After kissing Claire for not nearly long enough, John pulled back. "If you tell me you are somehow faking injury I may kill you, nah, I'd fuck you silly first, but serious Claire, are you ok?"
Claire sighed, "It feels a little like someone took a two by four to my back, but otherwise I'd say I'm pretty much perfect. I mean, I have the hottest guy at Shermer for my boyfriend and I am allowed to spend the night with him. Not sure I am gonna complain." She smiled kind of serenely at John. "Now it might be painkillers talking here, so take anything I say with a grain of salt. I had so much fun today, I have never done anything like that, and it was great. I can't say my back doesn't worry me a little, but if a little pain gets me all this cool new stuff I am pretty sure I can work with it."
John put his forehead against Claire's. "So are you the pod person or is the chick I've attended school with for the last four years a pod person? Cause really, if someone told me I'd be looking forward to cuddling Claire Standish, be a rich orphan who lives with my English teacher in September, I would have told them to put the hallucinogens away for a while cause they was trippin. Yet here I am. My whole fucking world has been ripped apart, shaken up, and then someone with a strange fucking sense of humor put it back together too late."
Claire squirmed and rubbed her nose against John's with a smile. "I don't really know how to actually answer that. I want to think I'm not the chick I used to be, who thought my mother was some kind of goddess, and Dad was a cheating bastard. The girl who only wore the most expensive everything, and looked down at anyone who didn't. The girl I am right now, the one who feels all fuzzy inside because I get to spend my time with you John Bender, I like who I am when I am her. I don't ever want to go back to being that vapid, superficial, bitch who showed up in that library. I need you in my life to help me stay here. You are so, I don't know, real and just knowing I get to see you makes me feel more real. Does that make any kind of sense?
John chuckled, "I don't know Cherry, honestly, not really. But before you get all indignant with me let me finish. I don't think it matters if it makes sense to me. I don't need to know the hows and whys of the emotional shit. I like you, and you like me. Fuck, the words I'm about to utter will make me a pussy for the rest of the year, but here goes; you make me want to be better Princess. You make me want to be smarter, and nicer and shit like that. Ok, now I am officially more a fucking girl than a guy." He slammed his head down into the pillow and looked almost ashamed of himself.
Claire smiled at him and laid her head on his pillow. She reached over and ran her hand down his chest, and belly, and then she moved her hand down over his cock. She gently caressed and squeezed, and she felt John get hard under her hand. John chuckled at the sparkle in her eyes. She quietly said, "nope I can give absolute testimony that you are certainly not a girl." He pushed her hand down just a little harder, and rubbed up against her hand. She moved her hand away from him… John looked at her with a smirk, "too soon?"
Claire settled back into the nest John had created for her, "um, kind of, I think I want to know my Dad's gone, but could we, uh, like you know," Claire blushed from her roots down and she started whispering, "could we, uh, do more of what we were doing last night? I don't think I'm ready to go all the way, but I so want your hands on me right now, but it feels, well, it feels naughty because my Dad could knock at any time… and your dumb mouth told him to just walk in cause we might be sleeping. And I am filthy."
John rolled into Claire and began running his hands up and down her body, "So what, dirty girls turn me on… and you know that being bad feels pretty good, eh?" With that super cheesy line he started kissing her neck, who knew behind the ear was a super erotic place, he was just kissing her and she was going to fall apart. She began to kiss back, where ever she could reach. They had just hit a stride in making out when a knock came on the door. "Everyone had better be dressed in there."
John rolled away from Claire and straightened her shirt with a smirk on his face. Claire tried running her fingers through her hair, but she couldn't stop looking thoroughly kissed. Robert came in the room, and Claire realized to her surprise it was almost 11. Robert walked in the room and said, "I'm gonna head home Claire, are you sure you don't want to come home?"
Robert asked the question before he got a good look at his daughter. She was fully dressed, as was John and he hadn't given them time to fix themselves so they must have been that way he reasoned with himself. However, his daughter looked pretty well ravished and he had to settle himself with the knowledge that she was less than a year from being 18, and there was no way he could get her away from this boy. So he cleared his throat and decided to rib them a little. "As I can see, I guess not." He looked at John till John met Robert's eyes, "You'd better take good care of her."
