Circle of Deception

by Skye, M.

  “Where are you going?”

  “To do what I should have done long ago, but first I need to speak with our daughter alone.”

  Completely caught off guard by her actions, Emilio just followed Maria out of the library and plopped down on the couch in the living room. He saw her walk up the stairs to Meg’s room and didn’t know what this was all about. Just before disappearing to the top of the stairs, she gave him a quaint smile that further confused him.

  He wasn’t sure what to make of her odd behavior, but he knew she had their daughter’s best interest at heart. If she was feeling like things were not as they seemed, then she was probably right. In all the time he had been married to Maria, her gut instincts were usually dead-on.

  When Maria reached the door to Meg’s room, she paused and took a deep breath before entering. Her nerves were in overload as she slid her hand over to push the door open. When she saw Meg, Gio, Maddie and Emily all intertwined in the bed together, she almost broke down in tears at the sight. She was so glad they had been such great support in her time of need.

  Looking at them gave Maria a sudden urge to slide herself on the bed and wrap her arms around all of them. Their warm, inviting smiles made her heart melt, and she indulged herself in their warm embrace. After what seemed like an eternity, she broke herself free from the perfect moment and sat up on the edge of the bed. Meg quickly came to join her and wrapped her arms around her shoulders, Meg was always able to sense when something was bothering her mother, and this time was no different.

  Maria’s now nervous behavior threw Meg for a loop. She was determined to get to the bottom of it, but she felt the need to be alone while she did so. “Do you guys think you could give me a minute alone with mom?” she asked without looking back at Emily, Maddie, or Gio. “I need to tell her some things in private.”

  After they voiced their agreement, they all got up and silently vacated the room to give them some much needed privacy. When Maria finally turned to face her, Meg saw all the apprehension on her face and got a bad feeling. She hadn’t seen her mother look that way since the day she told them she was leaving when they were teenagers. She didn’t know if she could stand to hear news like that again, especially at a time like this when she needed her so badly.

  “Whatever it is you can tell me, I see that something is wrong,” Meg said. She was quietly squeezing Maria’s hand to show her support. When Maria looked up and saw the concerned and loving look in her daughter’s eyes, she felt a sense of regret for making her worry when she had so much going on in her life.

  “This isn’t one of those talks sweetheart. I just wanted to see if you were okay and let you know that things might look bad, but there is always a silver lining.”

  “Mom I don’t understand, we all know what Alex did, there isn’t much he can do to rectify this,” Meg replied, with new tears forming in her eyes.

  “I know he hurt you, and he was wrong to do so, but are you sure you can just give up on him? I see the way you are with him and how he worships you, can you toss everything he meant to you aside and still be happy?” As hurt as she was, Meg couldn’t lie to her mother. There was still a part of her that wanted to forgive Alex and try again, but the stubborn part of her wouldn’t make it easy.

  “I want to tell you a story about a man I once thought I loved before your father. Maybe it will give you a new perspective on how to deal with all of this,” Maria said, while stroking the stray hair from Meg’s face. With shock written all over her face, Meg lifted her eyes to be level with her mother as she began her story.

  “I met him when I was sixteen, long before your papa. We were children then, and I thought it would last forever,” Maria explained while fidgeting with her wedding band. “Things were wonderful during the first two years, he was charming and everything I thought I wanted in a man. He wined and dined me like I was a princess was taking me places I had never gone. He was my first,” she admitted with a small giggle.

  “If things were so wonderful, then what happened?” Meg asked anxiously.

  On hearing Meg’s inquiry, Maria’s expression went grim. “He married another woman. I was nothing more than a cheap fling to him and he didn’t have the decency to tell me. I found out by reading their wedding announcement in the newspaper,” Maria choked out while holding back her tears.

  “Wow. What are the odds that we would both end up in love with men who betrayed us so deeply?” Meg asked angrily.

  “My darling you misunderstand, our situations couldn’t be more different. Alex loves you unconditionally, and this man was out to use me.” Before continuing her story, Maria took a deep breath and crossed her hands over her legs.

  “When I broke things off and tried to move out of the apartment we had together, he became violent and refused to let me leave. I was shocked, he had never hit me, but after that, the beatings became a nightly ritual until I wound up in the hospital.” Meg was taken aback, she would have never guessed that her mother had been abused, she was always such an untroubled spirit.

  The room was dead silent for a few minutes. While Meg took in everything her mother revealed to her, she was at a loss for words. Maria had never planned to share her battered past with her children, but for some reason she felt compelled to tell Meg.

  “What happened after the hospital trip?” Meg asked, breaking the silence.

  “I met a man that offered to help me out of the situation if I wanted out. I explained to him how scared I was and how my family moved back to Brazil and I was alone; he told me everything would be okay. He got me away and I met your father shortly afterwards, so everything worked out.”

  “Who was he?”

  “Who he was is not important, I just wanted you to know there could be a much worse situation. Alex loves you enough to let you leave to figure things out, I just suggest you take some time to weigh things out before you write him off. People make mistakes, but don’t let this one cost you the only man you have ever loved,” Maria said and stood to leave the room.

