Private Lies Part 13
After Aunt Ev and Birdie departed, Nan was wondering out loud where Hailey fit into the McAdam clan.
“Maybe they found me under a cabbage leaf,” Hailey quipped, although she too often wondered why she seemed so different from everyone else in the family
“Under a cabbage leaf?” Nan giggled, “Ah, Mon petit Chou.”
Suddenly, Hailey stiffened and Nan followed her line of sight to where it intersected Sean Mappin, Hailey’s ex-fiance, entering through the French doors.
Several female heads turned in the direction of the slim young man in the dark suit.
“Bandit at twelve o’clock high,” Nan hissed. “Do you want me to run interference while you retreat to the powder room?”
“No, I better handle this alone.” She broke away and intercepted Sean before he took more than three steps into the room.
“Hello Hailey. I’m sorry to hear about your loss.”
She nodded. “Can we talk outside?” She turned without waiting for a reply and walked out the doors toward the couch and sofa arrangement in the small alcove.
When she got there, she whirled around to confront him, her face white and tight.
“What are you doing here?”
“I just came to pay my respects, Hailey.”
“I find that hard to believe, seeing as you never showed much respect in the past.”
“C’mon Hailey. I’m just trying to be nice.”
“Were you trying to be nice when you were stalking me—or suing me for breach of promise when I broke off our engagement?”
“I was way over the top when I did that—I figured I’d try to mend things with you.”
“Really—Now that your lawyer has dropped the lawsuit after the judge found your case lacked merit? Forgive me, if I don’t believe you.”
Sean was taken back momentarily, but quickly recovered.
“Look, why don’t we try to put all that behind us? I thought we worked well for a while.”
“We? There was no ‘we’ in our relationship, Sean—it was all about you and your control issues. What makes you think I’d want to go back to that?”
“Are you denying we had some good times?”
“Of course not, but the fact is they didn’t last. All our good times were at the beginning when you were on your best behavior.”
Sean broke into a wry grin, the type that showed off his dimples and crinkled the little lines around his eyes.
He was pulling out all the stops trying to be charming. “You make me sound so grim—surely I’m not bad to the bone.”
“Bad to the bone? The jury’s out on that one too. The truth is, Sean, I’ve seen your dark side—the one you keep hidden from everyone else and frankly, it’s not pretty. I have no intention of falling back under your control.”
His grin twisted into a sneer. “What are you afraid of, Hailey?”
She stared directly at him. “I will never allow you to control me again—now get out before I embarrass you.”
“Fine. Have it your way. Maybe you deserve to end up with a wimp like Art Kendall.”
“Art Kendall—whatever made you think that?”
“I see you with him occasionally.”
“Are you stalking me again?”
Sean’s face went beet red and he began to tremble. “That’s it—I’ve had it with you. I try to be nice and you turn me into some monster and accuse me of being a stalker. I think you’re deranged and I hope to God you get some help to sort out your problems.”
He stormed away leaving Hailey to stare after him in disbelief.
A touch on her elbow caused her to jump and she turned to see Nan standing behind her.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, I guess. How much did you hear?”
“Just his parting salvo about you being deranged and needing help. That poor boy is delusional.”
“It doesn’t take much to push his buttons.”
“Say, do you think it’s possible he’s the one who’s been crank calling you?”
“I don’t know, but I wouldn’t put it past him. If he’s the one, I have no idea what his motive is.”
“Maybe to intimidate you.”
“For what purpose?”
“I don’t know—maybe to make you feel vulnerable. He could want to erode your confidence or attack your independence.”
“So I’d run back to him for protection and security?”
“Something like that.”
Hailey considered the possibility, but then dismissed it.
“Sean’s hardly the protector type—he’s too caught up in his own things to worry about me. He’d be the last person I’d turn to for help.”
“Well, like I said before, he’s delusional—he’s got an inflated sense of his own self-worth.”
Hailey laughed. “According to Trish, he’s a classical narcissist—controlling, self-absorbed and given to a grandiose view of his talents and abilities.”
“Yeah, well if it quacks like a duck…”
“Okay, I hear you—I’ll think about what you said, but for now, I better get back and meet some relatives or my aunts tongues will be wagging.”
“Ah yes, more duckspeak.”
Hailey snickered. “Orwell would love you for saying that and my aunts would kill you, if they heard you. C’mon, let’s go back into the Inferno.”
Parts 1 -5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Part 10
Part 11
Part 12
To be continued...
argh.....that Sean. He's a real piece of work. Makes me angry - guess that's the point!! I don't think he's the stalker though. I think he is after Hailey's inheritance....his own self interest for sure. Tell me you are writing him out of the story, please. :)
Can't make any promises but he'll take a bit of time to lick his wounds. When I was writing this part I felt the story just beginning to gather real momentum. Hailey's burying more than her mother and her aunts are very good at burying things :)
I kind of gathered that too. She sounds like many of us — we all have stuff that we don't acknowledge. Hailey is a great character. You've fleshed her out very well. I also like her friend Nan.
love Nan...well, like her a lot :)
Sean Mappin could be the stalker, but I doubt it. I agree with Hailey - he's too self-preoccupied for that
I agree with you.
Sean is many things, but Hailey's stalker? May be too early to tell.
the plot is thickening - a very dark and foreboding atmosphere
thanks. That's what I was aiming for
Seems that Hailey is beginning to grow a little bit of a backbone. She did well to stand up to her ex-stalking-looser boyfriend. And she did pretty well standing her ground with the Aunts so far. I don't think Sean is the U.R. Dunne person, he just does not seem like a strong enough man, after all he used a lawyer to try to sue Hailey, I don't think U. R. would do something like that. Could be wrong, I do find it funny (wrinkle coming) that Nan is never around when Hailey gets calls from U. R.
(any upvote considered, please pass on to @samstonehilltube to help rebuild his Rep)
yes, I agree with your astute assessment - I think the absence of witnesses to the crank calling emphasizes Hailey's feelings of isolation at this point . But she would also be resistant to an intervention because everyone perceives her as fragile after her past suicide attempt. Nan wants to hover, but Hailey shoos her away. Unfortunately, as you point out, she just misses the action.
just follow me, I must follow you!
upvote my post, must upvote your all post!
best regards
tamimiqbal
This post has received a 13.50 % upvote from @booster thanks to: @johnjgeddes.
Nice picture at the top XD I don't know why, but it looks very funny with the serious story.
interesting point of view :)
sorry I hope I didn't offend you. Idk that look is like the "cool look" but I just feel that look is "too cool" if you know what I mean Haha! But seriously man great story!
no offence taken, ethan - but that look is precisely what Sean Mappin is all about. He's vain and conceited and just the type of guy to project that fake 'cool look'.
Yeah that makes sense. :)
This is actually some astounding work! Followed
thanks, @capari
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Best regards
tamimiqbal
There are so many interesting things to note. I read well.
This steemit world is strange. Having the author comment and explain what he wrote in answer (to countrygirl), it gave me reason to pause and think about what I thought - not certain anything has changed much, just an extra spotlight added to make the eyes of the deer gleam just a bit brighter (am I the deer? that's crazy of me, I'm more like a mouse).