“You were certainly not kidding when you said you were hungry,” Rachael said later that night; the two still had energy and didn’t wish to return to the hotel just yet. “I still can’t believe you had three bowls. Where in the world does it even all go?”
Taryn paused in her drink to look at her friend. “My stomach?”
Rachael eyed Taryn’s stomach with teasing suspicion. “You sure? It seems to me that you have a black hole in there.”
She laughed. “I’m sure. I just felt hungry, that’s all.”
Rachael was quiet for a moment. “If you say so.” Her grey eyes then looked around. “So, where do you want to go? We can take a look at a few shops that are still open, or do you want to head back to the hotel?”
Taryn got up from the bench that they were occupying and tossed the now empty can into its proper recycling bin since such containers have begun to make a return with the rise of foreigners in tourism they even began to add more benches to local parks. “We should probably head back to the hotel; I’m sure Stephanie will want to plan some stuff out for the week before we leave for the other location she mentioned.”
“What do you make of her?” Rachael asked.
“Of Stephanie? She seems nice. A bit pushy but nice all around, why?”
“Well,” Rachael began as she took another sip of her drink. “Because she’s the girlfriend of your ex-boyfriend. I never bothered asking until now since you were going through a lot.”
I still am technically. Taryn thought before shrugging. “Either way, what he did isn’t her fault; she didn’t know about what happened until after the fact.”
“But don’t you wonder why she’s still dating him? I mean, he cheated on you. He could very well do it to her all the same.”
“I don’t think so,” Taryn said. “What Robert and I went through can be hard enough to imagine when it’s just one loss rather than two. But when you combine them both, several things become a bit… difficult. I needed time to myself to figure everything out, and he gave that to me. Then with what happened to Paul, Robert asked me to do the same. So, I did.”
“It still doesn’t excuse his cheating,” Rachael stated firmly. “He isn’t willing to own up to what he did, and he acts like nothing happened. Like your relationship didn’t mean anything to him. Hell, you guys were close friends before all that. Why would he do those things, after everything that you’ve been through in your life?”
Taryn merely sighed. “He doesn’t know everything, Rachael. He doesn’t know what you do. Nor do I ever intend to tell him. Knowing him when we were in high school, he’d probably just laugh it off like a joke. I don’t ever want to subjugate myself to that. And I’d rather not lash out at him as I’ve already done.”
Rachael folded her arms across her chest. “I still think he’s an ass.”
“And you’re welcome to it, but I don’t want to be like that. Yet I keep contradicting myself when I see Robert. I just get so… angry. I don’t know if it’s because he’s acting as none of it happened, or simply because of how we ended things when I didn’t let my emotions take over back then, I just… I don’t know what to do.”
Rachael looked at her for a concrete moment before asking. “Have you told anyone else this besides me?”
Taryn shook her head. She hadn’t, merely because she knew that her whole family had the trial to deal with and the media and their respective jobs. Mixed with stress and loss, they had enough on their plate that she didn’t need to add more to it. Hell, because of this mess, Taryn couldn’t even have a good talk with her therapist.
“Then, maybe you should? I’m no expert in this; obviously, I have no idea what you’re going through, and I can only imagine what any of that might be like. But if you do, you might feel better.”
“Yeah,” she said, ending the topic. “Come on; we should head back.” Then she began to walk back towards the hotel.
Rachael merely watched her friend; she knew that Taryn probably wanted to say more, but even she knew that there were things Taryn couldn’t easily open up about, it was just in her nature to keep it to herself. Rachael only hoped that after everything Taryn had been through in the past few months, it wouldn’t cause her to disappear.
* * *
It was late in the evening, and another brutal night of sleep caused Taryn to wake once more. This time though, she stayed in the room and took out her phone as she plugged in her headphones to wake Rachael.
Her father had told her about really the only thing she wanted to know, scrolling through she passed article after article of what she already knew. Her brother’s murder and the trial that followed with it were in her constant scroll, however, she came to a stop when she recognized something.
It was a short clip from the trial. Taryn frowned; this didn’t look like it was coverage from the news outlets. Wondering what it was, she pressed play. And almost immediately regretted it when she did.
When the video concluded, she pinched her nose’s bridge with her finger and thumb from her left hand. How the hell did this get out? She looked back at the video and found it was connected to an article. One about her, just from looking at it, she knew what it was in an instant.
