Prodigal Son (Jensen Family Series)

by Michelle Day

  Paul woke when he felt Carmen’s cool hands stroking their way down his body, his head was beginning to ache already which dismayed him as he hadn’t actually had that much to drink. He sat up and wrenched the shirt from his shoulders, throwing a sheepish smile at the woman sitting beside him.

  “Sorry I bolted, I can’t stand to see someone throw up.” He mumbled.

  “I gathered that much when I found you passed out across the bed.” She ruefully replied

  “I need some water, my head is pounding and my mouth feels like Ghandi’s flip flop.” He climbed off the bed and headed for the bathroom, she had a glass of water and a pain killer waiting for him when he returned. “You are so good to me.” He smiled as he slipped under the covers.

  “I know I am.” She told him “Just you remember that the next time you decide to throw a strop.”

  Summer sped by and Carmen watched her young lover’s skin darken in the sun, she watched him grow broader and taller and far more confident and mature and their relationship took on an easy, comfortable air although she often worried that he would outgrow her even though he had so far not shown any signs of it and appeared to be happy with the way things had progressed.

  As September approached, Carmen readied herself for her return to school and also began making plans for Paul’s fast approaching sixteenth birthday. She announced that she had been invited to a friend’s wedding the weekend before she was due to return to work and once again found herself explaining to Paul why he couldn’t come with her and wishing he was older. Paul walked out of her house while she was packing to leave, telling her that he wasn’t angry that she was going but equally, he didn’t want to watch her leave; he kissed her passionately and left.

  Chapter Ten

  Carmen returned home in the early evening of the following Sunday to find Paul in her living room watching television. His face lit up when he saw her and he rushed across the room to wrap her in a hug, easing her down onto the sofa and attempting to wriggle his hands under her clothes.

  “I’m too tired.” She protested. “And I could murder a cuppa.” She sighed as she relaxed back against the soft fabric. Paul left her for a short while, returning with tea and crumpets on a tray. “I take it you missed me?” she asked, amused by his attention.

  “Of course”, he stroked her arm.

  “You’re making me suspicious, what have you done that you feel you need to atone for?”

  “I have nothing to feel guilty about.” He told her. “But I did do something for you.” He stood and reached for her hand. “Come with me.” He said as he began to lead her up the stairs

  “Paul,” she protested “I’ve already told you I’m too tired.”

  “Trust me.” He replied and reaching the top of the stairs, he turned towards the closed bathroom door. “You’ve been so kind to me and patient when I decide to sulk so I thought I’d do something for you for a change.” He pushed open the door to reveal a gleaming white, brand spanking new bathroom suite.

  Carmen stood on the threshold, speechless, admiring her beautiful bathroom; everything had been replaced even down to the flooring and the wall tiles. Her bathroom had always been a bone of contention for her. She had loved the house on her very first viewing; the only thing that had made her hesitate in putting in an offer initially had been the hideous avocado coloured bathroom, however, the large kitchen and pretty garden had swayed her and she had purchased the house despite the bathroom.

  Paul’s smile broadened as he watched her take in her newly re-vamped bathroom. He had tried several times to fix the leaks which occurred with alarming regularity only to discover that for all his handyman skills, he most definitely wasn’t a plumber. Carmen’s weekend away had given him the perfect opportunity to solve the problem once and for all and when he had told her that he didn’t want to watch her leave, in reality he was making plans in his head and re-allocating gardening jobs in order to free up some of his staff for the bathroom re-fit.

  It had proved to be a manic weekend with three hulking great men crammed into the bathroom leaving Paul to make sure they had a never ending supply of sandwiches and tea. The bath he had purchased was larger than the existing one and able to hold more water therefore requiring the bathroom floor to be strengthened to accommodate the extra weight. The re-fit had been completed a mere forty minutes before Carmen had returned home.

  “The paint is still wet” Paul told her as she took a further step into the room “That tub can hold at least three people with ease, we’ll have to give it a try when you aren’t so tired.” He smiled.

