Page 33

Chapter 33

Storm Brewing

Parker

“You’re dropping your left”, Zara warns me, then follows up by smacking me in the side of the head to prove it. “You’ve got to think about defence as much as attack. This is real MMA. It requires a little more strategic thinking than one of your bar-room brawls”.

I’m beginning to regret sharing that part of my history with Zara. “Point made”. I throw a kick at her midsection. She steps back, catches my leg, and topples me off balance. Outside, a rumble of thunder pierces the grey skies.

“You’re catching on quick, but you’re prone to amateur mistakes”.

“Guess that’s because I’m an amateur”, I close the gap between us quickly, using my weight to muscle her up to the side of the cage, where I lightly fire off three quick, light punches. “But I’m learning”.

She pushes me backwards. “Point made”. Her eyes are shining, the way they always do when one of her students does something right. “How are you balancing training and your job?”

“Simon’s cool”, I nearly choke on my mouthguard saying it, but it’s true. He’s relaxed my schedule and gave me an advance to cover my lessons. Not that he knows the real reason for my training just yet.

“And other areas of your life?” Zara gestures for us to take a break. I follow her over to the corner, where she unfastens my gloves. “This life, hell, this schedule , can be tough on relationships”.

A guilty shiver runs up my spine. I don’t like keeping secrets from Brandon, but he’s made it very clear that he’s against any kind of violence that involves me. I need to wait for the right time to tell him, in a way that makes him understand.

This isn’t about fighting for the sake of it. It’s about fulfilling my dad’s legacy.

“I’m not here to tell you how to run your personal life, but girls can be a distraction”.

“I don’t have a girlfriend”. I roll my neck, hoping the movement will dampen the blush I feel coming on. Just then my phone rings. “Shit. Do you mind if I take this? It’s work”.

“This is Parker Di Rossi’s social secretary”, Sheryl drawls down the speaker. Zara suppresses a smile. “Calling to inform him that the honour of his presence has been requested for a coffee date at Café Mernova at 4pm sharp”.

I ignore the smirking eye roll from Zara that says no girlfriend, right? “With who?”

It can only be Brandon. He could have just text me, but this is kinda fun too. If not a little weird.

“I’m afraid that information is unavailable”. Sheryl continues, in her faux-robotic answering machine voice. She’s loving this, I can tell. I grab my gym bag, wave a goodbye to Zara. “Please be prompt, and remember an umbrella. We’re expecting bad weather this evening”.

“Anything else?”

“Bring me back a bear claw brownie”.

I laugh, and she hangs up. I leave the gym, just as another rumble of thunder echoes overhead. Mernova is a couple of blocks away, just in time for my stomach to get excited at the thought of seeing Brandon. Plus, it’s a chance to do-over our coffee date experience.

If his hand touches mine this time, I’ll grab it and won’t let go.

The bell above the door rings and I nod hello to the barista behind the counter. I instinctively look to the table we sat at last time, but it’s occupied by an elderly couple sharing afternoon tea. I turn towards the booths.

And run right into Millie St Clare.

* * * *

“I wanted to check that you’d received my message”, Millie says. We’re sitting opposite each other in a booth by the window. “Since you didn’t respond. I’ll have a non-fat chai latte, extra foam”, she adds to our waitress, without missing a beat.

“Plain roast”, I say flatly, my fingers curled around the arms of my chair, “To go”.

Millie’s always rocked this kind of immaculate look, which has only matured in the time since we last saw each other. “I’m not staying”, I add pointedly.

She opens her mouth to retort, then thinks better of it. “This is some city you’ve found yourself in, Parker. I’ve never seen so many patisseries. It’s a holiday movie waiting to happen”.

“You should see me tossing bales of hay in a lumberjack shirt. It’s really something”.

“I’d sooner see you tossing hay without a lumberjack shirt”. She catches my eye, “Sorry. Old habits”.

Normally a flirtatious line like that would lead to one place. But that was before. Now when I look at her, all I can see is what she did, writing words on my behalf. Words that broke Brandon’s heart. “I was surprised you showed up”.

“I thought I was meeting—“ Brandon’s name dies on my lips. “Someone else”.

