The Triangle: Chapter 1-9 *Chapter 9 Update!*

[simgirl75001]

yea i noticed that and i was like whoops lol...i changed it though

[simgirl75001]

Chapter 8: Forgiven...or not

Jareth parked his truck in the driveway and sat there, wondering what he should say to Cassie when he saw her. Earlier that day while he was working, he asked for some advice from one of his colleagues, trying to get information on what he should do about his situation. As he sat there, he thought about the conversation he had with Simon, a lawyer that was on the same floor as he was.
"What you should do," Simon said thoughtfully as he nibbled on a bagel, "Is see if she is up to no good first."
"Up to no good?" Jareth looked at him, puzzled.
Simon leaned in, getting closer. "Yea, like having an affair. The way you described things sounds like she might have someone on the side. Nobody works that hard all the time, and then disappears late at night and don't come home."
He might be right, Jareth thought. But I really hope that's not the case.
Jareth got out of his truck, took a deep breath, and prepared himself for the conversation to come.
..........................................................


As Rhiannon came into the house, she saw Jareth getting out of the truck. She waved to him but quickly became distracted as the faint sound of the phone began to ring.
"I will get it!" She shouted as she ran inside.
She hoped it was her friend Autumn, who said she was going to come over for the night.
"Hello?" Rhiannon said as she switched on the radio.
"Hi...is this Rhiannon?" A familiar raspy voice said.
Not again, Rhiannon thought as she glared at the phone.
"Umm...yea...who is this?" Her voice carried a tone of toughness.
"Its your mama honey...Yolanda. I wanna talk to you."
Rhiannon nearly dropped the phone on the floor from shock. My mother! How did she know I was here? She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
"And why do you want to talk to me after all of this time? Do you finally feel bad for what you done to me?" Tears stung her eyes.
Yolanda sighed. "I deserve every harsh word you say to me. I just wanna to ask for you forgiveness and apologize. I wanna make up for what I did. You deserve that."
Rhiannon sat on the floor and sighed. Why now? Why now?
"What I want to know is, why did you leave me?"
"I wanna tell you all of that. But i would rather tell you in person. I wanna look you in the eye when I tell you this story, so that you know i am for real about bein' sorry."
Silence.
"Rhiannon, are you there?"
"Yea..." She thought about meeting Yolanda in person, after all of this time. She hardly knew her mother, or what she looked like. And now all of a sudden she wanted to the mom she never was. But she knew she had to at least hear her out, even if she wasn't a good parent.
"When do you want to meet?" She replied after a moment.
"How about this weekend. At the same park..you know...where I left you."
A stab went through her heart as she remembered the night she woke up in that empty cold park. "No, I think that would be a bad idea. How about we meet at the cafe across the street from that park. That might be better."
After confirming the time and date, she hung up, half excited and half confused. Was she going to go through with it?
.......................................................................


The sound of splashing water got Jareth's attention as he walked towards the house. He looked towards the backyard and realized Cassie might be back there. Well, here goes, he thought as he walked back there. Sure enough, Cassie was sitting there, her feet dangling in the pool. Her hair was different, and she had a look of sadness. She look up at him as he sat down next to her, a look of seriousness spread across his face. Jareth wanted her to speak frist, so he waited.
Cassie sighed as she looked at him, then back at the water.
"I'm sure you are wondering what happened last night and this morning," she said, her voice low.
Jareth just nodded, hoping that his colleagues suspicions were false.
"Well last night after me and the girls went to the cafe, we went to a bar and..well I go a little carried away. So one of my friends let me stay the night at her house since she lived a block away from the bar and she was too drunk to drive. I passed out and didn't wake up until 10 this morning." Cassie didn't look at him once, afraid that her lie would break into pieces and she would admit the truth to him.
Jareth just looked at her, calculating her movements and trying to think of how to respond.


Some time passed, and Jareth still had not said anything. He was thinking what to say next. Cassie thought for sure he was going to see through the lie, considering he was a lawyer and thats what he did for a living, sniffing out lies.
"Cass, what you just told me is not really you. I know you, and you are not one to be irresponsible like that. I..I just don't understand what has gotten into you. You could have at least called and let me know you were ok. It's as if you are living like you are a single woman."
Cassie did nothing, just continued to look out over the pool. She got up and started heading into the house.
"Well I will make it up to you and Rhiannon. I will cook dinner tonight." She pasted on a fake smile and went inside, trying not to show her true feelings. She really hoped Jareth didn't suspect her of having an affair. That would ruin their marriage for good.


That evening, they all gathered into the living room for dinner. The air was thick with tension. No one said a word. Rhiannon was still in shock over her mother's phone call, and Cassie was stressed out about last night. Even the petty attempts at conversation failed. Jareth resolved that he was going to talk to Cassie again, and this time it would be about his ultimatum. He was tired of living in shadows and being unhappy. This wasn't what he wanted in a marriage, and he was going to let Cassie know.


