12. Chapter 12 #2
Now that…makes sense. If Oliver isn’t working when he goes in that room, then what is he doing in there?
“So, you think he’s hiding something?” LJ asks, surprising us all to see him engaging in the conversation when he usually blocks us out the moment we mention the words Surly Bastard.
“That’s exactly what I’m saying. I mean, I’ve worked for the guy for nearly three years now; he’s a very private man,” she states, nodding her head.
“The world doesn’t even know he has a child, so who knows what he’s got inside that room?
I bet it’s not even an office?” Macy suggests, leaning forward, grabbing all our attention at once.
Now she’s gone and done it. I didn’t think it was possible, but she just single-handedly sent my curiosity through the roof.
What if she was right?
What if there was something else in that room?
“Ooo, what if he has some sort of weird collection, like a room filled with creepy dolls, or he’s worked in one or two of our branches around the world?
What if he has a collection of different brands of hot sauce?
” Macy exclaims, once again fuelling the conversation and being the first to suggest the number of crazy things Surly Bastard could be hiding.
“Or maybe he collects normal things like vintage video games?” LJ pitches in, losing all of our interest.
“Nah!” Me, Gran, and Macy groan and stare at him as if he wasn’t taking this seriously.
“Maybe he collects strands from celebrities’ hair?” I suggest, making us all shiver at such a creepy thought.
“Oh my god, Mace, what did you start? I’m gonna drive myself crazy when I go home, trying to figure out what happens in there,” I whine, starting to panic, plopping my elbows on the table, and burying my face in my hands.
“Sorry, Lulu, I couldn’t help myself. But you’re living with the guy; I’m sure you have the right to know what kind of house he keeps.
Maybe you could stake out? Wait until he goes in there for the night and wait it out in the living room to see if you can uncover any possibilities of what he keeps in there?
” Macy suggests, and as crazy as it sounds, I find myself quickly considering doing just that.
“No, no,” LJ says, holding his hands out. “Babe, have those hormones jumbled your brain?” He turns to ask Macy, leaving the rest of them shocked; he made such a statement compared to being his usual timid self.
“Look, I don’t like that Lulu is living with the bastard who makes my wife’s life a living hell, but maybe we all need to just respect the man’s privacy; don’t go digging yourself a hole you can’t get out of.”
He pauses, looking at all of us individually.
“I’m about to become a father; the last thing I need is my sister’s face plastered on the 8 o’clock news because she’s gone missing after going through a rich man’s stuff,” LJ states, bringing the conversation to a very likely situation.
The conversation starts to fall flat for several moments, as this time we all start to consider where LJ is coming from. The more I thought about it, he was right.
If I went digging where I didn’t belong, I would get fired and lose the best-paying job I’ve had so far and go back to being broke without a single step closer to my dream. But every single one of those thoughts went flying out of the window when Gran spoke up.
“I know exactly what’s in that room.” She declares, pointing her index finger in the air, making Macy and me snap our heads towards her while LJ slaps the palm of his hand on his forehead.
“What? What do you think he has in there?” I eagerly beg, letting my curiosity override my fear of what could go wrong if I try to uncover this. Gran takes her sweet time letting us choke on anticipation as she looks at each of us for a moment, then reveals her answer.
“There is no doubt in my mind that that room-” she takes another dramatic pause. “-Is a sex dungeon.” Gran blurts with no shame. My jaw drops to the floor, LJ whines like he’s in physical pain, and Macy’s laugh booms around the room, and she laughs so hard her face starts to turn red.
“Gran!” I protest, letting her know how inappropriate it is for someone her age to suggest such a thing. Poor LJ is slowly turning green in the face, and Macy, who is still unable to stop laughing, has ended up leaning on one side of Gran’s chair for support.
“You know what? I’m going with Granny Mags on this one. That Surly Bastard definitely has his kinks, probably has the whole works up in there. Sex swing and all.” Macy adds, bursting into laughter again, rubbing her stomach as an apology for waking the baby up.
LJ is pale in the face, seconds away from throwing up, when the sound of his chair scraping against the floorboards is heard as he excuses himself.
“You’re both being ridiculous! Of course, he doesn’t have a sex dungeon in there; he has a child, for god’s sake.” I say firmly, trying my best to squash the idea from entering my mind fully.
