Clayton sighed as he rested his back against the fern green that centered itself in the living room. Why was he acting like this? He thought he was okay. He thought that if he sent Yas off, he wouldn't have to worry about his mind splitting in several different ways. He was wrong. No matter what wedges he created, he couldn't escape the walls of his mind. At least she was away from all this. The wreck, Charlene, everything. He knew he should call, if he had his phone he wouldn't hesitate to. He didn't though. He was alone.
To relax his thoughts, he looked around the room for some sort of conversation starter. But nothing struck. In front of him, a dark wooden dresser laid ever so softly below the TV. With it, several photos of Haliya and her family. For most of them, Clayton could recognize most of the people in the frames. The asian woman being Haliya's mom. For a quick instance, he remembers meeting her. The scene was blurry, but she made herself very noticeable amongst the crowd. She was the type of woman who made the toast, hired the staff, managed the event and welcomed guests all at the same time. The pale Irish man belonged to the face of her father, but there was someone else…an unrecognizable face staring back at him.
The man in the photo stood ever so stiff next to the family. In a way, he looked photoshopped into there, the way his dark brown eyes stared into the camera, almost sent shivers down Clayton's spine. His eyes scanned each and every inch of the photo, looking for some kind of sign. He was so infatuated he didn't care about the sound of footprints coming from being him.
"Who's that?" He still kept his eyes forward as the couch sank from more weight being pressed down upon it. At first, there was no response, only a quick sigh.
"That's Josiah…Hal's fiancé."
"Is he cool?" Nathan gave a slight shrug before saying he was "alright." What did that even mean in this situation? Nathan continued by telling him that Josiah and Haliya got together a few years after they separated. For someone so distraught by the situation, Nathan seemed so calm for this. After a while silence fell through the room. And this silence… wasn't comfortable. Clayton watched as Nathan shifted and adjusted his coughing before letting out more words.
"Clay, I… I knew you weren't sleeping. In the back, I mean." Nathan continued to speak about everything. From when he first found out, to hoping it would die down, to eventually his coming out. Apparently, his outing wasn't as nice as he hoped it would be. When he first came out, it was to his wife. At first, he hoped she would be understanding. Maybe she would accept him and agree on splitting the raising evenly.
He was obviously wrong.
When Haliya found out, she was quick to send herself into a world of rage. She called family, friends, anyone that would've been able to listen. Which was basically everyone.
As he spoke, Clayton couldn't help but notice the man's blank expression. He looked as if he repeated this story in his head a million times. He looked as if he was a high-school actor, saying the lines but not caring what mood or tune they were in.
He sounded broken.
The conversation went on like that for a while. Mainly Nathan speaking, but Clayton didn't mind sending his two cents as well. Heck, it wasn't long before their words sounded like records, repeating their words with a little "uh-huh" in the middle. As they talked though, Clayton couldn't help but wonder. Why didn't he get called? He was definitely on Nathan's phone, since they worked together, so why? But instead of having all his questions answered, he decided to rest on this a little. A part for suspense and a whole lot for Nathan. He was going through a lot right now, so any more questions… just seemed selfish.
"Nathaniel?" A deep sounding voice caused them to relinquish their conversation. Not to lie, Josiah looked taller than he was in the photos. As the years went on, the man clearly got a better sense. His hair got longer along with the appearance of a beard. Unlike the stone cold image Clayton had in their head, Josiah held his arms wide for a hug. Which Nathan accepted. "I haven't seen you in a good bit! How are you?" While his words were kind and appealing, the words he received weren't so sentimental. Nathan told him about the mystery, the killings, all the way to crash. Hell, what didn't he know after the conversation?
As the three men talked, Haliya took the time to pay the babysitter before bringing herself and Charlene into the house. It seemed…nice. The talking, the laughing, the snarky remarks. It almost felt normal. Almost.
As the time went on, the group could feel the piercing eyes of Haliya being pressed into them. Josiah tried to deviate the attention, but they could always feel it, the tension. It felt suffocating.
"Well, you're welcome to stay as long as you need." The man smiled as he began to set the table for dinner. Although it was against SOME people's better judgment, Josiah was nice enough to let them borrow his car until theirs was ready to be picked up. It was more than what most people were willing to do, so they kindly accepted. After their dinner, the two were kindly escorted to their rooms.
The room was decorated with a nice French Lilac to match the blackwood bed frame. The curtains spread wide to shield the sun due to the brutal darkness of the color. With all this, the one thing that completed the room was the television set. The marvelous object was forty-eight inch tv sitting ever so nicely on a jet black stand. Beside it, a multitude of vases and flowers work to only enhance its magnificence. The room was perfect. Clearly made for maybe an older Charlene, but it was pretty all the same. Clayton gathered this from the numerous attachments to the wall. There, frames of ponies, fairies and other magical girl things textured the wall. Also the heavily printed words of CHARLENE made it obvious as well.
"I hope you don't mind staying here. Together I mean." Josiah's face scrunched together as he spoke. "This is the only room we have available right now, so." Instead of making any more conversation, he quickly walked past them to leave them in their own head.
"Well he can't take any awkwardness, can he?" Clayton squinted his eyes making an invisible angry face at his, so-called generous host.
"I mean, I am his wife's Ex-husband. It only makes sense." Although Nathan strived to be helpful, his incompetence only made it more aggravating. If anything, it definitely wasn't uncomfortable because of the status to his wife. Still, Clayton managed to shrug the childishness off before taking off his shirt and laying on his side of the bed.
Something tells him Josiah didn't believe them about Yasmine.