John nodded, "I promise sir"
Robert looked at Claire," is what I brought ok?" Claire blushed when she realized she hadn't even looked in the bag. So she tried to cover for herself and said, "Yep, it's all great Dad. Thank you. I'd get up, but uh, I'm not sure it's a good idea." He laughed, knowing full well that his daughter couldn't lie worth a damn, and kissed her forehead. "Good night Angel, I will see you early tomorrow morning." He left room without another word.
John fell to his back laughing; later he'd describe it as 'laughing his balls off'. Claire started to get upset, which made him calm down for at least a minute. "Sorry babe, but I've seen you lie a blue streak up and down the hallowed halls of Shermer Hell, but what you just did, trying to lie to your old man," John failed to keep himself from laughing again. "Sweets remind me to never ask you to try lying to your old man cause you flat out suck at it."
Claire crossed her arms in front of her, "what? He didn't know a thing." John started snickering, and handed her the bag. "Make sure he got what you need; I gotta take a leak." Claire pulled out a sweater which was at least four years old, and would never fit her properly. She pulled out a pair of slacks which while sort of matching the sweater, should never be paired. She thought she could probably borrow something from Sarah. There was a pair of white sports socks, an old nighty, and a pair of panties that she was positive she'd gotten rid of. A tooth brush, mouthwash, her make-up kit – for which she was uber grateful – finally her hair brush. She could make do with the things he'd brought her; she'd not be the most fashionable, but she thought the pants would likely be more comfy than any of her newer clothes.
John walked out of the room still trying not to laugh at Claire's piss poor ability to lie to her father. Coming out of the bathroom he nearly knocked over the man himself. Robert righted them both, "everything alright?" John nodded, "you realize Claire believes you bought her story hook, line, and sinker; I'd just have gone through the bag, which I left her doing." Robert chuckled, "Yeah, somewhere, some god gave me the grace of having a daughter who sucks as lying to me. Means' I've never really had to worry. I watched her play her mother like a Stradivarius – A skill I never learned. So I hear you've asked her to Prom, I will pitch in and get the limo for you kids, and probably a room for you and your friends so if you drink at least I don't have to sit worried sick about one of you ending up dead."
John said, "gimme one second," He poked his head in his bedroom, "is everything in the bag cool? Or do you need something more or different or anything like that?"
Claire smiled and twisted just a bit. "Not what I have chosen, but the clothes are nice and they are clean so I won't complain." John smirked, "really? I didn't think you had that particular talent?" Claire looked confused, "what talent?" John said, "Not complaining," as he ducked out of the room, missing the pillow being thrown at him. He spun and looked at Robert, "You heard the lady, she's cool with your picks."
Robert had indeed heard her, and he also heard the unspoken, dislike of his choices, but well he didn't even know where to begin in get clothes for her. She had so damn many of them. "Oh, before I forget again, you and I need to sit down so I can show you the portfolio I started for you out of a chunk of the money you received. Sarah said you also inherited the house?"
John nodded, "yeah but it's a piece of shit, and I don't know what to do with it."
Robert thought for a moment, "let me talk to a few people and I think I might be able to help you out with that as well."
John turned back towards his door, but stopped on more time, "Oh, uh keep me posted on what the doc says about her back, and just in case she's not completely up front, she's been wincing a lot since the girl's room incident hurt her back, and you couldn't see it, but her left shoulder has a monster bruise on it. I didn't know if you needed that kinda shit for your lawyers, but I thought I'd let you know. I don't like her at that place alone if her ma can just show up at any time."
Robert put his hand on John's shoulder, "Thanks John. I will make sure she's honest with the doctor, and to be honest, I don't like her mother showing up unannounced either, it's why I made her sign a paper saying she wouldn't. I don't' know exactly what to do about it though."
