Circling

Tristan Trilogy- Story 3

CHAPTER 28

Mason knocked tentatively on Tristan’s door. He had just gotten off the phone with Jack who told him about the fax, what it contained and the reactions on their end. Jack had wanted to know if the fax had come to the villa. While he held on, Mason spoke to Martina who confirmed the worst - that Tristan had intercepted a fax a couple of hours earlier. Jack groaned aloud. Brian, Nick and AJ had wanted him to test the waters before they made their calls. Howie had waited with them.

“Are the rest of the girls there?” Jack asked.

“They’re around here somewhere. Do you want me to tell them?”

“Yeah.” Jack looked at the remaining guys and nodded. “Find out if Tristan has the fax and if she does, pass it around to the others. They’ll be getting calls. We’ll wait a half hour.”

Mason knocked again. Tristan wasn’t answering. Her door was locked. He finally had to call to her before she responded. The door cracked and Tristan peeped out through the opening.

“What do you want, Mason?”

“Are you okay?” he asked. Tristan almost seemed to be hiding.

“I’m resting.” She said curtly.

“Can I come in for a minute?”

“Not now, Mason. I just…”

“Did you get the fax, Precious?” he interrupted.

Mason heard Tristan exhale loudly and then she slowly opened the door, granting his admittance. Mason knew right away that she had seen the galleys. She didn’t look well.

“How did you know?” she asked as he entered.

“Jack just got it in Denmark and said a copy was supposed to come here. The guys have seen it. He told me that they weren’t too happy. They wanted to make sure everyone had seen it before the phone calls start. At least that’s what most of the guys wanted.”

“Most?”

“Uh… Kevin had left already.”

“He’d left?”

“Well,” Mason stuttered, trying to explain, “He was upset - you know. Jack said there were pictures and, uh… well, I guess he got mad…”

“Mad about what?”

The answer to that question seemed obvious to Mason. Kevin was mad because here was more evidence that his wife and brother seemed a little too close.

Mason rolled his eyes. “I don’t think he was too thrilled with the pictures of you and Jerald, Tris… They made your relationship look a little… a little… cozy. I mean - I can kind of understand why those pictures would upset him.”

Tristan’s eyes sparked with anger as she picked up the faxed pages and threw them in Mason’s direction. “Well, I’m just glad they didn’t print the ones of us screwing, Mason!” she spat sarcastically. “That might have put a damper on his whole day!”

“Tristan…. Did you really think he would find those pictures cute? Or amusing? God, honey… what did you expect?” Mason scolded as he bent over to pick up the papers.

His tone further irritated Tristan. “Gee, Mason - I don’t know… Let me think. Maybe he could have been upset because there was a stranger hiding in our yard! Maybe it could have concerned him that someone was breaking and entering! Maybe he could be relieved that I wasn’t there alone, as I was expected to be! Maybe he should even be grateful that this… this.. stalker wasn’t a crazed fan or a rapist or a violent mental case!” Tristan began to wipe her eyes, trying not to let her anger and frustration bleed into hurt feelings. “Maybe, instead of being mad, he could have been a little worried over the fact that I was going to see a picture of my mother, for the first time, on the pages of a trashy magazine and that she was going to be accused of being immoral, unfaithful and loose! Maybe it should disturb him, just a little bit, that his wife is being included in that description by association because, after all, I am my mother’s daughter! Maybe he should be troubled about the effect it might have on me that they chose to print the fact that my mother committed suicide and went on to tell how she killed herself!"

Tristan flopped down on the edge of the bed. She could no longer hold the tears back and began to sob uncontrollably.

“Awww, Precious….” Mason sat down beside her and she fell into his shoulder, gasping for air between the tears. “This is all just a misunderstanding built on bad timing. Kevin was worried about the letter. He was very upset when I gave it to him. He didn’t want you to be hurt, that’s all. He was trying to check a few…”

Tristan’s sobs suddenly ceased as the full impact of Mason’s words settled in her brain. She pulled herself away from him and stared into his face.

“Kevin already knew about the picture and the letter?”

“He didn’t let anyone else see them Tris. He doesn’t know how…”

Tristan interrupted again. “He has the letter? And he didn’t give it to me? He kept something that personal and important away from me?”

Mason didn’t know what to say. He knew that Kevin’s intentions had been good. He knew it because his own intentions had been good in wanting Kevin to see the letter first and decide what to do. The look of utter disbelief on Tristan’s face made him question both of their decisions. Tristan had shared very little about her family. She knew next to nothing about her mother. They should have known what a highly sensitive part of her life this was and how hungry she would be for any morsel of information about Rebekah’s life.

When Mason didn’t answer, she stood, walked over to the door and opened it. It was an unsubtle invitation for him to leave. Mason sighed, picked up the papers and met her at the portal. She was looking past him.

“Jack wants me to show this to the others before the guys call them.”

“Fine.”

He decided to try one more time on his way out. “Look Precious, you’re upset, Kevin’s upset. Everybody is. Why don’t you give Kevin a call? Just give him a little reassurance… That’s all he needs.”