Rhiannon caught up with Jareth after dinner. She wanted to tell him what happened and sh also wanted to know what she should do. Rhiannon wanted to meet her mother, regardless of the fact that she pretty much abandoned her. But she also wanted to know if what she wanted to to was right.
"Jay, I need to talk you," she said, sitting next to him on the couch.
"What's up?"
She sank into the couch a little bit and let out a big breath. "Well, today...my real mother called."
Jareth looked at her, shocked. "How did she get this number?"
"I dunno. I didn't think to ask her either. I was just too shocked to think of it. I'm sorry."
He patted her on the shoulder. "Don't be sorry, it's ok. What did she say?"
"She said she wanted me to forgive her, and...she wants to meet me so she can tell me what happened that night. I just don't know though...a part of me says yes but I guess the part thats mad at her is saying no. What should I do Jay?"
"I think you should follow your heart. If you think it's a good idea then go for it. If you don't then don't do it. Whichever one you choose, no one will be upset with you."
.......................................................................


"We need to fix this marriage...together! I can't do this all on my own. If that's how you want it we might as well just go our seperate ways!" Jareth shouted at Cassie. They had been arguing for over an hour, going in circles and accusing each other of bailing out of the marriage.
"I don't have time to be going through this again!" Cassie replied. "I thought things were going ok again."
"OK?! You must be blind if you thought things were ok again. Look at us, Cass! We are not the same as we used to be! You need to see that before its too late!"
"Or else what, Jareth? You are going to leave? You think I am going to take you seriously on that? You have said that so any times but you always stick around."
"Well, maybe i should act on my words then since you aren't going to take me seriously."


"Well go right on ahead! Maybe then I will have a peace of mind....and I don't have to worry about you whining about my success all the time! i know you hate the fact that I am more successful than you! That's why our marriage has gone to hell! It's all your fault!"
Jareth rubbed his temples. He couldn't believe that Cassie was blaming him for their failed marriage.
"Yes...you are definitely blind. But you will see what you have missed out on once I am gone!"
"Good riddens then! and take your slutty orphan with you!"
"You have made a big mistake Cassie...a really big mistake." Jareth walked out of the room, convinced that he needed to do what he was thinking about doing all along. Cassie wondered if leaving Jareth was the right thing. But then again, she did have Jeff to think about.
...................................
Later that night

Rhiannon and her friend Autumn were hanging out on her bed, talking about school, boys and clothes. Typical teen stuff. Autumn was Rhiannon's first friend when she came to live with Jareth and Cassie, and they swore to be best friends ever since.
Autumn looked over at Rhiannon and said, "Hey what's bothering you? You have been sulking all night."
Rhiannon sighed. "Well, my real mama called today."
"That's good news! Isn't it?"
"Well yes and no. Yes because at least I will get some closure about this before I go to college. No because I am afraid she has some kind of different motives for us meeting."
"It's not like you're a little kid. You are big enough to fight back and run away if she tries something on you.Besides, thats your mom. If she's calling you and trying to make up, I think she really feels bad about what happened. maybe you should go ahead and meet her."
"Yea..you might be right."

Will Jareth really go through with seperation...or even divorce? What will happen when Rhiannon meets Yolanda? Stay tuned! Thanks for the comments Junior_Firefighter, lonelyma and everyone else..thanks for reading!

[lonleyma1000]

Your welcome hunny its a great story cant wait to see what happens

[AddictsOnStrings]

Wow, I really don't like Cassie. It's a shame that she called their "daughter" slutty. In my opinion, Cassie sounds threatened by Rhiannon presence in their lives. But at the same time, she goes about and butchers their relationship by having this affair with some dude. Her character seem to be out for "I" (as in herself) and not "Us" (their familial relationship).

Next, I find the story interesting. It could use some editing, but doesn't disqualify it as a good tale. I enjoy where it's heading and all the drama.

[simgirl75001]

Thanks AddictsOnStrings and lonleyma for your comments  I will definitely try to use spell check more often lol..sometimes relying on Word to automatically change misspelled words is not a good thing : ) I hope to have the next chapter up by the end of the week.

[milie529]

I really love how this story is going!
Yay for a new chapter this week!!!

[simgirl75001]

Chapter 9: New Beginnings

Cassie never thought that Jareth was serious about his divorce threats. Although their relationship was nothing to write home about, she believed there was a light at the end of the tunnel. Even if it was just a small one. As she woke up to enjoy her rare day off, she became optimistic and decided to get them into marriage counseling. What good would that do if you are still seeing Jeff, her thoughts nagged at her. Cassie mentally waved them away as she went downstairs, hoping to see Jareth since he had the day off as well.


