PAGING DR ROBERTSON

Aurelia nodded, matching the seriousness that washed over Jonas’s face. She racked her head for any random information she might’ve heard about the tall man in front of her over the past month or two but nothing came up. The woman had been so busy that she hadn’t been able to even take a second to listen to the other ladies at the nail salon gossip about people in town. However, she knew that look well and nodded sympathetically. “Hey,” Her voice was softer as she reached for him, resting what she hoped was a comforting hand on his bicep. “Life gets messy sometimes.” She wasn’t sure what was going on in his life but the bigger part of Aurelia wanted to help even if it was just by lending an ear. She turned her head away to think for a second before looking up at him again. “How about we go somewhere else? Drinks on me.” She gave him a soft smile and didn’t take no for an answer as she stepped to his side and looped her arm around his. “Unless you want some warm milk for those pastries, big boy. I’ve got some at home if you don’t mind oat milk.” What was it about Jonas that made Aurelia feel so… careful? She’d always been someone who took life with a charged strut but he had her reassessing things she’d never thought she wanted or needed in her future. 

...

What was the point of this? Ben knew what Jonas’s reaction would be even before he had it. Jonas was well mannered but he wasn’t pushed around like some imbecile. There had to be some other reason for the sudden truth among a mountain of lies, a lifetime actually. Ben wouldn’t learn until later that week that someone else knew the truth. All this dinner was… was a bad attempt at being one step ahead before someone else broke the news to them and to his father’s colleagues. This way Doctor Angelo could be prepared in case Jonas wanted to sue him for whatever the fuck he could be sued for, this way he could open the table for negotiations. So the renown surgeon had a bastard child. What a fucking idiot, Ben’s scoff was directed at his father. His mother handed him the file then and Jonas was still talking, having his moment after the realization hit, while Ben read the living will in front of him. He saw his older brother’s name on there. And Jonas’s. Full legal names, ages, and contact information. Ben held his breath, feeling both lightheaded and… relieved that his wasn’t on there. He looked up then, not to Jonas or Maya or his mother. Two rushing to leave and one trying to fix the situation. Ben looked at the man he’d never been scared of regardless of how many awful so-called lessons he’d endured growing up, abuse implemented in hopes that one day he’d be the good, successful and obedient son they always wanted. He swallowed, his jaw tightened, his knuckles turned white on top of his knees as he sat there having a stupid no-word conversation with Doctor Angelo. He saw the man’s jaw unhinge and Ben stood up, the chair making a nasty noise against the wooden floors as he did so, effectively shutting the man up. Ben didn’t say anything, his eyes carried all the words he had. He wasn’t on the will, he wasn’t the man’s son. This wasn’t his family. That wasn’t his father. Ben owed them nothing. He turned, avoiding a collision with Jonas on the way out. He left and even as his world shifted, Ben felt like he’d known the truth all along.

Ben was sure that every single person seated at the dining room table had a better place to be at the moment than enduring dinner together, and for what? To be cordial with someone who used to be Ben’s best friend when they were little? Jonas and Ben could talk anywhere else, in fact, they had. They already caught up with each other a couple of weeks ago. Ben leaned his forehead into his palm, forcing himself to keep his mouth shut before he called the dinner off. Being around his father made him like this, taking a thirty year old man back to a place he hated as a teenager. Could anyone blame him for feeling irritable? “We have some sensitive information to share.” Ben’s father spoke up first, cutting the crap before wasting anyone’s time. Ben knew he did it because he cared about his own time though, not anyone else. “What?” Ben’s mother threw him a daggered look but he didn’t flinch. Jonas didn’t know his parents how he did, he didn’t know it wasn’t smart to bring a little kid around that man but nothing would happen. They would both make sure of it. Ben knew that. “What sensitive information?” Ben’s voice hinged on exasperation. Ben’s dad started to talk about his living will, some hitch that happened. Apparently he was required to address all of his living children even if he didn’t plan to give them a dime. “So why’s Jonas here?” And then it clicked. It clicked before he even finished the words. Before he learned about Jonas’s invitation. It clicked with the memory of Ben catching Jonas’s mother in his father’s arms when he was little. It clicked when Jonas and her left, not just their home and the employment there but Fallbrook. Ben stared. All he could do was stare but he wasn’t the least bit surprised. 

