Wow! You guys really made me smile with the reviews for the last chapter. I do hope you enjoy this chapter. It's a very important one ;)
Chapter 16
Four Years Ago (The Day it All Fell Apart)
"I can be ready to catch a flight in the morning," John said into the phone. He was pacing back and forth in their front room of the house. He could hear the sounds of Anna cleaning up the mess in the kitchen. His throat felt raw and his heart broken into shreds.
"So soon?" Robert asked.
"Yes."
"Alright, I'll book you and Anna flights for first thing. Then we can handle selling and packing up your home when…"
"No, Robert," John interrupted, "Anna isn't coming with me. It'll just be me. I can find myself a small flat, but I need to leave in the morning."
The other line went silent for a moment.
"Oh Bates, I'm terribly sorry. Perhaps, Anna will join you in a little while?"
"She's not going to, Robert. She wants me gone."
"You could wait. We don't have to do the transfer right now. Take some time to figure things out…."
"No, I have to go. The sight of me is torture for her and that is torture for me. It's time I let her go," John replied, tears threatening to escape. He glanced out of the window and saw that Mary's car was still in the driveway. His brows furrowed with concern. "Just text me the information, Robert. And, thank you."
Before Robert could say anything in response, John had hung up the phone. He walked around to their front door and exited the house, walking up to Mary's car. Looking into the driver's side window, he saw Mary sobbing. He frowned. Then he knocked on the side of the glass, making her jump slightly. Seeing it was John, she quickly wiped her face with a tissue and rolled down her window.
"You can't leave," Mary immediately said to him, almost begging. "She needs you."
John sighed. He blinked back the tears and shook his head.
"I can't stay here anymore, Mary," he quietly answered. "Me being here only hurts her. And I need to be somewhere else, somewhere that isn't here."
Mary sniffled, bringing the tissue back up to her cheeks. She shuddered and met John's eyes.
"You know that Anna didn't mean that, right?" John then asked her. "She loves you and your children. She thinks you're a wonderful mother. She's just…."
"Angry at the world," Mary muttered, her lower lip trembling.
"Yes," John agreed, wiping below his own eye. "I need you to look after her now, though I won't blame you if you don't want to."
"I will," Mary promised.
"Call me, please, if anything changes. If…if she needs me," John sincerely asked of her.
"I will, John. I wish….Well, I wish things were different."
"Me too."
Mary rolled her window back up, started her car, and drove away. John watched until her car was no longer within his eyesight. Then he turned and walked back into the house, where he found Anna sitting on the couch and staring at the blank television. She held a cloth against her hand and he worried she accidently cut herself while cleaning up the kitchen.
"I spoke with Robert," he began. Anna didn't glance his way. "I can start tomorrow. I'll leave in the morning." Still no response from her. "I don't have to go. You can tell me to stay." There was a hint of begging in his voice, but she didn't respond. He stood there for a few moments, before giving up and going upstairs to pack.
-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-
Now
"You definitely surprised me. I wish you could have given me a warning," John said to Casey, trying to remain calm.
"I know," Casey replied. "I didn't mean to throw you off-guard. It's only that this is such an important moment in your life and I hated that I was leaving you to deal with this on your own without someone in your corner. Your almost ex-wife has her parents here and you don't have anyone."
John quirked his lips up slightly. She was trying to be helpful.
"It's just a little complicated. We haven't told Emmy yet that we're getting divorced. We're trying to take this a step at a time. It's already such a big change for her," John explained to her again.
"Right," Casey answered. "I remember that now. But well, now she's met me. She can just think I'm a friend and maybe that'll make it easier."
"Perhaps," John uneasily answered. "How long are you staying here in Yorkshire?"
"I don't know," Casey told him, "But I'm staying at a cute inn downtown."
"Of course," John said. He felt odd with her here at their home, well her home. Could he even consider it his home anymore?
"Where are you staying?"
"Here," John simply replied. "In the guest room," he added.
"Did Emmy like the beach?"
"She did and said she can't wait to go back."
"Oh! We should take her to that beach in France! Remember where we went that one time a few months ago?" John just nodded, the conversation felt more and more uncomfortable. He couldn't imagine Casey and Emmy spending time together, much less going on a holiday with one another. He also didn't see Anna being alright with that. A sigh passed through his lips.
"We'll talk about that kind of stuff later," he then said.
The back door opened and John glanced up to see Emmy letting Butler out. The dog rushed past them and into the wide yard.
"Gran says to invite Casey for dinner," Emmy stated, her eyes narrowing in on the woman in question. She was eying her up and down. "We ordered pizza."
"I'm not sure…"
"That sounds wonderful! I would love to stay!" Casey answered. Emmy made a face and John chuckled slightly, but thankfully, Casey didn't seem to notice.
"Right. I'll tell Gran." She closed the door and went back into the house.
-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-
They all sat at the big table for dinner. Emmy and Anna sat on one side. Charlie and John at the two ends. And Elsie and Casey sat on the other side. Anna kept glancing between Casey and John. She felt uneasy with her in their house. Anna knew she couldn't be angry with her or even John. It was her who had kicked John out of the house, who had refused to follow him to Edinburg. But that didn't change the way she felt. It still hurt.
Her eyes turned to Emmy, who was munching on her slice of pizza. Her eyes were glaring at Casey, staring harshly. Emmy set down her pizza and sat herself up more, interrupting the conversation.
"Why did you kiss my daddy?" Emmy asked Casey, turning her head slightly to one side.
"Friends kiss friends on the cheek sometimes," Casey answered with a bright smile. Anna heard her father clear out his throat, clearly uncomfortable with this line of questioning.