John shrugged, "if you ask me you should just move, it's not like you were a happy family in that big old mansion. Thanks for everything and take it easy Mr…. I mean Rob." John ducked into his bedroom, and walked in to see Claire looking through Guitar magazine he'd picked up. He wasn't sure he'd ever seen a hotter image than his girl wearing his shirt and damn little else; she must have shimmied out of her jeans, which meant her back was feeling better. She was lying propped up by pillows and looking over Guitar World. How much more fucking awesome could his life be. Claire looked over and saw John just watching her.
"You know staring is kind of creepy, right?"
He smirked, "yeah, but you like dark and mysterious therefore you must love creepy too."
She smiled, "yeah, I guess, but I'd like it a whole lot better if you were over here rather than way over there." He swaggered over towards her, a little strut, and a little predatory, and she loved every bit of it. He crawled up on the bed and hovered over here for a moment, "I think you are a fucking amazing girl, and well, I am lucky as hell to be able to take you to your prom. Which by the way, your old man just offered to pick up the tab on the limo and said he wanted to talk to me about a… uh… not notebook….um, fuck I don't remember but it's something about what he did with my money." Claire piped up, "a portfolio?" John exclaimed, "yeah that. Now that I've delivered my news, I want to spend some quality time corrupting you." He leaned down on the front of his arms and began kissing her.
After a little over an hour and several failed attempts to keep Claire quiet he snuck out of the room leaving her deeply relaxed and asleep. He was hungry and would have loved a beer, but there was never any in the house. John suspected she didn't drink for lots of reasons, but that didn't change his desire for one. He'd thoroughly enjoyed doing every bit of debauching he could with Claire short of actual sex. He was feeling a masculine contentment at knocking her out from too much pleasure. He walked into the kitchen nearly ran into Sarah. She laughed, "Oh, perhaps I can go to bed and not worry about you making her scream anymore?" John blushed slightly, but covered it quickly with bravado. "Sorry to have disturbed you."
Sarah rolled her eyes, "can the macho bullshit, and would you open the window, pack a bowl, and bum me a smoke?"
John chuckled, "damn I can't get away with anything here, sorry, old habits and all." He poured himself a cup of coffee, went to his jacket and pulled the stuff he'd need. They shared a bowl and smoked a cigarette in silence. "Can I ask a question?'John asked quietly as he lit another smoke.
Sarah knew John only chain smoked when he was upset or nervous about something. He took a deep drag off his cigarette, "Ok, technically two questions; first uh what's up with you and one Mr. Robert Standish? And well he told me I own the house and shit, and I don't know what to do about it, but he's been like super cool and I don't want to dump all my shit on his shoulders. So I am not sure what to do."
Sarah understood both his hesitation to trust and the amount of trust he showed her by allowing himself to show any vulnerability in front of her. "There's nothing up between Rob and I. We're friends, and maybe someday we'll upgrade to friends with benefits, but neither of us are in any position to be more than friends. As for your folks house, if Rob mentioned it, he might have an idea of what to do about it," Sarah replied.
John put out his cigarette and nodded, "he said he'd have more information later and there was money stuff I needed to look at. I was thinking about, well do you think anybody would mind if I got a car with some of that cash?"
Sarah sat back and shrugged, "I don't think it's anybody's business what you do with the money; if you want a car, buy a car."
He stood up and stretched with a smile on his face, "were there any leftovers? Cause I could use something before I hit the hay – we both have to get up before breakfast."
Sarah shook her head, she was beginning to believe John Bender had a hollow leg, where else would he put all the food he could eat? "I am sure you can forage something. There are leftovers from the last few days." She pulled herself up, "but the house is quiet, so your paramour is sleeping, I guess?"
John smirked a little as he was his head was pulled out of the fridge. "Yeah, I snuck away after she was sound asleep." He had an armful of stuff to make a sandwich, and a coke. Sarah looked over his gains and asked, "Do you plan on sleeping at all tonight?" John shrugged, "not tired now, I'll crash when I get sleepy."
Sarah took several pills from the bottles on the tables, and hobbled past John. She put her hand on his back, it was deeply pleasing to her that he didn't flinch, nor appear to stop his actions. "Sweet dreams find you sooner rather than later John."