...

Jonas raised his eyes from his plate, Maya going silent as if she could feel the tension rising from the table. Her own eyes were darting from the people at the table to her father. He remained silent as his own gaze focused on the infamous Mr. Angelo, the man who had helped his mother keep a roof over his head and the one who he could remember always locking eyes with no matter where he was and the way the man would linger around him at the hospital always made him a little uncomfortable because he couldn’t figure out why. Even if he didn’t plan on giving them a dime. All his living children. Each word hit him. He inhaled, not removing his eyes from the man in front of him who finally looked at him. “No.” He said, turning his head to look over at his mother who was wiping at her eyes. 

“In part, it’s always been something I’ve known,” he shrugged his shoulders, staring down into his glass. Oscar knew when he pursued Maddox that her heart would always belong to Seth. “But you’re right,” he knew he was taking the coward’s way out. Having affairs, avoiding confrontation with his wife, a woman he did once love. “I’ll talk to her,” he swallowed hard before lifting up his glass and tossing the rest of it back before flagging the bartender for another. “it’s a conversation long over due,” he knew that, everyone that knew him and Maddox knew that. “I, uh, thanks, Jonas.” He wasn’t a man of many softer emotions and he had reason to believe he had friends due to his many undesirable actions as a husband but his friendship with Jonas was one to appreciated, especially in a moment like this. “We, uh, we did go out for Valentine’s Day though and that was nice. I think we needed that.”

...

Jonas turned his head to look over at the man, pressing his lips together as he thought about his marriage to Adele. It was a topic he never brought into conversations because it reminded him of his failures. He tapped his finger against the side of his beer bottle, clearing his throat. “Yeah, not having communication in a marriage.” Breathing out, the man glanced towards his beer bottle. “Your wife packs her things and the next time you have any form of contact with it’s divorce papers.” He brushed his tongue along his lower lip, turning his head to look at Oscar. “Yeah... don’t be like me. I let my job take over my life when I was married and I neglected the person I should have made a priority.” He shrugged. “It’s hard to feel a lot of regret over my actions because I don’t think I ever would have eased up on my hours, I never would have had Maya and I wouldn’t be lookin’ to settle down in a small town but... You never know. Maybe you have something worth saving but assuming things, Oscar... It doesn’t do anything but drive you crazy.”

Adele was already shaking he head at his words. If she would have stayed. Adele never had wanted to know what she would have seen. “Jonas, I -” she shook her head slowly, “we were already fighting so much, I was afraid that I would see you keep kissing her.” She knew it was a poor assumption to make, especially with the admittance of pushing the woman away after Adele walked out. “I know what I did was wrong,” Adele did ghost him, took off after she saw him lip-locked with another and never spoke to him again. She even had the divorce papers mailed to him. “I reacted and never thought about my actions, not the way I should have. I just thought it was over, especially with all the fighting we had already been doing.” She dropped her gaze to the sidewalk they walked on, “I am sorry, Jonas.”

...

Jonas stared at her for a few seconds, one little moment changed the course of their entire future together and a part of him wondered for a spilt second what it would have been like. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his sweater to keep his hands busy. Maybe if this had been two years ago he would have gone with the emotional confession of it all and might have pulled her in for a kiss to see if the spark had still been there... let them have that one last moment together but he had another girl in his life that didn’t deserve the confusion or the drama. “It’s okay,” he said after a moment. “We were young and we loved each other. I always thought one day I’d come home and you wouldn’t be there anymore because the fighting had been so bad... Maybe.. It was just the way our story was meant to play out.”

“Yeah?” He couldn’t say he knew a ton about Jonas but he was slowing starting to put together the bigger picture with the man. “I loved New York, it was a big change from Michigan, you know? Nothing like the movies or shows make it seem.” He let out a laugh as he shook his head. “Now that was the rude awakening no one prepared me for but I survived.” Another one of those came after he was conned by Alara after he married her. “Disney World would be a lot of fun to do. Shit, even at almost forty I think I’d have a good time with it.” He admitted, laughing as he did so.

...

