The Layers of His Mask

18. Save It...

I walk Alex's father Robert to the dining room table after a short conversation with him and take the short walk to Anna's side. I step into view next to Anna, Chase’s head turns to face me.

"Rebecca! Meet our little cousin Chase," she says, a hand resting on the shoulder of the boy who looks like he will pass out at any minute. "Well, he's not little, he's seventeen, but that's little to me," she laughs, shoving his shoulder. Seventeen? He looks so much younger than that.

"We've met," I say, a smirk on my face. His face reddens.

"You have? Where?" Anna asks, brows pinching together.

"Alex and I went to Dave and Busters some weeks ago and he was there. I just didn't know him and Alex were related since both of them failed to inform me," I explain, arms folded across my chest.

"Sorry," Chase says, head lowered to the ground. "I just didn't think I would see you again so I thought there was no use in telling you."

"Don't worry, you're not on my hit list. Yet."

He blinks up to me and a lopsided grin appears on his lips. "Thanks, I still want to live to see twenty-five."

"You will... for now," I giggle.

Anna's head flips from side to side between Chase and I. "This is weird," she says softly, confused countenance on her features.

"What's weird about it?" asks Chase.

"You two. You're already so comfortable with each other."

"I shared my Nerds Rope with him, it's sort of hard to go back to strangers after that," I jokingly tease, shoving his shoulder playfully with mine. He laughs.

An arm snakes around my waist then it's joined by a warm body. I blink up to see Alex, face stone cold. "Hey babe," I smile, blinking back to Chase who is now gone.

"Hey," he answers nervously. I tilt my head a little.

"Where did Chase go?" I ask Anna once I look back over to where she is.

"He went to go sit down. Him and Alex don't get along very well."

"I don't see why, he's such a sweet guy," I tell them.

Alex sighs deeply. "He'll be alright. Are you ready to eat?"

"Sure."

"Food is ready everyone!" Alex's mom Janet calls from the kitchen, she emerges with a large cake in her arms. We make our way to the dining room table, sitting among his family and friends with a assortment of food arranged in front of us.

The doorbell rings and Janet places the cake down on the counter outside the kitchen then heads for the front door. I hear her chatting with a man and woman. She shows up to the table and says "Rebecca, I hope you don't mind that I invited your family."

"You what?" The water I was once sipping on is spat back into the cup from which it originally came from. I suffer from a coughing fit, Alex is patting my back while I try and recuperate. Once my choking has finished I wish that I still was. The look of pure rage on my dad's face makes me rethink ever wanting to come here. At all.

My dad is rarely, if ever angry and I can't even look him in the eyes when he's like this. My mom's face is the total opposite however, her face was happy until she saw my dad's. That happiness is replaced with worry when he takes the few steps toward us. Alex slowly removes his arm from around my waist, standing and walking over to my dad.

"Russell," he says, offering him his hand. My dad doesn't return his offer, instead Alex has a fist connected with his jaw.

"Dad!" I scream, my eyes darting from him to the man knelt on the floor, blood coming from the cut on his lip.

Gasps escape the mouths of every person in the room, including my own. I drop down to my knees next to Alex, placing my hand on the side of his face that hasn't been hurt.

"I must have deserved that somehow," he says, rubbing his jaw with his hand, standing to his feet.

"No, you didn't," I tell him. "Dad what is wrong with you?!" I look to him, eyes wide, mouth still gaped open.

"This," he says, waving his hand from Alex to me, "is what's wrong with me. You told me you were dating someone but you didn't say it was him. I trusted you Alex, I trusted you to teach her, to keep her safe. Now I find out you're having s*x with her too?!"

"Dad! You don't even know half of what's going on, can you please just stop!"

"I don't know the half of it? I called Violet this afternoon and she told me you weren't even with her like you said you were going to be. She said that you were with Alex, but I thought to myself, surely that couldn't be true because Alex would never sleep with my daughter!" My mouth falls open at my dad’s choice of words, tears start to blur my vision.

"You didn't tell them?" Alex asks me, I shake my head.

"Russell!" My mom interjects, flattening a palm to his chest, pushing him backwards. "This is your daughter and Alex you're talking about. This isn't Micheal, Alex would never do anything like what he did." It appears the roles have been reversed. My mom is the one doing the calming and my dad is filled with hate.

"And how the hell do I know that? How do I know he hasn't filmed some video of her already?"

Alex steps closer to him, his fists balled at his sides, rolling his neck. I grab onto his arm but he slips from my grip when he yanks it from my grasp in anger. "Because I would never stoop that f*****g low, that's how," he snaps, his voice raising.

"I don't give a f**k how low you would stoop. You stay the hell away from my daughter, and I mean it."

"Dad," my brother Tim calls, pulling him back from Alex. "Just let him explain, alright." My dad's tense posture lessens just a little - not by much - and he opens his mouth then closes it again.

"It was never in my intentions to make you upset, Russell. I have told Becca numerous times to tell you both about our relationship, she didn't. And I have far too much respect for you and your daughter to even think of doing something that like.”