“Someone else. I see. And how is Carter?” There’s an inflection on Brandon’s surname that manages to convey several different insinuations. None of them feel friendly. “Old habits die hard for you, too, apparently”.

I pull out my chair. “Good to see you, Millie. Thanks for the coffee”.

“No, wait!” Millie grabs my arm. “I’m sorry. That wasn’t kind of me. And that wasn’t why I came. Well, not the only reason”.

I remove her hand from my arm. We split about a week after we arrived at college. It was her decision. She wanted to focus on her studies. But the truth is she’d been off with me for weeks. Now I know why.

“I tried to see you in person”, Millie continues. “I went to the fraternity house, and they told me that you’d left. I thought they just meant that you’d gone home for the summer. I didn’t realise that you’d been kicked out”.

“You shouldn’t have gone there”, I can’t help a flicker of protectivity. The thought of Millie unaccompanied in the vicinity of Darwin makes my fists clench.

“I wanted to apologise. I thought it was better to talk face to face”. She pauses, “Do you know who Amanda Deloitte is?”

I shake my head.

“There was a profile of her in the college newspaper. She’s some kind of prodigy. She took the SATS when she was fourteen and earned her Bachelors before eighteen. She joined our college to do her Masters. She’s smart, obviously, but she’s also very personable. She could have gone anywhere, but she wanted an authentic college experience”. The last words are injected with a hint of distaste.

I’ve not heard of her, but Amanda sounds just like the kind of girl that Millie would want in her circle. “Why are you telling me this?”

“Three months ago, she stopped turning up to her classes. Her sister and I are friends so I didn’t find out the story until later”. Millie lowers her cup carefully to its saucer. “She was drugged at a party”.

My blood runs cold.

“Her first party, actually. And it took place at your fraternity”, Millie says. “She only remembers fragments from that night. From what her roommate tells me, it sounds like something was put in her drink, and one of your fraternity brothers was seconds away from taking her back to his room. Until someone stepped in”.

“You”, she adds.

“I don’t know what you mean”, I try, but she shakes her head firmly.

“Amanda doesn’t remember, but her friend does”. The blonde, in the red dress. “I recognised your description right away. Even if I hadn’t, jumping in to save people is kind of your thing”.

Her eyes find mine, and for the first time, I see a reflection of myself that isn’t peppered with her exasperation that I’m not the boyfriend she wishes I was. “I don’t know why you’re telling me this”.

“Because last week I asked her to come forward and tell the truth about what happened”.

“What?” I gape at her. “Why?”

“Because it’s the right thing to do. Because you don’t deserve to be punished. Because you deserve to be back in school. Because Darwin deserves what’s coming to him”, she pauses, “And because I want to make things right between us”.

“That’s a lot to unpack”, I can’t help myself, “What did she say?”

“She’s reluctant. She’s scared that she’ll be blamed. That it’ll be his word against hers, and that his family will try and discredit her. She’s incredibly intelligent, but she doesn’t come from money. Plus, she’s obviously still carrying some trauma”. Millie pauses, “But I’m going to work on her”.

A million thoughts hit me at once. Relief. Surprise. Vindication. But one bubbles to the surface. “Don’t”, I hear myself saying out loud. “I don’t want you to”.

“What?” Millie looks astounded. “Why on earth not?”

“Because she’s right”, I take a swig of water. “He’ll try and ruin her. I know, because it’s what he did to me. And she doesn’t deserve that. If she wants justice for herself then that’s one thing. But I don’t need her to go through more than she’s already been through. Not for me”.

“But Parker, if the Disciplinary Committee find out the truth, then you’ll get back in”.

“Just drop it”.

“What if he does it to somebody else?” That halts me momentarily. It’s not like I’ve not thought about it. Sometimes, lying awake at night, it’s all I can think about. But still, I can’t prove anything. Neither can Amanda. And that’s why people like him always win. “Do you ever think about that?”

“You don’t have the first idea about the monsters that live under my bed, Millie. Drop it now”, I meet her right in the eyes. “You’ve interfered in my life enough already. More than enough".

Her eyes fall and I feel a pinch of guilt.

