Chapter 120
It was just after dinner when Theo found himself standing in the foyer of the Devreaux’s mansion — because it was a mansion. How he’d managed to talk them into allowing this, he couldn’t recall. Laurent had always been rather difficult to deal with, so he’d expected to be turned down from the get go.
And yet, here Theo stood, feeling out of place as Vivian’s father stopped a few feet in front of him. “I’m Samuel Devreaux,” the man said after giving Theo a once over. “I apologize for not properly introducing myself when we first met.”
“It’s fine,” Theo assured him with a shake of his head. The circumstances of their first meeting hadn’t been ideal for introductions. “I’m Theodore McCullough, but everyone calls me Theo.”
“Laurent told me you think you can get Vivian to open up?”
Feeling put on the spot, Theo shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know if it’ll work or not, but I feel like I need to give it a shot.”
Samuel stared at him for nearly a minute before finally nodding. “Alright. Come with me.”
Letting out the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding, Theo did as he’d been told, following Samuel through the home as Laurent trailed a few steps behind.
Theo had watched Laurent fight an inner battle when Vivian had fallen to her knees that morning, visibly holding himself back to allow Coach Mac to deal with the situation — until Mr Devreaux had arrived. Laurent had held himself back because Vivian had asked to keep the fact they were siblings a secret, but once their father showed up that was the end of it.
Everyone now knew the truth; she was a Devreaux. The girls on the team, the ones who’d been sneaking annoyed looks towards Vivian, were suddenly unwilling to glance in her direction. He hoped they were being eaten alive by guilt.
They stepped into the living room and Theo noted there was a movie playing on the TV. It was done in claymation and looked familiar, but now wasn’t the time to figure out what they were watching.
There were four people in the room when they’d entered. A younger version of Mr Devreaux was lounging in a comfortable looking chair — this had to be the eldest sibling — and another who shared a striking resemblance to the oldest and their father shared the couch with Vivian. Is that the middle brother? It has to be, Theo decided before he looked over at the last man, an older gentleman with steel grey hair, tanned skin, and a bored look on his face. His leg was propped up on an ottoman, a cane resting close at hand.
Next, Theo turned his attention to Vivian. Her back was to him so he couldn’t see her face, but her shoulders were hunched and there were at least half a dozen bags of marshmallows on the coffee table. Why marshmallows, he couldn’t say, but planned on asking, because he was under the impression ice cream was suppose to be a girl’s go-to for things like this.
It was the older man who noticed them first, his eyes flicking between the three of them, before settling on Mr Devreaux. No words were said, and yet he swung his leg off the ottoman, grabbing the cane in the same motion. Once on his feet, he gave a nod before leaving the room through a door that looked like it connected to a parlour of some kind.
The man’s movements grabbed the attention of the two brothers, and when they noticed their father had returned they both stood up. One of the middle brother’s arms was in a sling, something Theo hadn’t noticed on first glance, and the other was covered with a brace. What the hell happened to him? It looked painful, but nothing showed on the brother’s face as he said, “I’m hungry,” before following in the steps of the first man.
“I have some work to do,” the carbon copy of Mr Devreaux said as he pushed himself to his feet and, as he walked by, ruffled Vivian’s hair. “Let me know if you need anything.”
Theo watched as she swatted the hand away, making a non-comital grump in response. At least she hasn’t closed herself off even more, he thought to himself as Mr Devreaux caught his eye.
“Vivian, you have a guest,” the man said once everyone else had left. With a nod to Theo, her father left the room, taking Laurent with him.
Theo had watched the two leave and, when he turned back around, found Vivian looking him from over her shoulder. It was difficult to tell if she was happy to see him or not. She just looked tired.
“Hey, Vivian,” he said, trying to sound cheerful as he circled the couch and, after a brief hesitation, took the seat her middle brother had vacated. “You have no idea how hard it was to talk Laurent into bringing me home with him.”
A frown creased her brow, as though she hadn’t been expecting the conversation to go in this direction. Good, he thought to himself. She probably expects me to check in on her like everyone else, so I need to make sure I don’t ask her anything about what happened or how she’s doing.
“Laurent drove you here?” She asked after a few seconds.
“Yeah. I’m as surprised as you. I figured he’d make me call a cab or something, but nope — offered to let me ride shotgun and everything.” He glanced over at her and noted her frown had deepened, which made him laugh. “Okay, I might be exageratting it a bit, but he did drive me here.”
“Why?”
Theo had hoped she wouldn’t force him to get right to the point of his visit, that he’d be able to lighten the mood a bit more before diving in, but Vivian was too direct to let him circle anything for too long.
“First… can I ask about the marshmallows?”
She blinked once, then looked at the assortment of fluffy cylinders. Some were big, others were small; some were colourful, while others were the usual white. “I like marshmallows.”
That’s obvious. “Can you even eat this many without getting sick?” He asked as he leaned forward and picked up a bag filled with small, colourful ones. Theo had nothing against the sweet treat, but it was just so unexpected that he didn’t know what to think of it.
“Probably not, but it’s not like they’ll go bad if I don’t,” she shrugged, snagging one of the bigger ones and taking a bite out of it.
“That’s… a fair point. Mind if I have a few?”
She motioned her hand towards her stash, telling him, without words, to help himself. The bag in his hands was already open, so Theo grabbed a handful before setting it back on the table, popping a couple in his mouth as he leaned back.
“So, why are you here?” She asked again, eyes on the TV instead of looking at him. Her voice, like her posture, gave the impression of defeat; this wasn’t something he’d ever associated with Vivian, and made him nervous about what he’d come to talk about.
“I wanted… to talk to you about something. It’s something I’ve never told anyone before.”