Their Escape

~4~

~4~



I walked back in the house in a daze. Mom and dad looked at me and said something but I only saw their lips moved. Matty helped me set down on the couch and I was brought out of t=my stupor when Savannah jumped in my lap. I looked down at her and started crying.



    “What’s wrong, mama?” she asked.

    “Nothing honey. Why don’t you go out back and play while mommy talks to grandma and granddad?”

    “Okay,” she said, jumping down.

    “Dani, go out with her and watch her,” I said.

    “Okay mom,” she said, following her sister.

    “Seth called,” Matty said.

    “What did he say?” mom asked, worry behind her eyes.

    “He said that I would be going back home with him. I’m afraid that if I don’t go back then he’ll threaten someone I love. I’m going to have to tell my lawyer tomorrow.”

    “No, you call him at home and tell him. I have his number,” mom said.

    “Mom, why do you have a divorce lawyers home phone number?”

    “Oh, it’s nothing. We go to the same church,” she said. “We plan a lot of the get togethers.”



After calling Kenneth, I was to let the phone go and purchase a prepaid cell. I asked the kids if they wanted to run to the store with me and they all piled in the car. I drove to the mall and let Dani and Matty go off their way, telling them to meet me at the front doors in an hour, while Savannah and I went to the closest cell phone kiosk. I was able to get a prepaid phone for only fifty dollars a month so I went ahead and bought two more, one each for the twins.

Savannah and I went to JC Penney and looked around. I was going to have to find a job soon and I thought that since I was here, I’d put in an application. When I finished the digital application, we continued roaming around. I came across a bunch of shirts in the mens section that had Jason’s face all over them. I stopped and picked a hanger up.



    “Mommy, he looks like Matty,” Savannah said.

    “Savvy, you know daddy isn’t Matty and Dani’s real father, right?” I asked.

    “Yeah,” she nodded.

    “This is their real dad,” I said.

    “I wish he was my daddy to,” she said, sadly.



When we walked out of the store, I saw Matt and Dani walking toward me. When they got closer to me, I handed them their phones.



    “Unlimited but that doesn’t mean you can be on it all day, every day. Do I make myself clear?”

    “Yeah,” they said in unison.



When we got back home, I felt a little better than I did before. I let the kids go for a walk around the neighborhood and after telling them to be back in half an hour, I went and laid down. I drifted off and started dreaming about the percussions of leaving Seth. It was not a pretty sight and I woke myself up screaming. Matty came running into the room and asked if I was okay. I assured him that it was only a dream and once he was satisfied, he left the room. I didn’t dare tell him what I had dreamt because it would only upset him and he was to young to be worrying about adult stuff.


                                      *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *


The next day, I was a worried mess. I didn’t go out of the house and I didn’t allow the kids to do anything. They were okay with it though because after mom and dad came back from their outing, they had bought a new Wii for them and a load of new games. I didn’t complain because they weren’t able to bring their’s when we left.

While they fought over what game they wanted to play, mom grabbed my hand and pulled me into the kitchen. She placed a doughnut in front of me and went to the stove to put on some tea. The last thing I wanted right now was anything to eat but to please my mom, I took a nibble from it. When the tea was done, she placed a tea cup in front of me and poured in the hot liquid.



    “Honey, you’ve got to eat something or at least get something to drink. You’re going to be in the hospital from dehydration.”

    “I’m fine, honestly mom.”

    “When was the last time you ate?” she asked.

    “We stopped at Mcdonald’s before we came over here yesterday. I’m just that hungry right now.”

    “You didn’t eat last night and as far as I know, you’ve not had anything today either.”

    “It’s just stress, mom. I don’t want to have any sort of confrontation with him. I’m not ready for that.”

    “You knew it was going to happen though. Melissa, your father and I have worried about you for so long. You hardly called, never came for a visit and we sat up here thinking that we did something. You should have got ahold of us.”

    “I couldn’t, mom. I regret the day that I agreed to go away with him. I wished I stayed and sucked it up, with or without Jason.”

    “Speaking of Jason, we saw him at Target today. Seems he’s quite a big deal. He had a bunch of girls around him wanting autographs.”

    “Yeah, apparently his career shot up when he was seventeen. I guess I can be thanked for that since I didn’t ruin his life with the news of him getting me knocked up,” I said.

    “Don’t be like that. I saw you two together. That first day he kissed you, I felt proud.”

    “You saw that and didn’t stop him?” I exclaimed. “Mom, I was so embarrassed when that happened.”

    “But you two were inseparable after that.”

