Fulfillment by Golland, M. (best large ebook reader .txt) 📕

because I was terrified and Ifelt at any moment he would rip my hair from my head.”

I had placedmy hands over my mouth, listening to the extent that Scott had goneto over his obsession for Bryce. “Lucy, that sounds absolutelydreadful.”

“It was, butthankfully Bryce had heard my cry for help and came running intothe room grabbing Gareth and pinning him up against the wall. He’dasked him what the fuck he thought he was doing laying a hand on agirl let alone his own cousin. Bryce was absolutely furious. But itwas what Gareth did next that cemented there was somethingseriously wrong.”

She leanedover and teased Alexander with a soft squeaky toy, gently touchinghis nose with it then moving it away, only to touch his nose withit again. Alexander thought it was brilliant.

“What didGareth do, Luce?”

She took adeep breath. “He said to Bryce, ‘The name is Scott, and you have nofucking idea how long I have waited to be pinned up against a wallby you,’ then he leaned forward and kissed Bryce.”

I shrieked andreplaced my hands over my mouth.

“He only gotso far as a peck, but it was enough to shock the shit out of us,especially Bryce who then punched Gareth directly in the nose,knocking him out.”

“Geezus,” Iblurted out.

“Yeah, Geezusalright. So there, on the floor, was Gareth out cold with a brokennose, Bryce was standing over him with his hands through his hairjust staring, and I was still crumpled on the ground. That’s whenwe discovered Gareth had DID and why he got it. Bryce wasdevastated and blamed himself. He also decided from then on, thathis martial arts training would be put to better use by teachingwomen to defend themselves when being attacked, starting with me.So although I can confidently say I can defend myself from mycousin and his psycho-alter Scott, I still try to avoid anythingthat could trigger his appearance.”

“Oh, Luce, Icompletely understand. Don’t worry about me and my tellingSamantha. I can handle it.”

“I hope so.The last thing you need right now is more drama, especially whereGareth is concerned.”

***

I deliberatedover what Lucy said and agreed that I did not need any more dramain my life, but I had a conscience, and I desperately had to getthe nagging Samantha/Gareth issue out of my head. So I took theplunge and asked Abigail to send her up to the penthouse to collectBryce’s brief, which at this point in time was non-existent.

I was sittingat Bryce’s desk when Samantha knocked on the door.

“Come in,” Icalled out.

She opened thedoor and walked in, closing it behind her and gingerly making herway toward me.

“Hi, Alexis,how are you feeling? Oh, sorry, you don’t need to answer that ifyou don’t want to. Shit, sorry, I’m really not good with thesetypes of things.”

“Sam, it’sokay. I’m fine.” I smiled reassuringly at her.

She couldbarely look at me.

I pushedmyself up from the desk and hobbled over to the sofa in Bryce’soffice. “You got a moment for a chat?” I gestured to the other sofaseated opposite the one I sat on.

“Sure,” shehesitantly answered.

“So, what’sbeen happening Sam? I miss you. I feel like you avoid me now.”

“I don’t meanto. It’s just when I heard about your fall I didn’t want to say thewrong thing and upset you.”

“Don’t besilly, I’m okay. I’m getting stronger both mentally and physicallyas each day goes by. It happened and it can’t be changed, all I cando is move on.”

She smiledfeebly at me.

“Oh, I’ve beenmeaning to ask you. I didn’t get to say goodbye to you at mybirthday party. What happened?”

I figured I’dplay dumb and get her side of the story before I mentioned anythingto her about Gareth.

“Oh.” Shedisplayed an expression of confusion. “Didn’t Gareth saygoodbye?”

“No.” Ianswered, with a dumbfounded expression.

“That’sstrange, as I was exiting the bathroom shortly after yourannouncement...Oh, shit, sorry I didn’t mean to mention the—”

“Sam, it’sfine. Keep going.”

“Sorry,um...where was I? Oh yeah, when I walked out the bathroom, Garethtook my arm in his and said we were leaving. He was actually in apissy mood if I remember rightly. He’d said the party was windingup. Sorry I never said goodbye, but Gareth told me he’d alreadydone it on my behalf.”

“Maybe he did,I can’t quite remember,” I said, brushing it off.

I felt asickly feeling in my stomach at the confirmation Gareth had in factlied about why he left the party. Something was not right, and Ihad a feeling I knew what; Scott was pretending to be Gareth. Icouldn’t be positive though, and I had no idea how I would prove itwithout baiting him and putting myself or my children at risk. Iwould have to think about it a lot more, but first I needed to tellSam the truth. If my feelings were correct and Scott was disguisinghimself as Gareth, Sam deserved to know and she deserved to knowimmediately.

“Sam, I needto tell you something. It might come as a shock but you deserve toknow the truth.”

She tensed inher seat and looked at me intently.

“Has Garethmentioned anything to you about his medical condition?”

She tilted herhead to the side. “Well, yeah, he suffers from horrible migraines,poor bugger. I can’t stand a mild headache let alone a severemigraine.” She relaxed a little.

“Has he toldyou why he gets the migraines?” I probed further, causing herrelaxed position to tense up again.

“No, and Ididn’t want to pry.”

“Hmmm,” Imumbled.

“Alexis, whatis it? Look, I know you are not a fan of Gareth, and clearly he wasnot a fan of yours, but he has been trying to make amends forthat.”

“Sam, Garethhas Dissociate Identity Disorder with positive symptoms ofSchizophrenia.”

Her mouthdropped and she blinked.

“I’m not sureif you are aware, but Bryce’s parents and brother were killed in acar accident when he was nineteen. Gareth had been in the car andwas the sole survivor. He suffered severe head injuries and as aresult developed DID.”

She looked ather hands which were entwined with each other. “I...um...I had noidea.”

“I didn’tthink so. I’m sorry, I just thought you had a right to know. It’smy understanding Gareth has many altering personalities. Scott, isthe personality that does not get along with me.”

“I’m sorry,what?”

It was clearSamantha had no idea as to the complexity of Gareth’scondition.

“Sam,