  “Where are you going?” Meg asked when she saw her heading towards the door.

  “I have something to attend to, I will be back as soon as I’m done,” she replied and smiled at her brightly.

  “Mom,” Meg called out before Maria disappeared down the stairs. “I love you.”

  “I love you too Meg,” Maria replied and disappeared into the darkness of the stairwell. Maria’s assumptions had been dead-on, her story did inspire Meg to think about things long and hard before she ended things completely.

  Alex was the only person she ever loved, and he was the only man she had been intimate with. How was she supposed to just walk away from all that history over a drunken mistake made in college? He had more than made up for it since they reconnected, but would she be able to stomach being around Bianca and Allison the rest of their lives? She knew Allison wasn’t to blame, but she would be a constant reminder of Alex’s indiscretion.

  ***

  Downstairs, Emilio was patiently waiting for Maria to reappear and tell him what this oh so important mission was. He was becoming increasingly irritated, he had been thinking about what she had said to him earlier. His previous anger at Alex was replaced with a sense of doubt about the true events of the night Allison was conceived. He had never known Alex to be so irresponsible; he knew Meg meant the world to him, and this just made no sense.

  When he looked up and saw Maria coming down the stairs, he got a sudden urge to walk up and wrap his arms around her. He didn’t know what came over him, maybe it was the argument they had earlier, but he just needed to feel her warm embrace. She fell into his arms willingly and let out a sigh of relief while resting her head on his shoulder. Moments later, she was out of his arms and heading for the door, with her purse in hand.

  Emilio was still confused about where she was going, he was just hoping it wasn’t like when she took off before because they didn’t see her for months after that. Before she could successfully make her exit, he called
out to her. “When will you be back?”

  “I won’t be back until I have accomplished what I need to, please don’t wait up, this could take all night.”

  Her answer was vague and he had the sneaking suspicion that he wasn’t going to see her again for a while. He hoped she wouldn’t do this, but he had come to understand that she was just unreliable when it came to staying. “You just remember that our daughter needs both of us. If you’re not going to be here for her then maybe you should pack up and take your ass back to Brazil,” he replied and stomped off angrily, leaving her standing at the door alone. His attitude hurt her more than she could explain, had she really reduced her family into believing she was incapable of being there when they needed her the most?

  As she made her way to her car, she thought about her fight with Emilio, his callused attitude about her dedication was disheartening. She thought for sure they had all forgiven her, but he clearly still had resentment towards her and she couldn’t blame him; she had done it to herself when she ran out on them.

  Emilio had taken on most of the parental duties where their children were concerned, and he never voiced any complaints. He had always given so much of himself to the girls and Gio and never faltered in his love for them. She loved her family, but if she would have stayed the results could have been disastrous. She had to protect them from her bad choices at all costs, even if it meant letting them go.

  Within fifteen minutes, she arrived at her destination with fear flowing through her veins. Was it possible that she was making a huge mistake? Should she just pack up and head back to Brazil and stay away for good? She felt like the current mess was bad karma coming back to punish her by ruining her children’s lives.

  While pondering her decision, she was startled to look up and find someone looking through her car window watching her intently. It was then that she realized things would never be right, until she righted a wrong over twenty years old. As she followed the guard through the gate, she looked back and exhaled deeply, she knew this was not going to be an easy task.

  Chapter 8

  True Intentions

  A whole month had passed since Meg moved out and she found herself sitting in her office at work staring at the ceiling. She had been going over some big pitch her junior execs had proposed, but she was finding it hard to concentrate. After thirty minutes of leafing through everything, she decided to wrap things up to get ready for her plans for the day.

  She had seen Alex several times since she moved out, and every time she had mixed emotions about him. One moment she wanted to walk away and never look back, and other times she wanted to fall into his arms and make love to him. Her emotions were all over the place, and so was her weight. She had lost almost ten pounds, and then gained it all back plus two pounds within a week. Her appetite would come and go and she was feeling like a shell of her old self.

  It didn’t help matters that she hadn’t heard from Maria since the night of the party. She thought for sure after their little bonding moment that she had every intention of sticking around this time, but neither she nor her sisters had heard from her. This wasn’t uncommon with Maria; over the years she had shown them on multiple occasions that Emilio was the full-time parent and she was seasonal.

  The realization hurt more than Meg could admit, but she kept it all to herself. Her sisters and friends were being wonderful, but she didn’t have the one person she always thought she would be able to confide in. Alex always understood her issues with her mother because he had problems with his father, and he never judged her for pining for a love she feared she would never have.

  She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn’t hear Melia walk in with Cienna and sit down in the chair in front of her. It wasn’t until she heard Cienna giggle that she realized they were there. “And just what are you laughing about auntie’s little giggle box?”

  “You look funny,” she replied while stifling her laughter. Meg smiled at the silly observation her niece made and found her way around the desk to give her a hug.

  “You are getting so big, pretty soon you’re going to be driving me around. So what did you plan for our girl’s day out?” she asked while stroking Cienna’s long brown locks.

