Chapter 5: Relationships
Kirk laid on the couch, staring up at the ceiling. "When do you think everyone else is going to come back? I still have four people to tell something to," he questioned.
Larry, who was looking out the window, watching for his brothers shrugged. "I don't know," he answered. "I'm just waiting for Darryl and Darren," he said and then turned back to look to Kirk. "You don't think that they got lost do you?"
"Give 'em a few more minutes," Kirk responded, not sounding too concerned.
"Ew!" Stephanie shrieked.
Kirk slightly sat up and looked towards the window as Larry jumped and turned to face the window.
"I find that insulting!" Elliot responded.
"The princess is back," Kirk announced and then laid back down and continued staring up at the boring ceiling.
The door flew open and Joanna nearly stormed into the room and crossed her arms. Bob followed her, looking rather worried over the whole ordeal.
"Is it over Michael?" Stephanie whimpered as Michael lead her in, his arm around her while she tightly closed her eyes.
Kirk sat up and curiously watched the group. He had figured out that he had missed something and wanted to see if he could find out what it was.
"It's fine Steph, we're inside now. He's out of sight," Michael assured her, taking his back.
"You say that, but I just keep seeing it over and over again," she whined, finally gathering the courage to open her eyes.
"You're not helping with my fear of talking to women you know," Elliot stated as he walked in mostly dressed with his pants back on, buttoning his flannel shirt.
Larry looked over to Stephanie with confusion. "I hate to break it to you," he started, as he approached her. "But if you're going to go swimming, you're supposed to wear a bathing suit."
Stephanie slightly turned to face him. "I know," she angrily replied, glaring to him.
Larry looked back to Kirk and shrugged. "I'm gonna go look for my brothers," he announced before leaving the room.
"Well I'm going to go take a shower and hope that it can at least get rid of some of the smell from that stupid lake," Stephanie explained before following Larry out of the cabin.
Michael sighed and looked to Joanna, who was still upset about earlier. "Jo Jo?" he gently called over to her. Now was his chance to talk to her without Stephanie whining and interrupting him.
"What?" she snapped, turning to face him. Right now, she was just not in the mood to hear more about how it was all an accident.
"You have to believe me!" he begged. "We didn't mean to be spying on you and Doctor Hartley! We were just sitting there, talking to each other. We don't even know what you two were talking about! I swear!" he desperately explained.
Joanna sighed. She still did like Michael, he could be annoying at times, but she still liked him. "Okay," she sighed, dropping her arms to her sides. "But do you promise that you didn't hear anything that we talked about?" she firmly questioned.
"I promise," Michael responded, happy and relieved at the fact that he still had a friend and not a new enemy.
Joanna nodded and left the cabin.
Michael watched her leave and then sighed as he followed her out the door.
Kirk watched the door for a second and then looked to Bob and Elliot. "So, anything new?" he implored.
"Yeah," Elliot answered. "Stephanie saw me naked and now I feel a little less comfortable with myself," he flatly stated.
Bob turned and looked to Elliot. "Mr. Carlin, I don't think that you should let what Ms. Vanderkellan says influence how you feel about yourself. She uh, she tends to be a little self centered," he dryly explained.
He looked to him. "Easy for you to say, she hasn't insulted you yet," Elliot replied before turning and leaving.
Bob then looked over to Kirk. "So, did much happen here?" he questioned.
Kirk shook his head. "Larry went out to make sure that his brothers weren't lost," he informed him.
Bob nodded and then sat down at the table. "How did you're little confession thing go?" he inquired.
"It went well, and that's the truth," he replied.
"Good," Bob said. He was just waiting for everyone to start meeting here for the next session. If anything, tonight was going to be very interesting.
ooo
Joanna walked into the girl's cabin and sat down on her bed. It wasn't much, a plain room big enough for two bunk beds and then a bathroom connected to it. Their cabin was just a little smaller than the the boy's which held four bunk beds and a bathroom.
Right now, she just had to be alone for a minute and calm down before she went and talked to everyone tonight.
Looking around the room, she spotted something sticking out from under Stephanie's pillow. She knew that she shouldn't be snooping around, but she wanted to know what it was, and she was alone at the moment which never helped when you wanted to avoid going through someone's things. Besides, she figured that it wasn't anything too bad, maybe just a picture of herself winning something or something like that.