Damn it, you’ve got to be kidding me. Taryn thought before glancing at her friend, who was still asleep. Then as quietly as she could go, Taryn placed on her sandals and a long-sleeved dark blue shrug over her shoulders. Taryn was currently wearing dark grey sweatpants and a black tank top as pyjamas, but with at least the shrug could look a little more modest in the hallway, took her key card and left the room. It was the middle of the night, so there was practically no one about thankfully, meaning she could at least make a call.
Finding a quiet corner, Taryn moved to it. There was a window looking out to Tokyo’s bustling nightlife as she took a seat on a bench in front of the window. Then looked to her phone only to find herself hesitating, should she even bother? For all Taryn knew, her family could have already known about it. Her parents always told her not to let articles like that bother her, and technically it hadn’t since she was so used to it. But it was the fact that the video clip in question came from the courtroom, and from the angle of it, it looked to be from the jury stands. If that were true, then there was an issue.
In the end, she pressed call; if it had already been dealt with, then it was dealt with, and if not, then it would be. She could hear the ring a few times before it was picked up. However, it was not whom she expected to answer.
“Hello, Taryn,” a man’s soft voice answered on the other line. “If you’re hoping to talk to your Mother, she’s out right now. How are things in Japan?”
“Hello to you too, Isaac,” she said, not sounding at all surprised that he answered. “Do you know when she’ll be back?”
Isaac Faust was a close family friend. Taryn had practically known him for almost all of her life, someone whom she could trust wholeheartedly. And was now interning with her Mother and the law firm she worked for, doing what he could to reach his goal of being a lawyer while also not letting it get to his head.
“Not for a while, sadly, an issue came up and had to be taken care of.”
So she already knows? “Does it involve the jury?”
“The jury?” Isaac said, his voice sounding concerned. “No, why do you think it involves the jury?”
She told him that she had found a video, even sending a link to his phone. When Taryn finished, she then asked. “Will the rest of the trial be put on hold because of this?”
“No, there are backup jurors, but it will be delayed in finding who the leak is. I know that your family has dealt with this sleazy tabloid before. With everything going on, we should have been keeping a better eye on it. And on the jurors.”
“You shouldn’t blame yourself, Isaac.” Her voice was soft as she leaned on her knees. “You both were just as close.” there was silence on his end. “I’m sorry, I’ve probably made things worse by doing this when you already have your work and university.”
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“Nonsense,” Isaac said suddenly. “If anything, I’m glad you called, even though it was just to give this information. It’s good to hear from you.”
“Same to you,” Taryn said, a faint smile reaching her lips. “I should probably let you go; you have a lot to do now with this information.”
“Even if that weren’t the case, you’re always more than welcome to call. And not just your folks or the others you know. After all, you have my number.”
She laughed a bit. “I did just send you that information,” her smile faltered slightly. “I know it must be frustrating that you and Mom aren’t allowed to work on the case.”
“Yes,” Isaac said softly. “But even though we cannot be completely involved and prosecute the one behind it, we can still assist with the one working for the Crown.”
“I just hope it goes well.”
“We won’t know until the end. So, until then, all we can do is keep giving the facts of the matter. Though, we do believe it will end soon.” He then changed the topic. “It’s late over there; you should try and get some rest. I know you still have difficulty sleeping. Your Mother told me, but you still need to try, okay?”
“Yeah,” Taryn said after taking in a deep breath. “I won’t do online searches anymore either. I know that after this, you guys will be all over it.”
“We’re good at that,” he said.
“I know, how are Isabella and Bob?” she asked.
“They aren’t planning to sneak to Japan to watch your back on you if that’s what you’re wondering. They know as well as anyone else how much you need this.”
Taryn remained silent; Isabella and Bob were her two trusted bodyguards since she was young and had seen them as an Aunt and Uncle, well, as much as she could be given what their jobs were. And how they came to be involved with her family thanks to her Uncle.
Even they took the blame for what happened to Roy. Still, even they couldn’t have predicted it. Because of this, they had become even more determined in protecting the family but ultimately fell into an agreement in wishing Taryn to go to Japan.
“Try to sleep well, Taryn,” Isaac said softly.
“I will,” and she meant it.
