The Mystery Writer

What Lies in the Past

Darcy turned in her bed, finally unable to ignore the constant ringing coming from her phone. She did a slow search of her sheets to find her phone that was tangled among them. During her search the ringing had stopped but quickly started back up again. When she finally freed her phone, she answered it without much thought to looking at the caller ID.

“Hello.” Darcy groggily greeted her caller.

“Darcy. I texted you last night. You couldn't give me the courtesy of calling me back or replying to me?” Darcy inwardly groaned as she recognized her father's angry tone. She sighed.

“Dad.” Darcy sighed, knowing his phone call wouldn't be an easy one. She could already see his attempts at trying to make her feel guilty. “I'm sorry, I was in the middle of something last night.”

“What about after whatever that something was?”

“I was going to call you today, dad.”

“Right. Well Andy called me to tell me that his allowance didn't go into his account. I wanted to know what the hold up was.”

Darcy sat up in bed as tears stung the back of her eyes. After months of not hearing from him, her father called only to see why she hadn't put money in her half brother's account. He hadn't even asked how she was doing. She dropped her cell phone away from her ear, tempted to hang up on him, but took a deep breath to calm herself. She wished to sound as unaffected as possible when she replied.

“DARCY?!?”

“Dad, I'm in the middle of a project. Andy will just have to wait till I have some free time.”

“Andy needs his allowance, Darcy. How do you expect him to buy the things he needs?”

Gripping her phone tighter in her hand, she could feel her defense rising to the surface. She didn't want to feel hurt because of anything her father did or said to her.

“If Andy needs money, I expect him to find a job. He is old enough to become responsible for himself.”

“Darcy I-” the phone suddenly went quiet. When she glanced at the screen, she found that her phone had died. She threw her phone onto her mattress before crying out in frustration. Hot tears once again prickled at the back of her eyes.

“Darcy? Everything ok?” There was a tap at her door and she recognized Max's worried voice. She whipped around to glance at the clock on her desk, finding it much later than she expected. After wiping her face, Darcy quickly jumped out of bed in an attempt to collect herself before responding.

“I'm alright, Max. I'll be out after a shower.”

Darcy ended up taking a longer shower than usual. Maybe it was an attempt to wash away everything that had happened since the previous night. When she finally exited her room, she was dressed in the warmest clothes she owned. There was a chill that she couldn't seem to shake. As she entered the kitchen, she was surprised when both Max and Leo stood from the kitchen table. It seemed as if they could have been having a pleasant conversation just a moment ago.

“Your face is flushed. Everything ok?” Max looked at her with familiar, worried eyes.

“I'm fine Max, really.” Max knew not to ask again or hound the subject. Rather, he came forward with a plastic wrapped bagel that had been smeared with cream cheese. She shook her head, turning it away as she didn't have much of an appetite.

“Your coffee got cold, sorry.”

“I'll make you some.” Leo turned away for a moment, just to turn the coffee pot on. While his back was turned, Max gave her another questioning look. Darcy ignored him by walking past him to lean against the bar.

“What's on the agenda today? Another studio day?” The best thing for her was to become distracted as quickly as possible.

“No, actually I was going to go to the store. I figured we could try something new and I have a few things to pick up.”

Darcy stared at the celebrity in a bit of surprise. She never expected Leo to cooperate, but now it seemed he was willing to try. “Shopping with Leo James. Your fans should enjoy this.”

Leo then handed her a mug of coffee though he looked slightly uncomfortable after her comment. Darcy sipped from the mug, trying to ignore how awkward it had become between them. She only began to relax when she could breath in the fresh air, the frosty morning wakening her senses. It was a very quick touch up with Christine before Malakai arrived to drive them to the nearest superstore.

“Pick up anything you need too, Darcy.” Leo offered kindly just before the camera started rolling and she followed him around the entire store. He seemed at ease in front of the camera, explaining he suddenly had the urge to cook. As they passed through the aisles, a crowd began to form behind them. It took a pause in filming for Darcy to realize that she was getting attention from the crowd as well. They all seemed to be pointing at her. She did her best to ignore them, worried they would say nasty things if they got the chance to. However, by the time they were checking out it seemed as if everyone were chanting her name. Outside they were forced to pause as it seemed they were surrounded by the crowd that had found them.

