Just Starting Out
1.13 - Surprise Visit
“How was your trip?” Kayla cheered, running forward to embrace John when he stepped off the trolley.
“It was… alright,” John nodded.
John didn’t know why, but something inside him told him not to tell Kayla. It was odd to him, because he and Kayla had always told each other everything. But this… one of the worst experiences in his life… he couldn’t tell her anything. And it sucked. He knew that the situation shouldn’t just be between him and Malcolm, but every time he thought about telling Kayla anything, he felt ill.
“Well, you’ll have to tell me all the details when we get inside,” Kayla said, leading the way to the house.
“I had an epiphany while you were away that I’m so excited to talk to you about…” Kayla went on.
John tuned her out to continue ruminating over his own problems, and Kayla went on and on about the epiphany she’d describe once they were inside as he stood there, waiting for her to let him inside.
Eventually, she did run out of steam.
“Anyway, there’s a surprise waiting for you inside! That’s why I’ll wait to tell you about everything I went through!”
Kayla threw open the front door, and John was greeted by the smiling faces of his parents.
“Surprise!” Adrienne exclaimed.
“How are ya, sport?” Jameson smiled.
John honestly felt like he was about to vomit, but he put on a smile, and embraced his parents anyway.
“We showed up two days ago to surprise you and Kayla, but we ended up being the ones who were surprised! Our John and Kayla, in different cities at the same time? I never thought this day would come! You two have grown up so much!” Adrienne went on.
The four of them all hugged and said their hellos, then headed over to the dining room table for some spirited conversation that was the last thing John wanted to endure at the moment.
“So, I’ll start,” Kayla said. “Remember that foreign woman I told you about, the one who went to my book signing while you were away in Willow Creek? I ran into her in the supermarket! And I started to have a breakdown cause I’m actually out here changing people’s whole lives! Then Melody, bless her heart, helped me come to terms with all of that…”
John tuned her out again. He’d thought he was okay half a week ago, the last time he saw Malcolm. He’d remembered that he’d told Kayla he was going to be gone a week before leaving, and to not raise any suspicion that something was wrong, he’d spent the last part of his trip sulking in a hotel room, the do not disturb sign always on the doorknob. He hadn’t wanted to interact with anyone. Instead, he’s spent those days laying on his bed, not showering, barely eating, the world spinning around him as he tried to avoid thinking too much about what could have happened during that period of time he couldn’t remember.
“Well? What do you think, John?” Jameson asked him, drawing John out of his thoughts. “Your mother and I have heard this story a thousand times of course-“
“A story that changed my life, dad,” Kayla said, shaking her head. “The nerve…”
“He’s not wrong, dear,” Adrienne laughed.
“I’m, uh… I’m just really happy for you, Kayla.”
“Well good! You should be! Don’t be like these two…”
“Now you listen here, Kayla, don’t you ever assume your father and I aren’t proud of you-“ Adrienne went off, beginning to delve into a huge lecture.
“Mom, no. I was just joking, there’s no need for this,” Kayla said, shaking her head.
“Oh! Of course, of course… I’m sorry, it’s just, you know, old habit and all…”
“So how was your trip, John?” Jameson asked, changing the subject.
John felt as if the table stretched halfway across the world as everyone stared at him expectantly. Panic overrode him. What did he say? How did he expect to keep any of this a secret? He had no good stories, he was either being potentially sexually assaulted by Malcolm or he was disassociating in a hotel room with the blackout curtains drawn. None of that made for a good story.
“Well, uh, Nancy, she-“
John was saved by a sudden pounding on the door.
“Are you two expecting anyone?” Adrienne asked.
“No?” Kayla said, getting up from the table to answer the door.
John praised everything holy as Kayla opened the door, hoping the visitor was Lillian, or Melody, or by some miracle, Cassandra, someone that could help direct the conversation away from his disastrous trip to Oasis Springs.
“Oh!” Kayla exclaimed.
John, Adrienne, and Jameson peered over towards the door curiously.
“Hey, Kayla. Is John here? I really need to talk with him,” a voice that made John’s blood run cold said.
“Uh, yeah, he just got home? Come on in, Malcolm. Guess you just couldn’t get enough, huh?”
Adrienne and Jameson shared a look. Even though their son has been working for the Landgraab family for awhile now, they definitely still didn’t trust them. Working for any of them, in their minds, would only result in bad things for John. A fact that was a lot more true than either of them realized.
“You know what?” John said, his voice coming out in a squeak. “I’m really not feeling well. I think I had some bad food at the restaurant I stopped at on the way home. I’m going to go lie down.”
“Please do, John,” Adrienne nodded. “You’ve seemed off since the moment we first saw you, it’s clear you need some rest.”
“Mind telling us what restaurant?” Jameson asked. “Want to make sure Adrienne and I avoid it, you see, we’re planning on going on a cross country road trip, and-“
“Well, I, uh…”
“Jameson! Let the boy rest. We can go into extensive detail about our road trip once he’s feeling better,” Adrienne cut in.
John gave a weak smile of thanks to Adrienne before bolting for his bedroom, and collapsing in his bed. He hadn’t even want to see Malcolm’s face again, let alone have him in the same room as him. He’d honestly be fine never leaving his bedroom again if it meant not seeing Malcolm.
Back in the living room, Kayla and Malcolm joined Adrienne and Jameson.
“That must be some intensely bad restaurant food,” Kayla said, shaking her head.
“No kidding,” Adrienne muttered. “I remember one time, John accidentally swallowed rat poison and was completely fine. The curse of aging…”
“Do you guys think I should pop into his room and make sure he doesn’t need anything else?” Malcolm asked.
“No, my son needs his rest, Mr. Landgraab,” Jameson said firmly. “You’d best leave him alone.”
Malcolm opened his mouth to argue, but clearly thought better of it, and shut it again.
“Come and sit down, sonny,” Jameson said, gesturing towards the chair John had been sitting in. “Since John can’t, I’m sure you can tell us about his trip.”
Malcolm, unlike John, was well versed in lying and crafting eloquent stories to fool others. “I’m so glad John came to visit. We had such a great time! I mean, on our first night, John got absolutely wasted- so wasted that I actually ended up asking him if it was his first time drinking. He did not know how to moderate, and did such a poor job at it that he had the worst hangover I’d ever seen the next morning. Borderline moronic, how much he drank. But don’t worry, after witnessing that travesty, I decided it was best we didn’t do something like that again. So, instead, we spent the rest of the trip playing video games or walking around downtown Oasis Springs to see the sights. The most unforgettable night was definitely the night we went bowling, you see, in a fit of rage I accidentally made a bowling ball shaped hole in their wooden floor…”
John listened from his bedroom. The last thing he wanted to be was grateful to Malcolm, but he had to admit, he was doing a much better job at telling a believable story to his family than he’d ever be able to. Maybe, with this, he might actually be able to bury this behind him and try to forget it had ever happened. He sure hoped Malcolm would make his permanent exit soon so that could become a reality.