Song Five: Hurt by Christina Aguilera
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Alyson placed a plate of bacon on the island, adding to her breakfast food spread which consisted of waffles, a huge fruit bowl, and orange juice. She let out an annoyed sigh as she turned off the stove and placed the pan into the sink before turning on the water.
"I'm just saying, you could have just told me that you had problems with your father, instead of just telling me he was dead." She said to Evan who was dressed up in his suit for work, as he poured himself some coffee.
The couple was still on edge from their argument last night and because Alyson was under the assumption Joseph was dead has added fuel to the fire.
"What? Tell you I despised my father just for you to ask questions when I, in fact, hate talking about him?" He shot back returning the coffee pot to its rightful place.
Alyson turned around, after turning off the sink. "Seriously E, how hard is it to just say I have a bad relationship with my father and I don't like to talk about him?"
"Fine," he sets his mug down on the counter. "I have a bad relationship with my father and I don't want to talk about it. Can we drop it now?"
Alyson scoffed as Evan retrieved his mug and took a sip of the strong, dark liquid.
In just a minute, his mind was on other things and he didn't even notice the sad look his wife was giving him.
"What happened to us, Evan?" She pulled him out of his thoughts. "We use to talk about everything, we use to be so close and now I'm lucky if I even see you before I wake up in the morning."
Tired of her nagging, Evan sighed looking away.
"I don't want to argue," Alyson said sincerely. "I want to do anything but that."
She looked down, taking his hand into hers, "just be honest with me." She looked up and into his eyes. "Is there someone else?"
Even when she was asking such a daunting question, she looked at Evan with so much love in her eyes.
Evan stared down at her, an emotionless look on his face. It was like he was hiding how he felt and what he was thinking. He opened his mouth to reply, but quickly removed his hand from Alyson's when he noticed his father entering the kitchen.
He walked away from Alyson, over to the counter.
"Good morning, Joseph." He greeted his father, leaving Alyson standing alone silently.
Joseph, who had heard their conversation, had his eyes on Alyson's sad facial expression. "Everything okay?" He asked, ignoring Evan's greeting.
Alyson nodded, putting a fake smile on her face. "Yeah, everything's great. I made breakfast, come and have a seat."
"Don't mind if I do," he sat at a stool at the island, eyeing the couple skeptically.
Evan just stood there, drinking his coffee while looking at his phone. It was quite obvious he didn't care about how his wife felt. This caused Joseph to honestly kind of be upset.
Joseph might not be the settle down type but he's always had a certain level of respect for women and there was nothing he hated more than to see a man treat his woman wrong when she kisses the ground that he walks on.
Alyson handed Joseph a plate, "help yourself to everything. I can cook something else if you don't want anything here. I don't usually cook in the morning because Evan can never stay for breakfast but since you're here, I thought I should."
Joseph eyed the food hungrily, not even hesitating to dig in with his uninjured arm.
"Are you kidding? Everything on here looks good, you don't have to make me a thing. It's been a long time since I had a home cooked meal, you know traveling everywhere."
"You traveled?" Alyson asked in intrigue. "Where?"
"Everywhere," Evan looked up his from his phone. "Leaving his son without a father."
Joseph just shook his head; it was way too early to argue with a stubborn Evan.
Alyson stood there confused, not knowing a thing about this man.
"So, how long are you staying?" She changed the subject.
"He isn't," Evan answered before downing the rest of his coffee. He put the mug into the sing, looking at his wristwatch. "Joseph is parting with us."
Alyson slightly pouted at that; she interested in getting to know her father in law. "Why so soon?"
"He's a busy man, he has traveling to do, right Joseph?" Evan glared at him.
Joseph took a bite out of one of his bacon strips, looking into the obscene eyes of his son. "Actually, uh, I need a favor. My bike is back at that bar I was at. I need a ride."