As it turned out, Claire had a few discs bulging and several parts of her back were out of whack. A round of steroids, some trips to a chiropractor, a little physical therapy, all of which Claire complained about bitterly. Her back did indeed improve and she had few residual effects of the weeks of brutality she'd suffered, aside from a lingering need to touch, or smell John, the occasional panic attack, and trouble sleeping.
Over the next several weeks, everyone at the school was gearing up for Prom. John and Claire's relationship deepened. He'd never met anyone like her, anyone who was so eager to change, and yet asked nothing from him. Sarah asked him politely not to drink, so he didn't. What he found interesting was that Claire didn't. The only think she ever asked was for his presence. He turned around from his locker one day to find her standing so close he almost hit her. "Hey sweets, what can I do for you?" He pulled her close to him; in the past few weeks the stitches in her arm had been removed, but she had pretty impressive scars. The cast on John's arm, and Sarah's leg had also been removed. He still had a brace for his hand, but it was black and didn't look shitty with the other hand in his fingerless glove.
Robert took John's advice and after a long talk with Claire they moved into a different house. This one was quite a bit smaller, though it was still really big. They kept Rose and Scott but everyone settled into a far more easy relationship. The newly single parent got to know his daughter, and found they enjoyed one another's company in a way they hadn't since she was a kid. John and Sarah developed a friendship that was based on the way they understood the world. But everything wasn't quite back to normal, sometimes his hand still hurt like a bitch, and even in the warmth of May Claire was still wearing long sleeves. When he pulled her in close she put her head on his chest and took in a deep breath. "Hi sweetie," Claire said quietly.
He lifted her chin up, "what's goin on? Am I gonna go an asshole to someone?" Claire buried her face against him, "It's nothing, just bitchy girls talking. Once upon a time I was a shoe in for Prom court if not queen… you even teased me about it. I guess there's a part of me that misses it all, and well the girls were being really bitchy in their new spring clothes. And I wanted to just see you before I went to my next class, it's full of them and none of us." He gave her a thorough kiss. "Give' em hell, Sweets. You can be a bitch to match the bitchiest of them." She smiled, kissed him again, and skipped off to class feeling like she could do anything.
Some days were good, some not so much. Claire had become a little skittish, Andy, Alli, Brian, and John were the people she spent the most time with. The group often hung out at Sarah's, sometimes Lauren, who Brian was dating, would join their outings, but more often than not she was busy with stuff leading up to Prom. The gang was sitting at an old donut shop discussing plans for the weekend. Claire whined, "I wish we could all just get ready at the hotel, it would be easier." John chuckled, "Quit bitchin Princess. We have a room for the night if we get tired, and a limo if we don't. Is the limo taking us all?"
Allison piped up, "If the limo is up to us – why don't we just bring people so we all end up at one place. My folks could give a rats ass, so maybe pick me up and take me to Andy's" she turned to Andrew, "You said your mom wanted pictures." He nodded and put a whole donut in his mouth. "Is Lauren coming to your place or should the limo go to her place to pick you guys up?" Allison asked Brian. "Then the limo goes to where? Claire's mansion or John's place?" Claire tilted her head and thought about it, "I think Dad was going to drive me to Sarah's so we could get pictures there." Allison took over again, "So we'll all meet up at John's place and that way the limo takes us to prom together." The effect of being with Andy had given Allison courage to speak up she'd never had before. Claire and John still verbally sparred in such a way that people who didn't know them would never have believed they were dating. Overall, each of them was content in a way they hadn't ever been.
Prom night
At 6:30 in the evening, John was standing in the bathroom cursing. He walked out with his tie undone and out the back door to smoke a cigarette. Sarah noticed that he was about half ready. She poked her head out of the door, "Everything ok?"
John realized just how bad his reflexes had become in the last few months. "Yeah, everything's fucking peachy, except I look like a fucking dolt."
Sarah burst out laughing, sat down next to John on the back steps, and asked to bum a cigarette. John smirked, "thought you were quitting?"
"There's an ing on the end of that word, implying present tense or still in progress; now give me a damn smoke, brat." He gave her one and lit it for her, after a short drag she said, "while I'm not really sure what a dolt is, or how they look, I'm fairly certain you look better. I'm glad you went with a non- traditional tux, it suits you. The pink tie ok that might be questionable, but I doubt Claire based her color choices on you. Anyway, you are wearing a regular tie, which, if you like, I can show you how to tie, and a new pair of doc martens. I am sure dolt's don't do that."
