Chapter Nine: Delivering Idiots Part Two
Emma strolled her way through the empty but, unlocked autobody shop. Looking up, she could see an office with it's lights on and loud music blasting from it. The door read "S.Cameron", it couldn' t be more obvious to anyone. She wandered up the metal stairs and knocked lightly on the door but over the music, Sean couldn't hear. She tried again but, nothing. So, she just pushed the door open slightly and snuck her head in.
"Hi Sean." She said, still below the music.
Sean turned around at the sound of the door creaking and nearly jumped out of skin when he saw Emma standing in the doorway.
"Emma!" He exclaimed. "Take a seat" He extended his hand towards a chair and then turned his stereo off. Emma helped herself to a seat across from Sean. "What brings you here?" He asked, turning in his chair to face her. Though the light of the shop was harsh, Emma still managed to shine through to Sean and he was sinking into his high school flames. Emma wasn't exactly sure what brought her there. "Need your oil changed?" He offered out loud.
"No, I --uh," She tried to think of why she had come but just sunk into her physcologist form. "Your daughter has an incrediable voice, so much talent,"
"She didn't get it from me." Sean rolled his eyes and lightly sighed.
"Sure, she did. You must be really proud."
"I am proud of her." Sean nodded, reluctantly. "I just don't think she's too proud of me." Emma tilted her head and her big eyes pressed into his and that alone was reason for him to continue talking. "We got into a fight."
"Hence why you didn't want her to see you at the Fyxx." She nodded and folded her hands over top her knee.
"Yeah, it's that old stubborn side of me, you know." He shrugged.
"Oh, you bet I do." She said mostly to herself.
After a brief pause, Sean got up from his seat and chuckled.
"What?" Emma questioned, her eyes following his path.
"I see why you're a physcologist." He waved his finger at her. "You're good. I would've never told anyone that."
"I'm trained." She shifted around in her seat. "Sean, I know it's none of my business, I shouldn't meddle where I'm not invited to but, it just seems like you could use some help."
In his mind, Sean whole-heartedly agreed.
"No, not really." Came out of his mouth.
"I just, I want you to know I'm here." She let herself out of the chair and walked to the door where Sean met her and opend it wide to let her out.
"Thanks, Em."
"You know I'd do anything for you." She said it so simply and while running a hand through her blonde locks, it took Sean all the way back. He couldn't fight the fact that he was extremely lonely and now with Emma standing there in front of him as beautiful as she always had been, he thought maybe it was a second chance screaming at him in the face. He just stepped closer and pressed his lips over hers.
Right away the red light went off in Emma's head and her eyes sprung open. She kept yelling in her head about how wrong this was. She had been with Sean before - many times and each break up hurt more than the last. They were older now but, that didn't change in the least. Emma was Penelope's counsellor, this only made things more personal and Sean wasn't even fully divorced yet. Still, she couldn't pull away.
Gavin had called Jimmy and Ashley at his house only minutes after Emma left the resturant and let them know they were free to leave and that he was apologetic for what Sydney had put them through. Appearantly, only half an hour after Sydney made an escape out the window, Ashley had walked into her room to invite her to finish watching the movie with them and when they noticed she wasn't there, they both went driving around the neighborhood for her.
Gavin didn't say a word to his daughter the whole car ride home, he only uttered orders to her at work so, Sydney didn't count that as conversing either. He just led her to the front door and walked in not even looking back at her. She locked the door behind them both and slipped off her sneakers. When she turned around she saw their living room full of solem faces - Jimmy, Ashley, Aunt Kendra, Paige, Dylan, Marco, and Spencer.
"You guys," Gavin was exhausted that it even took a lot of energy to sigh. "Seriously, just go home, it's fine." His eyes were almost being hidden by the bags beneath them and he could barely stand up straight. Sydney tried to sneak to the stairs and march upstairs but, Paige saw her.
"Come here, missy." She glared her back over with her eyes that could strike fear into a lion. Sydney stopped dead in her tracks and turned to face the room.
"Look, we're here for you both," Ashley placed her hands together and stepped foreward. "We put together a little support team because it seems like right now, that's what you both need."