"Alyson will do it," Evan told him, adjusting his tie. "I've gotta get to work." He took his wallet out and leafed through a few hundred dollar bills.
He took out ten one hundred and threw it on the counter for Joseph. "This should get you wherever you're going. It was nice seeing you."
Alyson scoffed in disbelief at her husband as began to make his way to the door.
"Actually," Joseph stood up quickly. "There's another thing that I need."
With a scoff, Evan turned around, "of course there is. What else s there that you could possibly need?"
Visibly, sadness started coming over the father.
"Um, well, E, you see, you're not the only reason I'm here."
"Is that right?" Evan had this smirk on his face that displayed how much he didn't take his father seriously - at all.
"No, um, you see, your grandfather has passed away.
"My grandfather?" Evan frowned, "what does that have to do with me? I've never met your parents."
"That's the thing, E, my family, um, we've got this business and it was left to me. You see, I'm sitting on a load of cash, a lot of lands, a lot of properties and a company I have no idea how to run."
Evan scoffed, "you've got to be kidding me. So, you aren't here for me."
"That's not true," Joseph shook his head. "I had planned on coming to see you for a long time, this just happened to take place at the same time."
"Screw you, Joseph, screw you."
A fuming Evan turned to leave.
"Come on, E!" Joseph begged him. "I can't do this alone. I need you man, you know this stuff. You don't want to help, fine? Take the company, take everything, I don't even want it."
With an evil grin on his face, Evan turned around, "take the company, so you can hit the road and go back to living your life? No, no, that's too easy. You want out of this, you figure it out on your own."
There was so much vexation in Evan's words, it even sent a chill down Alyson's spine. She had never seen her husband so bitter, so angry; even what he said to her last night was astonishing.
Evan left the house with a slam of the door.
Joseph sat back in his seat, pushed his food away and held the bridge of his nose.
Alyson was so stunned by what just took place, she didn't know what to say. This guy had just lost his dad and now he was in charge of something that he obviously had no clue about. It sounded like such a stressful situation.
"I um," Alyson gulped, "I am so sorry about your father."
"Yeah," Joseph fidgeted with his sprained hand, "me too."
No longer hungry herself, Alyson snapped, "you know what you need?"
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"Two beers and a shot of whiskey, please," Alyson ordered for and Joseph.
The bartender nodded and she placed her purse on the bar top, looking around. She realized all of the daytime drunks were staring her down. Awkwardly, turning her attention back forward, she was relieved when Joseph came from the bathroom and joined her.
"You find your wallet?" she asked as he sat down.
"Yeah, it was behind the toilet. Safe and sound."
"Good," she smiled.
"Beer and a shot of whiskey," the bartender sat their drinks in front of them.
"Thank you," Alyson grinned in excitement.
A surprised smirk came upon Joseph's lips, "you drink beer?"
"Yeah," she scoffed as if his question was stupid.
"At the beginning of our relationship, I was always hanging out with Evan and his best friend Rick in college. I picked up a few of their boy habits over time. Including actually liking the bitter taste of beer. On the other hand, I don't get out much and because of who I'm married too, I haven't been able to really get out and do simple things like going to bars, just to hang out."
"Is that so?" Joseph raised his eyebrows.
She nodded," yeah, you know Evan's really known in Miami, what I do reflects him. His rich wife can't be seen hanging around at a dirty bar, you know?"
"Yeah, I get it," Joseph slightly nodded, processing her words.
Being the observant man he was, it was obvious to him that Alyson is very submissive when it comes to Evan. The way she talks about him is like she has to stay on top of her game; like it's her duty to be a good wife to him which it is.
The real question is, is Evan making it his duty to be a good husband to her?
"So," Alyson picked up her beer, "I'm guessing you and Evan have some rough history."
Joseph downed his shot like it was nothing - slamming the glass on the bar.
"You guess? Has Evan told you anything about me?" he looked over to see Alyson drinking some of her beer. He could immediately see her body loosen up.
