Love Without Boundaries - Chapter 19: Chapter 19

Nineteen
After Grant left, Preston went up to check up on Ann Marie. She hadn’t left her room since Robert left. He knocked on the door and waited for her to let him in.
“It’s open, come in.” Preston walked in and found Ann Marie laying on her bed and staring at the ceiling. She only did that when she was in deep thought. He laid down next to her and looked over at her. He could see she had been crying, he felt bad, she was really looking forward to all of them hanging out and getting to know each other.
“I’m sorry for the way Grant acted and I am sorry that he was the reason that Robert left.” Preston waited for Ann Marie’s respond. She took a deep sigh before she said anything.
“It’s not your fault or Grant’s.”
“Then what is wrong, why have you been crying?”
“I think Robbie is cheating on me.”
“Why do you say that?”
“He has not spent any time with me and he has been acting funny ever since we came back from Spain.”
“Do you think that he faked his sickness and started an argument with Grant to leave early?”
“Yes I do, in fact last week I wanted to hang out with him, but he said he had plans and couldn’t get out of them.” Preston had the feeling it was the day he was with Robert and Vera.
“What day was it?”
“It was on Saturday, he said he had to help his dad with something at the law firm. Who works on a Saturday?” Preston didn’t know if he should tell her he was with him and a girl named Vera. Maybe he was cheating on Ann Marie with Vera. He could also be wrong; he should really get all the details before he says anything.
“Maybe you’re just being paranoid, or maybe he just has a lot on his mind and needs time to himself.” Preston was hoping he could get her to stop thinking that Robert was cheating on her, or at least just until he could find out if it was true.
“Maybe your right, but I just can’t seem to shake this feeling that something is going on between Robbie and Vera.” Oh, man she knows about Vera, he knew that Robert just said they were old family friends, but he couldn’t help but wonder if Robert felt anything for Vera.
“Um who is Vera?”
“Oh that is a girl Robbie grew up with. They use to hate each other but they made amends with each other.”
“Oh so you think Robert is cheating on you with this girl Vera? He could just talk to her about you. Maybe he just needs a female opinion, for something he wants to do for you but not sure if you will like it.”
“You could be right; when it comes to him being romantic he isn’t very good at it.”
“Maybe if he would watch romantic movies he could learn from them. So you two haven’t said the L word to each other yet?”
“I have said it to him, but he just hasn’t said it to me yet. I’m starting to wonder if he even loves me. I know he isn’t very good at showing his emotions but I just wish he would do something that made me feel special.”
“Why haven’t you talked to him about this? I’m sure if you told him how you feel, he might be more willing to open up more to you.”
“I wanted to but it is just so hard to get him to open up about his feelings, it’s like he doesn’t believe in love.”
“If that is true, then how did you two come about going out with each other?”
“We were introduced by a mutual friend.  We hit it off and started going out.”
“He must feel something for you, otherwise he wouldn’t have taken you to Spain with him.”
“You would think so, but I got to talking to some other girls he went out with and they all said the same thing about him not being emotionally involved in the relationship.”
“Then the only thing you could do is just ask him why he isn’t emotionally committed in the relationship.”
“I guess you’re right, it is the only way to get him to open up more to me, because I really like him and I don’t want to lose him.”
“I know you don’t, but from what I have seen he is a nice guy.”
“He is; he just needs to be a little more romantic and show more emotion in our relationship.”
“Well I wish you the best of luck then. I have one more request I need to ask.”
“Sure what do you need?”
“Can I have Robert’s number, Grant wants to apologize to him and he doesn’t think he will be seeing him anytime soon.”
“Yeah sure here let me write it down for you.” Ann Marie grabbed a piece of paper and wrote down the phone number. She handed the paper to Preston.
“Let me tell him beforehand so he knows who is calling him, he doesn’t answer the phone if he doesn’t know the number.”
“Ok sure, I’ll wait to give it to Grant. Well I’ll leave you alone so you can take care of business.”
“Ok I’ll talk to you later.” Preston walked out of Ann Marie’s room and went to his. He hoped that things worked out for Ann Marie and Robert. He would hate to see his cousin heartbroken.
Meanwhile, Robert didn’t want to go home yet, he knew if he went home right now his mom and Nora would know that he left early again. He didn’t feel like getting into details about what happen. He decided to go home and hide out in the tree house; most likely, he wouldn’t run into Nora or his mom. When he climbed up the ladder to the tree house, he went to sit down in front of the window that faced toward the ocean. Looking out at the water had always helped him clear his mind. He didn’t know what was going on in his head anymore. At times, he found himself getting mad and moody about things that have never bothered him before. He hadn’t felt this way since his dad vanished six years ago. He missed his dad dearly, and he wish his dad were here. He could really use someone to talk to, he felt like only his dad could help him right now.
“You know if you don’t want anyone to know you’re home, you shouldn’t leave your car in the driveway.”  Nora said as she sat down next to Robert.
“I was hoping you wouldn’t notice, beside shouldn’t you be getting ready for your date?”
“No, we are not going out until later. So why are you home so early, what happen this time? Don’t tell me you got sick again?”
