The night in question
The night was windy and wet. The storm hadn't quite passed yet. Guy Germaine had nowhere to go. His car had been found on fire. No one had wanted to take him in for the night. Even Connie had turned her back on him.
The look in her eyes was heartbreaking when she told him she couldn't help him.
"I'm sorry" was what she'd said with tears filling up those huge brown eyes.
He understood though, she needed her family and in a way, her new boyfriend Charlie Conway was good for her. He didn't attack her sister and cause her family great pain.
He sat down on a bench that had been constructed as a memorial for Hans, the Ducks friend and mentor all those years ago. The plaque on the bench and the tree next to it read that it was created by Gordon Bombay and Charlie Conway.
He remembered Bombay well. He was the one who had warned Guy that if he stopped the drugs and the alcohol and found something meaningful in life like he did with coaching the Ducks in Pee Wees.
If only he'd listened to Bombay then.
If only he'd listened to Danielle when she told him to stop, he was hurting her.
Guy stopped himself from thinking about it. He needed to get his mind off things for a little while or else he'd go insane.
He'd been here before. This was one of his favourite spots to come and just think. There was never anyone else around to judge him or attack him.
He imagined what his perfect life would be like. His first thought was that Connie would be a part of it. He conjured up the image of a perfect father, mother and brother who loved him and never hurt him to replace the mean, spiteful and aggressive ones he had in reality.
He could almost feel the warmth of an open fire and his "pretend" mother handing him a cup of hot chocolate. He imagined waking up on Christmas morning and having a Christmas tree and presents under it. He imagined himself as a 6 year old and his present was a gorgeous puppy that would be his best friend forever.
Guy grew tired. He wrapped a thin blanket around his shoulders and made his way onto the ground under the bench.
It provided a small amount of shelter and protection from the wind. He tried to keep his mind off of the cold by returning to his imaginary perfect life.
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Connie Moreau sat on the couch in her family's lounge room feeling incredibly guilty.
She didn't mean to give Guy the brush off it was just that the pressure from her family, her friends and everyone else in the neighborhood was just too much for the 21 year old to handle.
The rain pelted down creating a sound on the tin roof that was louder than the TV.
She shuddered and hoped that Guy had found somewhere to stay. Her other sister Natalie was on the phone to her boyfriend Nick.
Connie sighed quietly and wished that she could be with the man she loved without any hassles. Natalie had no idea how easy she had it, even if she did steal Nick away from her all those years ago.
Connie smiled to herself as she remembered the day she found out that Natalie had been sneaking around with Nick behind her back and the fight they'd had. She remembers the anger well but it has long since disappeared. She was happy for them.
Why couldn't she be happy about her and Charlie? She knew in her heart that she loved him but the love wasn't intense or passionate like the love she had for Guy.
The longer she tried to convince herself that Guy didn't matter to her anymore, the more she found herself wanting him.
She had truly gone and stuffed things up this time. She had let Guy believe that she didn't care about him anymore, she let him believe that Charlie was the only one for her now.
Connie searched deep within herself to come up with an answer to her questions.
Did she love Charlie? Yes
More than Guy?No
Can she be with Guy?No, it would break up my family and tear whats left
of the Ducks apart
Does your family and the Ducks matter more than Guy? I don't know
That was the question she'd always had trouble answering was her family more important than Guy?
Connie can't imagine what Danielle must have gone through when Guy attacked her but couldn't Danielle see that Guy had changed? That he was sorry for what he did? That he'd never do anything like that ever again? That he was back to the old Guy they all knew and loved?
Her mother and father constantly used the "He'll do it to you" line with her over and over again. It drove her insane.
They refused to believe that Guy would never hurt Connie, even when he proved it. They had secretly dated for a month last year and that time had been special for them both.
He had let her snuggle up to him like a lover but had not once tried anything on her. He had kissed her so tenderly and passionately but not once did he bring up the subject of sex. In fact he shied away from all discussion on that particular topic.
Connie knew that it wasn't because he didn't find her attractive, she knew it was because he would never make her do anything she didn't want to. Guy had sensed that she wasn't ready for a commitment like that with him. Unlike Charlie.
Charlie, Connie thought. All Charlie thought about was sex, all Charlie could talk to Connie about was sex and in the end she'd had enough of it and had just agreed to meet him for their first time.
She was so nervous when the day arrived. She couldn't bring herself to go through with it. She just didn't love him enough to let him be the first. She realised that it would be wrong to just do it for all the wrong reasons, in a way it would be as bad as what Guy did to Danielle.
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Robert Moreau watched his daughter Connie with some interest. He would give anything to know what his daughter was thinking about at that moment.
Probably that bastard Guy he thought bitterly to himself.
That bloody Guy Germaine has to come back here and try to destroy my family again.
He was seething, his nostrils flaring and his lip twitching. He got like that every time he thought of Guy Germaine.
The man who destroyed one daughter's heart and stole another's. He couldn't understand what Guy saw in that evil boy, couldn't she see how distressed the mere mention of his name made Danielle?
Danielle had retreated back into herself. Not eating, not wanting to talk to anyone, especially not her current boyfriend Scott.
Now Scott sounds like a decent enough boy. He understands how she must be feeling and tries to accommodate her. When had Guy ever done that for Connie? Never. He had kept her away from her family who love her and want her and then dumped her back when he'd had enough, and of course Connie was too blind to see this.
Her mother, Sophie always told him that she gets her stubborn side from him and that they were too much alike. Robert begged to differ, anyone who could say they love such a monster isn't like him at all.
He had no idea who Connie was anymore.
BEEP BEEP, BEEP BEEP. Robert's mobile phone went off in his pocket.
Connie turned around momentarily to see what the noise was. She couldn't hide her disappointment when she saw that it wasn't her phone. She was hoping Guy would message her to let her know it was okay, that he understood her completely.
Robert looked down at the screen. "Private Number" it said making him wonder who it was from. It said
Now's your chance, he's all alone under Hans' memorial bench
Robert knew exactly who he was. It didn't take a brain surgeon to work out who was all alone under a bench.
So it looked like no one else would help him out either. He had a hide coming here asking for Connie's help. He was glad when she told him she couldn't help him.
All this thinking of Guy got Robert's blood boiling. He made some feeble excuse to his wife and daughters that he needed to go and check something out at the shop they owned. Someone was interested in investing in the place and they wanted to meet him tonight.
Sophie looked a little skeptical as did Connie. But eventually Sophie let him go without another word.
Connie watched intently at her father's face as he grabbed his keys and headed for the door.
There was something about the way he wouldn't quite meet her eyes when he looked at her and that could only mean one thing – he was lying about where he was going.
Connie excused herself from the lounge room and advised her mother she was going to bed but instead lingered out on the hallway waiting for the right moment to slip out of the front door.
Her moment came and she thought she'd gotten away undetected but there was someone else watching Connie's moves – Danielle.