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Chapter or Story
AN: please, whoever reads this and is from the beautiful state of Louisiana, no offense intended!! I’m using a particular quote that I’ve heard somewhere a while back and it stayed with me. MP in a cranky mood would be soo the woman to say something as offensive as this.
(I don’t even remember where I heard it and neither am I sure if Louisiana was mentioned or (ab)used. For all I know, it was my own little home-state here in Austria. But I couldn’t use that one, could I? So again, sorry!)
Part 8
Broots returned to the office level as fast as he could. He felt awful. On the one hand he’d let his daughter down tonight, and on the other hand he once again had bad news for his boss.
In a nervous hurry he crashed into her office, only remotely remembering how she hated an entrance like that. But he was not just a subordinate anymore. He was a friend.
“Miss Parker…. I …I just …you need to know….”
The addressed woman shot him an evil look. Well, almost a friend.
“Broots stop it. The brain, even yours, needs oxygen, so you'd better take a breath about now!”
Miss Parker was royally pissed. The incidents with Jarod and then Lyle were more than enough to bring her to the edge. And now Broots had decided to act in his typical nervous way.
Broots didn’t heed her advice and just blurted out: “You know what just happened? What I just heard?”
“Let me guess. The state of Louisiana just announced a new holiday where they let you marry someone who ain’t a relative.”
She wasn’t even sorry for her sarcastic reply when she saw his dreadful look. She simply didn’t want to hear any more Centre-related news.
“Miss Parker, listen! Lyle has Willie following you. I just overheard a conversation down in the parking lot. Your brother ordered the devil’s sweeper to watch your every move!”
“He what? Since when?” If Willie had been in New York today, then…Parker reminded herself that this was a needless worry. No, she had been alone. Otherwise Jarod would already be in chains down in SL 12 - and she’d be dead.
“Apparently Lyle just issued the order. So from now on, you’ll have a shadow. Miss Parker, what’re you gonna do about that?”
“I’m gonna go home, take a shower, drink a glass of scotch, go to bed and sleep like a baby. If Lyle is interested in that…well, so be it.”
She grabbed her coat and purse and passed by Broots in deliberate steps. At the door though, she turned around and looked at her co-worker. With eyes blazing and in an impossibly low voice – a voice that, he knew, most often left death in its wake - she growled:
“And tomorrow, brother dearest will face the consequences and call off the surveillance.”
The double glass-door closed behind her in a ‘whoosh’. She was gone. Broots still stood inside; a bit taken aback by her non-committal behavior. But when he thought about the way she said ‘face the consequences’, a cold shiver ran down his spine. The soundtrack of ‘Dead Man Walking’ was suddenly playing in the back of the tech’s mind.
He could already imagine what was going to happen. The technician had seen it more than once. He scratched his bald head and thought about the inevitable. When the Parker twins were at each other’s throat, no one was safe anymore. If only he could be somewhere else tomorrow…
The futile hope of a computer emergency at a Centre affiliate far away, maybe the one in Vancouver, rose within him. A trip to Canada would spare him from witnessing a terrible scene. With a deep sigh, Broots got on his way. He would not be that lucky, he knew that. [u1]
****************************
It was way past midnight. Ethan stood outside on the porch. He had not said much during dinner. The topic of ‘their’ future plans had been mostly evaded. They all enjoyed a ‘normal’ family dinner.
But the troubled young man hadn’t been able to enjoy it. The voice inside his head had kept on mumbling. Someone was amiss here. Ethan knew who that ‘someone’ was, but didn’t know what to do about it.
“Aren’t you cold?” came suddenly from behind.
Ethan turned around and faced his half-brother. He could barely see him for there were no lights coming from inside. The whole house had become quiet; everyone else had gone to bed.
“I’m fine.”
“You sure?”
“I…yeah.”
“You’re thinking about leaving, aren’t you?”
“I don’t know what to do Jarod. Everything is so …I’m not sure if you should do this at all. But I do know that she should know about this. I don’t understand much of what my mother is telling me, but I FEEL that mom wants her to know.”
