Sandi Lynn - When I Lie With You

“If you’ll excuse us, gentlemen, we girls need to use the ladies’ room,” Rory said.

While they were gone, I asked Colton what I could order Mandy to drink and I found it odd that he said water.

“She wouldn’t want a glass of wine or something stronger?” I asked the asshole.

“No. I don’t like her drinking,” he said as he ordered himself a beer.

I was getting irritated just looking at him and knowing what he did to Mandy. A few moments later, the girls came back to the table and sat down. Colton leaned back and put his arm around the back of Mandy’s chair. As I stared at the both of them, I could tell Mandy was nervous.

“Ian, I’m going to run up to the bar and order another cosmo,” Rory said.

“I’ll come with you. Can I get either of you anything? Mandy, would you like a glass of wine?”

“Dude, what did I tell you earlier?” Colton blurted out.

Mandy looked at me and shook her head. This asshole was pissing me off and it was taking everything I had in me not to jump across the table and knock him out of the chair. Rory grabbed my hand and led me to the bar.

“They got into an argument on the way here and he grabbed her wrist as hard as could and wouldn’t let go. She has bruises already, Ian.”

I shook my head as we grabbed our drinks from the bar and sat back down at the table. “So, how long have the two of you been dating?” I asked.

“About a couple of months. Right, babe?” he asked as he looked at Mandy.

“Yeah, a couple of months,” she replied.

I hated this guy and I couldn’t hold back anymore. “Those bruises Mandy has on her face are not very pretty,” I said as I leaned back in my chair.

“Yeah, man, I know. I can’t believe how clumsy she is sometimes.”

Rory put her hand on my arm because she knew what was coming next. “Mandy, let me see your wrist,” I said.

Mandy looked at me with fear in her eyes.

“Dude, what the fuck is your problem?”

“You want to know what the fuck my problem is,” I snapped as I stood up and grabbed him by the shirt. “My fucking problem is that you don’t know how to be nice to women.”

“You have two seconds to get your fucking hands off of me,” Colton said as he stared at me.

“Let’s take this outside,” I said as I yanked him out of the chair and dragged him through the bar.

Once we were outside, he got out of my grip and tried to deck me. I saw it coming and ducked, throwing him up against the brick wall with my arm pressing firmly against his neck. “You and Mandy are over and you are to never come near her again!” I yelled in his face. “You aren’t to call her, text her, or go to her house. I’ll have my men watching you and if I catch wind of you anywhere near her, I’ll kill you myself. Do you understand me?” I said through gritted teeth.

Colton couldn’t say anything. He stood there and tried to nod his head. I loosened my grip on him and pushed him away from the wall. “Now, get the fuck out of here.”

He looked over at Mandy, who was standing there in tears. “Do you want me to leave, baby? Do you want us to end?”

“Yes. Don’t you ever come near me again, you bastard!” she yelled.

He wiped his mouth on his sleeve and walked away. Rory ran and hugged me. “Are you okay?”

“Sweetheart, really?” I smiled. I walked over to Mandy and put my arm around her. “Come on; let’s go inside and get you a drink.”

* * *

I brought Mandy her second glass of wine. Jimmy saw us and walked over to the table.

“Hey, little lady. Welcome back.” He smiled at Rory.

I could tell she was slightly uncomfortable as she downed the rest of her cosmopolitan. “Are you going to play tonight?” he asked.

“No, I don’t think so.” She blushed.

I reached over and placed my hand on hers. “You should, sweetheart. Do it for me.”

Rory gave me a small smile, got up, walked over to the piano, and began to play. I sat there with a grin on my face, listening to every note.

“Very talented woman. Does someone in her family play?” Jimmy asked.

“Her father does,” I replied.

I noticed the way Jimmy kept staring at her. Almost as if he knew or recognized her.

“Is that so?” he asked.

Rory finished her song and came back to the table. When she sat down, I leaned over and gave her a kiss.

“That was nice, Rory.” Jimmy smiled.

“Thank you. If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to use the ladies’ room.”

I could sense something was wrong. Rory seemed upset and on edge. Mandy went with her to the bathroom and Jimmy walked away.

Rory

Mandy and I came out of the bathroom and started walking down the long hallway back to our table. I was startled when I heard a voice behind me.

“You look just like her.”

I stopped and told Mandy to go ahead and that I’d meet her at the table. I slowly turned around and stared down the hall at the man who was my father.

“Excuse me?” I said.

He started to walk slowly towards me. “Your mother. You look just like her.”

I looked down because I couldn’t look him in the eyes. “She’s dead, you know,” I blurted out. “She died when I was ten years old.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

And here it came, all the anger and resentment that was built up inside me unleashed itself.

“How would you know? Huh? You don’t know shit about me or Stephen.”

He looked at me as water filled his eyes. “Stephen is your twin brother?”

How did he know about that? I felt a hand on my shoulder. “Rory, not here,” Ian whispered.

I pulled away. “Was my twin brother. He just died.”

“What?” Jimmy asked in shock.

“He’s dead!” I screamed.

“I’m sor—” He began to speak and I instantly cut him off.

“Don’t. Don’t you dare,” I said through gritted teeth as I pointed my finger at him. “Don’t act like you care. You haven’t cared about us in twenty-four years. I found you for one reason and one reason only; to find the answer to the question that has haunted me my entire life.”

He stood there, nervous and without words. Ian placed both hands on my shoulders. “Sweetheart, let’s do this another time. This isn’t the place.”

“You want to know why I left. That’s your question,” Jimmy said.

