After Arlington

Chapter 13: Francis

Yes, I hear you guys, I know you miss William and Chloe! William chapter due next week, and I hope it's worth the wait 😉

The sunrise was slow. It was like the sun was desperately freeing itself from the night, undergoing a battle in the sky as it blended from black to blue, and then to a burnt orange, the colors warring together into some kind of harmony.

It flickered across the surface of the gold loop in his hands, casting sparks to fly from the diamond when the light brushed it right.

Francis had truly failed.

Again, the thing he loved most had slipped from his grasp. There was no amount of apologizing or good doing that could fix it. She knew him the best, and that was why she would never return, never love him. He'd once thought it was what made them closest, that they both knew each other better than they knew themselves. But, it was what separated them.

It was the last chance he'd ever have to make her stay, before his world came crashing down and she'd find out what a mess he'd made. One last frantic attempt to make Lola love him.

He twisted the ring between his fingers, playing with the glittery reflection. It had once been gifted to his mother by his father. Before she killed herself, of course. She was one of the many things that haunted the Greene manor. The Greene family. Well, what was left of it at least. He wished he could blame her for the person he'd become.

Slowly, Francis rose to his feet, his eyes meeting the window. The sunlight he hadn't seen in days. In one motion he walked towards it, pulling the curtains firmly shut so he was again thrown into darkness.

Maddy Danton refused to leave his thoughts, and it made him hate her. He couldn't decide whether she made him furious or sorry. A sharp, suffocating guilt was clawing at him, its talons digging deep into his chest as she flashed through is mind. Her seductive laugh, the way her eyes would graze him carefully, almost fearfully. The hopeless tone as she'd spoken those words.

I had the baby. I had her.

There was a sharp knock at his door.

"Come in," Francis responded, not retreating from his stance by the now-closed window. He pocketed the ring, still fidgetting with it between his fingers.

Whoever had entered his bedroom was silent, the door closing behind them.

"You've missed one week of work."

Francis turned, eyeing his father in the darkness.

"Whatever is going on, you've had enough time to deal with it," he said. "You lost Delores Davenport a long time ago. Women shouldn't make you weak, Francis."

He swallowed, his muscles tensing involuntarily, as if he wanted to strike, to lash out in some way. His father was never good at understanding, though. His mind operated in business strategies and deals.

"She was always supposed to be mine," Francis murmured, his voice cracking.

"And one day she will be," his dad said.

Francis' gaze dropped to the floor. He knew that was something Lola would never want, not with the monster he was. He couldn't scare her into loving him anymore, she'd grown too far from him.

He couldn't decide whether he wanted her to be his, or whether he wanted her to be happy. She knew she could never be happy with him again, but maybe if she let him try—

"Clean yourself up and come to work today."

Francis took a deep breath. He didn't want to return to his Dad's office, pretending to show interest in balance sheets and management decisions. Not when he knew he was hiding something huge for his own supposed protection. Not when he hadn't managed sleep in days.