"Emmy, now eat your food," Elsie attempted. Then to try and turn the conversation, she asked, "Did you like Austria, Casey? Do you go there often?"
"Well, how do you know my daddy?" Emmy continued. Anna lightly chuckled, as she watched John squirm slightly.
"We met while we were both traveling for work," Casey said, still smiling.
"You travel for work?" Emmy then turned her question to John. "Are you gone a lot?" Her lips had curled into a frown.
"I used to, but I won't. Not anymore," he assured his daughter, placing his hand over hers. "I had Mr. Robert, Mary's father, make it so that I'll stay here in Yorkshire with you." Emmy let out a relieved breath.
"Good! I don't want you gone all the time."
"I won't be," he promised. Anna felt her eyes water. This was all becoming too much for her. She quickly stood and said that she was full. Taking empty plates, she walked them over toward the sink. She heard footsteps behind her and when she turned, she saw her mother placing more plates next to hers.
"You're doing great," Elsie assured her with a whisper. "She shocked us too, but it's best for Emmy that we all get along."
"Yes," Anna regretfully had to agree. "Thanks, Mum."
-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-
Casey stayed for a while and even played a game with all of them until it was Emmy's bedtime. Both Charlie and Elsie told everyone goodnight, taking Butler with them downstairs. Then Anna told John he could tell his friend goodbye and she would put Emmy to bed.
Once she had Emmy in her bed, Anna walked over to the window to look down at John telling Casey goodbye. She watched as Casey gave him a kiss and then her hand lingered on John's chest. Her own chest felt heavy. She made her way down the stairs and waited in the doorway until Casey had climbed into a taxi and road away. It was then that she walked out front, surprising John.
"I didn't see you there," John said, pausing in his steps.
"I…I just came out here for some fresh air," Anna replied, her eyes settling on his. They both shifted on their feet. "She seems nice."
"She is."
Silence fell over the both of them. Anna wondered if now was when they would apologize for how they hurt one another and if they would try to move forward with their new lives or if this was just the beginning of a forever awkwardness between them.
"Look, Anna, this doesn't have to be uncomfortable."
"It doesn't?"
"No. We're both adults. We're both parents. At the end of the day, we both want what's best for our daughter."
"Right, of course, we do," Anna said, straightening her back slightly.
"I was thinking that you could stay in this house with Emmy and I would find a place with two bedrooms," John said. Anna felt her heart drop. "It's not like I could stay here once the divorce is settled."
"Yes, right, so you can move forward with your perfect life," Anna slightly bit. She hadn't meant to reply harshly, but the word divorce hit her right in the gut.
"Anna, I don't know what you want from me," John said, raising his hands up. "You asked me to leave, remember? I didn't send the divorce papers until we had been apart for over three years, Anna. I had to move on."
"You always needed to move on, didn't you?" Anna pushed on, everything starting to ramble out of her mouth without a filter. "You couldn't stay and wait it out. I was right! She was alive!"
"We didn't know that. And you pushed me away, Anna," he reminded her. "You did. I tried everything to save our marriage."
Anna chuckled in disbelief. She shook her head and curved her hands into tight fists.
"You just wanted to get away from all of this," she growled. "Well, you can now. You have a new wonderful woman you can marry. But don't think I'll give you custody of Emmy. She's living in this house. You won't take her from me!"
"She's my daughter too, Anna! We will share custody," John yelled back. There was fire in his eyes, a fire Anna hadn't seen in a long time. And she liked it. It showed he was going to fight back.
"As long as you stay here in Yorkshire, we will," Anna said. "But you won't take her away from me. You won't."
"I never was going to. We'll….we'll figure that out…."
"I just…." Anna stumbled over her words. "I guess this is over now." Her heart fell in her chest. John nodded.
"I guess so," he replied. The two of them stood there in silence for a moment. Then John bypassed her and walked into the house. Her shoulders began to shake as a sob took over. She waited a moment to be sure that John had time to make it to his bedroom, before she made her way into the house. She walked up the stairs and then turned to head into her small office.
Opening the door, she went to her desk and sat down. Her eyesight was blurry from the tears. She grabbed the pen and furiously began to sign her name on all the areas Matthew had highlighted, not allowing herself to think of much more than putting her name on the pages.
Once it was finished, she made her way to John's bedroom and knocked on the door. He opened it. He was halfway undressed. He was only wearing his undershirt and a pair of sweatpants.
"Anna, what? Can't we just go to bed?" He sounded exhausted. She guessed they both had been perpetually tired since Emmy's disappearance.
Anna lifted up the paperwork, showing it to John. His eyes fell to it and his lips curled downward into a deep frown. He took the paperwork from her and flipped through the pages.
"It's all signed. I…I'm sorry I took so long. I…well, I won't bother you again. We'll make plans for Emmy. And…" her voice cracked. John closed the paperwork up and then quickly ripped them up, throwing them down on the floor.
"Why the hell did you do that?!" Anna angrily, but quietly asked him. "I…." But before she could say something else, John had taken her cheeks into his and then brought his lips to hers, giving her a passionate kiss. Anna furiously pushed against his chest, making him stumble back.
The two of them stared at one another, eyeing each other back and forth, harsh pants leaving their lips.
But then Anna moved forward and moved onto her tiptoes to kiss John back. He lifted her up, so that her legs could wrap around his hips, and his hands fell to cup her buttocks. Their tongues sought purchase and they each allowed it, deepening their kiss.
With John's free hand, he closed the door. Then he turned, bringing Anna over to the bed. He gently placed her down, tugging the edge of her shirt to lift it up and over her head. They both tugged and pulled at one another's clothing until they all ended up on the floor with the torn divorce papers.
To be continued...
Well, alrighty then Anna and John. Looks like the built up tension has finally exploded ;)
