Nick walked around his house holding the cordless phone in case Shelly or Julie called, his army of pugs following him around until he finally put them in the basement. He had just picked up the phone for about the tenth time to make sure it worked when the doorbell rang. He ran to the front door and flung it open only to find Brian standing there.
"Rok, what the hell are you doing here? I thought you were sleeping or something."
"Julie made me come over to make sure you don't drive yourself crazy. Looks like I was too late!" he joked, trying to lighten Nick up a little.
"Yeah, you probably are!" Nick laughed. "Come on in. You want anything to drink?"
"Got any Dr. Pepper?" Brian asked.
"There's none in the fridge, but there's a case sitting on the top of the basement steps but be careful when you...." Brian opened the basement door and was attacked by the excited little pug dogs that had been locked in the basement. "Open the door!" Nick finished, laughing at Brian's surprised reaction to see the dogs come at him like that. Brian stooped down to pet the dogs and they all started licking his face at the same time.
Brian stood up and wiped his face off and grabbed his Dr. Pepper, shooing the dogs back into the basement. "Nick, you always lock your dogs in the dungeon?"
"Hey! It's a finished basement! They're still living in luxury, they just better leave the pool table alone!"
Shelly and AJ were sitting on the monkey bars for about fifteen minutes in total silence, each one lost in their own thoughts. Finally, AJ spoke up. "So, you wanna talk now, or are we just gonna sit here all night?"
"You sure you wanna hear all this?"
"I'm still here, aren't I?"
"Ok. So, my parents all of a sudden have all these marriage problems and they kept getting into fights that just get worse all the time. Finally, they announce they're getting a divorce. This comes after over twenty years of a great marriage. I couldn't believe it! So, they're both moving away, leaving the state now. I'm staying here by myself. So, when I came home the other night from Julie's party, they were going at it really badly and so when I talked to Nick on the phone he invited me to stay in his guest room. I just wanted out of there. They were yelling so loud that Nick could hear them over the phone! So I stay at Nick's house, and then he brings me back home tonight to find my dad drunk. I mean, just that was a shock. My dad's never drank before, ever! Then he starts yelling, calling me easy and a tramp just like Mom. I made Nick leave cuz I didn't want him there with all that going on. My dad kept on and I just snapped, saying how glad I was he was leaving and I hoped he lost everything and that's when he hit me and walked away. So I'm upstairs locked up in my room when my mom comes home and finds out what he did and then I had to tell her that he said she was a tramp and that's when the truth came out. My mom's having an affair! For three fucking months with some bastard named Ken! Then she packs her stuff and leaves with him tonight! I can't believe my mom did this! I always looked up to her. She was my role model- the perfect mother, wife, woman. And now my image of her has completely changed. Now when I see her, I don't see a respectable woman at all- I see a home wrecker. I just feel so much anger towards both of them and they're my parent's for God's sake!"
"Jesus Shelly! You've gone through a lot in just one night. I think you have every reason to be angry, and I also think it will fade over time. When my father contacted me after all those years of not being there, I didn't even want to talk to him. I was so pissed at him for everything he did to me and Mom but after awhile it faded. It's not gone- I still get mad at him but it's not as bad as it used to be. He is half responsible for my creation if nothing else."
"God, AJ. You're the first person that's ever actually understood my feelings like that." Shelly said, looking him in the eye.
AJ met her gaze and they were silent, just looking into each other's eyes.
Julie checked all of Shelly's regular places to run off to and finally ended up at Lincoln park. She thought she saw AJ's car there and wondered what he would be doing there. She walked towards the playground seeing two figures sitting closely on the mokey bars. As she walked closer, she could not believe her eyes, and she prayed that they had not seen her standing there after what she had just seen take place.
AJ and Shelly were gazing deeply into each other's eyes, both glad
to
have found
someone who could understand a big piece of their lives. They leaned
foward
slowly and
their lips just barely brushed before they reconnected and shared a
passionate kiss
together.
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