The Florencia Lozano Homepage - Fan Fiction
AFFLICTION
BY TROG |
CHAPTER
2 |
CHAPTER 2
Vicki Davidson, in her crisp navy suit, walked into the Palace Grill looking for her misanthropic brother, Todd Manning, and scanning the room quickly, she spotted him at a corner table brooding as usual, looking at his watch. They had been trying to maintain this weekly luncheon tradition for a few months now, since he remarried Blair, and it enabled her to keep an eye on him. The birth of his son and his new marriage had not had the affect she’d hoped for and she found him getting more and more depressed every time she saw him. He worked till all hours, frequently not going home at all according to Blair and his manner had become increasingly hostile and morose. As she got closer she noticed him removing something from his pocket, taking a quick swallow and then shoving it quickly back into his jacket when he noticed her approaching.
His eyes were bloodshot and hollow and his face was rough with a few day’s growth of unshaven beard. His long hair was un-kept and stringy, and yet, somehow he still managed to look handsome, albeit disorderly, in his soft gray suit, black shirt and careless manner.
“It’s about time you got here...I have a paper to run, you know. If I leave Briggs and his hacks alone for a few hours they try and slip in some legitimate journalism behind my back,” he barked at her.
“Well, hello to you to, little brother,” she said sweetly, taking a chair opposite him and knocking his foot off the table.
“These stupid lunches of yours are nothing but a waste of my time. All we ever do is talk, talk, talk...I hate to talk,” he growled.
“Well, how’s my lovely nephew doing?”
Todd looked up at her.
“He pukes, pees, craps and sleeps...and not necessarily in that order...and sometimes all at once. The kid’s a slob...and no fun. Thank god I’m rich and can hire a nanny to do all that disgusting work...I don’t know how people enjoy that stuff...bonding! Yeah...right!”
“That’s what babies do when their small. And besides when it’s your own you don’t mind the mess. I’m sure Blair is enjoying it.”
Todd rolled his eyes and played with his napkin, folding and unfolding it on his lap, pulling and tugging at it nervously to form odd shapes like some anxious origami.
“Oh, yeah...Blair’s really enjoying him! She hires nannies to do everything and spends every waking minute shopping and spending my money...she’s enjoying that part I can tell you! Besides...who even knows if he‘s mine.”
Vicki sighed and shook her head slowly.
“So, things aren’t any better between you two? I thought you two would settle your differences after you got married...for your children‘s sake...wasn’t that the whole point?”
Vicki noticed Todd emptying the scotch in front of him and calling the waiter to bring him another.
“She lied to me about that kid throughout her whole pregnancy...telling me it was Max Holden’s. Playing with my head like I was some blithering idiot. She made a fool of me...just to humiliate me, for no other earthly reason...so that I could prove my love for her...what a crock! I’ll never forgive that bi....her...for that!”
The waiter came over with another scotch and Vicki ordered a glass of wine.
“Then why remarry, Todd. If you have no intention of forgiving her and you won’t...be a husband to her, what’s the point?”
“My kids...that’s the point!” he shouted, alerting everyone in the restaurant to his presence by pounding his fist on the table, causing the silverware to jump and jingle.
The waiter brought her white wine and Vicki sipped it elegantly as Todd gulped down a second scotch in one swallow. She noticed that he clutched his stomach and a low gasp escaped from his lips though he tried to disguise it by coughing. Finally he reached down into his pocket again and Vicki noticed him pulling out a small bottle of pink liquid which he swallowed quickly then shoved back in his jacket.
“What was that, Todd?”
“Uh...Pepto...I got a tummy ache,” he said, almost childishly, looking away from her.
“Well, should you be drinking so heavily?”
Todd stared at her defiantly....then called the waiter over and ordered another scotch, much to her displeasure.
“I‘m drinking to celebrate my happy life, Vicki...aren‘t you happy for me? Hell, I‘ve been celebrating every day. Yeah, my life is great...I got me a lying wife...a daughter who‘s idea of playing is beheading her dolls...a son who may or may not be mine...yeah, life is good...let me drink to that!” he said, swallowing another drink and wincing slightly.
