Forbidden Fairy Tale
Nine

Shane slowly walked into his dad’s office and sat down. He automatically noticed all the family pictures set on the bookcase behind the big cushy office chair his dad was sitting in. There was one of him and his dad, another of him and Sophie out by the play set they used to have when Sophie was about six, a picture of the whole family a few years ago and above all those pictures rested a plaque that said: Brian Adams, Office Manager.Shane was torn from his thoughts by the sound of his dad’s voice.

“So, what was it you wanted to talk to me about?”

“The way you’re trying to get Sophie to do that e bay thing when she obviously doesn’t want to.”

Shane’s dad sighed in frustration.

“I wanted her to help me do it, not have her do it all herself.”

“Dad, that’s not true and everyone in this house knows it because you’re doing the same thing to Sophie that you were doing to me before I got sick,” Shane said unconvinced.

Shane’s dad gave confused look.

“Shane, I never tried to force you to do anything you didn’t want to do.”

“Maybe not to the extent you are Sophie but you did try to force me to do things I didn’t want to do. I would just tell you straight out I wouldn’t do it and Sophie doesn’t do that.”

“Well Sophie knows how to talk. If she doesn’t want to do it she can speak up.”

Shane sighed in an attempt to keep himself from getting frustrated any further.

“Dad, she’s only fifteen and she’s had to deal with a lot more than most kids her age is supposed to. One of those things being her dad closing himself off from everything so of course she’d be afraid to speak up.”

“I haven’t closed myself off from anything. I’m the same way I’ve always been,” Shane’s dad protested.

Shane shook his head.

“No, dad, you’ve changed a lot in the last three years and it isn’t for the better either.”

Shane’s dad folded his arms obviously getting angrier than he was a few minutes before.

“Okay, please, tell me how am I any different than I was three years ago?”

“Well you’re a lot more distant than you used to be, you get set off a lot easier than you used to, and like I said before you try to force things on people,” Shane explained.

Shane’s dad shook his head.

“Well maybe I wouldn’t be that way if what’s gone on in the last three years hadn’t happened.” Shane’s dad said aloud without thinking.

Shane opened his mouth to say something but hesitated before speaking again.

“I think we all wish what’s gone on in the last three years never happened. Just don’t take it out on Sophie because you’re upset about it,” Shane said before quietly walking out of his dad’s office not wanting the argument to go any further.

Sophie stood silently outside the home office door and listened as Shane and their dad argued. She could only hear what was being said by her dad’s loud voice because as usual, Shane was being the calm and rational one, which meant he barely raised his voice at all.
Sophie sighed as she remembered an argument Shane and their dad had much like this one. Except the one she was listening in on now was mild compared to the one she listened in on a few years ago…

Sophie slowly started to wake up only to realize she was still in Shane’s room. She also noticed that Shane was no longer in the room with her. Sophie sighed and looked at the digital alarm clock Shane had resting on the nightstand at his side of the bed. It read: 12:25 A.M.
Sophie sat up, climbed out of bed, and then started down the hallway until she stopped at her parent’s door.
She could hear her dad’s loud dominant voice accompanied by Shane’s harsh whispers and their mother who was most likely trying to unsuccessfully keep their dad in line.

Sophie’s thoughts were interrupted when the home office door opened and Shane stepped out, closing the door behind him.

Sophie could tell that Shane was angry because he was doing what he always did when he was upset. He would get really quiet and not speak to anyone until he had calmed down. But it wasn’t like he got mad that often, not that Sophie had seen anyway.

Sophie was torn from her thoughts again when Shane spoke up for the first time since walking out of their dad’s office.

“You were listening through the door weren’t you?”

Sophie hesitated, slightly taken aback because even though Shane still had his calm demeanor it was obvious he was upset about something.

“Umm…Maybe. I heard dad yelling but I couldn’t really hear anything else though.”

“Good. You didn’t really need to hear what was being said.”

Sophie tilted her head to the side giving Shane a look that was a mix of worry and confusion.

“Shane, what was said in there? You went in there to talk to him about me, did you guys start arguing about what I asked you to talk to him about?”

“No, no it wasn’t about you, it was about something else,” Shane explained not wanting Sophie to think the argument was her fault.

“What was it about then?”

“It’s nothing you need to worry about okay?”

Sophie gave a frustrated sigh.

“Fine, don’t tell me but dad obviously said something to really tick you off.”

Shane heaved a sigh in frustration.

If Sophie was one thing it was definitely persistent.

“You aren’t going to give up on this are you?”

“Nope,” Sophie said giving a determined smile.

“Not much was said really, I just told dad he has a tendency to force things on people. That’s all.” Shane said trying his best to avoid telling Sophie the last few words that were said.

Sophie nodded.

“You’re so stalling. That’s not all that was said. Was it?”

“What are you? An Interrogator?”

“Hey, you do the same thing to me sometimes. Now what did dad say to you?” Sophie said relived that Shane was starting to tease her again and not being so serious.

Shane rolled his eyes.

“Fine, I’ll tell you but don’t tell mom. Got it?”

“Got it,” Sophie responded.

Shane leaned over and whispered it in her ear since their dad was still in his office.

After a few minutes Shane pulled away.

“Oh, I could just kick his--” Sophie started only to be cut off by Shane.

“Sophie…”

“What? He had no right to say that to you.”

Shane sighed.

“You’re right, he didn’t but I’m not going to let it bother me and you don’t need to get involved.”

Sophie heaved a sigh and started to say something but before she could their mom came into the room.