My dad looks to me, two emotions are battling to see which one of them will win the round this go around. Vexation ends up winning.

"Rebecca, get in the car, we're leaving," my dad demands of me. I don't move when he says this, my feet remain in the exact same spot and so he tries again. "Rebecca, I'm going to ask you one more time, nicely, please go get in the car."

I glance around to all the many silent faces of our audience. Each one of them displays upon their expressions a look of pity for me. One face does not: Chase’s. His head is lowered and his hands are gripping the rim of table so tightly his knuckles are turning white.

I look back over to my dad, my face wet with tears and tell him a raspy "no."

"Do not fight me on this Rebecca Anne Daniels. In the car... now." The tone of his voice has lowered, but now petulance has crept into it.

I feel impotent, powerless by my father and I never have before in my entire life. "I'm not going, I'm staying here, dad. You two have protected me from just about everything in my life - enabling me. Please do not do this, for me, please," I beg, stepping closer to him.

"Final time, Rebecca, go get in the car.” His eyes look to the door and then back to me.

The anxiety I once felt is now gone, swapped with indignation. I wipe the tears from underneath my eyes. "No, I'm not leaving with you! I'm twenty-three years and you can't tell me what to do anymore." my chest is heaving, body trembling with adrenaline.

"Becca, just do as you father asks, please?" my mom defeatedly asks of me.

"No, mom. I'm not riding with him, if anything someone else is taking me home."

"You're not going home, you're coming home with us," he says to me.

"Whatever...I don't care anymore. I'll go so it can boost your ego just a little bit higher, but I'm not riding with you." I turn to walk away, stopping in the spot where I left Alex, but he's not here.

I sadly round the room to each of his guests, apologizing for ruining their evening: mom, sister, cousins, niece, friends, and last, his father. My tears are full blown now, tumbling down my cheeks in waves.

With me standing in front of Robert, he takes my hand, placing his other on top of mine. "You have nothing to be sorry for. Yes the evening didn't go according to plan, but we love you and we will always be here," he says with a small, comforting smile. “No matter what happens. You’re the first woman that Alex has brought around in such a long time. You must be pretty special for him to do that, and I see why.” I bend down to hug him fully, wrapping my arms around him, head on his shoulder. "Alex is waiting outside for you," he whispers in my ear, "now go quickly."

"Okay," I sniffle, pulling away from him. "I really am sorry, again everyone," I manage to choke out to the entire room. They give me nods of acceptance.

With my pride shot, I step out the door and find Alex leaning against his car, arms folded over his chest with his head down. He slowly looks up when I'm standing in front of him, unfolds his arms.

I figure I have at least ten minutes before my family comes walking back out that door. "I'm sorry," I say, shaking my head, tears continuing to tumble down my cheeks. I reach my hand up to cup the side of his cheek, he leans into my palm, sighing heavily. "I single handedly ruined your birthday."

"It wouldn't be the first time someone ruined a celebration of mine. And you don't need to apologize, I'm sorry for not warning you that they would be coming. I figured since you wouldn't tell them that they would alright and that they would be okay with us, but we both saw that clearly was not the case for your father."

I close the gap between us, pressing my head to his chest, sobbing into his navy blue sweater, staining it with my tears. It's the same one he wore to Dave and Busters that night. This memory pushes further tears from me because the last time he wore it, I didn't see him for two weeks. I'm scared to discover what this new distance apart will be.

I know my dad and I know he will most likely have me withdraw from my internship at Romano’s and I'll have to intern somewhere else. I've been interning at Romano’s for two months now, how the hell will I even find another on such short notice? The only options I have at this point are my dad's restaurant Natalie's or...nothing. If I wait too long the school will cancel out my course, I'll be dropped from the program, all that money gone down the drain that my dad worked so hard to save up for me. If I want to finish I will have to shove out the money to pay for that one course, I won’t be able to graduate with my class.

I could always use one of my mothers connections, surely she knows someone in the industry that would be willing to help me - could help me. I don't know... thinking about all of this is making my headache worse.

I feel Alex's arms wrap around my back, his chin on the top of my head. "What are we going to do?" I weakly ask, all hope drained from my voice.

"We could always sneak around like teenagers," he suggests, a bit of a chuckle in his voice.

"Yes, because that will go over so well with the hulk in there," I mumble into his chest, running both my hands up and down his back.

"He is the hulk isn't he?" he half-laughs. "What is that method he uses to calm himself?" I love how he can be so easy about this whole thing, comforting me when I feel I should be comforting him.

"I don't know...I don't remember."

"But in all honesty, I've never seen your father that angry before. What exactly happened? What video was he talking about?"

Fuck, that video. I thought it would remain buried along with my past, but in my dad's seeing red he managed to resurface that past. "That's a conversation for a whole other time, we wouldn't even have enough time to discuss it right now. I'll try and call you later on tonight."

"Yeah, if your father isn't busy hulk smashing the place."

"Yeah..."

