Chapter 69 Chapter 68:
Devon:
Three weeks later,
It’s very surprising how fast time flies, everything just whooshes in a blur. Today, I’m visiting Barbara in prison, her court date is tomorrow and justice will finally be decided for poisoning my father.
The air in the visitation room smells like cigarettes and smoke. The officer, a kind man in his fifties, already instructs me to sit down and wait until Barbara is being led in, so now I have been waiting for ten minutes.
The steel door opens and Barbara is escorted in by an officer, her wrists cuffed, dressed in an orange jumpsuit. The moment she sees me, there’s a ghostly faint smile on her lips, I don’t say a word until she makes herself comfortable in the seat and the officer leaves us alone.
“You look like hell.” I say, in the weeks that Barbara has been here, there’s a crease in her face, maybe it’s because of the lighting or the fact that she hasn’t performed her hundred-step skincare routine for weeks now. Her normally glowing skin looks dull.
She doesn’t blink, “Perfect. What do you twins want from me? Last week, Liam visited, now you. Do you take satisfaction in seeing me in this lowly state?” she asks and I am surprised that Liam visited without informing me but then again, here am I, without telling him. Arya protested against my visiting, insisting that Barbara might try to do something but I assured her everything was going to be alright.
Last week, Vera was known to the media, it was Arya’s decsion to finally introduce our almost three year old daughter to the public.
“I saw your daughter on TV,” Barbara looks at me, trying to gauge my reaction. “She has your eyes, your mother’s eyes.” Her voice is soft when she mentions my mom.
“Do you regret killing her?” I ask, my voice tensed. I guess the only reason why I am here is to ask this question, it’s only this question that can make me come at peace with everything that happened.
“Sometimes.” Her eyes are distant. “Whenever I come to think of it, Kathy was the only one who ever truly loved me, she didn’t want anything from me, she just loved me. It’s very rare to come across people like that these days.”
Yes, I understand exactly what she means.
She laughs, her voice low and bitter. “Being in prison has made me think about a lot of things. Does money ever really matter? I spent my whole life chasing everything and now I have nothing. My daughter is gone, my husband is gone, my best-friend is gone.” She eyes me, “I lost everything, Devon.”
“If you had another chance to relive everything in your life, would you have?” I ask, looking at her.
“No.” She replies, her voice small. “I wouldn’t have changed a damn thing.”
“Alright then.” I stand up, staring at the glass that separates us. “Have a good life, Barbara.”
“You too, Devon.” She doesn’t seem like she meant what she just said but oh well.
I come out of the station and go back to the office only to meet Theo in my office. After the hearing from the judge and with Nicole’s fierce fighting, Theo’s charges were dropped against the covering up of Kevin’s murder after a hefty fine and three hundred hours of community service.
“How is the CEO’s position treating you?” Theo asks, his back facing me because he’s staring outside the glass window. I join him, looking down at the bustling city of New York.
“Fair enough.” Since Theo withdrew from the election and quit his position from the company, the position automatically went to me. “I have been busier.”
“That is good to know.” Theo says slowly. “I just feel like a new man, Devon.”
“I understand that.” I tell him, Theo has been through a lot. I can’t blame him even after everything he has done; he still deserves his own happy ever after. “So what happens now?”
“I don’t know, what does an unemployed person do?” Theo asks smiling, but the humour is completely distant in his eyes, it must be so tough for him. “For the good part, Daphne convinced me to reach out to my mother and I sent her an e-mail, now she wants to have dinner with me.”
“That’s amazing, Theo.” I really mean that. “You deserve it, you know.”
“Thank you.” Theo smiles, “How’s Liam?”
“He is in the U.K settling everything; he is planning to settle his business there before moving back to the U.S, where hopefully he can continue his writing here. Last time he called, he said he was having a book signing so he might be back tomorrow.”
“What an absolutely bloody brilliant writer!” Theo mimics a British accent and we both end up laughing. As we laugh, I think how Theo and I could have become great friends if perhaps, everything that happened didn’t. He is a really good guy and I would hate it if everyone distance themselves from him.
“Theo?” I look at him, he smiles tiredly at me. “Maybe sometimes, we can grab lunch together and have occasional hangouts?” Yes, this is me offering to socialize which is quite insane because I never offer to socialize.
Theo seems to like this idea because he smirks. “Of course, Brookes.”
“Don’t put too much heart into it, Duncan.” And just like that, we are back to being just us.
“Is Daphne around? I was hoping I could hang out with her a bit before I go.”