Tristan chuckled humorlessly as she raised her eyes. “There isn’t enough reassurance on this planet to comfort Kevin, Mason. If anyone needs reassurance right now, it’s me. I’m the one that needs comforting. I won’t call him and beg for it.”

“That’s pride talking, Tris…”

“That’s weariness, Mason.” She said gently as she closed the door.

Tristan took off her clothes and slipped under the duvet. The weight of it felt good against her body. A few minutes later she heard cell phones ringing and beeping. The sounds seemed to be coming from everywhere. It seemed that every phone in the house was ringing at once. Every one but hers.

*****

Tristan kept to herself. She didn’t want to discuss this with the other women. Amanda’s last lecture would do her for quite a while. Kevin had never called.

They had all come to her door at one time or another, trying to coax her outside but she had claimed to be tired or nauseous or busy with something else. She did feel drained. After spending a sleepless night alone, waiting for the call that never came, her nerves were frayed. She needed to have her wits about her when she saw Kevin again. Martina continued to bring her trays of food at Amanda’s request but they were, for the most part, left untouched. The other women knew what Kevin had said when he left the meeting. Nick repeated his words to Holly and she, in turn, told the others that Kevin had said that he would not call Tristan. Mason had confirmed this based on what Jack had told him and then added Tristan’s comments - that she would not call Kevin.

At around three PM, there was a fierce banging at Tristan’s door and she heard Holly yelling at her from behind the thick wood.

“They’re back!!” she screamed.

Tristan heard the sound of her footsteps recede as Holly bounded down the corridor to the stairs. She walked over to the mirror and stared at her reflection, trying to decide whether or not to wait in the room or meet Kevin downstairs. She decided on the latter and ran the brush through her hair while trying to think of an appropriate greeting. Nothing came to mind. She would have to adlib.

When she reached the landing, the guys were just coming into the house. From her higher position, she watched the kisses and hugs of homecoming unfold. Kevin was not among them. Tristan kept glancing towards the door, expecting to see him walk into the house but he did not come. Soon she was aware that the room had grown silent and her eyes drifted back to the small crowd. Most of them were staring at her. Nick was looking at the floor, shuffling his feet and Brian had turned around so that he wasn’t facing her. She met AJ’s stare and tried to form a small smile.

“Isn’t he with you?” she asked, silently cursing her trembling chin.

“Uh… No, hon. He isn’t..”

Nick began to push his way past Brian, Leighanne and Howie and disappeared to the back of the house. Holly followed. Tristan watched them leave and then turned back to AJ.

“Where is he?”

“Don’t really know, Tris.” AJ started fishing in his pocket and brought out a folded sheet of paper. He walked to the stairs and reached up to pass the paper to Tristan through the railing. “I found this under my door this morning.”

She unfolded the paper and read it to herself.

‘J,
I’ve got to pass on the rest of the promos. Sorry, but I’ve got some shit to sort out. You guys head back to S’holm without me and I’ll see you when I get straight.
K.’

Tristan refolded the note and tried to compose herself. Her eyes were tearing and she had to blink several times before she could look at AJ again.

“Thank you Alex.” she whispered and then turned and went back up the stairs to the bedroom.

AJ kicked the baseboard and hurled a few curses.

“I swear… I could kill him right now…” he muttered.

*****

Nick was surprised to see Tristan standing at the door when he opened it. He hadn’t expected her to be there and hoped that she hadn’t come wanting for an explanation of Kevin’s behavior. He was uncharacteristically silent and the two of them just stared at each other for several seconds. The fact was that Nick had grown fearful of opening his mouth. Everything he said seemed to come out wrong lately. Tristan was taken aback by Nick’s somberness. She had always felt close to him and had imagined that he felt likewise. It was painful for her to consider that she was wrong and felt that Nick must have passed judgement on her. His sympathies would naturally lie with Kevin. After all, Nick was his brother, not hers. She finally broke the silence.

“Is Holly here?”

“Tris? Is that you?” Holly called from the bathroom. “Come in here!”

Tristan glanced uneasily at Nick as Holly came to the door.

“No… No thanks. I don’t want to disturb you. I just wanted to know if you brought an extra bag with you I could borrow.”

“Yeah.” Holly answered slowly. “It's a small one, though…” What do you need a bag for, Tristan?

Nick’s brows had furrowed. “You going somewhere, Tris?” he frowned as Holly handed Tristan the small suitcase.

“Thanks. Holly. I’ll get this back to you in a few days….”

She turned and headed back to her room, deliberately ignoring Nick’s question. Tristan had waited, but there had been no word from Kevin. It was now almost midnight and she had made a decision a little while ago. She had decided to go back home early. Her plane would be leaving in seventeen hours.

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Tristan Trilogy - Story III

"Circling" is a work of fiction.
The characters and events portrayed are fictitious.
Any resemblance to real people or events is purely coincidental.

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Fiction by Grace

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