“Thank you for protecting Leo James!” It was a chant that seemed to come out as one breath from everyone present. A smile slowly spread across Darcy's face, but she couldn't understand where their appreciation was coming from.

“Darcy!” Max had stopped filming and lowered the camera as he leaned forward to whisper in her ear. “Mrs. James left a long explanation about what she had witnessed from you last night. It is currently going viral around the country.”

Darcy turned wide, surprised eyes onto her friend. She never expected Mrs. James to do such a thing for her or to witness such a change in the fans because of what had happened in private with her boss. Even Leo seemed to look at her a little more appreciatively than before.

 _________________

Later that evening, Max pulled Darcy outside. Other than her bedroom it seemed like the only safe spot that they could talk in private and alone. Max took the time to scrutinize her face.

“You do seem fine now, but that wasn't the case this morning. Was it Matthias? Did he do something or say something to you? I know he was here last night due to Mrs. James.” Just the mention of her boss made Darcy's blood boil. Her hands balled into fists and Max obviously noticed the change in her attitude.

“Yes he texted me that he was here last night and wanted to say something to me. He told me I cost the company by disabling the speakers yesterday.” She could no longer see what was in front of her as visions of last night flashed before her eyes. When her anger finally depleted once more, she shivered at the loss and squatted onto the front stoop.

“What'd he do?”

Keeping her eyes on the concrete sidewalk in front of her, Darcy only shook her head. She didn't want to involve Max, knowing he'd probably get himself into trouble by sending him into an angry, chaotic frenzy. “Ok, so you won't tell me, but he obviously did enough to make you angry. Were you still upset about it this morning and that is why you were crying and yelling?”

Darcy set her lips firmly together. She didn't want to talk about her father. In fact, she didn't want to think about any of her family that had always treated her as if she weren't their equal. As if she didn't belong.

“Darcy. I know you well enough to know it is about your family. I won't push if you really don't want to tell me, but I feel like you could use someone to confide in this time.” Max kneeled in front of her and she met his sympathetic gaze. The last thing she wanted to do was admit he was right, but her dad's words were still eating at the edges of her mind.

“My dad called this morning. It's been three months since I last heard from him.” She pulled her knees up to her chest. “He never asked me how I was or what I've been up to. No, in stead he yelled at me for not replying to his text message last night and wanted to know why I hadn't sent Andy any money.”

“Andy? Your half brother, right?” Darcy nodded in response to Max's question. “I never understood why you send a grown man an allowance, anyway.”

“It isn't as simple as that. When my stepmother had Andy I was only a child. It seemed once he was born I didn't matter much anymore. Every penny was being saved for Andy's education and we already weren't well off. As soon as I was legally able, my dad forced me to take small odd and end jobs. All of that money went to Andy or putting food on the table.” She sighed, catching Max's eyes as she began to explain her complicated past. “Andy grew up depending on the money I made. It eventually just became a given that I'd give him a portion of whatever I made. It was like a habit, almost.”

“But you're living in near poverty! You can't even afford a new car even with a decent job! Don't you think it is time for Andy to find his own way to make his own money?” Darcy glanced back at Max, her lips twitched. She knew he'd be proud of her for standing up to her father, but part of her still felt guilty.

“I told him that Andy should find a job if he couldn't afford the things he needs. Then my phone died and I haven't talked to my father since.” Extreme happiness took over all emotion on Max's face and he pulled Darcy into a standing hug.

“That's my girl! And don't you dare feel guilty. You were finally able to do what you needed to do for years. It is because they forced you to become an adult at such a young age and to take care of kid who wasn't your own. You don't need to feel guilty about that.”

The door opened behind Darcy as Max was still talking and hugging her. Light flooded through the door and onto them. When Darcy turned her head she found that Leo was standing in the doorway, his eyes darted between the two of them. Max broke the hug first and waved a hand at Leo. They had gotten along decently over the past week and Darcy hoped they'd get close enough to be friends. Max said a quick goodbye to both of them.