Vicki had seen him this way so many times before--spiraling downward, consumed by a quiet rage--on a slow, tortured pathway to self-destruction. Something dark was eating away at him from the inside and she didn’t know how to help him, or how to stop it.
“Do you love Blair?”
Todd shrugged his shoulders.
“Love? What the hell is love but control and manipulation? Love is someone shoving a big, sharp butcher knife in your gut and then taking off and just leaving it there to twist and turn slowly...not enough to kill you, but just enough to torture you for eternity. Love is nothing but pain. Love...I hate that word!”
“You love your children, that’s love.”
“It’s different with kids. That’s like an instant reflex...it just happens...can‘t control that. With Blair, you have to try so damn hard to love her in the end you realize it’s nothing but effort--you‘re left exhausted and empty. Too much investment and not enough return,” he said morosely.
“Well, maybe it is worth the effort. Some people would say you’re hard to love, yet, Blair loves you”
Todd laughed at her and shook his head.
“Blair loves Blair...everybody else comes in a distance second, including her children,” he said snapping his napkin.
“I went by the hospital last night to visit Carlotta Vega. She has cancer,” said Vicki, watching Todd’s reaction carefully.
Todd stared at her for a minute then looked away and then there was just silence as Todd continued to look at the floor. It was as if he disappeared for an instant, went off somewhere mentally, then returned again. He seemed genuinely moved and pensive for a moment but than immediately reverted back into Todd mode.
“Yeah? Tough! What do I care? She hates my guts.”
“Tea was there.”
Todd’s napkin slipped off his lap and fell to the floor. Vicki watched the gold liquid inside his glass quiver with the shaking of his hand and noticed his other hand clenching slowly into a tight fist. He continued to stare at Vicki, at her mouth that said her name and it kept resonating like an echo in his head, Tea...Tea...Tea... Vicki saw pain and sadness rise quickly in his eyes before he blinked a few times, pushing it away. He lifted his drink and swallowed the rest of it.
“I don’t care,” he said quietly, his face tight. “She left me...she can go to hell.”
“She’s married, Todd.”
This time Todd clutched his stomach, groaned and doubled over in pain. Vicki got up quickly and went to him as he reached for the Pepto Bismol in his pocket and swallowed the rest, becoming frightfully pale.
“Todd! Come on...I’m taking you to the hospital,” said Vicki, clutching his arm.
“No! I’m fine. It’s just a stomach ache...it’ll pass. No doctors.”
Vicki sighed deeply with worry and confusion, but he was unyielding and eventually she sat down again.
“How long have you been getting this pain?”
“I don’t remember...for a while. It‘s my happy pain. It started the day I married Blair.”
Vicki took his hand from across the table.
“Todd...please. That’s not normal. You need to see a doctor.”
Todd just sat back and closed his eyes, shaking his head.
“So...Tea went and got herself hitched. I wonder if he had to pay her to marry him. Who’s the loser...anyone I know?” he asked, keeping his eyes closed like protective shields, deflecting her words.
“Well...his name is Aaron Blackmoor, he’s a very successful business man from what I gathered...and she looked lovely, so I guess she’s happy.”
Todd picked up his knife and sliced at the tablecloth.
“She doesn‘t have the right to be happy...not after wrecking my life,” Todd said coldly, as he spelled out her name on the table absentmindedly, using his knife as a writing instrument.
“It’s funny how things turn out...isn’t it?” asked Vicki.
“Ha-ha-ha...funny,” said Todd sadly. Suddenly he got up from the table. “I gotta go. I’ve really enjoyed this lovely tête-à-tête but I think if I hear any more about Tea’s happiness, I’ll puke my guts out. So...I’ll see you later, Vicki,” he said, walking away quickly.
Vicki watched him amble out of the place with his head hung down as she sipped her wine slowly.
“Oh, boy...”
to be continued...
2001 Copyright by Trog
FanFiction Home
Home