  “Paul, this must have cost a fortune,” she turned to face him “It’s beautiful and what I’ve always wanted but it’ll take me forever to pay you back.”

  “It’s a gift, I don’t want you to pay me back.” he folded his arms across his chest.

  “Don’t go getting all defensive.” She warned “I’m overwhelmed that you’ve done this for me, at least let me give you something towards it.”

  “No, honestly Carmen, I can afford it, I just wanted to do something nice for you. Up until now I’m the one who’s done all the taking in this relationship; I thought it was about time I gave something back.”

  “You haven’t done all the taking, you’ve fixed up my house and garden, I didn’t even have to ask, you’ve done more for me than you could ever imagine.” She reached up to kiss him “Will the floor withstand the weight of the bath when it’s full of water?”

  “Of course,” he replied, his arms fastening behind her back “Everything has been done properly. Do you want to try it out?”

  “I think it would be a terrible shame not too.”

  Carmen returned to work that Monday, happy and content and eager to meet her new students knowing full well that Paul would be waiting for her when she returned home that evening.

  Paul had been spending so much time at Carmen’s house that Monica had begun to question his whereabouts each time he returned home.

  “Nice of you to show your face.” She commented as her youngest child breezed into the kitchen and kissed her cheek.

  “I’ve been working.” his standard reply.

  “Twenty four hours a day?” she questioned.

  “Er, no. I do have a social life Mum and it’s not like I don’t let you know if I’ll be home or not.”

  “Agreed, you are very good at keeping in touch but where do you stay? Most of your friends have gone away to college and even you don’t have in inexhaustible supply of them” she stopped stirring the gravy for a moment to look at her son, amazed by how much he had grown over the summer and at how breathtakingly handsome he was.

  “I have a number of places I can stay, usually one of the guys who works for me will put me up if we have an early start.” He hedged.

  “And the rest of the time?”

  By the time Monica got around to asking this last question, Paul had usually managed to subtly back himself out of the kitchen, today he was stopped by Tessa on a rare day off of work, the result of a migraine earlier in the day.

  “Don’t be so blinkered Mum,” she edged past her dirt covered brother “He has a girlfriend, I’ll bet anything that he spends most of his nights with her.”

  “Paul? Is this true?”

  Paul pushed his hair out of his face and glared at his sister “Yeah, I have a girlfriend.” He admitted.

  “Is she from school?” Monica asked.

  “Kinda, she’s a little older than me.”

  “Oh, do I know her?” Tessa asked.

  “I don’t know, we don’t talk about school.” He was becoming very uncomfortable with conversation.

  “Don’t her parents get a little tired of you staying there?” Monica this time.

  “She doesn’t live with her parents,” he replied, consoling himself that it wasn’t an outright lie “Mum, I gotta get cleaned up and make a move, do I have any clean clothes?”

  “Of course you have clean clothes” Monica frowned “I take it you aren�
��t staying for dinner?”

  “Not tonight.” He called over his shoulder as he bolted for the stairs.

  “You’d never have let me stay out the way he does at his age.” Tessa accused her mother

  “I know darling but at his age, you were still at school, not running your own business, he pays rent now and therefore I feel he has every right to come and go as he pleases, he’s far more mature at fifteen that you were.”

  “God,” Tessa sighed “He’s always going to be your favourite isn’t he?”

  “I don’t have a favourite Tessa. You all have qualities that I like and some that I don’t but you are all my children and I love you all equally.”

  “And yet Paul gets away with everything.”

  “Not where your father is concerned he doesn’t, you and Matthew get an easy ride there, he needs to have at least one parent on his side.” She tried to explain.

  “His beef with Dad is entirely his own doing, you shouldn’t baby him the way you do.” Tessa protested.

  “I’m sorry, didn’t I run around after you this morning when you couldn’t stop being sick and had the headache from hell?”

  Tessa nodded, suddenly feeling guilty “You did, sorry Mum.”