“Don't keep the door open, you'll heat the outdoors.” Darcy meant it as a joke and even smiled as she passed Leo to step into the house. She was feeling a lot better after her talk with Max.

“I was actually coming to see you. Have you had dinner?” Darcy stopped in her tracks as she had been headed back to her room; that was usually the ritual after Max left for the day. Besides, Leo James had never been curious if she had eaten before. “I made some pasta, come get some before it gets cold.”

Darcy followed Leo with her eyes as he retreated back into the kitchen. She found herself following him, hanging around the edge of the kitchen. The sink was filled in dirty dishes, but the kitchen was filled with the aroma of fresh pasta. When she looked at Leo, she found him staring in the direction of the live camera.

“Did Mrs. James tell you to make this? It smells amazing.” Darcy sat at the table, trying to be as gracious as possible. Although she hadn't had much of an appetite the past couple days, her stomach was quickly begging her to try some of Leo's creation.

“Glass of wine?”

Darcy was about to pick up her fork when she was further surprised by Leo's question. His back was turned to her as he worked on opening a bottle of wine.

“I don't normally drink when I'm working, but thank you.”

Leo seemed to pause in what he was doing for a moment before finally popping the cork out of a fresh bottle of wine. Darcy licked her lips at the thought of trying some, but quickly distracted herself by picking up her fork. Leo joined her at the table with his glass of wine.

“I have to admit, I was surprised earlier. My fans are very faithful. It was different to see that their attention was on someone else. For once, I wasn't the only one being followed around the store.” Darcy smiled at his words, remembering the moment as if it had just occurred. She couldn't remember another time in her life that a crowd gathered to cheer for her.

“I think that moment made me realize why someone would like to become an entertainer. The attention can be nice at times.” Darcy immediately regretted her words as she noticed Leo's face darken. She gave him a curious glance.

“You've had a good day with nice attitudes, but you've also witnessed the bad side too. Fans can attack in an instant. They can blame you for something you didn't do or for something out of your control. Those warm feelings you felt earlier can easily feel like daggers. What is worse is that sometimes its the people you thought you could trust the most or the ones that emphatically say they'll always trust you and believe in you. Those are the ones that hurt the most.” Darcy gave a moment of silence to inspect Leo. He had obviously been put through a lot of hurtful situations and quite honestly, she had never though that the warm feeling she had felt earlier could be like a double edged sword. It could protect you or hurt you depending which way the blade swung.

“Sometimes you aren't seen as a human.” She muttered, barely loud enough for Leo to hear. It was enough to get his attention even though she had delved into her own feelings.

“Exactly.”

They exchanged curious glances at each other over the table. Darcy snapped back into reality and decided to change the subject.

“So I've met your mother, Mrs. James. Do you have brothers and sisters too?”

“She'll be sad to hear you call her Mrs. James. She really does prefer to be called mom. I have six sisters, only one being younger than me.”

“Six sisters? Really?”

Leo nodded before sipping out of his glass. The way he smiled told Darcy he was quite fond of his sisters. Perhaps protective of them as well.

“Oh, before I forget. Tomorrow, I have another studio day scheduled. I'm sorry it won't be as interesting as the past couple days.” Darcy slumped in her chair. The past few days had been eventful. There was little time to feel bored or to miss her old way of life. She straightened in her seat when a thought came to her mind.

“Would it be ok if I left for an hour or two tomorrow morning? Its been a long time since I've gotten a proper workout in.” Darcy felt hopeful after watching Leo smile at her. He agreed to it before standing up from the table with his glass of wine.

“Finish your dinner, I have some things to do before bed. Good night, Darcy.” She watched him leave feeling better than she had in a long time. Leo and her were working on trusting each other and she was able to eat another decent meal before bed.

 After finishing her meal, Darcy pondered on the thought that the noodles were very well done especially for a celebrity. She smiled and worked on cleaning the dirty dishes before retiring to her room.