    “Yeah, he got me pregnant to remember? That’s why I left to be with Seth. Jason’s manager told me that if I knew what was best for him, I’d leave and never tell him. You and daddy held your heads in shame and I couldn’t stand walking around knowing that i disappointed you all.”

    “Honey, the past is in the past. We have nothing to be ashamed of now and we loved those kids more than anything. And honey, Jason has a right to know about this.”

    “It will ruin his career, mom. I can’t do that to him.”

    “That;s up to you but I can guarantee that if you don’t tell him, Matty or Dani will,” she said, walking out of the kitchen leaving me by myself.



I knew what she said was true and I did owe it to Jason. If he chose that he wanted nothing to do with the twins, than at least I would have a clear conscious. I would have to find some way to bump into him again and really talk him into giving me a chance to explain.

After forcing my tea down, I told my mom that I was going to go back out to the mall today and get my hair done. I also hoped that I would by some chance, run into Jason. I don’t know what kind of schedule he has but he has to go out sometime, right. After getting dressed, the twins talked their way into going with me. When I asked Savannah if she wanted to go she flat out said that she was to young for the mall scene right now.

When we got to the mall, Matty went off his way while Dani stayed with me and asked if she could get lowlights put in her blonde hair. We got seen at the same time and after telling them to put in a dark brown through her hair, I went and had my hair done. I’d kept the same hairstyle for the last ten years so I was ready for something a bit more dramatic. I had eight inches cut off and then layered it. It was a lot shorter than I’ve ever had it but it looked good. I went ahead and had some blonde highlights put through and after the styling, I was very impressed.



    “Mom, it looks so good,” Dani raved when we were finished.

    “Thanks honey, yours does to,” I smiled. “Let’s go find your brother.”



We walked away together and she linked her arm through mine. We walked the whole ground floor looking for Matty and couldn’t find him. I even pulled my phone out and called his only to get no answer.



    “Use that twin connection you all use to do when you were kids,” I told Dani.

    “Mom,” she laughed. “It’s not like we’re telepathic.”

    “Come on,” I laughed.



We went up the escalator and heard a voice booming for the middle of the second floor. As we got closer, the more and more people started gathering. I was able to catch a glimpse of Matty’s dirty blonde hair and I started dragging Dani behind me. When we reached him, I touched his elbow and he nodded toward the voice. It was Jason standing there and I glanced to the side and immediately recognized the man standing there, proudly smiling up at his client.



    “Come on, Matt. Looks like some people let their fame go to their heads,” I said, grabbing his hand and pulling him along. When we got through the crowd, Matty stopped.

    “You have the perfect opportunity to try and talk to him and you’re just blowing it,” he shouted.

    “Matthew Thomas, you don’t talk to me like that,” I said, getting upset.

    “I’m sorry, mom. It’s just that when we least expect it, Seth is going to pop up and I’m scared,” he said.

    “Your grandfather will not let anything happen to me,” I said.

    “Well well well, look what we have here,” I heard a nasally voice come up behind us. I turned around and saw Tobias Franklin standing there with his arms crossed over his chest.

    “Tobias, wish I could say that it was nice to see you,” I said.

    “I thought I told you never to come back Miss Baber, or should I say Mrs. Whitman,” he smiled. I looked at him in disbelief.

    “How do you know who I’m married to?” I questioned.

    “Oh honey, I made sure that you were taken care of. I paid good money to make sure that you didn’t come between Jason and his career. Aren’t you glad? Look at him back there.”

    “Why you little, hermit,” I snapped.

    “So, I’m guessing Seth is around here somewhere, isn’t he?”

    “Well, if you paid good money, it must not have been good enough.”

    “Why do you say that?”

    “I left Seth,” I said, walking away from him with my kids following.



I was fuming by the time we stepped outside and when we got to the car, I let my fury out on the car. To bad the car didn’t let me do the damage I wanted and instead, I was on my way to the hospital because I was pretty sure tha I broke at least one finger. The entire way to the hospital, I bit back the tears and laughter. Matty was in the backseat laughing his head off because he said he’s never seen me get upset like that before and also said that if he knew that I had that much anger built up, I should have saved it for the next time I saw Seth. Dani was driving and almost in tears and I knew it was because I scared her.

When I got home, not only did I have two broken fingers but also sprained my wrist. I had to explain what happened and why we were out so late and after they had their time to laugh at me, I went to get Savannah ready for bed. When the kids were finally in bed, I went outside and sat on the porch swing. As I sat there and enjoyed the cooler air, I thought back to when I found out I was pregnant.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sixteen Years Ago

I was late, not just a couple of weeks but a couple of months. Mom took me to the doctor because even though I’ve always been irregular with my cycle, I’ve never gone more than a month without one. When they came back and told us the results of my pregnancy test, I looked at mom and started crying.