Taking a quick glance out the window and towards both doors, the one that went outside and the other to the bathroom, she stood up and made her way over to the bed. Carefully, she lifted the pink frilly pillow that Stephanie had brought herself, and stared at the picture that it hid. With her eyes glued to it, her fingertips gingerly grabbed onto the corner of the photo and lifted it.
It was a picture of a little girl. She looked an awful lot like Stephanie, but it wasn't her. It couldn't be. The photo looked somewhat recent, as if taken a year or two ago, and the little girl was only around three or four. She had shoulder length blonde hair, cute smile with dimples in her cheeks. Her eyes were dark blue, or at least the dress that she was wearing made her eyes look dark blue.
She turned the photo around to the back and saw 1975 written. She turned the picture back over and stared at the image some more, trying to figure out who she was. She didn't think that Stephanie was married or had any kids. Maybe a niece?
"Joanna!" Stephanie shrieked as she rushed over and snatched the picture out of her hand, her other hand tightly holding her robe closed. "How dare you go through my things!" she yelled.
"I'm sorry. I know I just got mad at you for the same thing," Joanna replied, feeling genuinely guilty. She went and stood back by her bed. Her eyes remained on the picture as Stephanie took it and placed it back under her pillow. "If it helps, she is a cute little girl."
Stephanie slightly smiled, calming down a little. "I know," she replied. She had her back to Joanna as she started going through her clothes. "I really wish there was a store around here so that I could buy an extra outfit," she stated.
"You can borrow some of my clothes," Joanna offered.
Stephanie turned back and looked to Joanna. "I don't think so," she slightly laughed. "I might just keep this on," she stated, referring to the robe that she was wearing.
Joanna, as a joke, went through her bag and pulled out the maid outfit that Elliot had given her. "How about this?" she asked, starting to laugh.
Stephanie looked over the outfit. "Is that silk?" she questioned, grabbing at the material. She was a little surprised that she owned anything like that.
"You want it?" Joanna implored, disbelieving her.
"Sure, why the hell not?" Stephanie replied. It was better than re-wearing something, and better than having people think that she could sink to wearing torn up jeans and a cotton button down shirt. She did have a reputation to uphold here.
"You can keep it if you want," Joanna offered as she handed her the dress.
Stephanie took the dress and laid it down on her bed. She then grabbed the other suitcase and started going through it to find a pair of shoes to go with the outfit.
Joanna stood there, still fixated on the picture that she had found. She knew that she shouldn't be, but she was. She hadn't expected this girl to actually really care that much about someone else to keep their picture like that. She had figured that she was too preoccupied with herself to make time for anyone else. "Do you mind me asking who that is?" Joanna meekly implored.
Stephanie turned back and softly laughed. "Now Joanna, I know that I'm a fascinating person, but I have to draw the line somewhere," she answered and then turned back to find her shoes.
Joanna just nodded. "Okay," she said, completely understanding.
Stephanie sighed and turned back to Joanna. "Well if you're gonna beg," she stated and then pulled the picture back out and handed it to Joanna. "She's my daughter. Renee, we call her Rini," she explained.
Joanna looked up to her in disbelief. "I didn't know you had a daughter," she stated.
"Well," Stephanie started. "I did until my ex husband decided to kidnap her," she bitterly mentioned.
Joanna looked up to her with sympathy. "I'm sorry," she genuinely offered.
Stephanie took back her picture. "Don't worry about it, my family's loaded and I always get my way, so I'll get her back in a little bit," she informed her as she looked down and studied the photo.
Joanna was starting to get a little concerned. "You really aren't worried about her?" she questioned.
"Of course I am, but like I said, I always get my way," Stephanie explained as she put the picture down on the bed.
Joanna offered a small smile. "I hope you get her back soon," she said as she turned and started to leave. She stopped for a moment and looked back to see Stephanie staring down at the picture and then turned and left.
ooo
In the rec. room, Bob sat on one of the dining room chairs while Joanna and Michael sat on the couch with a space between them that he was saving for Stephanie. Elliot sat on the table while Kirk sat in the chair by the fireplace.
Michael looked over to Joanna. "I would like to take this chance to apologize again for earlier," he said.