"Thanks for the pep talk and all… but well, I've never dressed like this." John muttered.
Sarah smirked at him and chuckled, "No one dresses like this except at Prom, though you could get away with wearing that, with a different tie of course, to a lot of dress functions."
John put his cigarette out in the planter next to the back steps. "who the fuck goes to, let alone says dress functions?"
"Well you never know money bags; your girlfriend might." He snarled a little, "yeah, uh, will you show me how to do up this noose?"
Sarah put out her smoke and followed John in the house. The boots were industrial and something he refused to budge on. Sarah taught John how to do a very competent Windsor knot and he was running a brush through his hair when the doorbell rang.
John didn't rush since he knew Sarah would open it and do the appropriate gushing. Claire had refused to let him see her dress, so he hoped the muted pink tie would match – and well if it didn't he could always go without. He almost hoped it didn't now that he thought about it. One last look in the mirror and he spun himself out of the small room and out to the hall where he was stopped in his tracks. John's only initial thought was holy fuck she's gorgeous.
Robert noticed John's stunned reaction before Claire did; she and Sarah having one of those women's conversations that moved faster than men could understand or follow. He grinned and tapped Claire on the shoulder. He had not been sold on the dress since it was strapless but Claire managed to sway him when she put the entire outfit together. She had long grey gloves on that went just past her elbow to cover her scars and a lacey shawl over her shoulders in case she got cold. His little girl did indeed look beautiful. Her dress was pink with a grey lace overlay, so it muted the pink but brought out how delicate her skin was. John's tie was almost the exact same color as the dress, which impressed Robert.
Claire turned around and suddenly looked both shy and stunned. "John you look awesome. Um, do you like the dress?"
John strode down the hallway right up to Claire and kissed her thoroughly. "Princess you are beyond fucking beautiful." Claire smirked, "you have lipstick on you now."
John's response was, "damn it" then he looked at her mouth, "yeah well your's is smudged, so we both have to fix it, now don't we?" He grabbed her hand, walking quickly to the bathroom, and finally the door to the bathroom shut solidly behind them.
Robert took a deep breath and let it out as a laugh. "I'm not sure I'm ok with them behind a closed door after that kiss. I think it turned up the heat in here."
Sarah laughed, "Want some coffee? Yeah, they are kind of passionate together, whether fighting or kissing, it's not dull. "Sure, I'd love coffee," He sat down at the kitchen table looking down at his hands.
Sarah set two cups of coffee down, "want to hang with me for the evening? Because I am still having some trouble walking I got out of chaperoning the dance. Part of me is happy; part of me would have loved to act the princess one more time. Claire looks really stunning by the way. So, gonna tell me what's wrong?"
Robert looked up, "sorry, I wasn't really listening." Sarah cut him off with a wave of her hand and remarked, "I only said two things of actual importance, both questions."
Robert smiled and looked at her, "I would love to spend the evening with you while our kids get up to who knows what, and later?"
At that moment the two kids came down the hall bantering, "How am I gonna ruin the fucking dress? If I can't touch you does that mean I get out of fucking dancing too?"
Claire took John in stride. She had decided, after a pretty impressive meltdown this morning that nothing was going to ruin her day. "Of course you don't get out of dancing silly, and you know what I meant, so don't play like you don't." She spun and ran her hands down his tie and lapels. "John Bender you are so handsome today I just don't know what to do." He grinned, "I can think of a few things but I'm pretty sure the others will be here too soon for you to re-primp."
They entered the kitchen and John reached into the fridge, he handed her a plastic flower box with a corsage of delicate pink roses, with a single grey rose in the middle. He started fiddling with his tie, "I uh, I hope you like it, I didn't know there was grey in your dress either, but I really…" Claire cut him off by throwing herself into his arms. "It's perfect, marvelous, perfectly marvelous." She kissed him soundly, "now I am wondering if I should just stick to gloss, since I keep getting the lipstick all over you." Sarah took the corsage from Claire's hand, and pulled it out, "it's a wrist corsage; I might just bar John from shopping the way you have Rob. I suppose it's worth it in the end, but watching it is agony. He spent an hour cursing before picking this out for you." She handed the delicate corsage to John who slipped it over Claire's wrist.
