I have neglected YWS for a little while due to much work and always being out of energy, but I'm better now and feeling rather guilty for not having contributed to the society in a while. Well, here is chapter 4 of my novel Mrs Jones, any critisism, good or bad is very welcomed! But of course I really hope you'll like it. It's starting to get good now, I promise. Well, for all of you who are gonna read it: Enjoy!! And leave a little feedback, please. Oh, enough of my non-sense babbling. Go ahead and read
Liz <3
PS: It is a little long just like all of the chapters, it just won't stop until it is 10 words pages...
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CHAPTER FOUR:
RETURN OF THE TWINS
“So what happened last night?” Katie asked the following morning at the breakfast table.
When Katie had come home from work last night she found Amanda and David sleeping in each others arms on the sofa.
Amanda blushed slightly and shrugged.
“I really hope you guys didn’t…”
Amanda interrupted her, already sick of her nagging. “Oh, give it a rest Katie We just saw a movie and fell asleep, OK?”
“As long as you remember that he’s engaged-” she looked at Amanda, who were just staring blankly at her cereal, “to-be-married, Amanda!”
Amanda looked up at her. She snorted. “Don’t hold your breath…” she said as she got up and poured her breakfast in the trash. She started rinsing her bowl.
Katie got up too, and followed her to the sink. “What?” She turned her around and looked in her eyes. “What have you done, Amanda? You haven’t told him, have you?”
Amanda shook Katie’s arms off of her. “No, but if you really want to know: I’m thinking about it…”
“No…” Katie started.
“Yes! You should have heard him last night. He’s miserable. Evelyn’s tossing him about. Last night he was David again. Plain and simple David. My David!”
Amanda started to clean off the table with Katie at her heels at all times.
“Really? He’s miserable?” Katie seemed surprised.
“Yes, he needed someone to talk to. And why didn’t you tell me that he called on Saturday?” Amanda turned around and asked her accusingly.
“Oh,” Katie was taken by surprise again. “Well, you weren’t feeling well. And since you were in that state because of him, I thought it might not make you feel better that I brought him up.” She sounded apologetic. “I’m sorry if I was wrong. But I honestly didn’t know what to do. I never knew you felt so strongly about him!”
“Neither did I…” Amanda muttered to herself. “Not until I had him back last night. I haven’t seen good old David in a while.” She sighed and sat down.
She sat down opposite her taking Amanda’s hands in hers. “What do you mean when you say good old David? He’s usually around here quite often.”
“No, you don’t know David…” she saw that Katie was about to interrupt, so she continued. “No, I know you know David! But you don’t know the old David. He never was as fancy and polite as he is now. Evelyn’s totally changed him. I don’t know. But he was suddenly back yesterday.”
“Still, Amanda, you shouldn’t tell him. You’ll only confuse him even more! It’s just cold feet.”
“That’s what I told him!”
“You did?” Katie looked at her in disbelief.
“Yes! I’m not stupid…” Amanda looked so serious that Katie didn’t question her again.
Amanda was thinking about something to change the subject. She was sick of all this questioning. She was sick of everything. Hadn’t she been well-behaved last night? She could’ve used the situation to her advantage, and if she had been a boy, she probably would have. She was a little sick of her goodie-goodie self as well…
“Wow, who died?” A familiar voice asked, clearly noticing the serious and depressing faces on Katie and Amanda.
Amanda looked up. It was Matt, followed by his brother. She got up just in time before Matt gave her a big bear-hug.
“Hello, Mandy!”
“I… can’t… breathe…” she moaned as she exhaled the last of her breath.
That was the problem with having boys as your best friends. You’d get squeezed. Luckily Marcus was a bit gentler when he hugged her. Still a squeeze, but at least she was able to draw a breath.
“Welcome home, lads.” She said happily. Finally there was something else to focus on. “When did you come home?”
“Last night as we said.” answered Matt. He was grinning, clearly happy to be home again.
“When? I went to bed at eleven and you weren’t home by then.”
Matt just looked at her. He was enjoying the mystery. He knew that Amanda hated not getting an answer right away. She was too curious.
It was Marcus that caved. “Our plane was delayed. We got home around one.”