“I’m sorry about that. Truly. I don’t know what came over me”, she pauses. “I’m glad that you and Brandon have worked things out. You have worked things out, haven’t you?”

I don’t want to answer that. I don’t want to talk about Brandon with her.

“You never liked him, did you?”

She presses her lips together thoughtfully. “I didn’t like the fact that he was clearly in love with my boyfriend. And that made me do things that I wouldn’t normally do. I don’t regret what we did. Just why I did it. But now that I’m in a happy relationship myself, I realise that I was wrong”.

“Did you ever feel…” I start, suddenly alarmed.

“I never felt forced”, Millie says quickly. “I wanted to. It’s why I wanted to that I need to work on”.

“You’re seeing someone?”

She nods. “Someone from my internship”.

“A lawyer?”

“No, Parker, he’s an astronaut”. She rolls her eyes, and suddenly I’m reminded that her spark was one of the things I liked most about her. “Of course he’s a lawyer”.

We talk for another hour. Outside, rain begins to pour. People are rushing across the street, using newspapers for umbrellas. Soon, we’re the last two people still seated.

“If it’s not too cringe, I’d like us to be friends. Like we were before”, she reminds me. When I don’t immediately reply she adds, “Or at least on friendly terms”.

I hesitate. Truth is, I don’t have any female friends. I’ve only ever had women I’ve slept with, and women who I wanted to sleep with. Maybe some occasional polite chit chat with a friend’s girlfriend. But never a real friendship. Damn. How is it possible that I don’t have any friends who are girls?

“There’s something else”, Millie slips her jacket back on as I pay the bill. “I’d like the chance to apologise to Carter too. If you think he might be open to it”.

I open my mouth to say no, but it’s not my call. “I’ll try him”. I take out my phone, and realise I haven’t heard from him at all today, which is unusual to say the least. Normally we’re blowing each other up with stupid memes or videos. I call, but the line immediately disconnects. “He’s turned his phone off”, I say in surprise.

Outside, there’s another flash of lightning.

* * * *

Brandon has his own room in the client’s quarters. I use my staff code to get into the building. I knock on his door, but the door opposite opens instead. Deano, a player from the UK, tumbles out, music blaring from his headphones.

“Looking for Carter?” Deano asks, “He said he was going out for a run. I told him the weather was nuts. He’s been out there all day. He’s making the rest of us look bad”.

“He wouldn’t still be out now, would he?” Millie says doubtfully. "Not in this".

Deano shrugs. “Hope not. It’s dangerous near those hill tops”. He nods towards Millie’s shopping bags, “Is this a new perk from management? Should I expect a gift bag waiting for me when I get back too?”

I start, awkwardly.

“Relax”, Deano laughs, “I know it’s his birthday in a few days”. He finishes stretching and heads off with a backward wave. Shit. Brandon’s birthday. Why didn’t he mention it? More importantly, why didn’t I remember?

Millie knocks on Brandon’s door again, and it creaks open.

I’ve never been in his bedroom. It feels a bit like I’ve crossed into forbidden territory. Being invited into his room feels like a step that should be taken together, but it’s like I’ve used some cheat code to get closer to him without his permission.

His personality is everywhere. Empty dishes. Vinyl records. A ton of soccer autobiographies. Textbooks for next year’s classes.

I spent most of my life in his old bedroom at home. Soccer. Sleepovers. Homework sessions. From kids to young men. Now all I can think about is the prospect of him out in this storm, lying in a ditch somewhere, unable to call for help. This is why you don’t love people , an errant voice angrily reminds me, because you can’t keep them safe .

“Where the hell is he?” I checked in with the office on our way back and nobody had seen him either. “Millie. Tell me I’m being paranoid. Or that I’m overreacting”.

“Parker”, Millie says, in an odd voice. She’s stood at Brandon’s desk, where he’s left his laptop open. “Look at this”. I walk over and peer at the screen. Something cold clutches my heart.

“Did you know?” she asks. I shake my head, feeling panic rising in my stomach. I cross to the window, and stare out over the training fields. Rain batters against the windows. I can barely see anything.

He’s out there, somewhere.

Alone.