Robert stood up, "Shall we take some pictures out back?" The four of them went out the back door to the bench between the two garden beds. The flower bed was a riot of blooms Claire and Sarah had put in, and the vegetable garden was full of green, but not food yet. Sarah had to remind Claire that fall was harvest, not spring. The two posed for several pictures, and just as they were finishing the limousine pulled in front of the house, and out poured four very excited teenagers. Brian and Andy both looked fairly traditional, Brian's tux even had tails. Each boy had an element which matched their partners' dress. Allison was beautiful in a simple black gown which was fitted until it flared out at her knees. Lauren, Brian's new girlfriend, was in a Lavender gown that was very fairy tale, with more crinoline than Sarah rightfully could deal with, and Brian had on a Lavender cummerbund.
The whole group had a few pictures taken by Sarah and Robert, with a variety of cameras. Finally John and Claire were done with pictures, and told the others that. Brian started to whine a little but Lauren kicked him, then fixed his hair, and straightened his glasses. He grinned at her and leaned in to kiss her, she turned her head so he kissed her cheek. She chuckled at the look of concern on his face, "I have lipstick on sweetie, and do you really want to wear it?" Sarah and Robert said goodbye to John and Claire, who intended to stay at the hotel for the night, it only worried Robert enormously, but he was remaining calm. The teens piled into the limo and headed off to their prom night.
Sarah and Robert both let out a sigh of relief. Sarah curled up on the couch, "damn, I wonder if every teen is this exhausting."
Robert sprawled out in Sarah's favorite easy chair. "You've got me, but it's been a hell of a day getting here, and I am certain you got the better deal by having to deal with a boy." Sarah threw a pillow at him, "remember who met the girls for their spa day? Sure I'm not going to bitch about a manicure and facial but the chattering of the three of them made me a little homicidal. Ok, so do we order pizza or forage in the kitchen?"
Robert said he'd rather neither of them had to work, so they settled on pizza. A few weeks before, Sarah realized Rob hadn't ever had home delivery pizza. He was trying to become more familiar with the world Sarah lived in. He regularly had to sort of be told to put his damn money away. In his world, you never turned down someone else paying, but Sarah somehow saw it as charity, and Robert had no idea how change that belief. He didn't want anything from her. He continued to sort of think this through for a moment, nope; even he didn't believe he didn't want anything from Sarah. He wanted to be a part of her life, but then he wasn't sure he really knew her. Maybe he should just follow the advice Claire gave him before he left for the divorce hearing this morning.
Rob rolled his head on the sofa, more relaxed than he usually was. "I think I'm all worn out, but I was wondering if the two of us could sit and talk for a while."
Sarah arched an eyebrow, "Is this something we'll need alcohol for?" Robert laughed, "I thought you were a teetotaler, but I don't know, perhaps if we play truth or dare or maybe twenty questions."
Sarah replied, "I am not a teetotaler, I have simply seen too many people destroyed by alcohol to use it lightly. It's a potent drink. However, I wouldn't mind getting drunk with you; I think you just might be fun. Besides we don't have to be parents tonight." She stood up, "Come on."
Rob stood up, "where are we going?" Sarah arched a brow, "The liquor store."
He laughed, "I haven't been to a liquor store since college."
Sarah choked as she got in the car, "How the hell do you get booze? I mean wasn't Karen, isn't Karen, I don't know what the term is, but isn't she an alcoholic?"
Robert chuckled, "uh, well if I say it you are going to give me shit about being born with a silver spoon."
Sarah was laughing so hard tears came to her eyes, "Gold spoon hon, your parents wouldn't degrade you with silver of all things." She'd barely gotten the sentence out when he called her a bitch. Once the two of them stopped laughing she drove to the liquor store, "so what's your poison?"
