Here's the next chapter of DKOL. As usual, I'm hoping it's passable.
Y'all know how it goes: thanks for the wonderful feedback!
Major Decisions
Trisha's entire body went cold at her ex-fiance's words. Her sister-in-law was dead. Will had actually just told her Natalia was dead. Natalia was dead? That made no sense. Tommy- whom was standing behind Trisha- placed his hand on her shoulder, but, she barely felt it. All she could hear in her head were Will's words. 'She's dead... she's dead... she's dead... .'
Tommy looked at Will. "Why don't you come on in, man?"
Will nodded, then, slipped past Trisha into the apartment. After closing and locking the door, Tommy took Trisha's hand and began leading her towards her sofa. Will sat down in a chair and watched the couple. The way Tommy was looking at Trisha caused jealousy, annoyance and regret to surge through him, but, he ignored it because this was what Trisha wanted and, also, there were more important things at hand here.
"What happened, Will?" Tommy asked as he slid a comforting arm around Trisha- whom was staring straight ahead with blank eyes.
"Natalia killed herself," Will replied. Tommy's eyebrows shot up and Will shook his head. "Mike told us about it a couple hours ago. He said he came home from a meeting last night and found her on their bathroom floor- next to an empty bottle of pills."
"Wow," Tommy said in a low voice. "Why did Mike wait to tell you guys?"
"Claimed he was too upset to talk to anyone last night," Will said.
"I wonder what made her wanna end her life like that," Tommy said. He knew that Natalia had not been one of Trisha's favorite people. Trisha had found her annoying and called her a phony, exasperating, drama queen. But she hadn't said a thing about hating her and he was sure she'd have never wished the woman dead. Tommy thought of something. "Why isn't the media all over this?" After all, Natalia was, well, had been a Moretti.
"They are. We actually found out from the news, then, called up Mike to find out what the hell had gone down," Will said, rubbing his hands over his face.
'I didn't even watch the news or read a newspaper today. Neither did Trish,' Tommy remembered silently. The two of them had been in such great moods all day and in their own little world. He couldn't help feeling a little guilty.
"I had no idea Natalia was depressed, ya know? She always seemed fine. Irritating- sorry to say- but, fine. Never seemed liked the suicidal type. But, I guess being married to Mike would drive any woman to that," Will said. He wasn't trying to be disrespectful- considering- but, Mike was an ass.
"I feel bad for their kids," Tommy said.
"Yeah. It's gonna be rough," Will said.
Trisha blinked and looked at Tommy, then, Will. "I don't know what to feel or think. Natalia and I weren't all that close. She got on my nerves a lot sometimes and I always thought she was crazy for staying with my brother. But, I never, ever wanted anything like this to happen." Tears filled her eyes. "Kayla and Tyler don't have a mother anymore." Her niece and nephew were only five and two.
"Trish, I'm really sorry," Tommy said, hugging her to him.
"I'm even sorrier for those kids. Tyler won't even remember Natalia and Kayla probably won't remember much," Trisha said glumly as the tears streamed down her face. She was also thinking about her own mother. Her heart squeezed painfully. It didn't matter if you were five or fifty, losing a parent was nightmarish.
A week later, the reception that followed Natalia's funeral was in progress- at Victor Moretti's mansion. The large funeral had been very emotional. Mike and Natalia's kids had been with their nanny instead of at the sad ceremony- which made a lot of sense- and they were still with her. Mike was currently holding Natalia's bawling mother in his arms while Natalia's father stared at the floor. The man looked older than what he was. Trisha stood by a window with Tommy by her side.
"Thanks again for coming with me," Trisha told her boyfriend.
"I wouldn't be anywhere else," Tommy said, squeezing her hand.
Trisha eyed Mike- whom was now crying loudly. "Tommy, follow me. I wanna talk to you about something." Tommy nodded, then, began following her out of the enormous room. Once they were in the den, Trisha took a deep breath. "I know you've noticed how weird I've been acting all week."
"Yeah, I have. But your behavior's understandable," he said.
"Well, I do wish I'd gotten along better with Natalia and I'm sorry that I'll never get that chance, but, that's not why I've been acting strange. You see, something's off," she said.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"I think my brother killed his wife," she said softly.