Ethan stepped towards his older brother to make his point in the dark. Heavy clouds hid the stars and the moon. When he made out the contours of his brother’s face, Ethan pleaded: “Don’t do this without her.”
“Ethan, it wouldn’t make any difference. She doesn’t want to leave. She is not going to change her mind.” He paused momentarily and then admitted “And I can’t face her again like that.”
“I’m not talking about her leaving. I’m talking about her KNOWING, Jarod. If you - for whatever reason - can’t, let me go. I’ll tell her about the plan. Then we’ll see.”
“I won’t force you to stay, you know that! But I really hope you wouldn’t go. Your sister,…she’s so unpredictable and I don’t want her involved in this. We can do this without her. Don’t forget, she’s safer not knowing anyway.”
“I don’t know what happened this afternoon, what she said to you. But, I’m wondering, are you sure this is about her safety and not yours?”
Jarod squeezed his eyes to adapt his sight to the dark. His brother’s words hit a sore spot.
“If you think I’m afraid of her betraying us, you’re wrong. I’m simply following HER own wishes. She made it clear today that she wanted me, all of us, gone for good.”
Ethan almost smiled at these words. He had already expected something like that: His half-sister had turned Jarod down – again - and that had hurt him deeply.
“Jarod, this is about Catherine’s legacy, and my sister IS a part of it – no matter what your mother says. It should be Miss Parker’s decision to follow it through or not. Just because your mother says so, and you’re angry with Parker, doesn’t make it YOUR plan.
“All I can ask of you Ethan, is, don’t go. Don’t tell her, at least not yet. Leave her out of this as it is. We go with the plan and then, then you can tell her and she can decide, again.”
Ethan’s aggravation rose, he fell into his brother’s words. “No, Jarod. She’s been left out of too much before. I won’t become a part of it. I’m going. That’s final!”
The younger man stepped down the porch and disappeared in the dark. Jarod fought with his conscience to either follow and stop him or just let him go. At the end he still stood there when the sun rose a few hours later. He was unable to move, unable to decide.
Catherine’s plan, his own simulations, of which he had become aware of just a few hours ago, his mother’s alteration of that plan, Ethan’s demand to get Miss Parker into the game, everything had become so confusing.
Jarod felt as if it all had gotten out of his control somehow. He hated it.
The pretender didn’t know if his mother’s idea was a good one in the first place. Altering his own DNA-sequence was a dangerous thing. It had to be perfect, because it meant also fumbling with Ryan’s as well as Emily’s DNA. But his mom had put all her trust and faith into his ability. He didn’t want to let her down.
Ethan’s decision to leave and talk to Miss Parker was another thing. She already knew that Catherine had wanted to leave the country with her. What would she say about the new revelations of the plan? Jarod himself always had thought that Miss Parker was a central figure in that plan, as he was sure, had she. How will she react at the news that once again she was on the sideline while he was the key player?
Dangerous situations, or the terrible prospects of a violent death, she had gone through them many times. She had never taken them easily; if something or someone crossed her, she had fought back. But what she hated most was being ignored, being left out of the loop. Jarod shivered at the thought of that.
Somehow, in the back of his mind, Jarod agreed with his brother: she should know. Maybe Catherine had – for the sake of her daughter – left out some details in her conversations with Margaret.
Somehow Jarod doubted that. Yes, Catherine had kept secrets to protect her daughter from the truth. But those were secrets of her family’s tragic history, not her plan.
Jarod remembered his brief encounter with Catherine in Raines’ country-house. Mrs. Parker had told him that her plan, her legacy, was for her daughter, him and her unborn son, Ethan, to finish that plan.
Jarod squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head at a thought that crept up in his mind: maybe it was his mother that had left out some of those details in order to keep Miss Parker away. He had to talk to his mom again about it.
***************************
Miss Parker closed the front door with her left foot and threw her purse and keys on the side table. On her way to the kitchen she took off both of her high heels and left them where they fell. When the kitchen light didn’t turn on she cursed out loud. Now she needed to find a flashlight and a new light bulb. Instead of falling back on her couch with her choice of stress relief, she was forced to do an annoying home repair chore.
