a chained heart

20 | deceit

"So how was work today, boys?" Alison shouted from the couch when she heard the front door shut beside her. She and Diana had been watching tv on the couch waiting for the two of them to come over.

"If by work you mean the ten minutes we spent reviewing pictures for costume checks and then the five hours we spent at the spa? — work was great." Adam flashed a smug grin as he took off his jacket and hung it up.

"Uncle Adam! Uncle Adam!" Diana yelled as she jumped off the couch and ran across the room. She hugged Adam's legs, trapping him.

"Hey, kid," he laughed nervously, barely patting her back.

Diana moved on to hug her father next and Alison had stood up to walk over to the two of them. Looking at the time she sighed, "It's kinda late. We already had dinner so I'm sorry about that."

"Agh, it's fine," Lawrence waved his hand. "We'll just order room service when we go back to the hotel," Lawrence slipped his hand into Adam's as he spoke.

"Okay," Alison nodded. "But we have to have dinner as a family before you leave and go back to L.A."

Adam looked at the ground awkwardly.

"That includes you, Adam." Alison confirmed.

Adam snapped his head up in shock. "For real?"

Alison chuckled, "Yes for real. Why not?"

Adam stood dumbfounded and then began to stutter. "Well, you said as...as a famil—"

"Woah, stop." Alison interrupted him. "You are family, Adam."

Adam stared at her silently with his mouth hung open a little.

"You and Lawrence are engaged. And besides, even if you weren't, you've been family." Alison placed her hand on Adam's arm tentatively. "I may have not treated you like it before—and I'm so sorry for that—but you're apart of our family, Adam."

Adam hadn't felt this cared for in years. Everything inside of him warmed as he pulled Alison into a hug. The woman who was once her enemy—the ex-wife of his soon to be husband—was now a friend, and felt even more like a sister.

Alison pulled back and smiled, "So how does tomorrow night sound? Steak here at seven?"

Adam smiled back and looked at Larry for confirmation.

"Yeah, that sounds great," Lawrence answered.

"Great," Alison beamed. "Okay, let's all go watch TV and relax. I'm so tired." As she spoke, Diana ran back to the living room and Adam and Lawrence finished removing their jackets and shoes.

***

Diana sat on the floor, playing with her dolls, as Alison, Adam, and Lawrence shared the couch.

Alison had the remote and browsed through channels. While she searched what was airing on cable, Adam cut through the silence. He spoke very quietly to Lawrence. "So—I've been thinking," he started off cautiously.

"Mmm." Lawrence responded, still looking at the TV.

"There's only a few days left of shooting for the biopic, and—I kinda wanna go to one of them."

Lawrence snapped his head to the side and glared at Adam. He spoke in a ferocious whisper, "Are you fucking serious? Adam you can't—"

"It could be good for me. I've already had two breakdowns over a bathroom so—"

"Which is exactly why you shouldn't go back in there," Lawrence interrupted viciously.

"But what if I need to. What if I just need to like—I dunno—face my fear or whatever."