"Ashley, thanks." Gavin yawned. "I apperciate the offer but, I think Sydney should just go to her room."
Sydney couldn't stand it - other people, some who she barely knew and who didn't even know her making her desicions for her or talking as if she wasn't there.
"I think we should all have a talk with Sydney, actually." Paige spoke up. She knew that Gavin was struggling with his daughter these days and decided to take matters into her own well-manicured hands. Sydney played with the sweatshirt laying over her arm, she had been right, too. Her dad really hated the top she was wearing. She didn't look up for a moment at anyone. Ashley and Paige were the only two standing, the rest were all comfortably sitting on the couches with willing and helpful eyes that had a hint of sorrow whirled inside them. "Do you know what you've put your dad through these last few days? Have you any clue how sleep-deprieved or worried he has been?" Sydney had thought about all that all the time but, she'd never let anyone know. "I don't know what's gotten into you, missy but, I assure you nobody likes who've you become." She was laying it on really thick for Sydney. Sydney clenched her whole mouth in the way her Dad would when he was being lectured. "Now, I'm not your mom but -"
"You're right," Sydney finally looked up and shot her just as hostile eyes into Paige's. "You're not my mom." With that spat and tears already dripping down her red face, Sydney ran like a fox up the stairs.
Gavin sighed deeply while Paige took her place back on the couch.
"Great job." Gavin looked at the whole room with his tired eyes, ecspecially Paige, then he followed after his child.
Penny left The Fyxx just a song before Johnny Santos big debut. She wanted to stay but, she had homework to finish and she was getting sleepy. Tori assured her that she was getting a ride from The Manning's, so Penelope felt free to leave. She said goodbye to her few friends and Ellie gave her a quick hug goodbye and then she went off to catch the last 81 home.
Cody, still in his mechanic jumpsuit, was comfortably planted in front of their television watching a reality TV show. Penelope was on a huge high from her performance, she couldn't believe that the Manning Twins got to feel that way almost all the time, it gave her such a rush. She reached around from behind the couch and wrapped her arms around her brother's throat.
"What the?" Cody furrowed his thick eyebrows down and looked up.
"I had a great night." She grinned and scampered into the kitchen. She was more unusual than Cody had ever realized. She grabbed a post-it from the kitchen counter and wrote "Get groceries" on it and then stuck it on their covered refreidgerator. It was coverd in photographs, bills, memo's, and all sorts of various items. She put the sticky note right by an old high school picture of her dad. It took her high away instantly and replaced it with disapointment. She had really wanted him to watch her tonight, she stared at the picture until she heard her brother call.
"Come here, Penny, this is sick." His eyes were fixated on the screen. On the TV was a girl eating a cockroache and squirming.
"That's gross, Cody." Penny's skin filled with goosebumps. She glanced down at her brother and the light bulb over her head flicked on. "Oh man!" She squealed and danced back into the kitchen.
"What?" Cody looked away from the screen, puzzled by his sister's new attitude.
Penny rushed back into the living room and sat next to her brother on their tattered couch.
"You look just like dad did when he was your age!" She held the picture right in face. Sean was sitting on a picnic bench with his blonde hair short and a plain white tee shirt on underneata grey zip up, which Cody often wore.
"Please, let me tweex your eyebrows." That seemed to be the main simularity. Cody was completely freaked out at how much he cloned his dad's high school picture.
"Go to town." He agreed.
Penny got up from the couch to fetch tweezer's from the bathroom while Cody stared at the picture more. When she got back into the room, Sean was sitting next to Cody and they were both squirming from the sight on TV.
"So, should we do this later?" She held up the tweezer and made both the boys check behind them at her.
"Yeah, tommorrow, okay?" Cody nodded.
"Okay." She shoved them in her pant pocket and then took the picture from the coffee table. She walked upstairs where her bedroom was located and sat up on the edge of her bed. She was overcome with the need to pick up her guitar and she began to strum the same chords she had played earlier. She didn't even notice her dad's silhouette fill the room. He leaned against the wall and watched her play, sinking into the melody. "Dad, hey." She noticed when she brushed a few strands of hair from her eyes. She immeaditly stopped playing and put the guitar down by her legs.
"You don't have to stop." He put his hand up.