She was about to leave the dark kitchen again when someone grabbed her from behind. One arm around her waist the other hand covered her mouth. In that short moment, Miss Parker promised herself that Willie would die tonight if she could just reach back to her gun. She fought the tight, but curiously not violent grip, when a small whisper reached her ear.
“Shhhh. Miss Parker, it’s me, Ethan. Please, calm down!”
That immediately stopped her from fighting back. She felt how her little brother slowly took away his hands and stepped back. Parker turned around and shot her ‘attacker’ an incredulous look.
“Ethan, damn! You planning on killing yourself? I could’ve shot you!”
The young man smiled at her attempt to calm her nerves. He had had her cornered. He knew it and she knew it. But this was not a woman to give in, he was sure of that.
“I’m sorry, but I could not just knock on your front door, could I?”
That reminded Parker of her shadow. She suddenly pushed Ethan back into the darkest corner of the already dark room.
With a voice barely audible she advised: “Listen, there is a sweeper outside my house. This place might even be full of bugs. I need to get you out of here.”
“Don’t worry. I checked the place. I arrived a few hours ago, and no one saw me entering. We’re ok for now.”
A bit calmer, Miss Parker went to the window to look outside. All she could see in the dark were the outlines of her backyard. Willie was probably still in his car somewhere in the front. But she wanted to be sure. With a raised hand that showed Ethan to stay put, she left the room. She turned on the lights in the dining room, as well as the TV. Then she went upstairs to turn on the lights in her bathroom and the shower.
Careful to stay away from all windows she returned to the kitchen. Ethan was patiently sitting at the table.
Even before she took a seat opposite her brother, she blurted out in a whisper:
“What the hell are you doing here?”
“It’s good to see you too,” came the deadpan retort.
She smiled broadly at that. Her eyes had adapted to the dark, she could make out his facial contours. He was a good looking young man, though too many lines of worry and despair were visible, even in the dark.
“I’m sorry Ethan. I’m actually glad to see you. It would just be better under different circumstances.” She left out that she wondered if the two of them would ever be able to meet under those ‘different circumstances’. He heard it anyway.
“I had to come. We need to talk.”
“Has something happened?” When he only nodded in response she continued “Jarod?”
“Not Jarod per se. His mother happened. They found each other, they’re all together now.”
“I know. Jarod told me. So, what’s wrong?” Miss Parker already knew that it must be about her – their – mother’s plan. Margaret apparently had finally told them about it.
“You do know that Margaret was aware of Catherine’s plan?” Ethan asked carefully.
“Yes. I guess you’re here to tell me.”
He nodded and was about to begin “Miss Parker…,” but before he could continue, his sister suddenly took one of his hands with both of hers. Surprised, he looked down at the table. She intertwined her fingers with his with one hand while the other covered both of them in an endearing move. Ethan could see the square silver ring in the dark. He was unable to continue at this unexpected show of affection by his sister.
“Ethan, before you reveal this next secret of OUR mother, maybe you should stop talking to me as if I were a stranger.”
He rose his head and looked squarely into her face. Though it was quite dark, he saw her eyes shimmering with moisture. He could see they were watered with unshed tears. He was completely confused now.
“You’re my brother. And though we don’t know each other very well, I’m glad you are a part of my family, a part of her. And now I think it’s time for you to stop calling me ‘Miss Parker’. I do have a name, you know.”
Ethan was too dumbfounded to say anything in response. He knew that she had kept her first name a secret; a secret, even less than a handful of people knew about.
This incredible woman, who was not known to be overly affectionate or emotional in front of other people, then headed forwards and took him into a long heartfelt embrace. While she held her brother close, she whispered her best kept secret into his ears.
The young man smiled from ear to ear. Enjoying every second of it, he patted her softly on the back. Ever since his foster parents had died, no one – except for Jarod – had shown him such an amount of love. He had gone through a lot of horrors in his life, but in this very moment he concluded that it all had been worth it. Because this embrace by his beautiful sister was as close as he could ever come to his real mother. And it felt great.