Matt moaned, disappointed with his brothers lack of self control. Amada laughed and stuck her tongue out to him.
“Hungry?” Katie asked them.
“You bet ya!” Marcus answered rubbing his stomach.
“Eggs and bacon, please.” Matt demanded with a teasing look.
Katie snorted. “Toast is all I’m making you. You’re not at mums’ now.”
“Awh, come on Katie, they’ve probably forgotten how toast tastes after two weeks with their mummy.” Amanda said smiling.
“Toast is fine.” Marcus said while he gave Matt a stern look. “But I can make it”.
“No, it’s fine. I’ve been making breakfast for Mandy as well, I’m on a roll.” Katie smiled appreciatively at him
“If you insist.” He smiled back at her and when he joined Matt and Amanda at the kitchen-table he winked to them. It was obvious that he had gotten what he wanted.
“Nice one, mate.” Matt said in a low voice so that Katie wouldn’t hear them.
Amanda just looked at them in disbelief. “What you guys choose to use your brain for; getting food with as little effort as possible. Seriously!”
“Genius, ‘ey?” Marcus winked at her.
Amanda couldn’t help laughing as Katie brought them their huge plate with toast.
“Thank you.” Marcus said. And looked at his brother expecting him to say the same, but Matt had already filled his mouth with toast, so Marcus just shook his head and dug in as well. Katie joined them, and poured herself and Amanda a cup of tea, from the teapot that she had made for her and Amanda’s breakfast.
Amanda studied the twins in fascination as they ate. It was like she had double-vision, like there was a mirror beside Matt or Marcus, like someone had successfully cloned another pig. They didn’t care about table-manners, and the way they dug in they looked like they had been two weeks on a deserted island with absolutely no food, and not at their parents’ with a mother who always thought they looked too skinny.
Amanda was about to say something, but Katie beat her to it.
“Guys, do you really have to stuff your face like that? It’s a bit disgusting.”
“But we’re hungry,” they answered in sync.
Amanda shook her head again as she laughed.
They boys didn’t say anything more before they had emptied their plates and finished their glasses of milk. They both leaned back on their chairs and stretched and belched.
“Aww, please!” Katie said disgusted as she got up to clear off the plates.
“You know, in China that means “Thanks for the meal”.” Matt responded.
“Ha! I don’t believe that for a second, and anyway, you’re not in China now!”
Amanda couldn’t stop laughing. It was so good to have the twins back. They added so much more colour to their home, so much more fun. And most of all they took so much space that Amanda didn’t think of David that day. When she went to bed she fell asleep as soon as her head hit her pink pillow.
Amanda woke up the next morning at the sound of rain drumming on her window. Heavy, gray clouds filled the sky and as Amanda looked up she moaned. Another rainy day. Great.
She got up and walked downstairs wondering if the others were up yet. She heard low voices as she entered the living room. Matt and Marcus were sitting in the sofa. Katie must’ve already gone to work, since they were up. But the twins weren’t alone. She felt her cheeks go slightly red as she saw the back of their visitors head. She would recognize those lovely brown curls anywhere. It was David. It didn’t look like either of them had noticed that Amanda was up yet, so she thought she would sneak upstairs again and change into something other than the t-shirt and boxers she’d slept in. She automatically flattened her hair, a bit mad at herself for not looking in a mirror on the way down. As she started to walk backwards Marcus noticed her.
He looked up. “Oh, the princess is awake!” he flashed a smile at her.
“We started to get worried, thought you might’ve gone into a coma or something.” Matt added cheekily.
David turned his face and flashed a big grin at her. She thought his eyes were sparkling. Was this because of her? No, don’t be silly, she told herself, he’s just thrilled to have the twins back again, that’s all. Stop being selfish!
She sighed and grinned back at him.
“Morning.” He said following her with his eyes as she walked toward them, still smiling.
“Morning, Dave.” She replied as she waved drowsily at him.
She fell down in the loveseat opposite David. He was still looking at her. She tried not to hold his gaze for too long, afraid that her face would be replaced by something that looked remarkably much like a tomato.
