3. Choice

Genre: Paranormal drama, romance
Type: Series
Characters: Leigh, Tamsyn, Devon
Prompt: 06-Choice
Word Count: 1020
Warning: coarse language
Rating:  PG-13
Summary: Leigh gets the rude awakening, resentment rears its ugly head
06. Choice

__________

Bridgeport

June 20, 2010 (Present day)

 “When the fuck is she going to get a real job?” Leigh’s hands froze mid stroke. Her heart jabbed hard against her ribcage as she listened to her brother make excuses for her, only to be slammed by Tamsyn again and again.

 “I don’t know, okay! You know how I feel about the vampires! She might not be safe there!”

“For the amount of money the Frosts are offering, in addition to teaching their little vampire, I’d let them drink from me if I was your sister!”

“Come on Tamsyn, that’s not a nice thing to say!”

Blindly, she tried yet again to splash some color on the canvass, but she hesitated half way through and let her hand hang limply at her side, the paint from the brush slowly dripping to the floorboards.

For a long time Leigh listened to the heated exchange in her brother’s room. It was obvious Tamsyn was past the point of being civil now, and the gloves were off. She was out for blood and she didn’t care that she was somewhere in the house, possibly listening to her bitch fest.

 “Oh, and the stinking bills piling up on the table are nice? I thought the plan was to help her out for a few months, I didn’t expect it to be a year. It’s almost a year, and she still doesn’t have a job! We are barely making it---If we don’t pay the rent by Saturday we’ll be homeless! I don’t know how to get through to you anymore!”

Leigh felt sick to her stomach at this, and she wanted to get out. Run. Disappear. But her legs were fixed dumbly on the spot, and she suffered in silence.

She had no idea. No idea the situation was so bad with the bills and the rent…If Devon had told her, maybe she would have taken that job with the Frosts. He always insisted they were fine, she shouldn’t worry about the bills, and she could pay him back when she got a job. But now…They were obviously not fine. They were never fine…Haven’t been fine for a long time!

Half-heartedly she picked up the brush again, and forced herself to paint something…anything to buy herself some time…anything to take the heat off her brother.

The battle behind closed doors continued, Tamsyn screaming like a banshee, and her poor brother trying to appease her. Closets were opened and shut angrily, things were thrown around, and it wasn’t hard to figure out who was doing the throwing. Then silence. Peaceful, peaceful silence. Only to be broken by Tamsyn as she pushed out of their bedroom door.

“It’s not personal,” she threw in Leigh’s direction, as she continued towards the front door. Leigh didn’t know what to say to her cold remark, so she did what she always does when she doesn’t know what to say. She just smiled and nodded stupidly before going back to her painting.

Not personal? She thought angrily, but didn’t dare voice it out.

Devon followed hotly on his fiancés heels.

“Where are you going? Come back here. Let’s talk about this!” He pleaded softly, with Tamsyn.

“Some of us have to work you know!” Tamsyn roared back. But for someone eager to get to work, she was once again completely absorbed in their argument. Minutes passed as more insults and angry words were passed around.

Leigh kept wishing they’d left their battle in their room. It was bad enough she knew they were fighting and she was the cause of their arguments, now she had to be an eyewitness while they brutally sliced each other over her!

Eventually Devon and Tamsyn finally remembered she was still in the room, and they silently agreed to a truce.

 “Don’t say anything!” Devon groaned when the door slammed hard behind Tamsyn.

“I wasn’t going to, but now that you’ve brought it up-” Leigh began but he silenced her with his hand.

“Not now Ashleigh!” He crashed on the couch and let out a frustrated sigh. She watched him stress over his fight with Tamsyn, watched him stew in his pain until she couldn’t take it anymore.

“Dev. I’m sorry. I didn’t realize things were so bad, and if I knew I wouldn’t have moved in with you guys.” She dropped beside him on the worn couch and he shifted slightly to make room for her.

“It’s cool. It’s just a rough patch we are going through, that’s all. If I can book more gigs or sign on new bands we’ll be fine,” Devon brushed her off.

When he first started out as a talent agent it was a lucrative job with little competition. But the last few years saw a tremendous growth in the industry; bands and talent agents flourished all over Bridgeport like they were going out of fashion, making the music scene a very competitive business. Now he was lucky if he booked two gigs a week for the few artists he managed.

 “We won’t be fine Dev. We haven’t been fine for a long time, and I just wish you’d told me. I would have done something sooner.”

“I didn’t want to worry you. You’re still recovering from the art gallery and your break up from what’s his name!” He replied, unable to mask the distaste in his voice when he mentioned her ex-boyfriend, Travis, a small time artist whose work she’d showcased in her gallery.

“I’ll call the Frosts tomorrow.” Her announcement was met by cold silence. She knew how he felt about the job offer, and she wished she hadn’t told him about her encounter with Krisis; he was the only reason her brother was against the idea of her working for the Frosts.

They settled into an uncomfortable silence on the couch, both pretending to be absorbed in the infomercials on the screen, but each lost in their thoughts.

Working for the Frosts was not her number one choice, but desperate times called for desperate measures. It’s not like she had any other offers knocking on her door anyway!