(I don’t even remember where I heard it and neither am I sure if Louisiana was mentioned or (ab)used. For all I know, it was my own little home-state here in Austria. But I couldn’t use that one, could I? So again, sorry!)
Part 8
Broots returned to the office level as fast as he could. He felt awful. On the one hand he’d let his daughter down tonight, and on the other hand he once again had bad news for his boss.
In a nervous hurry he crashed into her office, only remotely remembering how she hated an entrance like that. But he was not just a subordinate anymore. He was a friend.
“Miss Parker…. I …I just …you need to know….”
The addressed woman shot him an evil look. Well, almost a friend.
“Broots stop it. The brain, even yours, needs oxygen, so you'd better take a breath about now!”
Miss Parker was royally pissed. The incidents with Jarod and then Lyle were more than enough to bring her to the edge. And now Broots had decided to act in his typical nervous way.
Broots didn’t heed her advice and just blurted out: “You know what just happened? What I just heard?”
“Let me guess. The state of Louisiana just announced a new holiday where they let you marry someone who ain’t a relative.”
She wasn’t even sorry for her sarcastic reply when she saw his dreadful look. She simply didn’t want to hear any more Centre-related news.
“Miss Parker, listen! Lyle has Willie following you. I just overheard a conversation down in the parking lot. Your brother ordered the devil’s sweeper to watch your every move!”
“He what? Since when?” If Willie had been in New York today, then…Parker reminded herself that this was a needless worry. No, she had been alone. Otherwise Jarod would already be in chains down in SL 12 - and she’d be dead.
“Apparently Lyle just issued the order. So from now on, you’ll have a shadow. Miss Parker, what’re you gonna do about that?”
“I’m gonna go home, take a shower, drink a glass of scotch, go to bed and sleep like a baby. If Lyle is interested in that…well, so be it.”
She grabbed her coat and purse and passed by Broots in deliberate steps. At the door though, she turned around and looked at her co-worker. With eyes blazing and in an impossibly low voice – a voice that, he knew, most often left death in its wake - she growled:
“And tomorrow, brother dearest will face the consequences and call off the surveillance.”
The double glass-door closed behind her in a ‘whoosh’. She was gone. Broots still stood inside; a bit taken aback by her non-committal behavior. But when he thought about the way she said ‘face the consequences’, a cold shiver ran down his spine. The soundtrack of ‘Dead Man Walking’ was suddenly playing in the back of the tech’s mind.
He could already imagine what was going to happen. The technician had seen it more than once. He scratched his bald head and thought about the inevitable. When the Parker twins were at each other’s throat, no one was safe anymore. If only he could be somewhere else tomorrow…
The futile hope of a computer emergency at a Centre affiliate far away, maybe the one in Vancouver, rose within him. A trip to Canada would spare him from witnessing a terrible scene. With a deep sigh, Broots got on his way. He would not be that lucky, he knew that. [u1]
****************************
It was way past midnight. Ethan stood outside on the porch. He had not said much during dinner. The topic of ‘their’ future plans had been mostly evaded. They all enjoyed a ‘normal’ family dinner.
But the troubled young man hadn’t been able to enjoy it. The voice inside his head had kept on mumbling. Someone was amiss here. Ethan knew who that ‘someone’ was, but didn’t know what to do about it.
“Aren’t you cold?” came suddenly from behind.
Ethan turned around and faced his half-brother. He could barely see him for there were no lights coming from inside. The whole house had become quiet; everyone else had gone to bed.
“I’m fine.”
“You sure?”
“I…yeah.”
“You’re thinking about leaving, aren’t you?”
“I don’t know what to do Jarod. Everything is so …I’m not sure if you should do this at all. But I do know that she should know about this. I don’t understand much of what my mother is telling me, but I FEEL that mom wants her to know.”
Ethan stepped towards his older brother to make his point in the dark. Heavy clouds hid the stars and the moon. When he made out the contours of his brother’s face, Ethan pleaded: “Don’t do this without her.”