As she entered the study, hoping to find him tapping away at his laptop, she noticed he wasn't there. And neither was his laptop. Instead, scattered across the top of the desk in a careless matter, were some official looking papers. Cassie scooted closer to the desk, studying the papers, her brow furrowed. This isn't what I think it is... She sat down to take a closer look.

Tamlyn City Circuit court
Request for dissolution of marriage
Weston v. Weston

Her eyes widened in fear. Cassie couldn't believe what she was reading. The word divorce screamed at her from the flat pages. Her shoulders slumped in defeat and she sat there for awhile, contemplating on what to do next. The memories that she and jareth shared sped through her mind, from the time they met when they were kids, to the time he proposed to her in the forest during spring break when they were in college. Silent tears ran down her cheeks as she read the papers over and over again. "This is all my fault," she admitted to herself. "If I only paid attention more, if only I was more kind to my husband, if...if i didn't have an affair with Jeff...maybe it wouldn't be this way..."
The urge to talk to someone overcame her. Cassie needed someone to vent with before she lost her mind. She dragged herself over to the phone.



The phone rang for what seemed like an eternity. Pick up, dammit, She thought with frustration. Then, a click and a shuffling of the phone was heard on the other line, and a sleepy voice said, "Hello?"
"Hey it's Cassie. Umm..can you come over. I need to talk."
More rustling was heard. "Uh, yea sure. What time is it?"
"Almost noon," Cassie responded crossly.
"Oh...ok. I will be there soon then."
Cassie hung up the phone, letting out a sigh. She wondered if things were going to turn around, if this whole day was a joke. "If this is some kind of prank, I'm not laughing!" She shouted into the empty house, her voice echoing and bouncing off of the hollow walls. She wrung her hands and headed towards the living room, hoping it really was a joke. But deep down inside, she knew it wasn't.
*********************************************

On the other side of town

Jareth and Rhiannon dragged the last of their luggage into the small, charming house. They looked around, standing in the middle of the living room. He smiled and patted Rhiannon on the back.
"Well, this is it. What do you think? I know it's not as big as the old house, but it's enough for the both of us."
She looked around once more and smiled. "This is perfect, Jay. Just perfect." in her mind she was just glad that Cassie wasn't there.
After Jareth decided to draw up divorce papers, his co-worker let him rent out a house that he owned. Jareth was grateful, because he was dreading having to move into an apartment, especially after what Rhiannon went through when she was a child.


"Hey, I just want to thank you taking care of me," Rhiannon said, smiling.
Jareth smiled back. "You deserve to be taken care of. Oh, are you going to meet with your mother today?"
She shuffled her feet nervously. Rhiannon was trying not to think about meeting her mother for the first time in years. Half of her wanted to go see Yolanda, but the other half wanted to run for the hills.
"Umm...yea I guess I will. But I'm kinda scared, ya know? What if she hates me or something?"
"Rhiannon, I don't think she hates you, otherwise she would not have tried to find you." Jareth handed her a mobile phone. "Take this with you, and call me if something goes wrong, alright?"
She just nodded as she pocketed the phone.


Her fingers nervously dialed the numbers she scrawled down a few days ago. She was just sure her mother wouldn't answer. Rhiannon played with her nails as the other line rang.
"Hey Rhiannon how are you?" Yolanda's excited voice streamed through the phone.
"Hey! I'm fine thanks. Uh..I was calling to see if you wanted to...to meet today?"
On the other line, Yolanda was so excited she had tears coming out of her eyes. She was so happy that her daughter wanted to see her. "Sure! I have nothing else to do. Did you still wanna meet at the cafe?"
"Yea, thats fine. Let's meet at 4 O'clock."
"Alright, I will see you there then."
Rhiannon hung up, feeling a little optimistic. Perhaps things would go well after all.
*******************************


The doorbell rang with a tone of impatience. "Hold on, I'm coming!" Cassie shouted towards the door. Her look of irritation turned into a smile as she saw the person standing on the porch.


"Hey there beautiful," Jeff said, wrapping his muscular arms around Cassie. He gave Cassie a sensual kiss, making her feel like she was melting from the inside out. "I haven't seen you in so long. You didn't forget about me, did you?"
Her face blushed a bright red. "Of course not, Jeff. Just been busy. I missed you though."
"I missed you too, beautiful." He reached out to caress her face. Cassie softly brushed his hand away and said, "I really want to talk to you about something. Let's go in the living room."
Jeff's face became serious as he was led into the house. He had never been there before, so he looked around cautiously, expecting to see Jareth coming out from one of the many rooms. He was suprised when he noticed the house was completely empty.


