The Real Deal

The Finale Chapter

It was quite symbolic that it rained in Brighton when Cassie finally went back there. Many saw it as one of England's best summer cities but she just remembered it as rainy and cold. Of course she had good memories of the town and she knew it was a great city but when she thought back at it, the gray pictures took over. She hadn't had a need to go back there at all but it was Bill that wanted to go. They had known each other for more than 21 years but Bill had never met her mother and brother. Bill mentioned it in their late teens and joked about her being a part of his family while he was her dirty little secret from her family. He realized quickly that it wasn't anything to joke about, that it was a sensitive topic. A bit at a time he learned about her family. It maybe wasn't some horror family but it was a big deal for Cassie. Her mother was a single parent, left by her husband when he had found someone new and decided to break up with his whole family. Cassie had been a daddy's girl and would rather spend time with him than her mother so she took it hard when she woke up on a Sunday and realized he was gone. It was also then their lifestyle changed dramatically and her mother came into some economic problems. They were never so severe they needed others' help but enough so that Cassie saved every penny to buy clothes instead of doing things with friends. She lost many friends because of it but it was then she met Bill. He could understand his lifestyle must have both fascinated and created envy in Cassie. Early on he had quite a big allowance from his parents and they bought him everything he needed and more than that. Even if he had an upbringing where he learned to share what you have and not value a big paycheck he could never really learn to appreciate money because they always had it. They could always afford trips, new technology and luxury food and he knew his parents would always save him if he messed up. He had seen Cassie look at his life with big eyes but he never felt like she used him and rather felt he wanted to give her the things she couldn't afford and he felt it especially when they got older and he got a good paid job fast while she either had a low salary or was a student. He still felt the same, that he wanted to give her everything and now it was a natural thing when they lived together and had a son. But it didn't feel natural that he still hadn't been introduced to her family. He had met her aunt, a lovely woman but hard to get close to, but it wasn't enough. He felt the need to meet Cassie's mother, not to create a relationship but just to understand Cassie better.

The area they were in was obviously a rougher part of town and most of the surrounding area was gray. It looked like the rougher parts of Stockholm but still he felt unease when they walked silently past the high buildings.
"Do you have any memories from here?" He asked and hugged her hand in his. She had mittens on that made it hard for him to even feel he held a hand in his.
"Sure, but like… As you know, I have never really had so many friends.." she said and looked around. She wasn't embarrassed of that in front of Bill. Now that she had gotten friends in Stockholm she would be embarrassed for how restricted her social life had been, they didn't judge her at all but she still felt weird for choosing to live in a fantasy, deep in her vogue, instead of bonding with people.
Bill just nodded and continued to look around. There wasn't really much to look at. Not like his own environment he grew up in, with well maintained houses in orange and red, big trees and playgrounds. "My first boyfriend lived in that house," she pointed to a gray building. "And lost my virginity on his nasty orange couch. I think he had inherited it from his grandma or something." Cassie laughed and shook her head. Bill smiled even if he felt odd thinking about Cassie with other men. He could be surprised how possessive he could feel sometimes but he really worked on it.
"And here it is…" she said with a sigh outside of a similar house. She pulled on the belt to her coat like she tried to protect herself by pulling her long coat closer to her body.
Bill looked at the entrance and then again at his girlfriend.
"Ready?"
Cassie just shrugged her shoulders and walked up to the door. It was just to open the door like it always had been, the gate lock had been broken as long as she could remember. She hadn't met her mother since before the pandemic and then she had just done it dutifully, she and her mother had nothing in common and the question was if they even had ever really liked each other.
Inside of the building they walked up the five stairs and then Cassie buzzed on the closest door to the left. It was just to get it done. Bill was surprised how fast everything went and felt his own nerves shake a bit.  It took some time before the door opened but when it did a strong smell of cigarette smoke invited them. The woman before them had aggressively bleached blonde hair paired with dark brows that almost made her look comical. Bill had seen pictures of Cassie's mother but then she had been younger and got away with the look better. Her top was deep in the neckline and Cassie recognized it as one of her mother's more fancy tops that she had worn several times at Christmas and New Years Eve. The woman looked first at her daughter then at the tall stranger next to her.
"Hey mom," said Cassie and tried a small smile. The woman smiled back but it looked forced.
"Sandra, darling," she said but didn't make a move for a hug then she turned to Bill with just as forced smile.
"Hey, em, Bill," he said and put his hand out. Cassie's mother shook it with a tanned liver spotted hand.
"Valeria," she said and smiled bigger. She looked Bill up and down once before inviting them in. Bill wasn't prepared for the low hanging chandelier in the hallway and started with smacking his head in it.
"Oh, shit, it didn't break, I hope?" He said nervously and rubbed his head.
"No, no. It was probably already broken," Valeria said and moved into the kitchen.
"Are you okay?" Said Cassie and looked at him worriedly while he continued to rub his head. He messed up his hair completely but didn't seem to care.
"Yeah, I just got that pointy thing right here," he leaned down so Cassie could look.
She dragged her fingers through his hair soothingly and fixed it at the same time.
Bill looked up and smiled a little and then started to take off his outerwear. When he took a hold of a hat rack to take his shoes off he felt a greasy coating on it, probably from dust, filth and the smoke but didn't say anything and didn't even dare to wipe it off, afraid of offending Cassie. She stood and waited on him and looked around in her mother's messy home. She had a lot of stuff but also hadn't cleaned for a very long time. It was similar when Cassie was younger but it had gotten worse over the years. Her whole life she had gotten short splintered strands of hair in her feet because of her mother taking customers, cash-in-hand jobs, in their kitchen. Cassie smiled a little at Bill when he had taken off his outerwear. He looked so misplaced in her mother's messy hallway. He stood tall and pale with his hair growing out from a buzzcut. He looked so clean, dressed in his off white sweater and blue jeans.
"What?" He said and smiled uncomfortably, both because Cassie looked like she thought of something but also because of the messy surrounding and his dirty hand. Cassie then saw how weirdly he held his hand and for the first time in a long time she felt ashamed in front of Bill. She hadn't told him to touch as few items as possible and never to use the toilet as she had planned, the embarrassment had made her forget.
Cassie took her hand bag and found a package of baby wipes and gave him one.
"Put it in your pocket after, if she sees it she will get all offended and must tell you about all the places that hurt and how that makes it hard to clean…" she whispered. Bill swallowed dryly and wiped his hands. The familiar smell from the wipes reminded him of their chubby baby and at once he felt they should have just stayed in Sweden with him. He was already nine months old and could stand by himself even if he wiggled a bit. He had gotten the name Allan, a name that worked in both Swedish and English and he shared it with one of his father's old friends, Allan Edvall, who had been one of Sweden's best actors. He also shared it with Edgar Allan Poe. It was Bill that had come up with it and Cassie loved it. She hadn't met many kids with that name. Allan was a happy and calm child. There wasn't much that fazed him, he was a relaxed little dude that liked his cars fast and his juice strong, his presence was so natural in their life.