Secrets Of His Playhouse

Twenty three

Jermany's POV

It all happens so fast.

Shawn pauses and my eyes grow wide as Eva takes 2 brief steps into the room. The moment their eyes meet, Eva lifts her hand, smacking Shawn across his left cheek, causing me and Maddie to gasp. She points an accusing finger at him with unshed tears in her eyes.

"Don't. You. Dare. Say. His. Name."

Shawn's eyes are wide as he cups his cheek. Eva's eyes are hard as she stares at him. For a moment everywhere is mute as I watch the two of them. But suddenly the sounds are back again. The venom in Eva's voice sounds so foreign to my ears.

"Who gave you the right to decide about my life? You think I am just one of the dolls you can control as you please, huh?" Eva says.

"I wasn't trying to control you Eva, I was helping you." Shawn says.

"Help? You ruined me, Shawn Phillips. Do you know how difficult it was for me to fall asleep at night knowing that I had nothing to remind me of Micah? I blamed myself for so long when actually it was your fault, you did this to me. You put him in an orphanage to catered for by strangers. A whole year, Shawn, did you not even feel sorry for me at all?"

Shawn shakes his head. "It's not like that at all, Eva."

"Did you expect that once I found out he was here in the same city as me all this time, I would be grateful to you? Did you expect that once I discovered he was alive and well, I would thank you? No, you're wrong, what you have done is even worse than killing him. You deprived me of the right to hold my son for an entire year. You deprived me of the right to be a mother to my baby boy. You deprived me of the right to see my baby boy grow up. You took away everything that meant anything to me and you had no right, no right to ruin me."

My head is spinning as I watch the scene unfold; Eva is furious. Eva moves closer and grabs Shawn's arms, shaking him vigorously as she speaks. "Why didn't you tell me? We could have devised a means for me to see him weekly, at least. Why didn't you tell me?"

"I said nothing because I was trying to avoid this very reaction." Shawn says much to Eva's displeasure.

"You're so selfish Shawn, you were just protecting yourself." Eva spits her voice more foreign than ever. She's letting anger consume her and someone has to do something before she says something she will regret. Two wrongs don't make a right.

"Eva you need to calm down, plea..." I start but Eva raises her hand to stop me.

"I told you to stay out of this, didn't I? It's none of your business, stay in your place. You need not defend him, no one does." She says.

Ouch. I think as I recoil back.

"Where is he? What orphanage?" Eva asks.

"M-Mother's care, downtown Manhattan." Shawn says.

"I want my baby, I want him now." Eva says.

"Eva, Peter won't like this at all. Think about Quan's safety." Shawn's right; the playhouse was no place for a child. But Eva is too angry to listen.

"How dare you say that to me? What do you know about tender love and care? He is my son, let me worry about his safety." Eva says.

"Processing him out could take days, Eva."

"Do I look like I fucking care? You put him in there so you get him out. I want my baby by tomorrow. I'm sure the almighty Shawn Phillips can do something about it." Eva shoots Shawn a death glare before turning on her heels to leave. I watch Maddie try to give Eva a sympathetic smile, but Eva doesn't have it as she pushes Maddie aside and walks out. I look in between Maddie and Shawn having a brief mental debate on whether to stay here or go after Eva. I decide on the latter and bolt out of the office after her.