There was a long pause filled with that ringing silence which isn't really silence because all parties involved have a deafening roar engulfing their heads. Yeah, that sort of silence. Broken after what felt like a millennium by Alex breaking down in laughter.
"Well this is just fucking fantastic!" Gasped out Alex between bouts of laughter.
"Representative from the Pleasure that's the best you could come up with seriously? I mean sure Tom probably would have punched you in the balls if you had told him the truth but representative from the Pleasure? Oh man…"
Slowly Alex regained his composure enough to walk the 8 steps into the kitchen and pick up the phone.
"Hi, yea can I please have the biggest pepperoni pizza you can make with more cheese than the Twilight Series?"
Toby looked on, frozen in utter shock as Alex delivered the address and hung up. The boy then turned, keeping his back to Toby and poured himself a huge, steaming mug of coffee. Finally, with the mug in hand he slowly made his way to the table where Ben and Toby were situated, and sat down next to his guardian.
"What are you doing here, Toby?" Alex asked, taking a sip from his coffee.
"Well-"
"Actually, scratch that, I don't care. Um, look I have been trying to wrap my head around you and your sister for a while now and I just… I don't get you. Either of you, any of you really!"
As Alex finished, studying Toby the man tried to form words but found that he really couldn't. He could not explain himself to a fifteen year old boy.
Alex leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table.
"It took you guys to meet me to start asking questions you should have been asking years ago. And I don't get that. Maybe I am naive, you see I never had siblings. Maybe if I did I would get to a point where I wouldn't talk to them for years as well. I don't know. I don't have siblings unless you count Sabina and I'm sorry I love Sabina dearly but I haven't known her since birth so you see it is just not the same."
Sighing, Alex leaned back again averting his eyes from Toby, deep in thought.
"I would give anything to know my mother the way you did."
"Al-" Ben started but was cut off abruptly.
"I would give anything to have a fight with her. Like I can't imagine what it is like to storm up to your room and slam the door behind you after losing a fight with your mother. But I can imagine Helen would have been a pretty hard person to fight." Alex smiled. "My uncle Ian always told me my dad was a hard person to win a fight of wits against. The only person he had ever seen do it was Helen. He said it was like watching two encyclopedias have a wrestling match. That's why he loved her so much, and he loved her so so much."
As Alex talked Toby watched him, letting his tea go cold. He felt like the boy was telling him everything yet revealing nothing. There was a cold stone buried deep within Toby's gut, radiating a chill throughout his body with every word Alex spoke and he knew. He had known for a while he believes he just never wanted to face it. Why did his sister never call him? After all these years surely she missed him. Because Helen was stubborn, and she was a hot head, and she always won fights… Well, almost always. But she was also the first to seek reconciliation. The first to forgive. He believed she would be the first to pick up the phone after 20 years and say "Hey." if she could. And here was this boy. Her boy. So much like her and yet, broken. Lacking her fiery attitude and fierce optimism. What had gone wrong? Why had this happened?
ARARARARARARARARARARA
Ben quietly closed the door behind him, careful not to wake the sleeping boy and made his way down the stairs. He paused for a second looking into the lounge room where Toby sat, clutching a fresh cup of tea and staring intently at his phone. Ben slowly straightened up, clearing his throat. Two blood shot eyes looked up at him and he sighed as he made his way into the room, sitting in an armchair opposite the despairing man.
"I don't understand." Choked out Toby, "How could this happen? How.. how could my sister… why were we not told?"
Ben took a deep breath and leaned forward, looking Toby in the eye.
"There's still… A lot you don't know about this situation. It's hard to wrap your head around it I know that."
"Surely she talked about us, surely people knew about us. That she had a family that deserved to know, that deserved to have a say in where her son lived, I just…"
"I know."
They sat in silence for a few minutes, Toby sipping his tea and Ben studying him.
"Have you called your sister yet?" asked Ben.
"No." Replied Toby, shaking his head. "I don't know what I would say to her. I feel like it's more of a face to face conversation."
Toby put his tea down and gripped his hair in frustration.
"I've got to tell my parents, all my sisters. I don't know if I can do that. And Alex…" Toby sighed. "He's going to have to experience all that grief again, all that pain of losing both his parents is going to bubble up again and he just wants to forget."
"Well, that's only if he decides to go home with you." Stated Ben.
"You don't think he will?"
"I honestly don't know. I have spent a long time trying to wrap my head around the mind of Alexander Rider. I figure it's easier just to be there for him, whatever he decides."
And with that the two of them once again warped into silence.