dark paradise•conrad fisher

seven

AUNT JULIA WASN IN COUSINS. She was making plans to sell the house, and she wasn't going to stop. That's why Angela and Jeremiah were going to pay her a visit today. While they did that, Conrad was going to try and convince his dad, Adam, to help.

Angela never liked Adam. He cheated on Susannah in her worst moments, and he never treated the boys right either.

She could always tell that Laurel disliked him too.

They were in the red car again, a bit of silence overwhelming Angela and Jeremiah. He looked over at her with a smile.

"I'm sorry if I moved fast yesterday. I mean, it seemed like he was jealous in the pool," Jeremiah said.

Angela quickly nodded, knowing that Conrad wasn't just shutting her out, but he was shutting out his own brother too.

"You know, Conrad just pushes people away when he needs them."

Jeremiah seemed to agree, but also be more frustrated about it. "There's only so many times I can take being pushed. He's exhausting. I'm sure it's worse for you, Angie. He broke up with you at prom."

Angela felt that pit in her stomach. Conrad may have left her heartbroken in the pouring rain at prom, but she was technically partially responsible for the breaking up portion."

"That's not exactly how it went, Jere. He never said the words, 'I'm breaking up with you.' It may have been my fault that I lost him."

Jeremiah shook his head, looking at Angela with pleading eyes. "Please don't blame yourself. It's not your fault that you lost him."

Jeremiah parked the car, and Angela then climbed out. She held flowers that Jere had picked out; he figured flattery was a way to convince Julia to not sell the house. Jeremiah was always trying to impress everybody.

They walked up stairs, stopping when they saw the blue doors to Julia's house. Jeremiah knocked, Angela standing beside him.

She came to the door. Her blonde hair was curled, and she was in a dressier white top. There were small wrinkles in her face, and she didn't look very friendly.

"Julia! It's nice to see you!" Jere exclaimed, pulling her into a hug that she clearly didn't enjoy.

He fell back to his place next to Angela. "Conrad told me you were here! It's been so long, I just wanted to come and say hi."

Angela wanted to laugh so bad. Jere's act was so fake. Both of them knew they just wanted to scream at Julia for selling the house in the first place.

"Jeremiah, and uh..." Julia started, making eye contact with Angela.

"Angela, Angela Cortez. It's nice to meet you. I'm Charolette Cortez's daughter, she was a friend of Susannah and Laurel."

She had only talked about her mother because Julia didn't seem to know her. The words hurt as soon as they came out. Angela wanted to cry. Talking about her mother brought back all of the memories.

"Right. I'm sorry about your mother," Julia said quietly before turning back to Jeremiah. "It's been so long. You've... you've got my dad's eyes."

Jeremiah shot her a quick smile, gently grabbing the flowers from Angela's hands and handing them to Julia. "I got these hydrangeas for you from my mom's garden."

Julia frowned a bit. "Oh."

Jeremiah continued, "I was wondering if we could have a second to talk."

Julia immediately became a bit hostile. "Is this about the house?"

"Yeah," Jeremiah nervously laughed.

"I'm sorry, but I've decided to move ahead with the sale. Actually, we're going to have an open house tomorrow."

Julia was smiling like all of this was nothing- nothing. She didn't even care about Susannah or the boys.

Jeremiah looked like he was going to cry, so Angela intervened. "I'm sorry. But you have to know how much this house means to Jeremiah and Conrad. And me, and the Conklins. You've spent summers there, haven't you?"

She nodded. "A few."

Angela was looking at Jeremiah, not Julia. But she was speaking to Julia. "Then why would you want to let go of such a special and magical place?"

Julia cracked a smile. "I remember Susannah calling it that."

Jere was growing impatient. "I just don't understand how you can get rid of something your sister loved so much-"

"It's not personal," Julia spoke, cutting him off.

Jeremiah deathly glared at her. "Yeah, I bet," he said sarcastically.

Julia gasped a bit. "Are you suggesting that I gift the house to you?"

Jeremiah was going to be rude again, which Angela knew wouldn't work. "No, no, of course not," she insisted.

"Then I think you and your brother should sort this out with your dad. I'm certain that you have the resources, but I can't put off a sale while I wait for you to get your ducks in a row. I have to be back at work in a week; I barely got the time off as it is."

Jeremiah was skeptical, his anger growing at Julia every second. Angela's was beginning to grow aswell.

"So that's why you didn't make it to the funeral?" he asked trying to sound innocent.

"Something like that," Julia muttered.

Someone their age emerged from behind Julia. "Mom?" They were wearing a T-Shirt with a striped red and white jacket.

They and Jeremiah looked at each other with a sense of recognition. "Jeremiah?"

"Skye? I didn't know you were here."

Jeremiah looked down at Angela. "This is Angela. Her mom was close with my mom. She's my girlfriend."

Angela's eyes widened, forgetting that they were putting on a show for everyone; not just Conrad. Julia nodded with a slight smirk. "I saw that one coming."

Did she? Did everyone really think Angela looked like she was in love with Jeremiah? She wished she could tell everyone that he was the wrong brother for her.

Julia turned to Skye. "I thought you were working on the virtual tour for the open house."

"Oh, I just finished that."

Julia nodded. "Let's eat." She looked at Jeremiah and Angela, seeming to be eager to get rid of them. "Thanks for stopping by."

"Of course. Don't forget your flowers."

Julia took them off the porch. "Oh, thanks. Bye bye."

"Have a good rest of your d-"

Jeremiah was cut off by the door spamming in their faces.

Angela sighed. "Well that went well."