Tommy's eyes widened a little. "But, that's not- Trish, I know your brother's a loose cannon, but, it actually was an overdose that did it. The autopsy-"
"I know. I know it was an overdose. But you don't know my brother, Tommy. You don't know what his marriage to Natalia was like. She wasn't the strongest woman around. She pretty much did what he wanted," she said.
"Wait a second. Are you saying you think she killed herself because he... told her to?" Tommy said, incredulous.
"I'm thinking he forced her to. He's always had a temper, but, it got a lot worse some time after my mom died. Mike can get way past scary if he wants to. He wanted his wife dead, so, he made her kill herself. That way, he can be in the clear," she said, her stomach turning at the thought. Her brother was seriously screwed up.
Tommy shook his head. Trisha's family was just... wow. 'She was smart to get a life away from this.' He cleared his throat. "Even if you are right, you know there's no way to prove it."
"With the Morettis, there never is," she said, closing her eyes.
That night, Bianca was sitting at a counter in a bar- finishing her second beer. Ariel was spending the weekend with Zack and Aisha. Bianca did not want to think about how much her little girl liked that bitch Aisha. She didn't want to think about how the three of them were probably acting like some happy, little family right now. Unfortunately, it was all she could think about.
'They better not try and turn Ariel against me and it'd be wise for Aisha to never forget that I'm the girl's mother,' she thought bitterly. "Bartender, gimme another, please."
"Make that two," a male voice said.
Bianca looked to her left to see a well-dressed, dark-haired man sitting down next to her. He was nice-looking, but, he seemed tired. He had obviously had a long day. He looked her in the eye and a weird feeling washed over her. He smiled, a flirtatious glint in his eye. So, he wasn't that tired.
"Looks like this night's gonna be pretty good," he said.
"You think so?" she said with a smirk as the bartender sat their beverages down.
"Oh, I know so. That's the thing about me. I have this way of just knowing things for sure," he said.
"I've always liked confidence in a person," she said before taking a sip of her beer.
"It's an excellent quality to have," he said, then, downed some of his beer. "So, are you here because you had a fight with your boyfriend or husband?"
"I'm as single as can be," she said.
"Too bad for you, but, great for me," he said, winking.
She laughed. "You are confident, aren't cha?" She welcomed this. She welcomed anything that would keep her mind off the Taylor couple. They were the reason she was in this bar.
"Very," he said, downing more beer.
She drank more of her own beer. "You're putting me in a good mood. I'm feeling gratitude."
"I'm glad to hear that. There's nothing I love more than putting a smile on a pretty face," he said smoothly.
"And he's charming, too," she said.
He chuckled. "It never hurts and always works."
"Back to confidence," she said, grinning.
"More like conceit," he said, leaning towards her.
She leaned towards him. "And I still think it's cute."
"Making you my kinda lady. Listen, why don't we finish these drinks, then, go elsewhere to discuss your, uh, gratitude?" he suggested.
"Best idea I've heard all day. I'm Bianca, by the way," she said.
"Mike Moretti," he replied with an engaging smile.
It was now five days later- Thursday evening- and Trisha was sitting in her apartment, with her bare feet in her foot spa. The vibrations and sound of the bubbling water was incredibly relaxing. Her feet were in paradise. 'I love using this thing,' she thought with a small giggle. Honestly, she needed to go to an actual spa and get the full treatment. Everything had been so crazy lately and her latest decision would definitely make things crazier.
Trisha sighed. Her latest decision. She'd made it the day before- after thinking so much about it. It would not be easy for anyone, but, she felt- in her soul- that it was for the best. Telling everyone wouldn't be cake, but, it had to be done. 'He'll explode, but, it's the right thing to do. I know it is.'
About two hours later, she and Tommy were on her sofa- watching television. Tommy had come over forty-five minutes ago. He was the one actually watching TV. Trisha was still thinking about the choice she'd mentally made. Tommy looked over at her.
"Are you all right?" he asked.
She sat up straight. "Tommy, there's something you should know. Don't worry. It's not a new, insane family secret or anything like that."
"What's up?" he asked, muting the television.
"I've been doing a lot of thinking about Kayla and Tyler," she said.
"Your niece and nephew," he said.
"They're so young and they've been through a lot. They deserve to have a decent life and that's why I wanna take them in... I wanna raise them," she said.