Tears started to stream down my face. The conversation I had played over and over in my head for so many years finally came to life.

“I’ll tell you. But not here, and not tonight. My bar isn’t the place to discuss this. This needs to be done in private.”

“Then let’s take it to your office,” I said.

“Rory, we have Mandy out there, waiting for us. Let’s not do this now,” Ian spoke.

He was right. Mandy had her own problems tonight and I was sure she wanted to go home. “Fine, not here, not tonight,” I said as I turned around and looked at Ian. “I’ll leave it up to you to figure it out. I’m going out there to get Mandy and I’ll meet you outside. I need some fresh air.”

Ian nodded and kissed me on the head. I walked away from my father and didn’t even give him a second look. I wanted peace. I needed peace. But most of all, I wanted him to know how much I hated him for abandoning us. Peace in my life would never exist as long as I carried that around with me. I told Mandy that we were leaving and she followed me outside. As we waited for Ian, I figured I’d better tell her what happened. So I did. Ian came out a few moments later and pulled the car around for us. As soon as I climbed in, Ian grabbed my hand.

“It’s going to be okay, sweetheart. He’s coming over the day after tomorrow to talk. I’ll be with you the whole time.”

I didn’t say anything. I just laid my head on the window and went deep into thought. We dropped Mandy off at home and Ian told her that she didn’t have to come to work tomorrow, but she insisted that she was fine and she wanted to. As we were driving home, Ian softly pressed his lips against my hand.

“Talk to me, sweetheart. Tell me what’s going on in that pretty little head of yours.”

“Confusion, sadness, uncertainty, anger, all of the above.”

Ian chuckled. “You’re adorable when you’re confused.” He smiled.

We pulled up to the house and, as soon as I walked through the door, I went upstairs and got ready for bed. Ian did the same and climbed in next to me.

“Come here, sweetheart. I don’t want to do anything but hold you. You’re safe with me, Rory, and I’ll do anything to protect you.”

“I know, Ian,” I said as I snuggled against him.

* * *

I was sitting at the dining room table, drinking my coffee and waiting for Ian to come and sit down. He was on a business call with a company in Japan. I was nervous about my lunch with Richard today. Ian told me that I was being ridiculous and to enjoy myself. But somehow, I had a feeling that it wasn’t going to be a pleasant lunch. As I was in thought, Adalynn strolled in the room and took a seat across from me.

“Good morning, darling.” She smiled.

“Good morning. Coffee? I asked as I held up the carafe.

“Thank you. Can you believe I’m getting married exactly one month from today?”

“No.” I smiled. “It’s coming so fast.”

“Where’s Ian?” she asked.

“He’s on a business call with Japan.”

“Oh, what a big, important man he is.” She winked.

“I heard that, Adalynn,” Ian said as he walked over and lightly kissed her cheek.

“Of course you did, darling. How are you?”

“I’m good. Did Rory tell you she confronted Jimmy last night?”

Her mouth dropped as she looked at me. “WHAT!”

I picked up my coffee cup and took a sip of coffee before responding to her. “He told me I looked like my mother. So he basically confronted me.”

Mandy walked over and handed Adalynn a fruit cup. “Thank you, darling. Wait, Mandy, what the hell happened to your face?”

Mandy looked at Ian and then at me. “Some douchebag she was seeing thought it was fun to hurt her. I kicked his ass last night and told him never to come near her again.”

Adalynn looked at Ian and raised an eyebrow. “Wow. Go you.”

Ian chuckled and Mandy smiled. “Well, I’m glad for your sake that bad man is out of your life. You deserve better, honey.” Adalynn smiled at her.

Mandy walked away and Adalynn turned her attention back to me and my father. “So, go on. What else did he say?”

“Nothing much. He just said he wouldn’t discuss it there, so Ian told him to come here tomorrow.”

“Here? Are you okay with that?” Adalynn asked me.

“Yeah, I guess. At least here I can scream and yell and maybe throw a thing or two at him.” I smiled.

“True. Well, get the answers you need and then move on. Speaking of moving on,” she said as she looked at her watch. “I have to get to Prim. I’ll see the both of you tonight. Get your dancing shoes out, Rory. We’re going to tear up the dance floor.”

I gave her a small smile as she got up from the table and left. I really wasn’t up to going out tonight, but it was for Ian’s birthday, so I had to go. I didn’t want to disappoint him, plus I didn’t trust Andrew.

Ian and I finished breakfast and he left for the office. “Call me after you have lunch with my dad and let me know how it went,” he said as he gave me a kiss goodbye.

“I will, babe. Have a good day at the office.”

I wanted to go visit Stephen’s grave, so I texted Richard and asked him if I could meet him at the restaurant. He said it was fine and to be there around noon. I took a shower, got dressed, and drove my car to the cemetery after stopping at the florist and picking up some flowers. I parked along the curb, which sat a few feet away from a large tree that stood behind Stephen’s grave. The black marble headstone looked beautiful in the sunlight. I knelt down and carefully placed the flowers on his grave.

“Guess what, Stephen. I met our dad last night. He knows who I am. He told me that I look just like Mom. The funny thing is that you were the spitting image of him. He’s coming over tomorrow to explain to me why he left. I’m finally going to get the answers I’ve always wanted. I miss you, Stephen, but I know you’re over the rainbow and that you’re happy now.”

I wiped my eye and looked at my watch. It was almost noon. I said goodbye to Stephen and drove to the restaurant to meet Richard.

* * *

Richard got up from his seat and gave me a light hug when I walked in. I sat down and ordered a glass of red wine as I admired the beauty of the Italian restaurant.