by K E Osborn
“I know my son, he loves her, but he can be an arrogant little prick sometimes. He probably gets that from me, but if you’re around you can help her when she’s feeling down and be the supportive best friend that she’ll probably need. I know you can’t provide for her financially Mike, but you can be a support for her if she ever needs it.
“We want to keep both families happy with this arrangement, and I can’t lose a good worker over something as trivial as this. So, the car is yours and you’ll stay here and continue working for me. It’s settled then.”
I honestly had no words because my mouth was dry and all I wanted to do was scream at him. But then the thought of leaving Callie to this life came screaming into my head and if I left now, God knows what would happen to Callie. So, as much as it was going to hurt me I had to stick around and make sure that she was okay. I decided there and then that I wouldn’t tell her about her father’s scheming plot with Patty. That would hurt her too much, plus I knew deep down she actually cared for Alistair. She may even love him given time, but I’d be there to make sure that when this all came crashing down at their feet, that I was the one to pick up the pieces.
Patty put his greasy hand out for me to shake. The anger inside me was at boiling point, but I let it simmer. I shook his hand and nodded, letting him know I was on board.
I felt sick, utterly devastated, but there was little I could do other than to go along with it.
“Good lad, now you can have the rest of the day off, but when you come back tomorrow I’m upgrading your job title and pay. You’ll be my Chauffeur and help me out with my business dealings, basically being my Personal Assistant, I guess you could call it for the want of a better description. Now, how does that sound?” he said, smiling at me like he knew he’d won the lottery.
“Thank you, Sir,” was all I could say, but in a sarcastic tone.
He chuckled. “You’re welcome kid, now off you scoot I’ve got work to do. Oh, and Mike? You’ll be driving my car for me so make sure you wear a suit to work from now on.”
I stumbled from the garage and into the open air. I inhaled a large breath and bent over resting my hands on my knees and exhaled.
What the hell was I doing?
Callie was basically being set up in an arranged marriage. If she’d known she would’ve been mortified. I would’ve told her, I should have told her, but I kept my mouth shut. She deserved a happy life and even though it’d be arranged, I was sure Alistair truly did love her. If I told her what was going on she would’ve run back to me and I would’ve still been faced with the dilemma of not being able to provide for her. I was sure that if she did come back to me at that time and not Alistair, my chances of finding another job in Mornington Vale would be nil… I’m sure Patty and Bernard would have seen to that. So, I’d keep my mouth shut and hopefully watch it all unravel. I would continue to work for Patty and try to save for the day that Callie would realize what was happening and we could be together. I just had to wait, watch and bide my time until Callie would see through the idiocy that was her life. I drove home and spent the night wallowing in self-pity.
I was eighteen, in love with a woman I couldn’t have and working for an evil tyrant. I wasn’t in a good place.
All I could think about was what was Callie doing? Did she hate me like I had planned? Did she still love me? Was I an idiot for letting things play out this way?
Probably, but I saw no other option.
* * *
The next day I arrived at the O’Connell mansion dressed in a suit and tie. Patty was pleased with how well I scrubbed up. I looked professional and just like the personal lackey he wanted me to be. I worked driving for Patty and doing other odd chores for him, and I was basically at his beck and call twenty-four seven. A solid month had dragged by working for him without seeing or hearing from Callie, and I so badly wanted to know how she was doing. My plan of being around to watch over her was failing, because she was never at the O’Connell’s. I couldn’t help but notice that Alistair was never there either.
It wasn’t until nearly two months later that I finally saw her again. I was checking the oil in the car when I heard Alistair’s car pull into the driveway. I looked up and saw Callie sitting in the passenger side smiling and giggling. My heart thumped against my chest wall hard.
She was even more beautiful than I remembered.
I must have looked like an idiot standing there with the dipstick in my hand, staring at her, probably with my mouth wide open. Alistair hopped out of the car and walked around to her side opening her door. A little piece of me died in that moment, she stepped out and looked over at me. Her smile dropped and a frown appeared.
“You said he wouldn’t be here.”
She looked everywhere but at me. My breathing was rushed, I couldn’t get enough air in my lungs.
“I thought he’d be out with Father. Sorry, darling, let’s go inside, just ignore him. Anyway, he’s only the help,” Alistair stated as he stabbed the knife right in my back and then twisted it.
She finally looked up at me and I swallowed hard. I thought I saw her bottom lip tremble and then the worst moment of my life happened. She frowned at me and then turned toward Alistair and kissed him. My body felt heavy, like lead being pulled down by the gravitational forces of the earth. I dropped the dipstick and it clanged on the engine making them break apart. Alistair smiled brightly looking directly at me. My nostrils flared and I didn’t know what to do, so I leaned down across the engine and picked up the dipstick.
“You taste so delicious Callie, I could kiss you all day,” Alistair said loudly.