  Within weeks of school resuming, they had once again settled into a steady routine. Paul remained at home on Monday and Tuesday evenings in order to appease his mother even though he became uncomfortable when the conversation inevitably turned to his love life but it was good to re-connect with Matt and even though the two days away from his lover dragged, he enjoyed spending time with his family.

  With Tessa out with Suzanne for the evening and their parents joining friends for dinner, Matt and Paul were left to their own devices resulting in Matt cajoling his brother into helping him with batting practice for his forthcoming cricket match. Paul became adept at ducking the cork and leather bound missile that Matt fired back from his haphazard attempts at bowling.

  As he straightened up, Paul heard the thwack of the ball connecting with Matt’s willow bat, the projectile heading straight for his face. He dropped to the floor as it hurtled over his head, so close that it ruffled his hair, the next thing he heard was a smash and he turned from his crouched position in time to see the glass of the huge patio doors shatter into a million tiny pieces as the ball shot through the double glazed panels and on into the dining room and Monica’s collection of Wedgewood tea sets, the resulting crashes turning both boys to stone, neither could move, both filled with fear of the inevitable repercussions.

  Slowly, Paul came to his feet and joined by his brother and they stood and surveyed the damage from the garden.

  “Now you’ve done it.” Paul told his brother.

  “Me?” Matt’s voice rose in shock “You threw it.” He accused.

  “You hit it.” Paul retorted.

  “We are totally in the shit.” Matt said.

  Paul nodded in agreement “I think I’m going to take the coward’s way out and disappear to Carmen’s.”

  “You can’t leave me to deal with this on my own.” Matt protested.

  “Oh I think I can.”

  “Come on Paul, it won’t be so bad if we own up to this together.”

  “It won’t be so bad for you, you mean. Dad will turn the whole thing around so that it’s my fault when I am only partly to blame.”

  “I won’t let him, I’ll tell him that it was my idea in the first place.” Matt nudged him.

  “Alright Matt, stop shitting yourself, I’ll stay,” Paul stepped over the shattered glass “Give me a hand to tidy this up.”

  The boys waited nervously for their parents to return, both knowing that Michael’s reaction was pretty much guaranteed but they worried about Monica’s reaction to the destruction of her collection of tea sets, many of them priceless.

  “This is going to be one hell of an insurance claim.” Paul muttered as they heard the sound of Michael’s Mercedes pull into the drive way.

  Matt stood and made his way from the kitchen to the front door, greeting his parents and explaining what had happened. As expected, Michael exploded halfway through Matt’s attempts at apologising. Monica stood in silence as she surveyed the remaining pieces of her china that Paul had managed to salvage from the mess on the floor.

  “I want both of you in my study. NOW.” Michael demanded, preceding the two boys up the stairs.

  “I’m so sorry Mum.” Paul hesitated, he wasn’t in any rush to join his brother and father.

  “I’m sure it was an accident.” She replied, she looked into her son’s eyes and saw the slightest hint of fear there.

  “It was a total accident.”

  “Your father will understand if you keep your cool and explain it clearly.” she told him “It’s best not to keep him waiting”

  Closing the study door behind him, Paul stood beside his brother as Michael proceeded to tear strips off both of them.

  “What the hell were you thinking?” he shouted.

  “I needed the practice Dad.” Matt explained. “I asked Paul to bowl for me and he did even though he didn’t really want to, we made a mistake, it was an accident. In hindsight, perhaps we should have gone to the batting cage.” He shrugged.

  “What do you have to say for yourself?” Michael turned his attention to Paul.

  “Matt pretty much covered it.” Paul replied not wishing to be drawn into the conversation.

  “I cannot believe you could be so careless.” Michael exploded “What the hell is wrong with you that you can’t catch a ball?” he directed at Paul.

  “It was coming at me so fast, the only thing that would have stopped it was my face.” Paul lost his cool, his voice rising to the same level as his fathers.

  “Rather that than my windows.” Michael sniped back.