Joanna sighed and then turned and smiled to him. "Michael, really. It's fine. I'm okay," she assured him. "You're forgiven."
"Thank you," Michael responded, relieved.
"What happened between you two?" Elliot asked.
"Yeah, seriously," Kirk added. "I feel left out over here."
"Nothing," Joanna casually answered.
"Seriously?" Kirk implored.
"Now listen, if she doesn't wanna talk about it then uh, she, she doesn't have to," Bob explained. Right after he said that, he found it an odd statement to be coming from a psychologist.
Elliot then looked over to Michael. "While we're waiting, are you and miss blondie an item or are you just her personal slave?" he questioned.
"We're just friends," Michael assured him, although, he wasn't sure that he just wanted to stay that way.
"Really? Because I would be expecting a lot more for all of that work you've done for her," Elliot responded.
Kirk looked per to Michael with interest. "Well if you two aren't together, how much of a chance do you think that I have with her?" he asked.
Michael laughed. "About as much of a chance that Doctor Hartley has with Joanna," he stated, not realizing exactly what he was alluding too.
"Michael!" Joanna snapped, looking to him with disbelief.
"I, I think we should uh, change the subject now," Bob insisted. He knew that there was nothing really to the comment made, but the last thing that he wanted was for the rumor to spread that anything happened between him and a patient.
"I was saying that there never could be anything between you two," Michael argued.
"I'll second that," Elliot stated. "I've seen him with his wife. I don't think he could cheat. Besides, if I had a wife that looked like her I know I would never leave her."
"Thank you Mr. Carlin," Bob replied, not knowing exactly how to take the comment. Emily was not what he wanted them to be talking about here.
"I don't know. His wife is cute, but she reminds me of the teacher on that one movie, The Birds," Kirk informed him. "Kind of creeps me out at times. You know? Sometimes she reminds me of when she was still alive and standing there with those distant gray eyes, then other times she makes me think of when the lady was laying on the cement, all dead, pale, and bloody. Kind of disturbs me." He then looked to Bob, "and that's the truth."
"And what a time for you to tell it," Bob replied, sarcastically smiling to him.
Joanna's face lit up with realization. "You know, she does!" she agreed. She then looked to Bob. "Has anyone ever mentioned it to her?" she inquired.
Bob shrugged. "I never heard anyone say anything to her," he answered.
Larry walked into the room, leading his brothers. They all three grabbed chairs from the table and sat down in the middle of the room. "What did we miss?" Larry questioned.
"Doctor Hartley's wife looks like the teacher on The Birds," Michael replied. He then looked over to Bob. "But I've never seen that movie, so I don't really know whether or not it's true," he admitted.
"We ain't ever seen it either," Larry mentioned.
"How could you have not seen that movie?" Kirk asked. "That's like saying you've never seen Psycho! Or The Godfather! The Exorcist, A Streetcar Named Desire, Gone With the WInd," he stated.
"I saw The Exorcist once, thought I was possessed for a week," Elliot stated.
"Yes, I remember that quite well. I also remember when you thought that the mafia was after you," Bob mentioned.
Elliot looked back to him. "The good old days," he stated and then turned back.
"Right," Bob dryly responded.
Stephanie then walked through the door, wearing the maid outfit. The top was low cut and fit perfectly to her body. The skirt came up about six inches from the knees, not as bad as Joanna had earlier thought it would be.
All the men in the room stared at her as he black heels clicked on the floor while she made her way over to the couch and sat down in the spot that had been reserved for her. "All right, I'm here," she announced, already sounding bored.
"I'll say," Elliot responded, his eyes glued to her.
"You think you can wear that tomorrow too?" Kirk implored.
"Ew! Wear something two days in a row?" she squealed in disbelief, looking to him as if he had to be insane.
"I would get over the fact that it's not clean," Kirk assured her.
"I, I uh, think that maybe we should um, get started," Bob announced, trying to get the attention off of Stephanie, although he knew that it was a losing battle.
Joanna caught on to what he was doing and decided to start off talking this time, since she was the only one there who wasn't distracted. "Last week this new man started working at the ad agency that I work at, and I think that next week, I might just gather up the courage to ask him out," she announced.