I filled with rage and shot my head up to yell at him, but my head hit the hood and I cried out in pain instead. Alistair laughed while I clasped the top of my head as I felt blood drip down my face. I looked over at Callie and she looked like she was going to cry. She took a step toward me and then Alistair wrapped his arm around her shoulders and started walking away with her. She went with him, but turned back to look at me. The pain in her eyes was evident, she still loved me, just as much as I loved her, but she was moving on, with Alistair, just like they had planned.
I watched them walk inside the O’Connell mansion and when they were out of sight I threw the dipstick across the yard and kicked an old tin bucket that was on the ground next to me. I hated seeing them together. It literally broke my heart to watch her falling in love with Alistair. I wished harder than ever before that somehow I’d come into some serious money, so I could take her away from all of this.
But as it turned out, wishing doesn’t get you anywhere.
Months turned into a year, and in that year I saw Callie and Alistair together much more frequently. She was starting to finally look like she might actually be happy and was settling into the life that was planned out for her. She was always smiling when she was with Alistair, and I always saw him treating her well and with respect.
I was so busy with Patty most of the time that I missed out on birthdays and holidays, as he would spend them with his family, so I’d have to carry out his business dealings on my own, meaning I missed time with my parents. I was nearly twenty and all I did was work. Mom and Dad said I needed to leave, that seeing Callie moving on without me wasn’t healthy and that I needed to get out and meet new people. I had no friends and my family never saw me because I was working so much. I virtually become a hermit working to live, because if I stopped for a second, then I’d think, and if I started to think I’d fall apart.
* * *
I was at the O’Connell mansion early that morning when the news came. Callie came running outside and toward me; she was crying. I dropped everything I was doing and started to run toward her. My heart was on fire, this was it, the moment she realized what was going on. I was going to get her back and I had never been as happy as I was in that split second.
“Oh, Mike, I’m so sorry,” she sobbed as she reached me, embracing me in a tight hug.
I nuzzled into her hair and held onto h
er with every inch of my being. “I’m sorry, too,” I said, but she pulled back and looked at me with tear soaked eyes.
“How are you? Are you okay?” she asked, looking me right in my eyes… right into my soul.
I thought it was a strange question, but I went along with it. “I’m great now you’re here, and in my arms,” I said nuzzling into her again.
She stiffened and pulled away. I let her go and looked at her in confusion.
“You don’t know do you?”
“Know what?” I creased my eyebrows
“Oh, Mike, it’s so terrible, I don’t know how to tell you.”
“Tell me what Callie?” I asked and she started crying again.
“Mike, your Father’s wood shop caught fire this morning, and everything is gone,” she said and pulled me into another embrace.
I was in shock. My father had worked so hard on that wood shop he’d be devastated.
“I better get home and see if Dad’s okay.”
Callie took hold of my arm, stopping me. She looked me directly in the eyes. “No, Mike, everything is gone, every… one is gone.”
It was like a million knives stabbing my entire body at once. I couldn’t breathe. I stumbled on the spot as Callie was rubbing my arms.
“I’m so sorry, Mike.”
I leaned on the car motionless. My parents were dead. The only two people in this world that cared about me were… dead. My head was spinning and I couldn’t see straight. I felt like I wanted to be sick, or punch something, or crawl up in a ball and cry, but I couldn’t do any of those things. I just stood there gazing at the O’Connell mansion. Then it hit me, if I hadn’t left home to get there early that morning, I would’ve probably been dead too. My knees fell out from under me and I slid down the side of the car to the ground. I sat there leaning against it. Callie sat down beside me.
“What can I do?” Callie asked.
I was in shock. I couldn’t talk or think, I was a shell of a man. I saw Patty walk out, but I couldn’t get into work mode, he’d have to sort himself out for today. Patty walked over and squatted in front of me.
“Mike, I know this is a terrible situation, and I’m so sorry, Son. Do you want me to drive you home?” he asked and I shook my head adamantly. I didn’t want to go there, to see my house burned to the ground, to know they were in there when it happened.
“Okay, well, there’s a storm coming. You can’t stay out here. Come inside and we’ll get a servants room made up for you. You can stay with us from now on.”
I wasn’t sure whether I was grateful or annoyed, because I’d spent the last few years with this family instead of mine, and now they were gone.
“C’mon Son, up you get,” Patty said and pulled me from the ground.
He walked on one side of me and Callie on the other, both helping me take each step. I couldn’t do it on my own, I wasn’t functioning. They got me to a room and Callie sat me on the bed. I was still gazing out at nothing when Patty left to get something. Callie caressed my cheek so I turned to look at her and all I could see were her lips. She was the only good thing left in my life. I leaned forward and kissed her and for the briefest of seconds she kissed me back, but then pulled away and touched her lips.
“Mike, I’m sorry—”
“No, I’m sorry,” I said and then looked away from her as I rested my head in my hands.
“Mike, I’m with Alistair. You had your chance and you didn’t want me then, so I doubt you want me for anything other than your comfort right now either, and that’s not fair on me, Alistair or you… I better go,” she said and I didn’t have the energy or strength to stop her. I watched her walk out of my new room and out of my life once more.
