What You Left Behind

Chapter One

Chapter One

 

Julian

“Son, are you on your way?” his father asked over the phone. Julian adjusted his black tie as he walked back to his taxi, waiting in the parking lot of McDonald’s. It was the last place he wanted to change but he wasn’t going to change inside of Melbourne airport, he’d have the federal police banging on the stall door.

“Yeah, Dad. I’m just walking to the taxi as we speak. Changed inside of Macca’s and I’m on my way to the wedding now. Have I missed much?” He held his phone tighter as he opened the taxi door, placing his carry-on bag on the seat and slipping inside.

“Noel and Clara have just signed their marriage certificate,” his father, Arthur, informed. Julian nodded at the taxi driver and the taxi pulled out of the busy car park and onto the freeway.

“How’s she looking, Dad?” he asked as he put on his seatbelt and settled into the worn leather backseat. The heavy smell of eucalyptus had him winding the window down for fresh air. The summer breeze instantly hit his skin and provided relief for his nostrils.

“No words will do Clara justice, just too beautiful. It’s a shame you went to Sydney, son. You both were close when you were children.” Julian let out a groan.

“Dad, we were kids. I was never going to end up with Clara Parker.”

Clara Parker. It suits her.

There was a chuckle from his father. “I know, Julian. Can’t help but think Clara could have been the one that made you stay home instead of moving away. I just miss you, that’s all.”

Looking out the window, his eyes roamed his vision of Melbourne. Four years he spent away from his father and brother. For four years he had been running. But now he was tired. Life in Sydney became meaningless and the excitement of Italy wore off hours into his landing.

“How’s Noel looking?” Julian asked, changing the subject.

“Like he discovered the Holy Grail. Never thought in a million years I’d be seeing those two get married. It’s nice to see how love pans out.” He heard the smile in his father’s voice. His father was a firm believer of ‘True Love' and the sight of Noel and Clara was without a doubt giving his father some joy. But for Julian, love didn’t pan out to his liking. The one woman he had ever loved left him to wake up in a Thai villa, alone.

Love can suck my dick.

He stopped believing that damned word. That was until Noel and Clara. They had him believing that it could happen for him. Their love acting as a form of remedy to his poisonous hate for anything remotely related to love. Hearing that they got together was unbelievable but witnessing them made him believe. And believing was something he didn’t want to be doing. Four years of waiting for a woman who’d never return his feelings was far too long. Never getting a goodbye made him a non-believer.

“Is Rob around, Dad?”

There was a hum from his father before he said, “he’s with Stevie. I’ll just get him.” Julian rolled his eyes at the sound of her name. What Rob found in a woman named ‘Stevie’ he’d never know.

“Dip shit, hey! You on your way?” The playfulness in Rob’s voice had Julian’s mood improving.

“I’m about an hour and a bit away. Still chasing 'Steven'?”

“Her name is Stevie. And no. She wants nothing to do with me,” Rob grunted. Julian couldn’t help but feel a little bad for his brother. He knew how much Rob liked her and he knew his brother was hurt over their ending.