She yawned and stretched before she took a pillow and held it on her stomach, resting her head on the sofa, looking at the twins. She noticed that David wasn’t the only one staring at her. The twins looked at her with a big grin also.
“What? Do I have something on my face, or something?” she asked them, suddenly self-conscious, touching her face.
“Are you aware of what time it is?” Marcus asked her.
“No, but I guess Katie’s at work so it’s got to be after eight in the morning.” She yawned again.
The boys giggled. And she looked at the big watch on the opposite wall.
“What? Shit, is that correct?”
“Yes.” Marcus said nodding in sync with his brother.
She had a look of shock and horror on her face. “Why didn’t you wake me? Nothing healthy can come out of sleeping till half past three!”
“Well, Katie said we should let you sleep. She said you hadn’t had too much sleep the last week.” Marcus said, with a little worry in his voice.
Amanda was horrified. What? Had Katie told them about her breakdown? Just like that? While David was here? What kind of a friend was she? Amanda felt sick as she looked at David. Did he know? That’d be the perfect, wouldn’t it? Was that why he was grinning at her? Was he here because he had found out, and decided he felt the same way and came to tell her? No, she told herself, let’s not get carried away here!
The boys didn’t seem to notice the pale face she was sure she had now.
“Yeah, it’s not easy sleeping when you’re ill. Especially with the flu. Evelyn was up all night coughing. It’s actually a relief that she’s in America. So, at least I get some sleep.” David said.
So, he hadn’t ditched Evelyn then. And she had lost a week of sleep due to the “flu”. Well, better than David finding out, though. She coughed a little, just to show that she was on the mend.
David smiled at her again. She felt hot. She looked over at the twins. Matt, sitting with his legs crossed and his blonde hair spiked up by too much hair gel. Marcus, with his hair normal, no gel, and his feet on the table. He looked at her a bit worried. “Are you sure you’re all good, like Katie said?” he leaned toward her and put his hand on her forehead. “You seem a little warm to me.” he stated. Yeah, she was feeling a little warm, but she doubted it was a fever.
“I’m fine.” She said as she got up too fast, the rush of the blood to her head made her dizzy. She grabbed the sofa with one hand for support and lifted the other one up to her forehead.
“Wow,” David got up as well; reaching forward, as to catch her if she fell, forgetting that his arms would never be able to reach over the coffee-table. “You don’t seem OK.” He walked quickly over to her side, putting a hand around her waist for support. Well, that didn’t help. She leaned on him, resting her head on his chest. It felt good. He stroked her back. Marcus and Matt were also standing.
“We should take her back to her room.” Matt suggested.
I mustn’t look good, even Matt is worried, she thought, getting a bit worried herself.
“No, look, I’m fine,” she pushed David gently away, “See??”
The guys didn’t seem to buy it. “Still…” Marcus started.
“No, come on it’s just because I got up too fast. And to top it off I’ve slept for a lifetime.”
“OK,” David said, looking at her, still with a cautious eye. Like he was afraid she’d collapse at any time.
“Guys!” she added when she saw that they didn’t look like they believed her.
“Well, you should eat something at least.” Marcus said.
Before she could answer, her stomach did the job for her; making a loud, complaining noise.
The boys laughed and Amanda smiled, too.
“I’ll make you some eggs.” Matt said. And Amanda looked at him in surprise.
“What?” he added defensively.
Amanda shook her head. “You never stop surprising me.” Amanda did not believe that it was Matt that had offered to cook for her. This used to be more unlikely than her becoming an international male soccer-player.
He shrugged. “Mum, might’ve taught me something when we were there. Thinking I’d impress the ladies, or something like that.”
“Well, I’m impressed.” She said honestly.
“Well, I’ll be right back then, princess.” He bowed to her, and then he headed for the kitchen.
“I’ll just go and supervise.” Marcus looked worried as he rushed after his brother in to the kitchen.
Amanda sat back down on the loveseat, grabbing the pillow again. David, still a bit worried, but just as surprised as the others of Matt’s sudden cooking-skills, sat down beside her.
“Do I really look that awful?” Amanda asked him, blushing slightly, which made her white cheeks return to normal colour.
