The 'Cousins'

Part Thirty-Nine: Friday Morning, April 20th, 2007

A/N: This Chapter is dedicated to Fakedeadgirlfriend, an accomplished storyteller with several works published on Wattpad that deserve a much wider readership.

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Timeline: Early Morning, Friday, 20th April 2007.

Greg spent a restless and turbulent night wrestling with memories he thought had long passed into oblivion. They would not leave him in peace to find respite in sleep, increasing in their intensity as he twisted, turned and tangled himself in his bed clothes. He heard the distant, muted chime of the Town Hall clock strike every hour and half hour throughout the night. Sleep proved impossible and he gave up his attempt to find rest as the clock chimed the half hour after 5 o’clock.

Greg decided to swap the horizontal discomfort of his bed for the alternative discomfiture of the hard, easy chair. After disentangling his feet from the bed sheet, uttering a gutter expletive that suited his irritation, he made his way into the kitchenette area running his tongue around the salty dryness of his teeth. The ‘fridge and the cold beer inside tempted him, but he resisted its attraction, put the bottle back and charged the coffee machine.

He rinsed his mouth with water from the faucet and looked out of the window above the sink while he waited for the coffee to brew; looking up at the greying sky with the first red streaks heralding the start of the new day.  From the corner of his eye he detected a slight movement at the top edge of the window frame.  A closer inspection in the early morning gloom revealed a small spider with a white hump back beginning its day’s work, laying down the first strands of an intricate web. Greg chuckled and recalled they called them money spiders in his youth, in the belief that if you killed them they would bring you wealth. Out of habit his thumb moved to crush the spider, but he pulled back at the last moment and spoke to the creature.

"No, you don’t deserve that. I’ll get my breakfast from the ‘fridge or Ma Tooley. You’ll get nothing to feed you and your family until you finish that web and catch a fly. If the likes of Felix Gleitner can inhabit this earth unmolested, why can’t you?"

He turned around to lean back on the sink while he waited for the steamy gurgling from the coffee machine to announce that its work was done. In these brief moments of respite the recollections that had robbed him of a sound, night’s rest came back to assault his consciousness again. Greg winced, massaged the back of his neck and sighed with deep resignation, “Get on with it Mitchell. You’re a grown man for goodness sake. You’re supposed to be a non-nonsense, wheeler-dealer and here you are behaving like a twelve year old girl mooning over Robbie Williams.” Greg scolded himself through closed teeth. "Get on and do something man. Get this relationship with you and Jess sorted out and get on with what you’ve stopped here to do or else move on."

Several soothing, life preserving sips of tart, black coffee strengthened his resolve to follow the guidance of his admonition to settle this matter. The easy chair beckoned him. He sat down holding the mug to his mouth in both hands, sipping its brew while he considered how best to tackle his problem with Jess and why their relationship was a problem anyway.  After a fourth sip he spoke to the mug. "That’s much better. Now, let’s get this mess sorted out. It’s been going on for far too long and is holding us back." Then he asked himself a searching question. "Just what is it that's troubling me about all this?"

He sat sipping his coffee as he allowed his memory free rein. The old recollections returned instantly, but there was a difference this time. Greg was now in control of them and he selected only those aspects he considered pertinent to his present dilemma.