RILEY HENDERSON @rileyxhenderson
The big irony of life is that when everything seems to be going okay –– when you're finally adapting to a place that you previously hated, or when the ratings of your show have raised in the previous month ––, it finds the most unexpected ways to get to you and to show you that happiness just doesn't last long... On that warm Friday afternoon, life's enormous ironic quip manifested itself in the form of a 2018 Lincoln Continental parked right in front of Kyle's apartment building. Not only was it strangely unusual to see that specific model of car in Westport, but it also reminded him of one particular person that refused to ride anything less. The clumsy parking, the window left half-open, typical of someone who didn't have to worry about their car getting stolen because they could buy a dozen of those, all pointing to that one person... Kyle immediately picked up his phone, before even walking into his building. 'Gerard is at my place.', read the text he sent Riley in a matter of milliseconds.
Kyle had always been one of those people that were hardly ever surprised. Usually, before something happened, his brain would already have considered all the realistically possible scenarios in the book and generated a way to deal with every one of them. But that was the problem with being a realist... Sometimes the impossible would happen and catch you abruptly off guard. And that was very much the case, at that moment. Having his father's car parked right outside his door had left him so astonished that he had no idea how to even greet the man. As a matter of fact, an encounter with Gerard was so unexpected that, up until that moment, Kyle was pretty sure that the next time he would see his father –– after their brief meeting in Atlanta, days after Kyle was rescued –– would be at his grave. Nevertheless, Kyle's brain had already come up with half a dozen explanations for his father's unannounced –– and unwanted –– appearance... None of which could have prepared him for what would happen in the following moments.
He took in a deep breath, trying to push back the rage that had started to heat up in his stomach, triggered by a myriad of memories that came flashing into his mind –– open palms against his cheek, closed fists against his jaw, glass breaking under his back... Another deep breath. Kyle was a grown man. Intelligent, mature, reasonable. Very much unlike his father. And that was leverage... Being able to deal with adversity in a way much better than his father. That was an advantage. And that was how he would face that meeting... Like he was in control. Because he was. Which was what Kyle kept reassuring himself of, as he climbed up the stairs all the way up to his apartment–– That he was in control.
As the distance to his apartment started to dwindle, he could sense the perfume in the air. Clive Christian's No. 1. Floral and sweet –– just as he remembered it from his childhood –– as if to disguise the thorns that his underneath the ever-so-preset charcoal-grey blazer and the black shirt... "Gerard––" Kyle announced, as he finally landed on the final step of the staircase. His father, who stood by the door, waiting for his arrival, immediately raised his head from his smartphone, his pretentious green eyes stared into his son's blue hues. "What brings you here?" Kyle's tone was somber and quite blunt, slightly denoting that he did not intend on inviting the man into his home.
"I would prefer if we could have this conversation inside, Kyle." His tone was quite polite, which was, of course, surprising.
This conversation? His father's choice of words left him uneasy. You're in control, he thought to himself. He took in another deep breath before approaching the door... He had been civil so far, something to which Kyle believed he could reciprocate. "I reckon Riley doesn't know about this." Kyle's voice still sounded cold and serious, as he placed his finger on the biometric lock. "Why did you come here?" And that last question had nothing to do with Gerard's visit to Westport, but with his choice of Kyle's place over Riley's.
"He would simply refuse to see me–– And even if he did, he might have had an... unbalanced reaction, if he heard it from me. " Hear what?!, Kyle wanted to ask, but he maintained his silence, just as he did about Gerard suggesting that his brother was "unbalanced"... It filled him with anger, the way Gerard talked about Riley, but Kyle had to be civil...
And, as much as he wanted to give Gerard a piece of his mind about not talking of Riley in that –– on any –– way, all he let out was a serene, "Well, he'll be here in a while. So, you either talk to the both of us, or you talk to no one, at all." He could feel his father's regretful breath on his neck as they walked into the apartment.