  “Mommy said the beach,” she responded with a huge smile on her face.

  “Oh did she now?” Meg asked while giving Melia a side eye.

  “Yes me and my new cousin.”

  She had been around Allison several times and she had to admit she was quite fond of the little beauty. She was a charming little girl, very polite and well behaved. She reminded her so much of Alex it wasn’t funny. She possessed his natural charm and she was the splitting image of him with her long blond locks and dazzling blue eyes. For some reason, Meg felt drawn to the little girl. She could never explain it, but it was as if she had known her whole life.

  Allison took to Meg instantly, and she could tell it pissed Bianca off. Meg still had the suspicion that Bianca wanted Alex, but he made it clear where his heart was. Despite his protests, she just couldn’t bring herself to take him back just yet, the wounds were still too fresh. When Melia saw the faraway look on her face, she felt a sense of guilt for suggesting that they all spend the day together.

  “You know Meg if you don’t feel comfortable then we can just do this some other time, I know this might be hard for you.”

  “It's fine, I will be okay. So what time are we meeting Bianca and Allison?” she asked, trying to sound as enthusiastic as she could for Cienna’s sake.

  “Well actually, Bianca is not coming, it’s going to be just us. Alex is dropping her off,” she replied and waited for the blowup.

  “That sounds perfect,” Meg replied and threw her off.

  “Wait, you’re okay with all of this? I thought once I told you Alex was coming, I was going to be ducking a flying stiletto.”

  “Well thanks for the vote of confidence, but I suddenly feel better about today knowing Bianca isn’t going to be there,” she replied smugly.

  “Well this is a change of attitude, do I sense a reunion?” Melia asked hopefully.

  Before she got into the conversation with Melia, Meg decided to buzz her secretary in to take Cienna down to the day care. She felt like their conversation was too much for her three-year-old ears. Once Cienna left the room, Meg started in instantly about the predicament.

  “You know sis I don’t know where things are going with us. One day I feel like I can handle it, and the next I want to rip him in half. I’m an emotional wreck and I don’t know what I want.”

  “You’ve been through a lot in these past few months, I couldn’t imagine being in your situation. I would be a total basket case, and Matthew would be in a coffin. You have been so strong throughout this whole ordeal,” she replied and grabbed her hand.

  “I feel like a basket case,” Meg laughed.

  “You just have to figure out what you want. I for one know that you will figure it out like you always have,” Melia replied and squeezed her hand.

  “You don’t know what your faith means to me,” Meg said and smiled the biggest smile she had displayed in the past month. “You know, you have been exactly what I needed during this time. You and Cici have made me feel better.”

  “I’m glad we could help, but if we don’t get out of here soon we are going to have one unhappy little girl on our hands.”

  “Don’t you mean two?” Meg asked and smiled.

  “I hadn’t told you, but I’m proud of the way you are with Allison, not many women would be so open to accept her. You are one of a kind big sister.” Melia wrapped her arms around Meg’s shoulders as they made their way out of the office.

  ***

  Over at Ben and Melissa’s house, Alex was picking up Allison for their first beach adventure with her aunt Melia, and she was ecstatic. “Daddy, it’s going to be fun! I’ve never been swimming before.”

  He loved seeing her beautiful smile. “You are going to enjoy yourself with your cousin Cienna and your aunts
,” he replied jovially. In the short amount of time he had with her, he had fallen in love with her. She was such a sweet and beautiful little girl.

  “Aunt Meg is coming? I can’t wait to show her my new bathing suit,” Allison exclaimed with great excitement. Alex delighted in the fact that Allison and Meg got along so well, he was hoping this would be a stepping-stone for them to get back together. He had been patiently waiting for Meg to come back, but his patience was wearing thin. He wanted her back, and he was determined to make it happen.

  When Alex heard Bianca make her way into the room, he exhaled deeply and tried to hold on to his good mood. He wasn’t pleased that she was living at his parents’ house, but it meant he could be close to his daughter so he didn’t protest. Honestly, he wished she would just give him full custody and crawl back under whatever rock she came from.

  The whole time he had been getting to know them, she showed very little interest in being a good mother to their daughter. She was disconnected when it came to her, it was as if she didn’t know much about her own child. No wonder Allison latched on to Meg and Melia, they paid more attention than her own mother.

  Alex looked on as Allison bounced around trying to show her mother the new bathing suit, and her lackluster response was enough to make him want to gut punch her. How could she be so insensitive to her daughter’s obvious plea for attention? He was just about to give her a piece of his mind when Melissa walked into the room and stole his and Allison’s attention.

  “Granny look what daddy got me,” she said and spun around.

  “You look precious, come and give your Gran a hug before you leave,” Melissa said and extended her arms. As angry as he was with his mother, Alex had to admit she had a way with her grandchildren, they adored her.

  Alex was glad for the distraction; this gave him time to pull Bianca off to talk about what he had been considering for the past few days. When he pulled her into the library, she looked surprised, but came willingly. He didn’t know how to broach the subject, but he had to get it off his chest, so he just went straight to the point.