"Oh that's right, you didn't hear the song tonight." She swallowed and averted her eyes down and watched as her feet didn't reach the ground.
"I think you and me need to have a talk." Penelope glanced behind her and noticed it was quater to midnight. "You up for a midnight ice cream run with your dad?" It took all his energy to offer that. He hadn't been a father in so long to her, it was strange but also very fufilling. Penny just nodded. She'd been dying for him to offer that.
"You're right, I lied to you." Sean admitted while they drove out of their neighborhood and onto the main road. "This is what you need to know, Penny," He took a deep breath and turned off the radio that Penelope had turned up. "The autobody shop had just started, we hadn't even been open a full year when Jay realized he could lose his house and Children and Family services were threatening to take Jayson and Tori from him and Alex." Penelope didn't understand. "Believe me, Penny, at first your mom and I tried to help. Jay worked a lot of overtime to make more money and Alex even worked the desk but, it didn't seem to be good enough. When I told Jay I didn't have the money to just lend to him, I mean, I'd taken out loans to get the business started, he went bezerk. He was crazy and three days later we were missing a pretty big sum of cash from the till. I looked over the security tapes and sure enough, Jay had taken it."
"He would've returned it, I bet." Penelope stuck up for the man who used to be her dad's best friend and as far as she knew, he was still her Godfather. "He just needed some help."
"Sure," Sean found them a parking spot at the Dairy Bee and turned his car off. "But, the point is he didn't ask me, he knew I wouldn't of allowed it and he stole the money." He closed his door and caught up to Penny who was walking to the entrance of the ice cream parlour. "I couldn't let him keep working."
"It still sucks." Penny walked through the door her Dad held open.
"If you and Tori are going to be friends again, that's fine but, don't let Jay brainwash, you alright?"
"Let's just get some ice cream." Penny stood up on her tip toes and looked at all the bins of flavors. Her dad ordered his regular - a strawberry shake and Penny got a dish of Superkid. They sat at the counter facing the parking lot and ejoyed their ice cream in silence and in one another's company. Penny couldn't take away her smile - it had been a rare great night for her.
"Thanks for the ice cream." She looked up at him and he just smiled down at her. For a moment, he had his daughter back. He could remember as a little toddler though, she'd long grown up.
"No problem." He shook his hand on her head and messed her hair. "I was really proud of you tonight." He cleared his throat and then pronounced. "I had no idea you could sing like that."
Penny was warmed inside. She couldn't believe he'd came and seen her. This night just kept getting better for her.
"There's a lot about me you don't know." She admitted, sweetly.
"I know." It hurt Sean to know that and it reacquainted him with the distance between he and his daughter.
Tori wandered out of the elevator of her apartment and waltzed down the hallway - happy with how her night had turned out, too. Until she reached her door and saw her older brother passed out against the door.
"Oh, Jayson." She pushed her key in the keyhole and wiggled their door open and dragged him through. She left him on their floor and then closed the door behind her and as if on cue, the lights flicked on. Traipsing drunkeningly over to her was her Dad, he was laughed and angry at the same time.
"You're late." He slurred.
"Where's mom?" Scared, Tori darted her eyes around.
"She's at work." Jay swallowed backing his daughter against the door.
Her blonde hair in his hands and her hands all over his body, Colleen and Austin made out like the hormone driven teenagers they were in the back of his truck. She had completely smeared her lipstick all over his face when she pulled back over top of him. The tips of her hair still brushing over his face.
"I had a good time with you tonight." She whispered.
"Me too." He looked at her with a Chesire cat grin.
"So, you're going to take me to the movies on Wendsday?" She asked without listening for the answer.
"You're damn right, I will." Austin knew how to play this girl - she was easy and he was going to milk that for all he could.
"Good." Colleen crawled off him and outside his car. She was catching a ride with her friend. "See you." She closed the door on him and walked away, swaying her hips from side to side and audjusting her top. Austin just licked his lips together and laughed to himself.
All sorts of cliffhangers!! Ooooh.
I hope you all liked it, Chapter Ten is coming up and a lot more drama is going to begin to brew.
I hope it isn't too slow moving.
R & R, please!!!!
Delivering Idiots - Stabilo