Jonas glanced over at Christian, nodding his head. “Yeah, I lived in a few big cities on and off through the years. Fallbrook definitely takes the cake as the smallest town I’ve ever lived in. He chuckled as he shoved his hands into his pockets, turning his head to look over at his friend. “At least you are here in this small town. Not a lot of interesting stuff happens here.” Well despite the earthquake that happened last summer. “If you think you can get the time off from the hospital. You can join us.”

Oscar thinned his lips at Jonas’ question, “I don’t think she loves me. Not truly, there’s always been someone else that has her heart and I thought,” he shook his head, “once upon a time I thought that was long in the past but he’s been back in town a while,” Oscar admitted to Jonas, “and it’s just something I think we both know but haven’t found the courage to talk about.” He was a coward himself, taking on affairs while he was out of town, even having the audacity to find some within Fallbrook from time to time. “How is Maya? She’s good, yeah?” 

...

Jonas exhaled at the male’s words, tapping his finger against his glass. “Is that something she has said or acted differently about... or is it something you’re assuming?” He asked, glancing over in the direction of someone he would consider a friend by now. “The funny thing about marriage is... It’s never going to work if you don’t have a solid line of communication. If you let your doubts and insecurities get the best of you... It’s not an easy hole to cover up after it’s punched in. You should really talk to her about how you’re feeling, Oscar... not doing whatever it is you’re doing on those business trips.”

“Can’t beat that,” Christian nodded his head along with his words. As for his own childhood, he didn’t really have anyone to fill him in on if he was terrible or not around that age. With his biological parent’s deceased, his adoptive mother’s didn’t mean him until he was a bit older. “I have heard that,” he had always wanted to assume it was an exaggeration but the more he heard it, the less he thought that. “Michigan has it’s moments, don’t let me sway you,” he held his hands up in a mock surrender, “I am all about it still, I love goin’ back to visit but I don’t know that I want to live there. The lakes are great in the summer, always worth checking out.” 

...

Jonas walked along side of him, turning his head to look over at him. “I bounced from place to place for a while after I was twenty-six.” The male had lost his wife and didn’t really have a reason to stay in one place for too long. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his jacket. “This is where I was born and where my mother came back so I couldn’t imagine trying to go visit anywhere. I might end up taking Maya to Disneyworld one day.”

“Thanks,” she said quietly, watching as he put some money on the bar and told his co-worker that he was taking off for the evening. Adele followed him to the front door, giving him another quiet thank you as she stepped on to the streets of Fallbrook. Adele knew she should have stayed working at the motel later. The crisp air sent a shiver down her spine and she pulled her jacket tighter around her. His question had her stopping in her tracks, having only taken a few steps away from the bar. What happened? He had the nerve to ask a question like that after what she had seen at the hospital. “Jonas,” she shook her head, her brows coming together. “what do you mean what happened? You cheated on me. I walked in on you and whatever resident,” she shook her head, “I know we had been fighting a lot, I just- I saw that and everything inside of me broke. I didn’t think, I never thought you could do that.”

...

Jonas didn’t understand the way her expression changed instantly after his question. Slipping his hands into his pockets, the male kept his emotions from coming over his own features. His lips parted at her words but he shut them almost instantly as he thought about to the blonde who had kissed him during his residency. He inhaled as he tilted his head down to look down at his shoes as he adjusted his fingers in the pockets of his jacket. “If you would have stayed... You would have seen me push her away.” He said quietly. “Or you could have talked to me about it... You threw away our marriage, Ade... Our marriage and you could have confronted me about it... but instead you ghosted me. How... I wish you would have talked to me.”

It was an obvious answer right? That they lived in a small town, any one human in that town could look familiar just based off of that. All Rori knew was that the last thing she could deal with facing right now was that horrific piece of her past popping up. Seeing his face, remembering that night, and dealing with the fact that she had no closure on what happened to the girl left a heavy weight on her chest. She supposed it was just her luck these days. “Uh–okay thanks. You too.” She spoke out awkwardly, still not willing to look at him.

“Damn,” he raised a brow, “that’s crazy. Were the twos terrible? All I hear is that the twos are terrible.” He chuckled softly, not sure whether or not to believe the notion he had heard all of his years. “Vegas?” He let out a breath of air over his lips. “Do they call it a dry heat, too? Like in Arizona?” He didn’t know a damn thing about living in Vegas or Arizona, having only lived in Michigan and New York himself, “I’m not sure which is worse. Michigan winters were not joke and experiencing four seasons in one week? It really gives you a run for your money.”

