The End Where I Begin (Book Four of the Glen Power Series)

Chapter 15

“No!”

The word screams out of me at a frightening speed. But not as quickly as it does Mark's. I can see the veins in his neck throbbing with the force of his anger. I'm pretty sure that my own heart is beating just as rapidly...

Glen just sighs and holds his head in his hands as the spew of abuse from Mark's mouth batters against him. I've never heard him say things like this. I block it out, every venomous word and offensive name that he throws at my husband. Praying that it will stop soon. That this whole fucked up situation will end...

“What other choice do we have, Mark?” Glen eventually manages to say.

“You can take her with you!”

“I can't take her on the plane. You know that.”

“Why the fuck not?! It's not as if...”

“I already spoke to the doctor. The change in pressure could not only damage the babies, but could make the ulcer rupture in shock. I'm not taking that risk.”

“Then go on the ferry!”

“I need to get there quick. I can't go pissing about with the ferry.”

“Surely it can wait a couple of hours...”

“No, dude, it can't.”

“What the fuck could be so important...”

“My family.”

He need say no more. Glen's a big family man. Whenever he gets the chance, he goes back to visit his family in Ireland. And to hear that there's something happened back at home for him...

“Glen, you can't ask me to do that,” I say slowly. “I know how much your family means to you, but...”

“I'm doing this to save your life,” he snarls.

“But I don't want to do this...”

“Didn't stop you throwing yourself at him earlier, did it?”

“What about Mark, then? He doesn't want to do it either.”

“That's bullshit.”

“What?!” I hear Mark roar before he's on his feet. Shit. We've lost him.

“You can't say stuff like that, Glen,” I try to say rationally, but Mark cuts me off quickly.

“You have no right in telling her that she has to sleep with me,” he snarls at Glen. “I have a say too, you know. I mean, has anyone even thought of my feelings on this matter?”

“Mark...” I hear Rina try, but he's having none of it.

“You turn to her and tell her all of that like I'm not even here! And you come to this conclusion between you without even thinking of asking me 'oh, hey, Mark, would you mind?' You think that just because it's me that I'm going to just brush it off and roll with it! I'm sick of it! I'm sick of all of this! I am not some toy that you can pass around! I have feelings too! And no one, no one, gets to tell me how to use them!”

“Mark...”

“Just because you've come swanning in all heroic and shit does not mean that you get to control this situation! You are no more important that any of us! You're the one who can't control your wife! So why the hell do you think that you get the right to bark orders at us?!”

“Mark, please...”

“And then you have the fucking nerve to say that I enjoyed this!”

“I never said that,” Glen snarls at him. “I never said anything of the sort.”

“Don't fucking lie, you said...”

“I said that it was bullshit. That the idea of you not wanting to help was bullshit. Because I know you would do anything to keep Emie from harm. I never said anything about you enjoying what happened earlier. You're putting words in my mouth.”

“Yeah...well...I...” He's stuttering. Flustered. And it's only made worse when Glen gets right up in his face. What the hell is going on with him?

“But while we're at it, yeah, actually. Come to think of it, you did seem to like having her straddling you. Far too much for my liking.”

“You don't know anything...”

“You were pitching a tent big enough for the four of us!”

I see Mark's mouth moving as he tries to find a way to explain himself. His face has gone a dangerous shade of red as he fails to utter a single word. The longer he stands there, the angrier Glen seems to get. Eventually, he manages to straighten himself out and conjure up a reply.

“You know damn well that means nothing. I've been walking down the street and it's stood to attention. Doesn't mean that I'm sexually excited by the road, does it?”

“So the fact that you had Emie pushing down on your crotch did nothing for you, did it?”

“Why were you so concerned with me, anyway? Shouldn't you have been more concerned that your wife was basically trying to fuck me without my consent?”

“Concerned is a fucking understatement.”

“So why are you dragging me into this? When it's got nothing to do with me?”

“Mark, stop acting like a fucking child!”

Rina's voice cuts through the argument, bringing them both to a dead halt. Glen's eyes close as he tries to hold in his anger, whilst Mark's dart over to her. The panic on his face is painful to look at.

“Rina...”

“No, Mark. I mean it. You're acting like a three-year-old. Glen has just told you that your best friend is on the edge of killing herself, and all you can think of is how badly you've been made out to look?”

“That's not...”

“I, quite frankly, don't give a shit if you enjoyed it or not. That isn't the issue here. The only thing we need to think about is how to keep Emie alive. If that's through sleeping with you whilst Glen is away, then you know what? I would want you to jump at the chance. Just think, Mark. What would you do if Emie died? And you knew that you had the chance to save her?”

His eyes shift to me and I see the thought cross his mind. Tears well up and they drop to the ground in shame.

“I don't want to hurt you,” he mumbles.

“If hurting me means keeping our best friend with us, then I don't care. Do you want me to beg you, Mark?” He shakes his head. “Then do this. For us. For them. For us all.”

He falls back onto the settee, covering his face with his hands. He doesn't move for a while. I have no idea what's going through his head. But eventually, I see him nod. That is not the answer I wanted.

“Well I don't give a shit what any of you say,” I pipe up, getting all of their attention all at once. “You can talk about me like I'm not here. But guess what? I am here. And I get a say in this. I'm not doing it.”

“You won't have a choice when the hormones kick in...”

“I don't care. I'll fight it. I'll lock myself away. I'll do anything. But I'm not cheating on Glen. I won't do it.”

“Babe...”

“I won't do it.”

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A/N - So this was a tough chapter to write. What do you think of it? Let me know! Not much to say tonight. So tired...So yes. Vote, comment, do your thing. Much love guys x