Breaking The Ice

I Need A Sponge For My Tears

(A/N) I apologise so so much, I have been preoccupied with reading. Btw, Les Miserables is a really good book, people don't write books like this anymore. Anyway, I would probably be posting a sneak peek of a new story soon, it's called Jeopardy. Check it out when it comes out! And thank you so much for reading this story, you guys are so lovely!

Chapter 12

'No, no, I will be there,' Ryan said, entering the living room. a phone pressed to his ear. I gave him an annoyed look, I didn't need his loud voice interrupting my thoughts. He snapped his finger at me, placing a hand over the phone speaker and said in a hushed tone, 'Oi, Becky, go get me a pen,' and continued speaking into the phone.

'Why would you need a pen?' I muttered, flipping through the TV channels.

Ryan glared at me and hissed, 'Because I'm feeling rather lonely and the only option for a date is a freaking pen to fandango with and if you don't get me one, I'm eating your slice of cake.'

'Jeez, I could do without the sarcasm,' I said and finally got of the couch and went in search for a pen. Problem was, of all the dozens of pens lying around the house, none had ink in them. Being the younger one had its disadvantages, the elder one gets to boss you around. 'Hang on! I'm finding you a pen, you pestiferous idiot,' I yelled at him and glanced at the door which was dad's study room. It was pretty much under the category "Out of limits" because it was where he did all his business. But if I didn't get Ryan a pen, he would definitely eat my cake, and I loved my cakes.

I knocked on the door. There was no answer - dad wasn't around. I twisted the golden brass knob and pushed the door open. A large mohagony desk sat in the middle of the room along with a Persian rug. The room was furnished with a couple of bookcases with encyclopaedias and ancient looking books arranged neatly according to their alphabetical orders.

I sneaked into the room carefully, spotting a green fountain pen on the desk and quickly snatching it up. I was about to get out of the room when something caught my eye - the papers scattered across the table - and I sat myself down on the leather seat, switching on the lamp light. The papers were no doubt unfinished work that dad was going through, another one of his clients. The thing that screamed for my attention was only a word: Haynes. I plucked the paper from the desk and scanned through it thoroughly. It was a piece of document, a divorce paper between Branson Lee Haynes and Laura Lucia Acardi to be exact.

It kinda felt like getting hit in the face with a giant pillow, it took a moment for everything to sink in, the effect wasn't immediate. I blinked a couple of times as the paper slid through my fingers. My dad's client was Daniel's father himself, that was how he knew my dad, and probably the reason why my dad was home in Maybrooks.

I stared hard at the documents, as if willing the names to change but it didn't. It stayed the same, every single paper on the desk had their names on it. For a moment, I was tempted to crush the papers and bury them deep in the wastepaper basket.

The front door slammed shut at that time and I quickly snuck out as soon as dad got home. I gave Ryan his pen and he took it without a word. Ungrateful brat.

For once though, I didn't make a fuss about that. Ryan and I used to argue over really pathetic insignificant things like which tasted better, apple juice or orange juice.

Instead, I went to my room and paced back and forth. Poor Daniel probably didn't even know about this crisis going on between his parents. A divorce could destroy a child. Looking at the current situation, I felt a huge amount of pity towards Daniel and made a mental note to be nicer to him.

I did what I thought was right. I dialed Daniel's number on the phone. 'Hello?' The moment I heard his voice, an overwhelming emotion surged over me and I started tearing up.