He hesitated for a moment. “Taryn, if you find that you need to talk, regardless of what it is, you know you can call me at any time. Day or night.” And she knew that he meant it too. Since she had done it before when she was younger.
“I know, bye, for now, Isaac.” When she hung up, she rested her head in her hands. She felt tired, but sleep was still a struggle.
“Taryn?” a familiar voice caused her to turn around to see Stephanie. Dressed in a dark purple silk tank top and black pyjama bottoms with blonde hair left down around her shoulders, Stephanie looked at Taryn with some concern. “Everything okay?”
Since Taryn and Rachael had moved to a different room, they were now all situated on the same floor, something Stephanie hoped to avoid but knew would be impossible.
“Yes, I’m fine, do you need something from me?” Taryn asked, partly wondering why she was up so late as well.
“No, not really.” She hesitated, suddenly looking a lot nervous. “Actually, I was going to head down to the bar. Robert is completely out cold. Do you maybe want to join me?”
Taryn looked at her for a moment; she could see no ill intent behind her asking. “Sure,” she said. “I don’t mind.”
Stephanie led her down to the bar; it was still open, but currently, the place was empty with how late it was. There was only the bartender and two Japanese men talking amongst themselves from the other side. The bartender seemed more than okay with how they were dressed as the two sat down at the bar as Stephanie ordered a drink.
Taryn was a year below the legal age to drink in Japan, it was a bit funny to her since she had just turned legal to drink in her own country, but she had no real interest in alcohol. Even when several kids in her high school did it behind their parents’ backs, she felt no need. Not because her father was chief of police and her Mother a well-known lawyer working for the Crown, Taryn simply found it impractical.
“Do you mind if I ask you something?”
Taryn merely shrugged. “Go ahead.”
“I want you to be honest,” Stephanie said. “Do you hate me?”
Taryn frowned, trying to understand why she would ask that. “Why would I hate you?”
“Because of what happened with Robert,” she says as she picks up a glass filled with scotch as the bartender gave to Stephanie after checking her ID.
“I was angry with Robert, not you. Besides, I honestly have no reason to hate you; it’s not like you stole him from me. I do have a question for you, though.” she turned to look her right in the eye, not averting her gaze. “Why are you still with him?”
Stephanie rested her elbows atop the bar before interlacing her fingers as she rested her chin atop them. “It’s not really that complicated, I’m still with him because I care about him. I know it might not make any sense, but it’s the truth. I know what he did to you was horrible, and as someone who had been cheated on in the past with previous lovers, I wanted to do something about it. That’s why I thought this trip would make it up to you, at least that’s what I hoped.” She paused. “Actually, you didn’t seem all that surprised when I gave you the tickets the first time.”
“I’ve gone through something like it before. Being taken on a sudden trip, I mean.” Taryn said as she now looked down at the bar and drummed her fingers against it. “Mind if I ask how you guys even met?”
“Ah, right, you wouldn’t know.” Stephanie leaned back on her stool, her hands grasping the edges as she looked up to the ceiling. “We met at group therapy. For those who lost someone to suicide.” She glanced at Taryn and gave a small smile. “Does that surprise you?”
A moment of silence passed between the two women.
“No, I suppose it shouldn’t, with all things considered,” Taryn spoke, breaking the silence. “Do you mind if I ask who it was that you lost?”
“It was my brother Tyler.” She took a sip and laughed as though what she had said was something that she found funny. “So, you see? I can relate to a certain degree.” She picked up her glass and continued to look at the golden liquid as she remained smiling. “He was two years older than me. Our Dad wanted him to take over the family business, and honestly, everything seemed fine. He seemed fine. But I suppose they always want you to believe that. That nothing is wrong with them that they aren’t suffering from their own personal demons.”
“Do you know if he tried to get himself help?”
She finished off the rest of her drink and now stared at the empty glass. “Yeah, though the person he was seeing as a therapist wasn’t who we all thought he was. The guy was just extorting my brother for money. Money that my father blamed my brother for losing. We were able to get it back, of course, but I think that was Tyler’s tipping point. Tyler… shut himself away after that, wouldn’t talk to me, our little brother, or Dad, no one. And in the end, I found him in the bathtub of our house covered in blood. His face looked so pale like a ghost. Even now, I still can’t get it out of my head no matter how hard I try.”