Jeff motioned her to sit on the floor with him. Cassie looked at him oddly, but sat there anyways. Jeff got into his comfortable position on the floor, flashing Cassie a reassuring grin. "So, what do you want to talk about?"
Cassie sighed and tried to relax. "Well...this morning I found some papers. Divorce papers."
"What's so bad about that? I thought you wanted to get rid of him anyways."
"I know," Cassie replied, nervously playing with her hair. "But I didn't think it would have been so soon, or so sudden. I didn't even know that they had packed up and left."
Jeff winked at her. "Honestly, you are better off without him. From what you said, he wasn't very attentive to your needs or your career. Babe, you do not need someone like that in your life. You need someone who will stand by you and support you."
"Yes, you're right." Cassie sighed again, feeling a little better.
"Besides, you got me right? You are still the winner regardless."


Jeff got up from his spot and helped Cassie up to her feet. Pulling her close to him, he whispered to her, "No matter what happens, I will be here for you, and to support you."
"Thanks," she replied as she kissed him on the cheek.
"Now, I think you need a stress reliever," he murmured.
************************************


It was evening by the time Rhiannon arrived at the cafe. She decided to walk instead of take the bus there, since she thought she needed the exercise anyways. 4:30, her cell phone declared as she stared at it. Rhiannon hoped her mother was still waiting for her. This is a good first impression, she thought to herself sarcastically. Nervously, she walked up the stairs of the cafe and went through the doors.


As she rounded the corner, she spotted a pale figure from the corner of her eye. She turned around and looked at Yolanda, sitting in the waiting area. All of a sudden old, buried memories of her mother rushed to the front of her mind, bringing back bitter feelings and bad memories. Rhiannon shook them away as she approached her mother carefully. Nerves took over as she got closer.


Yolanda rose from her seat in excitement. She couldn't believe her daughter was so grown up. And so beautiful. She smiled and reached her arms out for a hug, then took them back. She didn't want to scare Rhiannon off. She was just happy to see her daughter again.
"Rhiannon! Oh God I am so glad to see you." She smiled as she gave Rhiannon another long look.
She smiled back. "It's good to see you again too. Sorry I'm late, I walked here."
"No problem, sweets. I'm just glad you decided to show up." Yolanda hesitantly touched Rhiannon's shoulder. "Hey, you hungry? We could grab some dinner while we're here.."
"Sure." Rhiannon became more relaxed as she realized her mother wasn't the monster she portrayed in her mind all of those years.


The two women talked about what was going on in their lives over dinner. Yolanda was especially interested in the fact that Rhiannon was going to go to art school when she graduated. She had never been to college herself, dropping out of high school when she was 15.
Just as they were finished eating, Rhiannon said," I don't want to ruin the evening, but there is something I have to know. Why did you leave me, mom?"
Yolanda had a sad look on her face. She knew this was going to come up sooner or later. "Let's go out on the deck and talk about that ok?"
Rhiannon nodded and they walked outside.


As soon as they settled on a table, Rhiannon asked again. "So, what happened?"
Yolanda shifted nervously in her seat. "Well, you see, back then I was hooked on drugs. A lot of drugs. I cared more about getting my next fix than taking care of you." She sipped some water. "At one time, your father and I were tight. He hooked me up with what I needed. But he didn't really want you around. So one day, he and I got into it, ya know, an argument. He threatened to take away my drug source if I didn't....get rid of you, as he put it. I panicked. I wasn't in my right mind. I took you to that park while you were sleeping, and left you there. Back then, I didn't think about what would happen to you. Not until I got treatment."


Yolanda became quiet, feeling ashamed all over again. It was painful to tell that story to her own daughter, but she knew it had to be done. Rhiannon started to cry, mostly from being hurt and angry. She couldn't believe that happened to her. "How could you mom!" She hissed through her tears. "It's not like I'm some piece of garbage or something! I'm your kid, not a disposable thing."
Yolanda reached out to her. "I know sweets, and I am so sorry. I will be sorry for the rest of my life, cuz I know I ruined your life. I just hope that one day you will forgive me. I hope...that one day we can be friends."


After talking for another hour, Rhiannon and Yolanda said their goodbyes. They walked to the front of the cafe so they could wait for the taxi.
"Just know that you can call me anytime," Yolanda said, giving Rhiannon a hug.
"I will," she replied, hugging her mother back. "And..thanks for coming back for me mom."
Yolanda smiled. "No, I should be saying thanks to you. For allowing me to come back."
Just as their taxis pulled up, Yolanda scribbled down her address, then disappeared into one of the waiting cars. Things were looking up for Rhiannon. She felt like her life was finally returning to normal.

Thanks everyone for following my story. Sorry it took me so long to post this chapter. I got caught up in more RL drama so i haven't been able to update  I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

[Katie]

It's getting even better now than before!

[milie529]

It's getting even better now than before!

Couldn't agree more! Can't wait to see what's gonna happen next!