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Chapter 11: An Unwelcome Phone-call
Seconds ticked by, and an unhelpful cough from Steph broke the silence. Instantly, Rachel found herself wondering where on earth they would go from here.
"Thank you Steph, we will take it from here."
And there he was, Eddie. Her calming influence. Rachel was grateful for him in all circumstances, but his presence was particularly essential in situations such as the one she found herself in now. Rachel had an extreme tendency to over think every single possibility. But Eddie, he seemed to consolidate all of her knowledge and make it clearer as a way of reassuring her.
Having watched Steph leave the office, Eddie knew from Rachel's entire demeanour that his support and consolation was now required. He too was concerned about Philip, but they had to be level headed in this situation and explore the minor scenarios rather than jumping to the worst case.
Taking a hold of Rachel's hand, Eddie pulled her slightly closer to him once more. She glanced at him questionably, before her gaze softened and she realised what her deputy was doing.
"Let's just think rationally about this. It's likely that he's still in the school. So I'll have a look round, check in the loos and such like, and you can stay here. Maybe try his mobile a few times, he's bound to have it on him."
Rachel seemed unsure before nodding steadily. Giving Eddie's hand a squeeze in thanks, she reluctantly allowed him to part. Rachel wouldn't admit it to anyone, but her initial uncertainty after Eddie had spoken his reassuring words had been at the thought of sitting in her office chewing on the matter without him. She shook her head and sighed; since when had she become so utterly reliant on one person? For so long, Rachel only trusted herself and no one else. But now, she was letting someone that she deeply loved and cared about behind her walls. Undoubtedly, this was a thought that scared Rachel, and yet Eddie was slowly but surely becoming her everything. It had been less than 24 hours since their admittance of feelings, but to them both, it truly felt as if they had been aware of their love for several years.
Picking up her mobile, Rachel reiterated Eddie's supportive words in her mind as she called her nephew's number. Nine times out of ten, Eddie's instincts were right. So hopefully, this situation was one of those instances, and Philip would be sitting in a toilet somewhere in school. Even if this wasn't the case, Rachel found herself taking some comfort in the fact that Eddie would be by her side every step of the way.
Voicemail. As the mundane tone rang in Rachel's ears, she found herself suppressing the urge to scream. Four times Rachel had tried Philip's phone, and four times there was no answer. With this her anxiety only heightened. Philip was never without his phone, it was practically glued to his hand or his pocket. So there was only one explanation - he obviously didn't want to be contacted.
Rachel was about to go and hunt down Eddie to figure out the next best steps when her office door swung open once more.
"Checked all the boys toilets, nothing."
Rachel sighed, running a shaky hand through her hair.
"No answer on his mobile either, voicemail."
Eddie too exhaled with frustration, desperately trying to conjure up ways to resolve this situation and fast.
"He can't have got far Rach," Eddie commented, stepping closer to her and placing his hand on her shoulder as a form of comfort, "he might have even just gone home, how about you go and check? I'll hold the fort, stay here in case he turns up."
Rachel nodded, once more allowing Eddie's comforting words to wash over her. He squeezed her shoulder lightly, silently telling her that his support was steadfast, and that she was more than capable of figuring this one out.
"I'll let you know, if he turns up."
"Thank you Eddie," Rachel reiterated her thoughts as she left the office, hoping with all her being that Philip had just gone home as suggested by Eddie. She knew that even if Philip was perfectly safe, there would be a reason behind his behaviour, and another web of truth to unveil.
Rachel mentally shook herself as she reached her car - that wasn't a matter to deal with now, she had to focus on locating Philip first and then deal with the consequences.
She arrived at home in record time, wanting to eradicate any negative thoughts from her brain as swiftly as possible. Reaching the door, she went to unlock it but found that it was in fact, already open. Surely this meant that Philip was inside, and that he had used his key? Rachel emerged into her hallway, refraining from getting her hopes up before she could actually see the boy in front of her eyes.
She glanced down, and noticed Philip's school shoes at the bottom of the stairs. Now, Rachel allowed a sigh of relief to emanate from her mouth. She even felt the beginnings of a smile forming on her lips as she remembered the conversation had with Philip yesterday about taking his shoes off in the house, and the roll of the eyes which that had brought. This had to mean he was here in the house.
"Philip?" Rachel called out as she walked through to the living room.
She didn't need to search anymore, she had found him. Philip was pacing up and down the length of the room, mobile phone in hand. So why hadn't he been answering any of her calls?
"Philip love?" Rachel approached the boy carefully, unsure of how he was going to react considering he hadn't even looked up to acknowledge her presence as of yet.
"What's happened?" she persisted on getting no response.
Rachel felt as if Philip was about to reply, he had finally met her eye. This moment was broken though, by the unmistakable ringtone of his mobile. She felt Philip's tension and anger rise immediately, and she thought for a moment that he was going to throw his phone so that it was no longer his problem.
"Tell her to stop calling me, I don't want to speak to her."
Rachel's curiosity only grew with Philip's recent remark. Philip was evidently rattled, and she intended to get to the bottom of it.
"Tell who love?"
But she didn't need to question it anymore. Philip passed Rachel the phone as the call ended, revealing a name and a photograph which now made her stomach churn.
Melissa.