"I could always come in with Thor's mighty hammer, knock him out then fly you away to Asgard."

"Great plan Thor Odinson."

"Cheer up babe, I'm sure he'll be over it in a day or two, your father doesn't stay mad for long."

"I guess. I'll try. I’m just not ready to lose you. I’ll risk losing everything else but you," I choke, nuzzling further into him, his arms wrapping tighter around me.

The last time something like this happened I lost Michael to it. My father made sure that I never saw him again. I don’t know how he did it, but he did. I went to his house the next day, he wasn’t there. I went to his parents house as well and they wouldn’t tell me a word.

What would happen if you lose Alex forever?

I'd surely die. He has become such a major part of my life now. This is what I was referring to when I feared of getting too attached too quickly.

“I’m not either, but don’t say that, your father loves you and you need to finish school.”

The door comes open and I flinch away from him, backing a good bit of distance away, wiping my tears from my eyes. A sharp burst of cold shoots across my cheek, my nose.

The person who comes out of the house isn't my parents though, it's Chase. He slowly saunters over to us, stopping just a foot away.

"Umm...I was able to convince your parents to let me drive you to your place. They'll be out in a few minutes," he tells me, not once looking Alex's way.

“Thank you for this Chase, I really owe you.”

“You don’t owe me anything.”

“The the hell she doesn’t,” Alex growls at him. And here we go again, first him and my dad now him and Chase.

“What is up with you two? Why are you both so angry with each other?” I divert my eyes from Chase to Alex, both of their gazes are locked on one another now.

“Why don’t you ask him,” Alex says to me, nodding his head in Chase’s direction. I look to Chase, brows creasing together in befuddlement.

“You sure you want her to know this?”

“Go right ahead, I no longer have ties to that shit.”

Chase scoffs. “You seriously need to get over that s**t dude. You are obviously still not over it if you look like you want to kill me every time I'm around her. It wasn't my fault.”

“What wasn’t your fault?” I ask.

The door prys open again, my mom, dad and brother come walking down the small set of steps to us. My dad's eyes blinks up to me. He shakes his head in shame. “I’m so sorry babygirl.”

My lips press into a hard line, arms fold over my chest. “Save it,” I say, walking over to Chase. “I’ll see you at the house, I need to get some clothes.”

I pause while we're on the way to Chase's parents car. I swivel back around, run up to Alex and kiss him, hard.

"Your father is going to kill me, you know that right?"

"He won't, he rarely acts on his promises."

****

"Wow," Chase says, twirling the sets keys around his index finger. "This is a really nice place."

"It's okay. My parents helped me it pick out, well, my dad mostly. He wanted me to be close to home." I roll my eyes as I pack a weeks worth of clothing into my suitcase. I walk to my drawer and pull out a couple of sets of bra and panties. I examine the red lace set in my hands that I was wearing the day Alex and I first became intimate.

"Hey, do you - sorry!" He shouts, covering his eyes. "I didn't mean to look, I mean I didn't know." He huffs out a breath, walking back over to my bedroom door.

Pretty soon I won't even be able to afford this place. I'm not asking my dad for his help, I'm going to tell him I no longer need it. What he did and said to Alex earlier was not called for, and he didn't even need to hurt him to get his point across.

"It's okay Chase, they're just underwear," I say, tossing them into the front pocket on the inside of my suitcase.

"Yeah, but they are your underwear."

"Calm down okay, they've been put away," I laugh.

"Oh thank God," he breaths. I laugh once more and then I remember the talk him and Alex had earlier.

Taking a seat on my bed I ask, "What happened to make Alex despise you so much?"

He lets out a drawn out exhale, joining me on the bed. I prop my legs up underneath me. "Well...his ex-fiancée cheated on him."

"With who?" I ask.

"With me," he regrettably replies. "But it wasn't my fault, Laura came on to me at their engagement party and he thought I was the one to come on to her. She came outside while I was out there getting some air and acted like she was nervous about the whole thing. Trust me, I know nervous and she definitely wasn't. When Alex walked outside it made it appear as if I was the one who insinuated it all because her back was against the wall with one leg around my waist and I was in front of her. I would never do that to Alex," he says, sadness in his eyes and voice. "Alex was like the brother I always wanted...my father figure. With my dad living in Portland he's the closest thing I have to one."

"Does he know that?"

"I've tried telling him plenty of times that it wasn't me, that is was Laura...he just never believes me. I don't think he wants to."

"Wait a minute," I interrupt, waving my hand, "Laura Crossman?"

"Yes, Laura Crossman," he tells me, lowering his head.

Alex was engaged to Laura Crossman? I work for her, he works for her. I thought he said he no longer had ties to the relationship. That seems like he still has ties to me.

Believe it or not this clears up quite a bit of information: why Laura got so offensive when she called me in her office on my first day. The whole Alex and Chase spat. Alex’s resistance towards getting in a new relationship after so long.

The one thing I can’t comprehend about this whole thing is why he still works for her. And why hadn't he told me he was engaged to her in the past?