"Well it depends on the reason I am drinking, if I am searching for a night of debauchery I suppose I'd go with good Bourbon or maybe some good Rum. Oh, and I'm happy to drink with you but you are letting me buy the booze, and don't fucking argue with me. I spent the morning, while you were getting a facial in court, so please don't argue with me tonight."
Sarah squeezed his arm, "God, I'm sorry, I bet the morning really sucked."
Robert chuckled kind of mirthlessly, "I believe that's one of the grander understatements of the world. I don't relish playing the part of an ogre, but somehow that woman brings it out in me in spades." Sarah gave him a half hug, the picked up a bottle of good bourbon, one of good scotch, and one of good rum. Robert promised to take them with him when he left. They picked up pizza they ordered from a pay phone on their way back from the liquor store. Once they arrived back at Sarah's and got comfortable she reopened the conversation, "So want to tell me the bad news about this morning?"
Robert burst out laughing, "well it's strange ok, here's where I wanted to sort of play tit for a tat. In order for me to explain this morning I have to give you some information about myself and my past. So, are you up for it? I'll even start by giving you all the morning's gory details."
Sarah thought about it for a moment, and realized she really did trust him. It might have been the first time in her life to be able to really say that about someone. Now, there were several people in her life she really trusted, and no one more than Robert. "Alright, I'm game. Do you want to eat first? Drink first?" Robert shrugged, "we already have food on our plates, so let's start by eating, and I'll keep you entertained with stories of the wretched morning." Sarah got comfy and ready to listen.
"Ok, first of all I come from old money." Sarah responded with a very sarcastic, "Nooo…I never would have guessed." Robert lauged and nearly choked on his pizza. "Are you going to interrupt me after I say everything?" Sarah vigorously shook her head, "certainly not everything." He rolled his eyes, "Ok, as I was saying, I come from really old money as in old world nobility. So before I was allowed to marry she had to sign a prenuptial agreement, as did I. It literally put limitations on how much she could get, especially under the circumstances. I admitted to infidelity, but apparently my lawyer found information that she had never been faithful, her first affair was within a week of returning home from our honeymoon. Information even I was shocked to hear. My family had a private investigator following her. Another long story really, but anyway. She asked me about Claire, apparently she's been calling Claire's phone; trying to reach her, but Claire wants absolutely nothing to do with her.
"I thought, I thought in the beginning we really had something. God, I loved her. She was fiery and passionate about everything. I know now that she was really bitchy and superficial, but I guess love blinds us all in some ways. Anyway, since the marriage hadn't technically been approved, another long story, but apparently my family kept some kind of file on her, at least that's who I expect did it. My lawyer got a delivery yesterday, no return address, no information on who sent it, full of all her indiscretions. Between that and the assault charge on file from Claire she has no right to see Claire at all. Any interactions are to be initiated by Claire. She's getting alimony, but apparently there are even some restrictions there. The pre-nup was actually read aloud; it said something like 'if at the time of the dissolution of the marriage she doesn't have a career, she has 5 years to establish one. She may not expect to live on Standish money for the remainder of her years.' She was screaming at me, screaming that she didn't know, she couldn't have known. The judge told her to pipe down if he'd been married to such a bitch he wouldn't have given her one red cent. Her hysterical sobbing; fuck, even that hurt; I never meant for things to end that way." At the end of this speech Robert took both of their plates to the kitchen and returned with the bottles of Rum and Whiskey, as well as a couple of shot glasses." He started by downing two shots. "There's my shitty morning."
She looked at Robert, and poured a shot of Rum in her can of coke. "That it?" He sat down laughing. "Sadly no, I had one of those cursed attacks of consciousness, as I heard Claire in her room crying. I think I miss that horrible old mansion. Not that where we live is small, but it's smaller, and well I can hear her when she's crying. I felt dreadful because she never imagined her mother not being there for her, and she thought she was being unfair to you because she missed her. She doesn't mean the woman who was last around, but the mom she had before she started drinking and well, Claire may be mixing up nannies with Karen for any actual love from woman. Still she thought she was asking to much from you without giving enough. Before you interrupt me I told her she was being silly. Fuck, I really hate seeing my little girl cry." He drank another shot. "Ok, now you have to tell me something that stops me from being morose about a life that doesn't suck."