“Ethan, it wouldn’t make any difference. She doesn’t want to leave. She is not going to change her mind.” He paused momentarily and then admitted “And I can’t face her again like that.”
“I’m not talking about her leaving. I’m talking about her KNOWING, Jarod. If you - for whatever reason - can’t, let me go. I’ll tell her about the plan. Then we’ll see.”
“I won’t force you to stay, you know that! But I really hope you wouldn’t go. Your sister,…she’s so unpredictable and I don’t want her involved in this. We can do this without her. Don’t forget, she’s safer not knowing anyway.”
“I don’t know what happened this afternoon, what she said to you. But, I’m wondering, are you sure this is about her safety and not yours?”
Jarod squeezed his eyes to adapt his sight to the dark. His brother’s words hit a sore spot.
“If you think I’m afraid of her betraying us, you’re wrong. I’m simply following HER own wishes. She made it clear today that she wanted me, all of us, gone for good.”
Ethan almost smiled at these words. He had already expected something like that: His half-sister had turned Jarod down – again - and that had hurt him deeply.
“Jarod, this is about Catherine’s legacy, and my sister IS a part of it – no matter what your mother says. It should be Miss Parker’s decision to follow it through or not. Just because your mother says so, and you’re angry with Parker, doesn’t make it YOUR plan.
“All I can ask of you Ethan, is, don’t go. Don’t tell her, at least not yet. Leave her out of this as it is. We go with the plan and then, then you can tell her and she can decide, again.”
Ethan’s aggravation rose, he fell into his brother’s words. “No, Jarod. She’s been left out of too much before. I won’t become a part of it. I’m going. That’s final!”
The younger man stepped down the porch and disappeared in the dark. Jarod fought with his conscience to either follow and stop him or just let him go. At the end he still stood there when the sun rose a few hours later. He was unable to move, unable to decide.
Catherine’s plan, his own simulations, of which he had become aware of just a few hours ago, his mother’s alteration of that plan, Ethan’s demand to get Miss Parker into the game, everything had become so confusing.
Jarod felt as if it all had gotten out of his control somehow. He hated it.
The pretender didn’t know if his mother’s idea was a good one in the first place. Altering his own DNA-sequence was a dangerous thing. It had to be perfect, because it meant also fumbling with Ryan’s as well as Emily’s DNA. But his mom had put all her trust and faith into his ability. He didn’t want to let her down.
Ethan’s decision to leave and talk to Miss Parker was another thing. She already knew that Catherine had wanted to leave the country with her. What would she say about the new revelations of the plan? Jarod himself always had thought that Miss Parker was a central figure in that plan, as he was sure, had she. How will she react at the news that once again she was on the sideline while he was the key player?
Dangerous situations, or the terrible prospects of a violent death, she had gone through them many times. She had never taken them easily; if something or someone crossed her, she had fought back. But what she hated most was being ignored, being left out of the loop. Jarod shivered at the thought of that.
Somehow, in the back of his mind, Jarod agreed with his brother: she should know. Maybe Catherine had – for the sake of her daughter – left out some details in her conversations with Margaret.
Somehow Jarod doubted that. Yes, Catherine had kept secrets to protect her daughter from the truth. But those were secrets of her family’s tragic history, not her plan.
Jarod remembered his brief encounter with Catherine in Raines’ country-house. Mrs. Parker had told him that her plan, her legacy, was for her daughter, him and her unborn son, Ethan, to finish that plan.
Jarod squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head at a thought that crept up in his mind: maybe it was his mother that had left out some of those details in order to keep Miss Parker away. He had to talk to his mom again about it.
***************************
Miss Parker closed the front door with her left foot and threw her purse and keys on the side table. On her way to the kitchen she took off both of her high heels and left them where they fell. When the kitchen light didn’t turn on she cursed out loud. Now she needed to find a flashlight and a new light bulb. Instead of falling back on her couch with her choice of stress relief, she was forced to do an annoying home repair chore.
