Count On Me

Part Seven

Chapter Seven

Their evening had ended difficultly; both had experienced a lot of hurt and anger, at each other, and the actions of Janis before she'd died. Oscar knew that Janis had purposely kept him out of Nate's life, and that hurt. There was no reason for that, other than the revelation that Lizzie had hinted at the night before, that Janis may have wanted more from him. She hadn't said as much, and he was good at reading between the lines. Usually. Had he got this so wrong?

That troubled him, until he'd met Krystal he hadn't had a relationship, and that was the beauty of her. She was an exotic dancer...an almost stripper. She loved attention and being in the limelight more than anything. They partied hard, but she wasn't clingy or demanding. But their relationship had been well established when he'd met Janis and slept with her...on two different trips about a month apart.

He wasn't proud of himself; he had a woman he was with, a woman he had offered some sort of commitment too...then at the first opportunity he had strayed. Had fun with Janis. But back then he knew that Krystal wasn't monogamously committed to him that had come later.

But he'd got Janis wrong. What he thought was a woman wanting fun, a good time...temporary, it now seemed may have been holding out for more. Had he misjudged both women? Was he a complete bastard?

He had called Krystal when he got home, and several times after. But she didn't answer. Now early morning, wasn't the right time...she was a late sleeper at best. He'd have to wait until the evening.

He had a few emails from work, but generally no agenda for the morning, and for some reason he couldn't get Lizzie out of his mind. She'd been distraught the night before. Yes, they'd argued. But beyond that she was doing something he couldn't imagine, planning her sister's funeral without any help.

Oscar glanced at the clock, Nate would be in school. So he jumped into the car, if she was home, he could offer to help her. It wasn't much, but it was all that he had.

Much to his relief, when he rounded the corner he spotted her car outside the entrance to her home. Parking behind it, he locked his own car, then strode up to her front door. He rapped his fist against the glass, then waited as he spotted someone moving behind it.

Lizzie had found the morning so difficult, something about opening up to Oscar the previous night had made the last week suddenly seem real. Janis was dead, she was stuck in what could potentially be an awkward custody battle for her nephew who she loved beyond belief, and a battle over a funeral with her parents. The pain that she knew was being staved off with how busy she was, had now become a constant feature, and she could barely function. She'd managed to get Nate to school, but since then she'd sat at the kitchen table with the pile of papers that needed urgent attention...and cried. She couldn't believe there were any tears left. But there were, and they just kept falling.

She almost missed the knock at the door, but something made her question the silence, as she entered the hallway she spotted the silhouette reflected through the glass door.

Uncaring of anything, she pulled opened the door, and had to focus for a moment, she rarely wore her glasses, bur her eyes were too red for contact lenses, but her glasses were grimy, greasy, she had to squint to see who it was. Then she grimaced as Oscar came into focus. Before she could glance in the hallway mirror, to see how dreadful she actually looked, he stepped into her personal space. He looked amazing, his blonde hair pulled off his face, his fitted shirt hugged his chest and shoulders, his jeans were worn, but fresh, clinging to his strong thighs and that firm arse that she couldn't help but notice every time he was in her presence. Janis had such good taste.