"Have you spoken to her?" Rachel queried, her own voice evidently shaky.
Philip sat down now, seemingly more relaxed now that the phone and what came with it wasn't his responsibility. Rachel on the other hand, felt as if she was holding a ticking time bomb which could blow up in her face with any given second.
"She rang me in school, and I picked up. She was obviously drunk, slurring her words and stuff so I questioned that. And she was saying how she has got this new man now and that her life is getting sorted out."
Rachel felt frozen. How could Melissa have possibly found someone else within the space of twenty four hours? On top of this, why was she drunk at 8 o'clock in the morning? She shuddered, unable to deal with the possibilities. Despite everything, Rachel still felt pangs of concern for her sister. She never couldn't, Melissa was her flesh and blood. Ultimately though, pondering on Mel's selfish ways, Rachel decided that she couldn't be the one to clean up her mess this time. In the past, Rachel had jumped to her sister's rescue countless times. With each and every instance though, Melissa had only thrown it back in her face and tried to blame Rachel for her situations. Now, Rachel wasn't going to give Melissa the chance to do so. This was her mess, and she had to sort it.
"She said that she wanted to see me, and that I should come and live with her and not 'your heartless auntie' as she put it."
Hearing Philip refer to Melissa's comments only emphasised Rachel's want to utterly cut off her sister's mistakes and consequences from her mind. The irony and hypocrisy was immeasurable, and Rachel found herself wincing when replaying the utterance in her brain.
Philip evidently noticed this, and instantly attempted to backtrack on his previous words, "Rach, I'm sorry, you didn't need to know that."
"No… Philip, I did," Rachel said in hopes of reassuring her nephew.
She truly meant it though. Had Philip not revealed the true extent of Melissa's spite, it was likely that Rachel would have found herself pulling her younger sister out of the gutter once more.
"I mean… maybe it is best if I just go and live with mum."
Rachel felt shock course through her body upon hearing Philip's words. Surely this was just a sign that he needed more reassurance? Only moments ago had Philip been saying that he didn't want to speak to Melissa, so it was unlikely that his mind had changed drastically since then. Rachel thought back on her and Eddie's brief conversation with Philip yesterday. At the time, seemingly the boy had been put at ease by their support. Now though, Rachel was questioning if they had truly gotten through to Philip.
Certainly not for the first time since the events of the previous day, Rachel felt immensely sorry for her nephew. His mother had abandoned him out of the blue, all because of the breakdown of a relationship. Despite Rachel and Eddie's comments about always being there for him, Philip was obviously finding it extremely difficult to open up and let people in. She wasn't an expert, but Rachel guessed it was for fear of trusting people and then walking away. Undoubtedly, the blame for this lay with Melissa. Something which Rachel couldn't bring herself to forgive.
"Philip, I really don't think that's the best solution here…"
"Why not?!" The boy interrupted, "I mean, it's not like you and Eddie want me. You'd be better off without me as well."
"Philip," Rachel began, walking over to take a seat next to her nephew, "that is in no way the case. Eddie and I, we aren't going anywhere. And you are our first priority. My house is a home for you, for as long as you would like it. And that's a promise Philip."
Philip's original anger seemed to disintegrate slightly, as he slouched further into the sofa. Perhaps the realisation that his mother's abandonment wasn't going to be mirrored with his aunt was finally hitting him. Rachel hoped he knew that she would never put him through such a thing. She was willing to support him no matter what, and with that, came reassurance that she wasn't going anywhere. For Rachel, it doesn't matter how long it takes, she wanted Philip to get to a point where he feels able to trust the people around him.
"Do you really mean that?"
The uncertainty etched within Philip's tone was still evident. But also apparent, was a sense of hope. This gave Rachel some encouragement, maybe she was heading in the right direction in terms of restoring her nephew's faith in the people around him.
"Wholeheartedly Philip."
He smiled now, and Rachel guessed that it was perhaps his way of showing thanks. She gathered that currently, Philip was finding it difficult to comprehend his true feelings and therefore express them.
Philip glanced down, "do I have to go back to school?"
He knew it was a long shot, what with his aunt being the headteacher of his school, but the idea of spending an afternoon in the cooler didn't exactly appeal to Philip. As much as Rachel was likely to oppose his suggestion, Philip was glad to see that she looked slightly more carefree and less concerned after his recent question. Perhaps she was sort of figuring that Philip was leaning back towards his usual self. He hoped that was the case, because it would be the correct assumption. Once again, his aunt's support had well and truly alleviated any tension in Philip's mind.
"I think you already know the answer to that," Rachel smiled as she stood, provoking a predictable sigh from the boy, "I can't condone bunking off school Philip."
Philip stood now, rising to Rachel's level, "I know, I know. But it was worth a shot wasn't it?"
Rachel shook her head in response and chuckled. She sent Eddie a text confirming that Philip was in fact, okay and that she would explain all once they were back at school. Rachel couldn't help smiling to herself as she predicted Eddie's jibes about her constant over thinking and his contrasting level headedness. She genuinely wouldn't have it any other way. Rachel was under no illusion when it came to Philip though, this situation was far from perfect. Her and Eddie would have to keep their support consistent, and show Philip that no matter what Melissa attempted, he was welcome in her home for as long as he wished.