“You look…” he seemed to be searching for the right word, “…fragile, somehow.”
“Fragile?” Amanda was puzzled. She felt absolutely fine. “Why don’t you just stop worrying? I’ve told you I’m fine. I’m a grown woman now, I can take care of myself you know.”
David smiled at her. “I know you can, but still… You’re my best friend, and I want you to be healthy.”
Now Amanda felt sick. Friends. That was all they were ever going to be. Stuck as friends. Not Amanda didn’t want him as a friend, and she knew that if she couldn’t have him all for herself for the rest of her life, friends was better than nothing.
Amanda smiled at him and put the hair on her right side behind her ear as she leaned her head against the cool feel of the leather couch. “So, have you spoken to Evelyn yet?”
“About what?”
“About what you told me last night, maybe?”
The look on David’s face told her that he hadn’t.
“David, she’s you fiancée. You need to be talking.”
“Well, it’s not like I haven’t tried. But she doesn’t answer my phone calls anymore. Just mails me and says that she’s too busy, or that I must stop calling her in the middle of the night…” He looked away from her eyes. “It’s not my fault there’s time difference is there?”
Amanda couldn’t keep from laughing. She tried to hold it in, but it came out in a loud burst. And David looked up at her, his face twisted, trying unsuccessfully to not show a smile. “What? Don’t laugh!”
“I’m sorry, but it’s just so funny.”
David let go of his inner struggle and his face was lit up by a big grin. “Well, Evelyn doesn’t seem to think so.”
Amanda laughed again. Partly because this was as to be expected from David, and partly because Evelyn did not find it amusing. She pushed away the last thought easily. She was not evil.
Matt and Marcus came walking back in to the living room.
Matt had a stern look on his face. “You’re not laughing of my cooking skills, are you?”
Amanda and David both had tears in their eyes. “No, it’s just David’s normal mess.”
“Good, because then you wouldn’t be served this amazing… erm, I guess it’s breakfast…” He handed her a big plate with two slices of bread and a massive tower of scrambled eggs. Amanda reached out to receive the plate, examining it closely before she put it on the table. She had a look of surprise on her face as she grabbed the fork. “Wow, looks good.”
“Of course it’s good.” Matt said smugly, looking a little bit proud.
Amanda tasted a little piece carefully. “It tastes good. Thanks Matt.”
Matt smiled proudly at her as he sat down and watched Amanda dig in. “Told you.”
“Oh, Amanda, we thought we should have a party on Saturday. You in?”
Amanda looked up at Matt. “Yes, sure. What kind of party?”
Marcus put his head embarrassed in his hands. Amanda had to smile at the different looks on the Twins. “A welcome home party!” Matt beamed.
Amanda looked confused. “For who?”
Marcus looked up again and looked at his brother. “Matt, before you say anything, I just want to state that this is your entire idea!”
Amanda had to smile. This had to be good.
Matt looked slightly irritated at his twin, but looked over at Amanda, with excitement in his eyes. “For us of course.” He pointed at himself and Marcus.
Amanda ignored another laugh. “But you’ve only been away on holiday.”
“Yeah, but haven’t you missed us?”
Amanda nodded. “Of course I have.”
“There you go!” Matt leaned back proudly, and put his hands behind his head.
Marcus was shaking his head. “Matt, as I’ve tried to tell you all day. You don’t throw a welcome home party for people that’ve been away on holiday! We didn’t throw Katie one.”
“Duh, we weren’t home then.” He knocked on his own head, showing that he wasn’t the stupid one. “But it can be for her and Luc as well. I think she would like that.” Matt added.
“Yeah, she’d like that after being home for two weeks.” David added cheekily.
Amanda laughed so hard that she chocked on the last bit of eggs. She coughed a little, and David hit her gently on the back.
Matt was the only one not getting what the funny part was. He frowned at them and looked a bit offended. “What is so funny? If you don’t want to have a party, you can just say so.”
Amanda dried away her tears with the back of her hand. “No, Matt, we’re sorry. A party is a great idea!”
David nodded. “Yeah, it is. Evelyn’ll be home by then as well!”
Amanda’s heart fell, and she felt pale again.
Great!