"Ooh!" Stephanie squealed, looking to Joanna with excitement. "What's he look like?" she implored.
Joanna smiled. "Well, he's tall, sandy blonde hair, nicely built," she started describing.
"What color eyes?" Stephanie questioned.
"Brown," Joanna replied.
"I like blue better," she stated.
"Do you want this to be something serious?" Bob implored.
Joanna looked up to him and smiled. "Maybe," she answered. "I don't know him too well yet, but I have worked with him," she admitted.
Joanna smiled as she thought for a second about whether or not she should ask what she wanted, but she thought that it couldn't hurt. "Did you know right away when you met Mrs. Hartley that you wanted something more serious than just a date or two?" she inquired.
"Actually, no," he admitted. "It, uh, it took a few dates with her," he explained, avoiding the fact that he had even been seeing someone else up until the weekend before they got married.
"Must be nice being married," Elliot commented.
"I enjoy it," Bob stated, looking over to him.
"I don't think I could get married. If she married me, she would have to agree to take in Darryl and Darren," Larry explained.
"I don't think I could either. Most girls tend to get a little angry when they find out that you've been lying to them," Kirk mentioned.
"I don't think it's that you guys can't get married, I just think that you need to work on a few things. Like, like Larry, Darryl, and Darren. If any of you wanted to get married, you would have to work on being separated from each other, and Kirk, you would just uh have to work on telling the truth more often," Bob argued.
"I've never even been in a serious relationship," Michael flatly confessed.
Darren tapped on Larry's shoulder and looked to him for a minute. Larry then looked over to Bob. "Doctor Hartley? Darren wants to know what you would consider a serious relationship," he said.
"Well," Bob said, thinking about it. "A serious relationship would be uh, a relationship in which you two only see each other, you uh, you're together for more than just a couple of months. You two would love each other, respect each other, understand each other," he explained.
"I've never been in a relationship longer than a month," Michael clarified.
"I think the longest I've been in one is about three months," Joanna responded, really trying hard to remember.
"I had a girlfriend for six months, that was how long it took her to get sick of my brothers," Larry announced. He looked over and saw them both glaring to him. "I dumped her for you didn't I?"
Darryl and Darren stopped and exchanged looks. They then nodded to each other and then looked to Larry and nodded.
"I don't do relationships," Elliot cynically remarked.
"I've been engaged before. The whole thing all together lasted about four years," Stephanie casually informed them, looking down as she examined her nails.
"I almost got married once," Kirk mentioned.
"No you didn't," Michael and Elliot simultaneously argued. Michael looked back to Elliot and laughed.
"That's my line to say," Elliot dryly warned.
"Sorry," Michael replied, starting to shy away.
"Either way, its right," Kirk sighed. "But I did stay with the same girl for a year."
"You mean a month?" Elliot implored.
Kirk looked to him and sighed. "Fine, two months," he finally admitted.
"Do you think we'll judge you based on the amount of time that you have been with one girl?" Bob inquired.
Kirk looked to him and shrugged. "I don't really know," he answered. "Are you judging me based on the length of my relationships?" he asked.
"No," Bob replied. "I don't uh, I don't judge you based on anything, Mr. Devane."
Michael looked over to Stephanie. "Why did the engagement end?" he questioned.
"Decided that I didn't like him anymore," she responded. "He was getting on my nerves and annoying me."
"You broke up with someone because they annoyed you after a while?" Bob questioned.
"Now see, I think you're judging her on her relationships," Kirk remarked.
"Am not," Bob argued. "I just want to know if that was really the reason."
Stephanie sighed and looked to Bob. "He was going out of his way to annoy me. Now, do you really expect me to marry someone when I can barely spend an hour with them? I don't think so," she explained.
Joanna looked to her with concern, wanting to ask if she was actually talking about her ex husband.
Stephanie looked over to Joanna. "What?" she inquired.
"Nothing," she replied, shaking her head.
"I think it's a good reason. Sounds like all you would be doing is fighting after a while," Kirk stated.
"I could never purposely annoy someone," Michael said.
"We know," Elliot assured him.
"I like that," Stephanie said, smiling to Michael.
Kirk saw what she was doing. "I don't like to annoy people either," he announced.
"You may not be trying to," Stephanie remarked.
Kirk just sat back and pouted.