She was about to leave the dark kitchen again when someone grabbed her from behind. One arm around her waist the other hand covered her mouth. In that short moment, Miss Parker promised herself that Willie would die tonight if she could just reach back to her gun. She fought the tight, but curiously not violent grip, when a small whisper reached her ear.
“Shhhh. Miss Parker, it’s me, Ethan. Please, calm down!”
That immediately stopped her from fighting back. She felt how her little brother slowly took away his hands and stepped back. Parker turned around and shot her ‘attacker’ an incredulous look.
“Ethan, damn! You planning on killing yourself? I could’ve shot you!”
The young man smiled at her attempt to calm her nerves. He had had her cornered. He knew it and she knew it. But this was not a woman to give in, he was sure of that.
“I’m sorry, but I could not just knock on your front door, could I?”
That reminded Parker of her shadow. She suddenly pushed Ethan back into the darkest corner of the already dark room.
With a voice barely audible she advised: “Listen, there is a sweeper outside my house. This place might even be full of bugs. I need to get you out of here.”
“Don’t worry. I checked the place. I arrived a few hours ago, and no one saw me entering. We’re ok for now.”
A bit calmer, Miss Parker went to the window to look outside. All she could see in the dark were the outlines of her backyard. Willie was probably still in his car somewhere in the front. But she wanted to be sure. With a raised hand that showed Ethan to stay put, she left the room. She turned on the lights in the dining room, as well as the TV. Then she went upstairs to turn on the lights in her bathroom and the shower.
Careful to stay away from all windows she returned to the kitchen. Ethan was patiently sitting at the table.
Even before she took a seat opposite her brother, she blurted out in a whisper:
“What the hell are you doing here?”
“It’s good to see you too,” came the deadpan retort.
She smiled broadly at that. Her eyes had adapted to the dark, she could make out his facial contours. He was a good looking young man, though too many lines of worry and despair were visible, even in the dark.
“I’m sorry Ethan. I’m actually glad to see you. It would just be better under different circumstances.” She left out that she wondered if the two of them would ever be able to meet under those ‘different circumstances’. He heard it anyway.
“I had to come. We need to talk.”
“Has something happened?” When he only nodded in response she continued “Jarod?”
“Not Jarod per se. His mother happened. They found each other, they’re all together now.”
“I know. Jarod told me. So, what’s wrong?” Miss Parker already knew that it must be about her – their – mother’s plan. Margaret apparently had finally told them about it.
“You do know that Margaret was aware of Catherine’s plan?” Ethan asked carefully.
“Yes. I guess you’re here to tell me.”
He nodded and was about to begin “Miss Parker…,” but before he could continue, his sister suddenly took one of his hands with both of hers. Surprised, he looked down at the table. She intertwined her fingers with his with one hand while the other covered both of them in an endearing move. Ethan could see the square silver ring in the dark. He was unable to continue at this unexpected show of affection by his sister.
“Ethan, before you reveal this next secret of OUR mother, maybe you should stop talking to me as if I were a stranger.”
He rose his head and looked squarely into her face. Though it was quite dark, he saw her eyes shimmering with moisture. He could see they were watered with unshed tears. He was completely confused now.
“You’re my brother. And though we don’t know each other very well, I’m glad you are a part of my family, a part of her. And now I think it’s time for you to stop calling me ‘Miss Parker’. I do have a name, you know.”
Ethan was too dumbfounded to say anything in response. He knew that she had kept her first name a secret; a secret, even less than a handful of people knew about.
This incredible woman, who was not known to be overly affectionate or emotional in front of other people, then headed forwards and took him into a long heartfelt embrace. While she held her brother close, she whispered her best kept secret into his ears.
The young man smiled from ear to ear. Enjoying every second of it, he patted her softly on the back. Ever since his foster parents had died, no one – except for Jarod – had shown him such an amount of love. He had gone through a lot of horrors in his life, but in this very moment he concluded that it all had been worth it. Because this embrace by his beautiful sister was as close as he could ever come to his real mother. And it felt great.
