C6 Chapter Six

Chapter Six

Pulp and I finished our round of Pool and then Harry came over to play. It was meant to be 'He played the winner' but Pulp won by a few points and then had to head home to get ready for this dinner tonight. I guess he lived far away or something, I don't know, I didn't ask.

The rest of the guys were busy doing their own thing, which was fine. I kind of like getting to know them all one on one, and now, I guess it was my chance to get to know Harry a little.

'’So, Are you married? Kids?’' I asked as he broke the balls. He held up his hand, revealing a wedding band.

'’I'm married but separated at the minute'’.

'’Oh, sorry to hear that’'. I took my shot and managed to pot a ball.

'’Nah, it's ok. My first wife died, my new wife refuses to keep her legs closed’'. I just stared at him, not really sure what to say. He chuckled seeing my confusion. '’She's an escort’'.

'’Ohhhh, Ok, I get it now... and that bothers you?’' Why would he marry her if her job was an issue for him? Surely that was her occupation when they were dating…?

‘'Well, Yeah, Kinda. I married her so she'd stop, she didn't. We were trying for a baby, but she lied about that too... there are a few issues we’re trying to work through’'. I apologised for asking, but he said it was ok. '’I had two kids with my first wife, Lizzy’'. He smiled, clearly remembering old, fond memories.

‘’How did she die?’’ As soon as I asked, I cringed at myself. ‘‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to pry... Obviously, if you don’t wanna talk about it...You don’t have to’’.

‘’No, it's ok, it was a few years ago, she, um… She was murdered’’. As soon as he said that, I couldn’t hide the emotions on my face. ‘’Yeah, heavy shit, huh?”’

‘’Yeah! Christ! I’m so sorry’’. He shrugged.

‘‘It's ok, the kids were too young to really remember, and now I’m married to Sarah, It's nice they have a mother figure around again’’.

'’Aww, that's sweet'’. He hmmm'ed and nodded and took his go, potting another two balls. '’Ah shit, you're gonna win’'. I told him, realising my defeat was inevitable. He suddenly turned smug.

‘'It's because I'm the best’'. We shared a chuckle and carried on playing.

As predicted, Harry won. I wanted to carry on playing, but it was time for everyone to head home. Ron came and said goodbye with his usual forehead kiss and the rest of them headed out, leaving me alone. I put the pool cue down on the table and decided to just have a look around.

There were posters and photos up everywhere. I got the feeling that the room behind the double doors was a private area so stayed out of there, but the rest of the club was a pretty public space, so, saw no harm in having a look around.

Most of the photos were just like the ones in my room, clearly taken at ‘family' gatherings or events that the guys had been involved in. There were some nice ones of the guys with their families... and then, I saw one, it was old, it looked dated and it was slightly hidden under a few other more recent things. I unpinned it from the wall to look properly.

Ron, Jemma, Alexander... and my mum.

I smiled looking at it. This was the first proper thing I had seen that made all this seem real. There was photographic evidence that my mum was here, and... she looked happy. Genuinely happy.

I wanted to steal the photo and keep it, but, would someone notice? It didn't look like anyone had touched it in a while. I'd put it back, but... until I left, I wanted to hang onto it. I looked to see if there were any more photos of her, but there wasn't.

I headed back to my room and sat down on the bed, Examing the photo more. There wasn't anything in the picture that would indicate something was going on between any of them, except Ron had his arms wrapped around Jemma. There were some bikes in the background and shadows that showed other people were clearly present when the photo was taken.

The more I looked at the picture... the more it hurt my heart to see my mum, and I didn't even realise I was crying until a tear hit the photo with an almost silent drop.

I knew pretty much nothing about her life before I came along. She never spoke about it... hence why I didn't know about Ron until I found the letters. I loved her and I know she tried her best and on some level, she loved me too. Just.. her best wasn't... the best.

Someone knocked at the open bedroom door and I quickly wiped my eyes to hide the fact I had been crying.

'’Hey, we're leaving soon. Be ready’'. Alexander almost ordered. I just nodded silently and stood up, turning my back until I could compose myself. '’What's the matter?’' He sounded like he genuinely wanted to know. I sniffed a few times and carried on wiping away any evidence of my tears.

'’N-nothing. Nothing'’.

'’What's this?'’ I turned around and saw he was holding the photo. '’Where did you get this?’' Ah, shit.

'’I.. um.. I found it out there, I was going to put it back, I just saw my mum and.. wanted to hold on to it for a bit’'. As he looked over the photo, he smiled, but it was a smile full of sadness. I walked over to him. '’I'm sorry, I really was going to put it back’'. Suddenly, it was like his whole entire face became void of emotion.

'’Keep it. We don't need that piece of shit hanging up in the clubhouse’'. He flung the photo back on the bed. I didn't know if he meant the photograph or my mum, but either way, I was offended. '’And hurry up. I don't like being late’'.

With nothing more, he left the room and closed the door behind himself.

What a fucking jerk!