A Moment Longer [Chaelisa] [COMPLETE]

6. The disclosure

Her pain was noticeable in her eyes. As I struggled to find the right words, Lisa leaned back against the couch.

"It was wrong of me to throw my rage on you. My mother was essentially an irresponsible child, a selfish person. She'd had a slew of boyfriends and affairs with married men. That she would stoop to that level with your father never surprised me. But at the time, I felt betrayed by everyone, including you. However, I was misleading in punishing you in any way for their actions."

She rubbed her eyes suspiciously and turned to face me. "What is it that you want to know, Rosie?"

"How did it all begin? How long have you known about them?"

She shifted her weight to my side and wrapped her arm around the back of the couch. "I'm pretty sure it was my father who pursued her. Before they got together, he was always asking me questions about Jessica."

"Really?" My eyes widen and she just nodded.

"What I didn't realise at the time was that my parents had an open marriage. If you know what I mean, my mother went on far too many business trips. But I hadn't figured it all out at the time. When I arrived home from school unexpectedly early one day, I found your mother with him. I happened to walk in on them having sex."

I shivered. "Oh my god."

Lisa took a long swig from her beer. "Later that night, my father sat me down and told me that he believed my mother, too, had been having an affair, and that he and Jess had only recently begun seeing each other. Your mother made me swear I wouldn't tell you anything. She said you wouldn't be able to handle it, that your relationship with her was already overstretched, and that you were dealing with a lot of stress that I wasn't aware of. She convinced me that telling you would ruin your life. She told me that if I truly loved you, I wouldn't tell you. I trusted what she said."

"I never kept anything from you, Lisa. I didn't have anything going on. She was using you to keep her antics buried deep from me."

"I wanted to tell you, but the longer I waited, the more difficult it became to admit that I'd been keeping something from you for so long. So, as a consequence, I chose not to say anything. I was only trying to keep you safe."