  “Nice.” Paul retorted, “Told you it would be my fault.” He said to Matt.

  “Dad,” Matt stepped between Paul and Michael. “I hit the ball so hard there was no way he could have caught it, he’d have broken his hand if he had, this isn’t Paul’s fault.”

  “I do not understand why you feel the need to defend him Matthew.” Michael bellowed.

  “We fucked up Dad, we didn’t deliberately set out to break the window.” Paul shouted resulting in Michael removing his belt.

  “I’m told I can’t leave visible marks on you boys, doesn’t mean you won’t be punished, I’ll leave it up to you to decide who goes first” he turned toward his desk to await his first victim.

  Matt and Paul faced each other both of them had expected this. Paul shot his brother a wry smile before prising open the button of his jeans.

  “Sorry.” Matt murmured.

  “It’s ok,” Paul grasped his brothers’ shoulder and squeezed “I pity the fielders of the other cricket team.” He finished as he stepped up to Michael’s desk and dropped his jeans to the floor.

  The following evening, the twins were hustled into Michael’s car having been told in no uncertain terms that they couldn’t be trusted alone in the house and so they would both attend Matt’s parent/teacher meetings.

  “I don’t even go to school any more.” Paul complained as he adjusted his seating position, favouring his left cheek as the right side of his behind had taken the brunt of Michael’s beating.

  Monica turned in her seat to look at him. “Do you really think your attitude is the best course of action?” She asked “Given recent events, I think it may be prudent for you to keep your mouth shut.”

  “Why does it seem like the whole thing is my fault?” Paul hissed back at her.

  “Matthew got the exact same punishment you did.” Monica replied.

  “Really? Funny that because my arse cheeks seem to be far more painful than his.” Paul scowled.

  “I just have more muscle on my bum than you.” Matt nudged him “Shut up dude or we’ll get more.”

  Arriving at the school, Paul suggested that it might be a good idea for him to stay in the car;

  “If I were to
allow that, what are the chances that you would have disappeared by the time I return?” Michael asked, holding open the back door of the car and glaring at his son.

  Paul shrugged and unfolded himself from the back seat .“The chances would be pretty high.” He admitted.

  “That’s what I thought.” Michael slammed the door and locked the car “You stay in my line of sight at all times, do you understand?”

  “Yes Dad.” Paul mumbled.

  Paul managed to keep himself in Michael’s peripheral vision throughout the evening and gave his father no course for further repercussions. He became uncomfortable as Matt led their parents towards the science labs but knew if he asked to wait outside the room that it was likely to arouse more suspicion than if he accompanied them into the room and did his best surly teenager act.

  Entering the room, he felt his temperature rise and his groin tighten at the sight of her. She looked good enough to eat in that sweater, it was deep red and Cashmere, he knew that because he had bought it for her, he didn’t remember the fit being quite as snug though, she had coupled it with black jeans that clung to her shapely legs and bottom and had him mentally kicking himself for staring. He hadn’t seen or spoken to her since Sunday and he was hungry for her company.

  Carmen looked up from her pile of student files and smiled;

  “Mr and Mrs Jensen, so nice to meet you, please take a seat. Matthew, sit there.” She gestured to the chair in the centre of the two adults “Oh, hello Paul, I haven’t seen you here for a while.” she at last acknowledged his presence.

  “Hi Miss.” Paul answered making brief eye contact with her, memories of the way he pursued her and teased her in this very room flooding back. Shoving his hands into his pockets, he moved over to the work benches by the window, keeping himself in Michael’s sight at the same time as he turned his back on those present and pretended to look out onto the school grounds.

  There was quite a lot of discussion over Matt’s work, from what he could gather from the snippets of conversation he could hear, Carmen was telling his parents that Matt’s work had suffered since Paul had left school and he had dropped several points in his grade average which surprised him as Matt had always been the one who was far more interested in science but thinking about it, they had bounced ideas off each other, their differing personalities covering every angle of the problem presented to them.