FicWad

A BEAUTIFUL LIE

CHAPTER FOUR

Shannon was sitting on the couch in the living as Skyla came down the stairs and headed for the door. She barely looked at him as she left, and Shannon ran out after her, trying to catch up to her. “What happened?”

“I gotta leave. Can you do me a favor and tell him I'm sorry?” Skyla's jade-green eyes were ringed in red from her tears, and Shannon, fighting back his own tears, hugged her tightly as he pressed a pair of keys into her hand.

“One of these is the key to to my Jeep; the other is the key to the beach house. Go there until you can go back home. I'll talk to him later,” Shannon whispered in her ear.

Skyla stared at the keys. “Are you sure?”

“Yes. Now go.”

“Thank you. Thank you so much. I don't know how to repay you, but I swear I will,” Skyla told him as she choked up again. She ran out to his Jeep and got in the driver's seat; as she stared at the keys in her hand again, she suddenly felt uneasy. She didn't have much time to think, though; she had to go. Skyla started Shannon's Jeep up and backed it out of the driveway, but as she tried to remember the way to the beach house, she began to get nervous. She had never been there by herself before. But as she passed the river park, she remembered that it was a few miles from there. Sure enough, she found the driveway after driving about ten miles. She pulled in and leaned against the headrest in the Jeep; now that she was alone, she could cry freely. But she decided to wait until she was inside so that if anyone tried to come check on her, she had the option of rejection.

Shannon looked at the bare spot where Skyla just was before he headed back inside. He went upstairs to talk to Jared. “Are you stupid?” Shannon yelled at him as he walked into Jared's room. “She called off the engagement!”

“It doesn't matter! She was still engaged when we got married.” Jared was getting ready to take a shower, and tossed a change of clothes on his bed.

“No she wasn't! She called it off because he ran off. Remember?” Shannon was getting frustrated. He ran his fingers through his hair, and headed toward his room. “By the way, Skyla said she's sorry.”

“I don't believe that.” Jared grabbed the clothes off his bed and headed to the bathroom. He heard Shannon bang his head against the wall outside the bathroom door and as he started his shower, he pushed the curtain aside a few inches and popped his head out. “You can come in here, you know!”

Shannon pushed the door open. “Why don't you believe Skyla is sorry? She could barely keep from crying when she left. I think you are making a huge mistake. She's a sweet girl and would never do anything to make you mad.”

“Oh really? She hasn't even told me she loves me. Not once.” Jared tied a towel around his waist and stepped out of the shower. “Okay. Now is when you can leave.”

Shannon held his hands up as a sign of surrender and left. As he walked by Jared's open bedroom door, he noticed that the keys to his new car were laying on his bed. Shannon looked around, walked into the room quietly, and grabbed the keys. Before he left he wrote a note saying that he was going to the store to get some things and to call him if he needed anything. He quickly walked into his room, grabbed his phone and his wallet, and left.

*

Skyla felt lonely inside the beach house with no one to talk to. She had already dyed her hair a dark brown color, been in every room on every floor, and even looked at the amazing view of the beach from the sunroom. There was a small porch attached to the room, and she spent most of her time sitting on the patio furniture watching the lazy tides at night. In the day, however, she sat on the widow's walk, staring down at people on the beach, wishing she could shake that lonely feeling. She jumped as she heard her iPhone start ringing; it was a number she didn't recognize.

“Hello, Skyla? Skyla Miller?” It was an oddly familiar man's voice.

“Yes?”

“I don't know if you will remember me by my voice. This is Geoff Waters.” Alarm bells began ringing in Skyla's head. Why is he calling me?

“Yes. I remember you. But I don't want anything to do with you.”

“Quite the contrary, here. I am in Los Angeles right now and I am calling to tell you I wish to marry you, this weekend, in Las Vegas.”

Skyla's mouth dropped open. “Thanks, but no. I called off our engagement last year, after you left, remember?”

“Vaguely. But you still have the ring I gave you, so I'm guessing you still want to get married.”

“No, I don't. I'll give you your stupid ring back when I get home.” Skyla hung up on him and angrily left the widow's walk. As she entered the living room, she heard someone knocking on the door. “Who is it?”

“Me! Open up!” Shannon called. Skyla walked over to the door and unlocked it. As Shannon walked in, she gave him a hug.

“I miss you guys so much,” she told him. “It's so lonely here by myself.”

“I'll be here for a few hours. But let's go sit down for a minute. I need to talk to you.” Shannon walked over to the couch and patted the cushion beside him. Skyla sat down and put her feet up, positioning herself so that she was looking into his eyes.

“Go on,” she said.

“Jared doesn't believe your apology. I think he might want to hear it from you, not me. And tell him you love him. That way he knows it's sincere.” Shannon looked over at her.

“I was sincere-” Skyla started to say, but was cut off.

“If you haven't even told Jared a sincere 'I love you', how do you expect him to believe you're sincere when you tell him that you're sorry for something really, really big, like this?” Shannon asked her. Skyla was silent. Then she got up and ran to the sunroom.