“Ha ha ha I didn’t get sick again, things didn’t go smoothly.”
“What happen?”
“That douche of Grant is what happened.”
“What did he do?”
“You really don’t want to know the details.”
“Yes I do, only if it’s not going to put you in more of a bad mood. Why have you been in a bad mood lately?”
“No it’s not going to put me in a bad mood, nor have I been in a bad mood. Beside it’s none of your business anyway.”
“Fine whatever don’t tell me, just don’t come to me when you need someone to talk to.” Nora got up and headed for the ladder. “Just because you’re having problems doesn’t mean you can take it out on everyone who are trying to help you.”
“Nora wait, I’m sorry I know you want to help, but I just don’t know what the problem is. I just wish dad was here, he always knew how to help, even when you didn’t know what was wrong.” Nora sighed and sat next to Robert again.
“I miss him too, I really hate being here. Do you think he is still alive?”
“I hope and pray that one day we will get to see him again. I really hate having to call that man our father when he is really our uncle. I hate that he knows we will never dare stand up to him, because of mom.  I hate to see how unhappy mom is all the time having to be married to him. I hate the way he treats us, I just hate everything about him. Sometimes, I just wish he would admit that we are not his children. We might not have everything we have right now, but I would rather be poor and free of him then have money and be miserable living under his roof.”
“There are times I wish I could just run away, but I can’t just leave mom here with him. I also fear he will find me and punish me for leaving. You know I would always pray that dad will come back and take us all away from here, and we would have a life free of Tio Antonio and Rose.”
“What I don’t understand is why mom doesn’t leave him, I’m pretty sure we could somehow mange without the help of Tio Antonio.”
“Do you think he has threatened her, maybe that is why she hasn’t left him?”
“I wouldn’t doubt it; he is a weak enough man that would do that. I have always wanted to ask mom why she stays and if she knows where dad is, but I feel like she won’t tell me.”
“You’re probably right; she never wants us to know any of the unpleasant things. I have been thinking about him a lot, have you?”
“Yeah I have and it just gets me mad that he just left us like that, and to have to call Tio Antonio our father. Just because he doesn’t want a scandal in the family, I wonder what he would do if everyone found out about our families dirty little secret?”
“Um I think he would be pretty pissed about it, you wouldn’t really tell people about it would you?”
“If I knew I could do it without it being traced back to me, that I was the one telling everyone, then I would.”
“You’re crazy Robert, do you have any idea of what he would do to you if he even found out you wanted to do that?”
“Actually I do and don’t worry I would never do that, not when you and mom are still living under his roof.”
“That’s good to hear; you know I’m really going to miss you when you leave.”
“I know, if it was up to me I wouldn’t go to school so far away.”
“I know, hey do you wonder if dad ever tried to get us out of here?”
“I would think so and that is why he is not here with us. I think Tio Antonio might have had something to do with him being gone.”
“I wish we could somehow track him down, or at least find out if he is still alive.”
“The only way is to see if he is, is for mom to tell us, I’m pretty sure if he is still alive she has been in contact with him.”
“Yup that’s true, so are you going to tell me what happen?”
“Ok to make it a short story Grant accused me of been a homophobe and we got into an argument.”
“Why would he say or think that?”
“Well you know how I hate to watch any movie that has romance in it, well that’s the kind of movie they wanted to watch and I told them to count me out. That I was going to leave if we were really going to watch that and how he didn’t think about what if someone else wanted something different. Then he goes on about what kind of person doesn’t enjoy a happy ending and I said I didn’t. Then he wanted to know why not. I refused to tell him why and that is when he accused me of being a homophobe. That I was finding any excused to get out of being stuck in a room with two gay guys.”
“Didn’t you tell him that you and Preston have been hanging out?”
“No I didn’t because Preston hasn’t been telling him and he looks like the jealous type.”
“So you think Grant would think something was going on between you and Preston?”
“Yes”
“Hum do you feel something for Preston?”
“What come on Nora, I’m straight why would I have feelings for a gay guy?”
“I’m just saying maybe you’re giving off a vibe and Grant is picking up on it. That would explain why he was picking a fight with you.” Robert thought about what Nora was saying, she had a point there but there was no way he felt anything other than mutual feelings toward Preston.
“You have a point there but the only thing going on between Preston and me is friendship. So I don’t see why Grant is getting all worked up for.”
“Ok well I’m going to leave you to your own thoughts; I have a date I need to get ready for.” Nora hugged Robert and made her way to the ladder.
“Ok have fun and I will be waiting up for you to hear about your first date.” Robert shouted to Nora.
“Ok see you later.” She shouted back. Robert continued to watch the ocean; for some reason his mind was replaying Nora’s words about how his feelings toward Preston. There was no way he could feel anything for Preston. He was straight he never felt anything like that for a guy, but then again he has never truly been in love with a girl. Nevertheless, that didn’t mean he was gay, he just hasn’t found the right girl yet. That’s what it was he just hasn’t found the right girl yet and he just saw Preston as a friend. He just needs to be more open with his emotions then he can find the right girl for him.