“Yeah, you can catch her around. You should try checking her office.” Theo and Daphne have grown closer over the past few weeks, sometimes I catch them texting, sending each other memes, it’s really good for Daphne to see someone to laugh with. After Theo leaves my office, I work until it’s closing time. Grabbing my coat, I leave for Mrs. Winters’ coffee shop where I order a pumpkin spice latte for Arya and a black coffee for me. I also get a box of chocolate glazed doughnuts to celebrate Vera’s first day of school.
“I am home!” I call out, holding the to go paper bag. Months ago, I would have never imagined walking into a house filled with the people I love, but here I am.
“Daddy?” comes Vera’s tiny voice, her face lit up as she starts running towards me, her arms outstretched. I pick her up, kissing her cheek.
“How’s my sweetheart?” I ask her, and she happily giggles. “Was your first day in school alright?” I bring out my pinkie and she wraps hers around it with an automatic grip. We’d started this a few days ago, completely by accident. She had woken up in the middle of the night, trembling and crying probably from a terrible nightmare and I just gave her my pinkie without thinking.
She clung to it, stopped crying and whispered to me in a tiny voice. “All better?”
“All better,” I’d told her.
Since then, I just offer her my pinkie finger and she crosses hers with it. It’s like a silent pact: ‘I’ve got you. You’re safe.’
I drop her on the couch, settling her with the box of chocolate glazed donuts; she happily winks at me, trying to unbox it. I go to the kitchen to see Arya peeling fruits; she has one of my t-shirts on, the sleeves dangling on her paired with her leggings.
“Hey there,” I smile, hugging her from behind. She relaxes into me, grinning at me.
“How was work?” She asks, still smiling. This is what I live for, that pretty smile on her pretty face. Arya has started her own design house collaborating with Wanda, it is called ‘A and W collective’ Arya handles the clothes while Wanda takes over for the jewellery. These days, Arya has been spending more time with her sketchbooks and sewing machine. They are branding the website as of now, and very soon, they are going to open their own design house here in New York.
“It was alright, everyone’s down my neck lately.” I have been having meetings and meetings; I barely even have time for a lunch break which is why I booked Arya and I a vacation. “I think it’s high time we go for a vacation, you deserve this rest, Arya. You and Wanda have been working so hard on the opening of the design house; this is your time to rest.”
Arya sighs tiredly and I know how bad she wants this vacation. She looks at me under her lashes. “A vacation doesn’t sound too bad.”
“So it’s settled then?” I ask and Arya nods.
“Where are we going to go?” Arya asks me. I want to tell her but then, I figured it would be more of a surprise than anything else.
“You’ll see.” I cheekily grin and she pats at my hand. I want to lean in and kiss her but my phone rings loudly from my pocket. Fuck, I desperately want to ignore it and kiss her but Arya points at my pocket and focus back on the platter of fruits.
When I see Liam’s name displayed on the screen, I frown. Why does he always seem to disturb me? This better be good.
“What?” I bark into the phone.
“Hello to you too, brother. Oh, I have missed you so much.” Liam says dryly, well it is evident that neither of us are in the mood for jokes right now.
“What is it?” I ask, my hands shoved into my pocket.
“Have you seen the news?” Liam probes and I raise my brows at Arya. She drops the fruit and stares at me. “Have you?” he inquires further.
“No, I don’t think so.” I say, my stomach twisting. Why do I have a strange feeling that Liam isn’t telling me something I need to know?
There’s silence on the other end and I hate whenever Liam does this, but after knowing him for so many years, I know that he’s finding a better way to deliver whatever he wants to say gently.
A minute passes but I probe him. “Liam?”
“Barbara is dead.” He says almost too quickly and I freeze. Arya probably heard this because she squeezes my hand gently, I look at her, gulping down nothing.
“How?” My heart is racing.
“She poisoned herself in prison this afternoon.” Liam says, “It’s all over the news, Devon. I can’t believe that she is gone.” That must have been right after I left.
I can’t believe it either, I grew up knowing Barbara and my mother, she was always there by our side, sometimes picking us from school. She made us lunch sometimes whenever our parents were busy. I have known Barbara for a long time and now she’s gone.
“Okay.” I release a breath I didn’t know I am holding. “I will call you back.” I end the call and quickly go online, articles pops up in my phone about the death of Barbara Brookes, the headlines read: ‘Tragic ending of Barbara Brookes.’
Why did she do it though? Is this some sick way to show that she will always be on step ahead? Or she just couldn’t bear the embarrassment of being in prison?
My head hurts; I think I need a glass of water.
“Are you okay?” Arya asks me, concern in her gray eyes. Barbara’s death must have taken a toll on her because she looks sad yet relieved at the same time. Barbara won’t be here to hurt any of us again and that alone makes me glad.
“Yeah.” I say and this time, I mean it. “I am okay.”