy had gone away to take a nap, Miranda talked to her father about her suspicions of Brendan. He didn't seem to be convinced, and Miranda was forced to not press the matter further.
As Lizzie and Miranda were leaving, Brendan walked out the front door, and walked up to Miranda. "I heard what you said to your dad,'' he said. "Well, you shouldn't eavesdrop!" said Miranda. "Well, you shouldn't badmouth me!" Brendan retorted. "What are you gonna do about it?" Lizzie shouted, getting into Brendan's face. He smirked at her in a 'you-can't-hurt-me' kind of way. Lizzie reached into her pocket and pulled out a rosary, and held it at eye-line so Brendan could see the cross at the end.
All at once, Brendan's expression changed. He cringed as though someone had slapped him and slowly backed away.
When he was out of sight, Lizzie put the rosary back in her pocket looking satisfied. Miranda was looking stunned as though Lizzie had performed an amazing magic trick. "How did you do that?" she asked. "I was gonna go for the holy water,'' said Lizzie, not really listening to what Miranda was saying.
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That evening, Miranda was laying in bed reading a book when there was a knock at her door and Brendan emerged. "Kerry's made a late supper. After such a mad day, I reckon we all need to calm down a bit.''
Miranda didn't look up from her book. "I'm not hungry thanks," she said. Brendan looked over his shoulder before coming into the room, shutting the door behind him and sitting down on Miranda's bed. "Miranda,'' he said. "Are you sulking?"
"No, I'm reading,'' she said. "What is it?" asked Brendan, taking the book from Miranda's hands and reading the cover. "Hm, 'First Love, Last Rights.' Sounds sexy,'' he said. "It isn't!" Miranda said as she made to grab the book from his hands. But Brendan grabbed her wrists, and pinned her down. "Do you remember? We used to make love like this.'' "Brendan!" said Miranda, disgusted, as she tried to push him off of her just as Kerry came into the room to see Miranda pushing Brendan off of her. In her mind, she probably thought Miranda was coming on to him.
"Kerry! Wait!" said Miranda, as she crawled off the bed, and ran after her sister. "Leave me alone!" Kerry said, tears streaming down her eyes as she ran out of the apartment, and down the stairs, with Miranda trailing after her. "Kerry!" she cried. "Leave her, Miranda!" said Brendan as she pushed past Miranda and followed Kerry out of the apartment.
Miranda walked back into the apartment and looked out the kitchen window, which overlooked the street below. She could see Kerry running towards her car with Brendan running after her.
He finally caught up to her and began to argue, although their words were inaudible. Then Brendan reached out a hand and struck Kerry across the face, which silenced her.
They then walked back up to the apartment together. As they walked through the door, Kerry's face was still tear streaked, and a bruise was beginning to form on her face where Brendan had hit her.
"Kerry, are you alright?" asked Miranda. "If you tell anyone what happened tonight, I will never forgive you!" said Kerry as she walked into the bedroom and shut the door. As soon as Kerry was out of earshot, Miranda turned to Brendan and gave him a look of deepest loathing. "You effing bully!" she growled as she walked back into her own bedroom.
Although Kerry had warned her not to tell anyone about what happened, the first thing Miranda did once she was inside her bedroom was pick up her mobile and call Lizzie.
"Hello?" came Lizzie's voice on the other line. "Lizzie?" Miranda whispered. "Miranda? Why are you whispering?" asked Lizzie curiously. "You'll never guess what Brendan just did!" she whispered. "What?" asked Lizzie. Miranda started to tell Lizzie what Brendan had done to her, to what he had done to Kerry. Halfway through her story, Lizzie interrupted her. "Hang on! Let me put you on speaker so Sam and Dean can hear you!" "Okay,'' said Miranda. There was a pause then Lizzie spoke again.
"Are you still there?" she asked. "I'm here," said Miranda. "Okay, keep going,'' said Lizzie. Miranda continued her story about the fight between Kerry and Brendan, then she dropped the proverbial bombshell on them – that Brendan had actually hit Kerry.
"Are you serious?" Lizzie asked, shocked. "Yeah," said Miranda. "What do I do?"
"Keep your distance, that's all you can do,'' said Lizzie. Miranda sighed. "I guess your right."