Patty came back in moments later and sat on the bed next to me. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders. “Look you take a day, okay? Just mess about in the garage or do whatever you need to do to get through this. Don’t worry about funeral costs; we’ll cover that and whatever else you might need.”
That’s when I broke down. The word “funeral” is so final, and I sobbed into my hands. Patty left and Eleanor came in. She sat with me for hours while I cried and mourned for my parents. Eleanor was nothing like Patty, she was a kind, gentle, caring and compassionate woman and in that moment she was like another mother to me. Well, basically from that moment she was another mother to me. She supported me through the funeral and bought me new clothes, seeing as all of mine were burned in the fire. The suits she bought me were tailored and she even purchased me one of those hats, so I could be a real Chauffeur.
I got back into work quickly, being distracted didn’t help, but I needed to keep moving. Seeing Callie most days made my days a tiny bit brighter. Even though we never spoke, just seeing her was enough to make me half smile. I was grateful that the O’Connell’s took me in; I would’ve been homeless if they didn’t and I was appreciative of that small gesture of good will.
* * *
Another year passed and I was feeling okay. I’d gotten into a routine at the O’Connell mansion and in a way it was easier for me to live and work there. I was getting ready to finish up work for the day when Patty came over and sat down on the chair next to me in the garage.
“Well, Mike, it’s a happy day,” he said and I half smiled as I waxed the car.
“Why’s that, Sir?” I asked and then I wished I hadn’t.
“Looks like my boy finally popped the question and Callie said yes.”
I stumbled on the spot and stopped mid wipe. I stopped breathing, the one thing I was dreading actually happened.
She’s going to marry him.
My chin fell to my chest and I let out a sigh and closed my eyes tight.
“Congratulations, Sir,” I said somehow, opened my eyes and continued to scrub the car putting all my brute force into it.
He stood up and smacked me on the back. “Good lad,” he said and walked off.
Once he was out of the garage I clenched my fists and turned toward the wall and punched it, hard, repeatedly, until my knuckles bled. I felt like all the walls were caving in on me and there was nothing I could do to escape the impending disintegration of Michael O’Leary.
She was getting married.
To someone else.
Callie.
I was doing this, all for her.
I was shattered.
How could I have let my life get so messed up?
I took two months off work and drove up the coast. I don’t know where I went or why, or even if I was going back.
Then came the realization. I had to try one last time. I had some money now, not enough for a house, but enough for something.
Callie.
I had to try!
So I turned around and drove back to Mornington Vale as fast as I could.
I got in late and all I could think about was Callie. It was dark, but I drove to the King mansion, hoping like hell that Callie would be there. I pulled up and raced out of the car and to her bedroom window. I knocked lightly until the light turned on. She opened the window and looked at me in shock.
Callie.
“Mike, what are you doing here? Where have you been? We’ve all been worried sick?” she asked very softly, so as to not wake her parents.
“No time to explain. Can you just come with me, please?” I asked and she smiled and nodded her head.
“I’ll be out in a minute.”
I raced back to the car, which by now I’d fully restored and was no longer a rust bucket. A few minutes later I saw the front door open and she walked out and closed the door gently behind her. She ran to the car and got into the passenger seat and closed the door quietly.
“Are you going to tell me where you’ve been?” she questioned crossing her arms over her chest. I couldn’t help but notice the giant engagement ring on her left ring finger.
I winced and put the car in reverse.
“Mike, where are we going?”
“It’s a surprise,” I said with a smile and drove
the short trip to old man Harris’ farm. I watched her from the corner of my eyes as we got closer and the realization hit her of where we were. I stopped the car and got out running around to her side and opening the door. She stepped out and the look on her face was not a pleasant one. I ignored it and took her hand, dragging her inside the barn.
“Mike… Mike, what are you doing?” she asked as we walked inside. I stopped in front of the door frame where I’d carved our initials in the love heart. She reached out and touched it and a slight smile crossed her face.
“Can we just talk?”
She turned and looked at me, nodding her head. We walked over to the haystack and started to climb. I smiled a real smile for the first time in years and climbed up after her. She sat down on the hay and cradled herself. I sat down opposite her and exhaled loudly.
“So, you wanted to talk… so talk,” she barked sounding all too short and distant.
I swallowed a lump in my throat and suddenly became very nervous, just like I always did in those hay stacks. “Remember our last night here?”
She screwed her face up in disgust. “Do I remember you sleeping with me and then breaking it off the next morning? Hmm, let me think. Do I remember that?” she said sarcastically.
I exhaled and looked down at my hands. “I’m sorry, you have to understand I only did it for you and what was best for you, Callie. I never stopped loving you, but you deserve a happy life with someone who can buy you the things you need and want—”
“I deserved to be happy with you, Mike. But you wouldn’t even give me the chance to show you how much I didn’t care if you couldn’t provide for me. I wanted you anyway,” she said and my breathing became erratic.
I edged closer to her and she tensed up. I stopped and held my hands up in surrender. “Callie, I love you. I have always, and will always, love you,” I whispered, edging closer to her again.
She didn’t flinch away and she let me caress her cheek.
