Secrets? Never.

22. Stars May Fall

"My name is Emily Thorne"
"To chance meetings"
"I'm falling in love with you"
"My parents died when I was a kid"
"I'm pregnant"
"I was shot by Lydia Davis"

People lie; it's a fact. It's been proven time and time again, someone puts their trust in another person, and that person is almost guaranteed to lie at some point. They might just lie a little, insignificant lies, white lies, little things that don't seem to mean anything, because they're, well, little; until you realise they're not true. They also have the potential, though, to be big, fat, whopping lies about the most basic things you could ever come to know about someone. Their name, their origins, their motives and agendas, their heritage, their feelings, their families, their parents, and just about anything else you can think of. People are polycephalic. They've got two faces, and more to spare. As Hamlet said to Ophelia in Shakepeare's 'Hamlet', ''God has given you one face, and you make yourself another.'' They could be your mother, your father, your sister, your brother, your grandparent, your best friend, they could be the milkman, or the owner of the local shop; people lie, they deceive, they falsify, it's just the reality of the situation.

Daniel knocked ever so lightly at the glass of Nolan Ross's back door, looking through to see if he could spot anyone inside. There was a light visible to him, emanating from one of the rear rooms, from which none other than Nolan Ross emerged, eyes red and raw, and carrying a crumpled up tissue. He looked decidedly disheveled, clothes creased and tear-stained; yet his face still bore the ghost of a sad smile. After fiddling with the lock, Nolan opened the door and whispered listlessly at Daniel, still with the same ever-so-sad smile on his lips ''I think I know why you're here Danny Boy'', he beckoned to Daniel to follow him into the house. ''Emily told me she wanted you to know, to know everything.'' He opened a safe behind a painting, and removed a wooden box with Emily's double infinity tattoo emblazoned on its lid. ''This is everything; what she did, how she did it, and why.'' As Daniel took a seat and began to sift through everything Emily once held dear, Nolan offered ''You know, she really loved you. She never meant for you to get hurt, and she most certainly would've been the one to be telling all of this to you if it had been up to her.''

Daniel looked up from the box, right into Nolan's eyes, and quietly murmured, ''Tell me everything.'' 

And so, Nolan proceeded to regale Emily's tale of love, loss, and vengeance as Daniel looked at the images of her 'take-downs', each with a red cross drawn through their respective faces. He told her about the meticulously crafted alias that was Emily Thorne, and how she inserted herself into his life, before picking apart that of his parents little by little, until Isabella was born, when she'd put it all aside.

''You know she told me her parents died in a car crash when she was nine.'' Daniel whimpered. ''I know. I was, after all, the one who helped her keep her story straight all these years.'' ''And so it was her fath- it was David Clarke who helped you to fund Nolcorp?'' Daniel asked. Nolan let  out a pitiful excuse for a chuckle, ''Yeah, he's the one who helped me up into my ivory tower.''

"You know what? I'm not even mad. The secrets, the lies, the vendetta; none of it hurts as much as the thought of waking up without her, every day, for the rest of my life." Daniel started to break down, with his head falling to his lap as he crumpled into tearless sobs. Nolan, not being overly adept at comforting the bereaved, could only muster a half-hearted reply of, "Well I hope knowing is of some conciliation", accompanied by a few pats on the back as Daniel tried to pull himself together.

It was only when Nolan's words fully sank in that something in Daniel finally snapped. He roared, "Conciliation? This is no conciliation! We were robbed of a life together! We were supposed to grow old and grey with each other, sitting out on the porch, waiting for the kids to come by with our grandchildren. I've had that image in my head ever since Isabella was born; and the thought that I'll never get to live it hurts me." Nolan was completely outraged that this man, who he was only trying to help, would have the audacity to waltz into his house to shout and roar at him. "You think you're the only one hurt by this?! Have you ever been so sad that you wanted to cry, but no tears came out, so you just stare blankly into space, while feeling your heart break into pieces? 'Cause that's my world right now! She was my freaking rock! Through anything, and everything. And I was hers. So don't you tell me, about robbery, or loss, because you know nothing compared to all of the loss I've experienced on top of this." It was then Daniel's turn to feel outrage, ''I think I have a fair idea of it! I've been left with three kids to care for, no wife, and two parents in prison! Fair enough, your loss may be greater than mine, but don't belittle the loss my family has experienced. My children are going to have to grow up without a mother, and that's the real loss here; that's the real 'robbery'.'' Daniel was well and truly in tears by the time he choked out. ''They're not going to remember her voice, the way she made blueberry pancakes every morning before they went to school, even though it meant she had to get up an extra half an hour early, the way she had to kiss them all goodnight before she went to bed, or the fact that she gave up everything she worked towards in clearing her father's name, just to be a good mother to them; hell, Danny isn't even going to remember her face, he's only a damn baby! He's going to spend his whole life looking at pictures of her, and asking 'who's that?', and I don't know if I'll be strong enough to be able to explain it to him every time.''

Nolan was speechless. He hadn't even thought about the kids. That may have been extremely irresponsible, and, frankly, rather narcissistic of him come to think of it. ''Daniel, I'm so sorry.'' It was too late for apologies though, as Daniel stalked off with the infinity box, and a heavy heart, back out the glass back door of Nolan's house.

"Where is mom?" Sophia asked Daniel as he kissed her goodnight the next day. It wasn't that she didn't understand why Emily wasn't there, but rather a philosophical question of what exactly happens to us when we die. Luckily for Daniel, he knew exactly what Emily would've wanted hi to say."I'll tell you now what I'll tell you for the rest of your lives; she's somewhere, looking down on us, being infinite."

Yes, people lie, and, as Daniel had just discovered, it isn't always for the wrong reasons. It isn't always immoral. Sometimes it's for the right reasons. In the end, she even came clean about it all (he chose to discount the fact that it had been more than prompted by his mother - as per usual, their constant back and forth had interfered with his and Emily's relationship), he hoped she'd have told him about the box, even if she hadn't been bleeding to death right in front of him. Alas, such is life, and, by extension, death.

  © Sarah Egan 2015 This story is subject to copyright and may not be copied or reproduced without the express permission of the author.