A Sweet Disaster

Chapter 2- Part 1

Chapter 2- Part 1

“Gabriel, will you help me with the toast?”

Gabriel looked up from the clock. He’d been following each tick of the clock, waiting for 9am- that was when his mother would leave the house.

“Of course,” he said distractedly, reaching for the toast and passing it to her. Katherine Dylan bit into it very carefully, making sure not to smudge her lipstick and spill crumbs all over the skirt of her dress.

“Thank you, darling,” she said, swallowing the food. “Now, tell me; why did the two of you run so suddenly out of the wedding last night?”

Gabriel froze, his mind going blank. What should he tell her? In the end, after coming up with a dozen different reasons, he settled for one: The truth.

“Well, Mom…” he began slowly, “you can’t really expect either of us to be very happy about your… your marriage. Stephanie’s always loved her mom, and to have that just taken away from her like that… I’m sure it was very hurtful. As for me…” He struggled for the right words. “Let’s just say Alan Morris is no more than a stranger.”

Katherine paused and chewed her food, staring off into space. No doubt she was coming up with a well-developed counter argument- Gabriel clenched his fist, waiting for the onslaught.

“I’m sure you and your father-” heavy emphasis on the word- “will get along just fine,” Katherine said, her voice cool. “And Stephanie will soon come to see me as her very own mother. I hope you don’t do anything to spoil that.” She set her half eaten toast back on the plate and took her bag, moving swiftly out the front door. Moments later he heard her engine revving up and the sound of a car moving. It was five minutes to nine and Gabriel stared after her. She’d never spoken to him that way before. Replaying back those last few moments in his head, he felt a surge of hatred for Alan Morris.

Just then, he realized that classes (he was homeschooled) would be starting in fifteen minutes time and Stephanie still hadn’t shown. With some degree of horror he realized he’d told her nothing about it the night before. He shoved his breakfast down his throat and made a beeline for her room.

He knocked softly on the door. “Stephanie?”

No reply.

He knocked louder. “Stephanie?” He started panicking- wild thoughts started to pollute his mind, thoughts of hanging and suicide. He gave it one last shot- “Stephanie?”

Silence.

He twisted the doorknob and the door clicked open. Pushing it out of the way, he anxiously stepped into her room.

He didn’t know what he expected to find- maybe her hanging in the closet by her neck, or lying on the bed with her eyes wide open and a bottle of sleeping pills on the nightstand. In fact, his heart was beating so fast that for a moment, he thought he saw her slumped on the bed, blood coming out of her nose and ears.

But then he blinked, and that horrible image was gone. Instead, she was laying on the bed, snuggled warmly under the heavy covers, her pink lips apart. Her eyes were closed and light snores fluttered from the back of her throat with every rise and fall of her chest.

Gabriel let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding, and crossed the room to close her curtains. If they were open she would hurt her eyes when she woke up; the sun was so bright. He lingered there for a few moments before forcing himself to get out of her room. He had no business being there.

He glanced at his watch outside and realized, with a start, that there was only minutes left before the tutor arrived. He briefly contemplated waking her up, but in the end decided to let her sleep. He convinced himself that no one should be forced to go through school after all she’d been through, but the fact was that he couldn’t bear to wake her up. She looked too sweet, asleep.