“Haven’t you ever heard of soundproof rooms?” Gran states, slapping my arm whilst Macy has converted into a wheezing mess.
“Oh, really, Gran? Then please explain to me how I don’t see anyone apart from him leave that room or how he would have such a thing in his home?
” I fire back, getting a little too deep into things, but with LJ gone, talking about a taboo with my Gran made me feel similar to how he was feeling right now, but curiosity was overpowering that discomfort.
I wanted to know how far she was willing to go with this.
“Easy.” Gran starts, sitting up straight.
“He’d have it there because why shouldn’t a man have the right to embrace his kinks, after having children.
” making me raise both eyebrows, Macy is chewing on her bottom lip waiting to hear the rest and LJ attempts to make his way back into the room but the moment the word ‘kink’ left Gran’s lips, he does a U-turn towards the bathroom.
“And to answer your question as to how, the man must have money if he’s willing to pay you four grand a month like it’s chump change.
Now I don’t know for sure, but my guess is, he has a secret door that leads to the outside so his lovers can get in and out without being seen.
He’s famous enough that people will notice others coming and going. ”
Then she adds,
“And he keeps the room locked because what he does in there isn’t for a child’s eyes and neither is it for a nanny, unless that’s what she wants?
” Gran wiggles her eyebrows at me; Macy erupts into laughter again, pushing her lungs to such capacity that all you can hear is her wheezing for air as Gran makes sure to stop her from falling to the floor.
“Oh, I agree with you, Granny Mags. If I weren’t married, I wouldn’t mind exploring certain things with a man like that.” Macy teases as the two start conspiring.
“Honey, I’m a widower, and my new hip works good as new. I’m up for everything. Whips and chains, ass-less chaps, you name it. I mean, you saw that one spread he did for Sexiest Man Alive, didn’t you?” Gran points out before joining Macy in full-blown laughter.
But I, too, had reached my limit after hearing her mention ass-less chaps and the pictures of a younger, shirtless Oliver Walters I’d previously found myself fantasising about, which disturbed me, and I decided to go and check on my brother.
The sound of my chair pulling away from the table can barely be heard over the two of them cackling with each other.
“It’s honestly scary how dirty-minded the two of you can be sometimes,” I mumble, shaking my head as I walk away, leaving them to it and over to the bathroom door, giving it a gentle knock.
“Bro, are you doing okay in there?” I ask, finding it concerning when I can’t hear anything after pressing my ear up against the door.
A few moments later, the door opens, and LJ pulls me inside, then shuts and locks the door again, protecting me from the vicious hyenas in the living room.
Then I watch him climb back into the bath and hold his knees tightly to his chest.
LJ is the best software developer I know, but when it comes to feelings or any kind of tension-building type situation, it wasn’t where he shone.
My grandparents first told me about LJ’s episodes when I was around thirteen, I think?
We were arguing, and I’d said something out of anger, something I don’t even remember what.
LJ stormed off, and when I went in a while later to apologise, I found him just like he is now, but with Ji-ji sitting on the edge of the bath, rubbing his back.
Later that night, Gran and Ji-ji sat me down after they put him to bed and told me he’d had these episodes where he got so overstimulated he could barely function for years.
Years.
Yet, I never noticed it once.
They said they likely started from being in the car, the night our parents died.
You see, we hadn’t been as close to our grandparents at the time, but our parents wanted us to meet them, and they were in the midst of rekindling.
My parents were returning from picking LJ up from a sleepover, leaving me with Gran and Ji-ji… when it happened.
After that night, it took LJ a long time to get over the initial shock of what happened, and he apparently went months without speaking, barely eating, or sleeping.
Which is why Ji-ji invented the new foods chart, because he or Gran had no idea what we usually ate. Their relationship with our mum and dad prior to LJ and me being born was ruled by pride, judgment and miscommunication, and only really started to rekindle days before their death.
Eventually, LJ started eating again; it hurt them to see he’d only eat the same dish, morning, afternoon, and night.
Day in, day out.
I myself wasn’t a picky eater; I was far too young to remember my parents the same way my brother did. Another reason Ji-ji made me my own food chart was so I wouldn’t feel left out.