    “How could you do this to us, Melissa?” she cried when we got to the car.



I couldn’t say anything so I just sat there and cried silent tears. I loved Jason so I didn’t regret what we did. He was the best thing that came into my life and things just got to heated one night when his parents weren’t home.

When we got home, I was sent to my room to do my homework and told not to come out until my father came home. I went straight to my room and laid across my bed, ignoring my homework because it wasn’t that important right now. I guess in my sadness, I had fallen asleep because I was woken by my father kicking my door open.



    “You’re pregnant!” he shouted. “Did we teach you nothing? We taught you better than this, Melissa,” he said and then his look went cold. “I’m going to kill him,” he said quietly, walking from my room and into his. I knew that he had his gun in his closet so I jumped up and ran after him.

    “Daddy, please don’t,” I cried. “Please daddy!” I begged.

    “Why should I listen to you? You clearly didn’t listen to us?”

    “Because I lo... I love him, daddy.”

    “Love? What do you know about love? You’re fifteen. Lord, what is the town going to say about us when they hear about this? Our daughter laid down and spread her legs for some boy at fifteen. We’re going to be the joke of the town,” he said.



I looked at my father, the man first man I loved and the first man to protect me from all the bad in the world. It was like looking at some stranger. The only thing I could do was run out of the door. I ran to Jason’s house and saw that there was no lights on and then I remembered that he had a match tonight. I ran to the closest bus stop and waited.

When I arrive at the armory, I ran to the back. Tobias was standing there so he motioned for the body guards to let me through. He saw the tears streaming down my face and pulled me into his arms. He’s been Jason’s trainer for the past year and he’s been like a distant uncle to me so I felt comfort in his embrace.



    “What’s the matter, Melly?” he asked.

    “I need to talk to Jason,” I said,  simply.

    “He’s in an interview right now. I can’t let you back there. What is it that you need to talk to him about?”

    “Toby, if you don’t mind. It’s something I need to discuss with Jason,” I told him. He stared at me for a minute and then he stood up and punched the wall beside my head, causing me to scream.

    “Damn it!” he hollered and started pacing the floors. “Melly, please tell me that you are not pregnant. Please, with everything in me, tell me that you’re not.”

    “I... I can’t,” I squeaked.

    “I told him to be careful.”

    “Toby, please let me talk to him before the match starts.”

    “The match. His career,” he whispered. “Melissa, listen to me. Jason can’t know about this.”

    “But it’s his kid, his responsibility,” I protested.

    “Melissa, he is this close,” he said, holding his pointer finger and thumb barely apart. “This close of making his break. If this gets out that he got a fifteen year old knocked up at sixteen, it will ruin him. You don’t want that do you?” he asked. I stared back in his steely gray eyes before I eventually shook my head. “Good. Now, I want you to listen to me because I’m giving you two options. Option one, take care of it and stand behind your boyfriend for as long as you’re allowed,” he said. “Option two, leave town and never look back. Jason will have a long, successful career and you can have your baby but he is to never find out,” he said. “Ever.”

    “So, it’s either an abortion or just leave Jason behind, no explanation?”

    “That’s the only options, Melissa. You love him, don’t you?” he asked and I nodded. “Than don’t mess this up and prove to me, to yourself that you love him the way you do. Give him a chance to rise to stardom,” he said, patting my arm and walking into the conference room.



Just before the door shut, I caught it with my toe and looked in. There he was sitting at the front of the room and pointing to people and answering various questions. I could tell in his voice how much he wanted this so I made the decision right then, I would not be the one to mess it up for him. I turned on my toe and without a second look back, I walked out of the armory and out of Jason’s life forever.


*******************************************************************************

There's another chapter for you all and another treat as we look back into the past once again.

The next chapter (which I'll go work on as soon as this is posted), will open in the past where Seth finds her and gives her his option.

What do you think about the terrible Tobias??? I can't stand him but he plays a major role (as you can tell) by hiding this from Jason.



CAST DECISION:

Of course I'm keeping Jason "Mayhem" Miller as Jason Ryder.

I've come to a conclusion that the closest actress that has the looks that I'm looking for on Melissa is Katie Holes.

I'm still indesicive as to who I want to play Matty but the two options are Lucas Till and Alexander Lugwig. Who do you think would portray Matty better???

And I'm still pretty set on Annasophia Robb as Dani...

                                                                                   
If you have any more suggestions... shot it to me...

And as always... leave me some LOVE.....