Taryn looked at the woman who now bared her heart to her; there was a solemn tone of regret and loss in Stephanie’s voice. She cared a lot about her brother. “I know you said that you and I can relate to one another, but I haven’t a clue as to what it would be like in your situation as I’m sure you’d have no idea what it’d be like in mine. But I think my Mother could understand you far better than me.”
Stephanie propped her arms atop the bar. “What makes you say that?”
“Because my Mom dealt with something similar when she was a lot younger, her older brother Ryan, my Uncle, killed himself right in front of her. At the time, he was admitted to a hospital because he heard voices in his head. Doctors gave him medicine and kept him tied to a bed in an isolated room. He somehow got out, and my Mom found him on the roof. She couldn’t get to him in time before he jumped…”
Stephanie became deathly quiet as she looked at Taryn with wide eyes before muttering under her breath. “Jesus…” then asked. “But… wait a second. Why do you know that?”
Taryn merely kept her eyes on the bar. “A few years ago, I dealt with something traumatic. It wasn’t anything like what happened to my brother, but it still left a horrible impact. I thought I’d go crazy from it. My Mom told me it was natural to feel that way and told me about her experience to prove her point. Even now, my Mom thinks about the “what ifs” What if I did this, what if I did that? What could I have done that this would not have happened? She told me that thinking like that will only cause me to spiral down into a neverending hole. When she told me that. it helped to a degree, and not long after that, I met Rachael, and we became friends. Then my Uncle Gerald, my Dad’s younger brother, took us on a trip and so on and so forth. But yeah, it’s awful either way, regardless of how it happened.”
The two fell back into silence once more, the bartender returning and refilling Stephanie’s glass, and even leaving a cold glass of coke for Taryn, then left the two alone once again before Taryn spoke up once more.
“So who talked to whom first? You said it was at this meeting, but now I’m kind of curious as to how the whole thing went down.”
“Ah, looking for the dirty stuff I see,” Stephanie laughed when Taryn gave her an arched stare in response. “I’m only kidding. It was me who kicked it all off. Robert hadn’t spoken a word, had been to three whole meetings, and not a single thing was said. I’m not sure if it’s because of what happened with my brother, but I was worried about him. Afraid that maybe he might do something to himself. Now that I know him better, I know he wouldn’t, but it was still in the back of my head. So, I approached him and eventually got him talking. It took a while. And over time, the more and more I got to know him, I thought, what the hell? Ask him out for coffee. Turns out, he doesn’t drink the stuff.”
Taryn laughed a bit. “Yeah, he drinks tea.”
“I didn’t care what he drank; besides, at a certain point, I finally got him to open up. That’s all I wanted. As we became closer, he told me a bit about your situation, how you lost your brother and how he lost Paul almost right around the same time. But he never said a word that you guys were dating… if anything, I got the assumption that you guys were friends.”
“We were once,” Taryn said as she took a sip of her drink, noting how the coke seemed to taste a bit different from what she was used to in their home country. “Sometimes, I think it would have been better if we just stayed that way.”
“You could always be like that again, you know?”
Taryn kept her mouth shut on the matter but found herself asking. “Do you love him? Do you love Robert?”
The smile Stephanie gave was a warm and inviting one as she held the glass now in both of her hands. “Yeah, I do. As dumb as I’m sure many would look at me for it, I love the idiot. That’s why I want to make it up to you in any way possible.”
“You know you don’t have to go this far. But like I said before, I don’t hate you for what Robert did.”
“Then, do you hate Robert?”
She hesitated, clasping her hands together atop the bar. “I don’t know. When I see him, I just feel angry, but I have no idea if it’s from his cheating or… something else that I can’t remember. A lot of it just feels like a blur. What happened to Roy, finding out that Robert cheated on me with you, the damn trial… everything.” Even just thinking it gave her a headache.
“Was the trial that you were a part of really that bad?”
“Pretty much,” Taryn said with a heavy breath.
“Do you mind if I ask what happened?”
Taryn clamped her lips tightly shut. In all honesty, she wanted to just forget, but after seeing that video, so much came back to her mind, including one thing that was said to her that she could never forget.
“You’re constantly surrounded by death, aren’t you, Miss Lowell?”