She put her beer down, letting out an adorable burp that made him smirk.
"Not really," she shrugged. "Honestly, I was under the assumption that you were dead."
"Ah," Joseph looked away.
Alyson could tell how hurt he was.
"Here," she pushed her shot of whiskey over to him. "You need it more than I do."
"Thanks," Joseph didn't hesitate to drink it.
"Look, this probably won't make you feel better but, I know what's like to lose a parent. I lose both when I was in college and it really sucked. I didn't think I was going to make it for a while, especially because I was close to my parents."
"That's the thing," Joseph picked up his beer. "I wasn't close to my parents, especially my dad. They were very set on me becoming a working man, an Evan but I wanted to be everything but that. I just wanted to see the world, meet people, make memories, eat amazing food."
Alyson smile at the passion he had in his voice when he talked about traveling.
"The day I finally had the courage to leave, was the day they told me I'd never been able to come back. My dad didn't even let me come to my own mother's funeral, now he's gone and he's left me with a whole legacy."
"Which surprisingly, you don't want." Alyson was a little confused about that. "You're in a position that a lot of people dream of being in."
Joseph shrugged, "yeah but money means nothing to me. It never has. I've been to the slums of Guyana where people dance in the streets, smiling like they're living their best lives when in reality, they didn't even have enough money to feed their kids. Money is a great thing to have but it's not the way to happiness. I mean, I'd trade the whole company if I was able to bring my dad back for a day just to ask him why?"
Alyson's jaw was almost to the floor. She lived a nice life, starting with the house that she lived in, hell, the rock on her finger; but she never considered materialistic, she didn't think about it either.
But to hear someone say they could do away with money, it was astonishing because it was something you didn't hear a lot - from anyone.
The more she thought about it, she realized, she was wealthy enough to do almost anything she wanted and yet, none of it meant as much as her desire to have her husband give her some attention.
Even living in a big house with her closet full of designer, wasn't enough to keep her content when her marriage was on the rocks.
She might have everything but without love, without happiness, she had nothing. At least that's what it felt like.
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"So, is there going to be a funeral for your father?" Alyson asked, watching Joseph climb onto his Suzuki GT550.
"Yeah, there is. It's gonna be at his house on Tuesday at ten. Just a small service, nothing major."
"Well, give me your number," Alyson took her phone out of her purse. "Maybe I can get Evan to come."
"You don't have to do that," Joseph took his helmet off the right handle. "I think Evan's made it clear where we stand."
"Look, people say horrible things when they're hurt. I'll talk to him."
"Alyson -"
"Gives me your number," she insisted, putting the phone in his hands. "Chop, chop, we don't have all day."
Joseph was a little caught off guard by her sappiness but thought it was cute. With enough beers, Alyson not only loosened up but a sassy side of her came out.
"Here," he gave Alyson her phone back after he plugged in his number.
"See, that wasn't hard," she made him chuckle. "It was really nice meeting you and talking to you. You are definitely . . . different. I don't think I've ever met anyone like you before."
"Like what?" he asked curiously.
"Exactly, 'like what'? I'm still trying to figure it out."
"I wouldn't," he put his helmet on. "It'll just give you a headache."
"Thanks for the tip," she grinned, pushing her hair behind her ears.
With a smile, he held his hand out, "it was nice meeting and talking to you too. Thank you for letting me stay in your home, you've been a joy to be around."
Alyson shook his hand, gazing into his eyes, "you stay safe out there, Joseph."
"Always, Alyson."
She slowly backed away, letting her hand slide out of his. With her purse tucked under her arm, she watched him pull out of his parking spot.
After giving her a salute, Joseph sped off, leaving a pondering Alyson in his rearview mirror.
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So! What do you guys think so far? Should I keep going? Do you hate it? Do you like the outfits? I hope it's not too different and if it is, it's different in a good way. Just let me know what you think. Love you guys!