...

Jonas chuckled lowly. “Truthfully... I got lucky and haven’t really experienced it.” Although most parents said the terrible twos were quickly becoming the terrible threes. It was hard to imagine Maya giving him any grief at all which for a second made him feel like he was being one of those parents that kept spilling stories about how perfect their kids were only to get knocked in the face with some behavior they can’t handle. “Vegas,” he laughed, nodding his head. “I haven’t been to Arizona but I swear my skin sticks to my skin during the summer in Vegas.” he turned his head to look over at him, chuckling at his words. “I’ve always wanted to see Michigan but that makes me double guess it.”

“Uh yeah, that would be the one.” She thinned her lips as he grabbed her jacket from the stool. Adele reached for the jacket, careful to avoid touching any part of Jonas while she took the jacket, resting it over her crossed arms as she continued to stand in front of him. Her heart stood still in the moment, missing at least a few beats at his question, her eyes following his toward the entrance. “Yeah, uh, sure,” it had been so long since the two of them had seen one another. And a conversation was well over due. Adele was certain it wouldn’t change anything, she had finally moved on from Jonas, but that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt standing in front of him when all she could think about was the moment she walked in in on him cheating on her. 

...

“Looks like somethin’ you’d wear.” Jonas slipped off his stool, reaching into his back pocket to pull out his wallet and opened it. He pulled out a couple of bills, tossing them onto the surface of the bar as he reached over to the closest co-worker. “Hey, man. I’m headin’ out.” The male glanced from him to the woman standing behind him, giving him a smirk that Jonas shook off, giving him a pat on the shoulder along with the other man they came with. He turned away from them, walking towards the entrance, pushing open the door. He held open for her and waited for her to walk out into the crisp cool air, stepping out right after her. He adjusted his jacket on his shoulders, brushing his tongue along his lower lip. “What happened?” It was all he could ask in that moment. The burning question that had been on his mind for the last six years.

“I appreciate you saying that but,” Aurelia smiled sweetly at him, admiring how considerate he always seemed to be despite dealing with his unfair share of things in the last couple of years. The custody battle for Maya was torture enough but he had to take care of so many people at the hospital on top of everything else. “I couldn’t do it without a strong support system so, really, things are always manageable.” It wasn’t always true but no one wanted to hear the Mayor hesitate when it came to caring after Fallbrook. However, something told her that Jonas didn’t care about those things. He genuinely cared about her, she could see it in his eyes, but she wasn’t sure what to do with that or if he looked at everyone like that. Regardless, Aurelia liked being around him. “Maybe.” Aurelia shrugged, her tone honest. “There’s always things about the past we wish we couldn’t change, isn’t there? Can’t let that stop you from moving forward, especially for Maya.” She didn’t want to push him to talk about anything he wasn’t ready for so she gave him an easy out of the conversation. “Doesn’t sound like she deserved you.” So the woman, Maya’s mother, cheated on him. “How do you do it? Keep going, I mean.” He knew he would say that he did it for his daughter and it made her heart grow just thinking about it. “I can’t really say I relate to any of that, but I’m… kind of happy I don’t.” Aurelia broke into a chuckle. 

...

"But what?" Jonas asked quietly, his eyes focusing on her. He took in the expression on her features. She was beautiful, kind, thoughtful,caring. God, the list could go on and on. He didn't know how she had been able to make the thumping in his cheat quicken every time she gave him that smile of hers. "Ever leader needs a support system." He said as he glanced to look ahead of him. He knew there were many things he'd regret over the years but a part of him wished he was able to help his daughter navigate through her life without her mom. "Yeah but there will be a day where she realizes I'm not enough and that her mom isn't around. That's why I was hoping coming home to her grandma would help." He confessed as he brushed his tongue along his lower lip as he turned his head to look over at her. "I was different back then... I wasn't great." He thought about the long hours, the tiredness and barely being able to handle the relationships he had been in. Having Maya changed him. He inhaled at her words. "Maya," He said, glancing over to look at Aurelia. "She is the reason I'm standing here today as the person I am. She makes me want to be better." He breathed out, turning to look at her fully now. "What's your dating history like?" He asked softly. "I mean... you don't have to answer that."