Sarah knocked back 3 shots, and took a deep breath. "Well, I was born Sara Terre, in a suburb outside of Milwaukee. My parents were druggies whose next fix was far more important than their last mistake. I am pretty sure my mom worked as a whore when money was down but I'm not positive about it. Sam, the guy my mother was married to was supposedly a mechanic, but I never saw him do an honest day's work. So I grew up in a really fucked up environment." Robert started to say something, but Sarah held up her hand, "You've got to let me get through this; I don't think I have ever told anyone the full story." She held up her empty shot glass, "another?" He nodded but got up, went to the kitchen to grab larger glasses and something to hold ice in. He found what he was looking for and brought it all back in the living room, as well as the pizzas and some cookies he found. She grinned, "I see you went foraging." He shrugged and blushed a little, poured them each a double shot in the larger glasses. "Ok, now please continue."
Sarah threw back the shots and started again, "When I was thirteen I was pulled from my parents by social services. Sam had been raping me, and selling me to get drugs. The last guy who was willing to make the trade turned out to be a cop. So, for the next 5 years I was in and out of foster homes, some worse than my original home, some better. I got an education because I saw it as a ticket out. Not long after I turned 18 I met a guy I thought would be my savior. Sadly he was a druggie too, and when I say druggie, I don't mean smokes pot once in a while or hell even daily, no Mike was a heroin junkie. However, he knocked me up and I wanted that baby so much, someone on whom I could pour the love I had to give and get that love returned by someone who didn't hurt me. One day I ran to the store, Mike even offered to watch 2 year old Joey, but when I got home I found the baby at the bottom of the steps" and she whispered, "dead. He'd bled out before his junkie of a father even checked on him. So I divorced him, and I believe he got a child endangerment charge against him, but he'd found my parents. I don't know if it was a misguided attempt to be nice or a fucked up revenge plot, but I suddenly had druggies and bikers, who Sam and Dory, my mother, had fallen in with, showing up at my door and calling to harass me. Hell, I even got death threats. I got my boy's ashes and sprinkled them over a field my grandparents owned; they were, are…I don't know anymore, but I did that, then packed what would fit in my car and moved the hell out of there. It only took me a couple of months to get the name change through and then within a couple of weeks I got offered a temp job at Shermer, and then it turned into a real one." She poured another shot for each of them and said, "The rest, as they say, is history." She downed the shot, waited for him to do the same, and said, "Ok, I'm done so you can fire away with the questions."
Robert got up, walked over to Sarah, and knelt down in front of her. The thought occurred to him that he hadn't been on his knees since he was a kid, he hadn't even proposed on his knee. It was dismissed without even really paying attention to it. Instead, he moved forward and pulled Sarah to him, so he was kneeling between her legs and he wrapped her in a hug. The kind of hug he had only ever really given to Claire. He whispered to her, "Sarah I am sorry life has treated you so poorly." He just held her for a moment and she began to cry.
Robert pulled away, "God Honey, I'm sorry, did I say something wrong?" She chuckled a little, and put her hand on his cheek. "No, it's just been a long time since I was held like that, and um, I really liked it." She sighed and kind of deflated, "I feel like a huge weight is off my shoulders. I was kind of, I don't know, afraid you would be mad at me for not telling you sooner."
He sat back on his knees and just looked at her for a moment before wiping her tears away with this thumbs. "I have spent my life with people who keep secrets." He cradled her face in his hands and put his forehead against Sarah's, he grinned a little at her, "Oh, and thanks for letting me get all that crap about the crazy woman I have spent the last decades living with, since I know you were sitting in the back of the courtroom for moral support. I just want to know how you got by Claire."
Sarah started laughing and soon so did Robert. The two of them moved to lie on the floor, continued eating, drinking, talking, and laughing. They shared stories they hadn't ever told anyone, and asked about questions like favorite color and music. Getting to know each other in a way neither of them had ever done with anyone. They fell asleep on the floor, Rob on his back, Sarah with her head on his stomach.