“Is everything okay in here?”

“Yeah, it’s fine mom,” Sophie said glancing over at Shane for guidance.

Their mom gave them a skeptical look.

Shane just quietly told her he’d talk to her later.

Their mother nodded, accepting the answer before turning around and going into the living room.

Shane and Sophie looked at each other and quickly followed suit, not wanting to talk about the events that went on that night any longer than was necessary.

Bella sat silently, her eyes fixed on the movie and Hannah, who was seated next to her. It was nearing the end of the movie and Bella could see that Hannah was almost in tears. This confused and worried Bella because Hannah never cried at movies. Actually, she rarely ever cried at all.

“Hey, you okay?” Bella asked Hannah in a whisper so the adults wouldn’t hear.

“I’m fine.”

Bella gave her an unconvinced look.

“You sure don’t seem fine.”

“Well, I’m really fine.”

Bella nodded, obviously still unconvinced.

“Okay. Come on.”

With that Bella practically dragged Hannah out of the living room, while both girls gave gleaming smiles to the suspicious adults staring at them.

“Okay, so what the crap is wrong with you today?” Bella asked once they were in the safety of Hannah’s room.

“Nothing’s wrong with me Bella,” Hannah said wondering why her friend was questioning her so much.

“Hannah, we been best friends since we were little so, I know that you don’t cry unless something really big is bothering you. Actually anyone who knows you really well knows that. So spill it, what’s up?”

Hannah sighed.

Sometimes she hated the fact her friends knew her so well.

“I met a guy,” Hannah blurted out quickly.

Bella gave Hannah a look of intrigue and confusion.

“That’s great Hannah but that still doesn’t explain the crying. Unless he turned out to be a jerk and you guys had an argument or something.”

“Oh, it’s a little bit more complicated than that.”

“Okay…how exactly?”

“I met him at the hospital. He’s one of my dad’s patients,” Hannah explained.

Bella nodded, knowing right away that it could be problematic.

“Oh, that could get complicated couldn’t it?”

“Yeah definitely. My dad’s already given me the ‘personal involvement’ speech.”

Bella just rolled her eyes.

“I’m sorry Hannah but, your dad acts like a big jerk sometimes.”

Hannah sighed.

“I know that. I mean, he walked in on us talking and he made such a big deal out of it.”

Bella shook her head.

“Okay, well besides the obvious daddy issue, both of your parents are oncologists so he’s got…” Bella said letting her sentence trail, leaving Hannah to fill in the blank.

“Yeah. Leukemia.”

Bella nodded before speaking.

“Okay. Well, give me details. Like what his name is since you neglected to tell me.”

Hannah sighed with relief.

She hadn’t been sure how Bella would react but of course she was just typical laid-back Bella.

After that Hannah proceeded to explain everything that had happened. From the beginning.

“So what do you think I should do?” Hannah asked after explaining the whole story to Bella.

“I say go for it. If you like Shane as much as you say you do try being friends with him first and see if it goes any further than that.”

Hannah sighed.

Of course Bella wouldn’t hesitate. Unlike Hannah Bella did what she wanted, within reason of course, and she didn’t really care what others thought of her.

“But what about the daddy issue? I mean he freaked out when he just saw us talking. If he knew we were friends--” Hannah said being cut off by Bella.

“He would get really ticked off. But why would you care? You’ve never let what your dad thought affect you before.”

Hannah tilted her head to the side, a confused look plastered on her face.

“You must be confusing me with another friend of yours because what my dad thought has always affected me. I’ve just gotten really good at hiding it.”

Bella sighed.

“Okay, let me rephrase that. You’ve never let your dad know what he thinks affects you. That sound better?”

Hannah nodded.

“That sounds more like it.”

“But still. Hannah, you shouldn’t let him dictate who you’re friends with, even if it is one of his patients. Unless there’s another reason why you’re afraid to be friends with him.”

Hannah gave Bella another perplexed look.

“What reason would I have to be afraid to be friends with him?”

“You’re afraid you’ll become too attached.” Bella answered simply.

Hannah became silent.

“I’m right, aren’t I?”

Hannah sighed.

“You’re right, I am afraid but not because I’m afraid I’ll become too attached. It’s because I already am.”

Now it was Bella’s turn to give Hannah a confused look.

“What exactly do you mean?”

“We pretty much clicked right away and with that came a certain level of trust I guess so we ended up telling each other certain things about each other,” Hannah explained.

“Okay, like what things?”

“I told him about what happened with my family last year.”

Bella was at a loss for words.

Hannah really must trust this guy. Bella thought. She’s never talked openly about that to anybody except me and Andy.Finally, Bella found her voice and spoke again.

“Wow. What happened after you told him about that?”

“He was really sympathetic about it and then before I left He gave me this,” Hannah said handing Bella the piece of paper Shane had given her.

Bella took the piece of paper and slowly unfolded it to reveal a cell phone number and an e-mail address.

“I still say go for it. He’s obviously interested in you and as for your dad if he has a problem about that’s his problem.”

“But the emotional involvement--” Hannah started only to be cut off by Bella.

“Hannah you said it yourself, you’re emotionally invested whether you want to be or not.”

Hannah sighed.

“I guess you’re right.”

“I’m your best friend, of course I’m right,” Bella said teasingly.

Hannah smiled.

“Now about you and Andy…” Hannah said letting her sentence trail.

Bella just shook her head and headed down the stairs.

Hannah sighed.

New years Eve was definitely going to be…Interesting.