Could This Be Love - S04 E04

3 years ago

Could This Be Love - S04 E04

Read Story: SEASON 4 EPISODE 4

continues

Kyle pressed his face into the corner of the
doorway, trying to think. It was true, he was
adopted. His mind whirled with a myriad of
emotions, feeling like his world had just been
turned upside down, so he took several deep
breaths, and thought about what he knew. His
friends were his friends. His parents had kept
this whopping big secret, but they’d raised him
and been there for twenty three years for him.

Did it really matter that they weren’t linked by
DNA? The thought helped him clear his head a
little and he sighed.

After a moment he replied. “No, it’s okay, and
don’t get all worried, okay. I know you’re my
parents, I know you’re my Mom and Dad, you
raised me and nothing’s going to change that,
okay?”
He could almost hear the relief in the tones of
their replies, so he pressed ahead.
“Thing is, I’ve found out a little about who I
was before I was adopted,” Kyle added, not
quite sure how to proceed with this bit. He
opted for directness. “How much do you know
about that?”
There was a hushed, whispered conversation at
the other end of the line that ended abruptly
after a few more seconds.
“We know who your birth father was, honey,”
Kyle’s Mom said a moment later. “Do you?”

Kyle swallowed. “Yeah, I think so.” His mouth
was dry but he made himself say the words.
“Danny Tripps, right?”
“That’s right, son,” His Dad said quietly. “We
weren’t supposed to know, but we did.”
“Has he left you something in his will?” His
Mom asked. “Is that why the lawyer is there?”
“Em, I think so,” Kyle said, feeling more than a
little nauseous now. “Listen, they’re telling me I
have sisters.”
“What?” Both his parents replied at the same
time.
“That I have sisters. Twins,” He replied. “Well,
actually triplets, but I’m one of them,
apparently.”

“Kyle, son, we had no idea,” His Dad said, and
Kyle knew deep inside that he was telling the
truth. “Sisters?”
“Two of them,” Kyle confirmed. “They want me
to go and meet them.”
“Then you should go,” His Dad replied
immediately.

“Absolutely,” His Mom added. “Are you alright,
honey?”
“Bit shell-shocked, I guess,” Kyle replied.
“Listen, I’ve got to head back in there. Are you
guys okay?”
“Yeah, son, don’t worry about us,” His Dad
answered. “We’ll stick around here for a few
days, I think. Why don’t you come round for
dinner tonight or before it you want, we’ll have
a chat.”

Kyle frowned. “No, you should go on your trip.
You two have been planning it for months.”
Every time Kyle visited his folks they had maps
up of the areas of Canada they were hiking
through and he knew they had various
locations booked for the occasional night in a
hotel and if they set off late they’d lose their
reservations. “Honestly, I’m okay. You should
go on your trip, and besides, I can call you if I
need to. You guys can call me too, okay?”
Kyle could almost hear them silently discussing
it with looks and gestures at the other end of
the phone, something they’d done for as far
back as he could remember.
“You sure, son?”
“Yeah, Dad. You and Mom go on your trip.”

“You sure you’re not pissed at us for not telling
you?” His Dad asked bluntly, as was his way.
Kyle sighed. “Honestly, Dad. I’m not angry. I’m
a bit shocked, and I can’t say I won’t be angry
in the future, but if I get angry I know where to
find you.”
“That you do, son,” His father replied. “You just
pick up that phone and we’ll come right back so
you can vent your fury for as long as you
need.”
“Can I just ask, why didn’t you tell me?”

“There was never a good time for it, honey,”
His Mom replied. “How do you bring something
like that up in conversation?”
“Besides, you would have asked who your
parents were, and we would have had to lie
directly to your face, son,” His Dad added. “We
just couldn’t figure out how to tell you.”
“Fair enough,” Kyle said, managing to sound
calm while inside he just wanted to vanish
somewhere quiet so he could process it all.
“Have a good trip.”
“Love you, honey.”
“Love you too,” Kyle finished and ended the
call. He squared his shoulders, took a deep
breath and walked back in to see what else the
lawyer had to say.
“Everything okay, Mister Watson?” Mister
Crowler asked as Kyle sat back down.
“I don’t know if I’d describe it as okay,” Kyle
said a moment later. “Right, I’ve spoken to my
parents.”

“So you know I’m telling the truth then?”
Kyle swallowed and nodded. “Bit of a shock.”
“I believe you. Shall I continue?”
“Might as well,” Kyle replied.
“As he mentioned in the letter, Mister Tripps
did his best to keep a discrete eye on you and
your sisters while you were growing up, and he
kept private files with the information for an
occasion such as this. As he also said, we’d like
you to come to Mister Tripps private Island,
where you can meet your sisters and get to
know each other without any of the constraints
and pressures of the outside world.”
“What does that mean?” Kyle asked.

“Pressures and so forth?” The old man asked.
Kyle nodded, so he continued. “To give you one
example, Mister Tripps was a very recognisable
public figure with a long ongoing relationship
with the press.”
Kyle nodded, having seen him at movie
premieres, award shows, chat shows and in the
papers too.

“The press are already making enquiries about
who will inherit the vast fortune of the Tripps
Empire, and sooner or later someone will
remember him in a hospital twenty three years
ago and either do some digging, or simply open
their mouth on their favourite social
networking site. In todays instant-media world,
it’s only a matter of hours or days before you
and your sisters get tracked down and beseiged
by the media.”
“You’re shitting me,” Kyle blurted. “Seriously?

That’s what you think is going to happen?”

Mister Crowler blinked. “That is what will
happen, Kyle. We have experience with this.”
“I would have thought they’d…..” Kyle trailed
off, thinking about it, and he knew that the old
man was right in what he was saying. There
would be a media frenzy, and he’d be right in
the middle of it. “F--k me sideways.”
“I see we’re on the same page, Kyle.”

“I guess so,” he replied unhappily. “So what
happens now?”
“There should be a car outside for you. There’s
a private jet due to arrive in,” He glanced at his
watch, a polished silver pocket watch, then
dropped it back in his pocket. “Nine hours
time, that’s half past eight tonight. Take-off will
be around nine o’clock and the flight from San
Antonio to Guadeloupe Island, the nearest
airport to the Island, is around seven hours.
From there you’ll take a boat for an hour to the
Island itself, so you should be there at around
sunrise.”

“Overnight journey?” Kyle asked, frowning. “It
sounds exhausting.”
“Unfortunately we have to get all three of you
to the Island as soon as possible, so it’s
unavoidable on this occasion. However.” The
old man paused. “At the airport will be a
woman named Patricia, an Executive Assistant
to Mister Tripps with many years experience.
She’ll be your liaison, your point of contact and
your assistant for the duration of your trip.”

“Why do I need an assistant?” Kyle asked.
“Because you’ll have a lot of questions,” The old
man said simply. “Now, Patricia is very good at
her job and she’ll be a real asset to you, so
make sure you rely upon her.”
“We’ll see,” Kyle replied, knowing he still
wasn’t sure if he was going to go to this Island
at all. The idea of buggering off with his folks
seemed appealing, despite his well-known
aversion to hiking.
“In between now and tonight you’ll have a
driver to look after you. Her name is Caroline,
I’m assured she’s very good, and she’ll have a
few forms for you to complete. I also have this
for you.”

The old man slid an envelope over the table.
Kyle opened it and emptied the contents. A Visa
card, a Mastercard, a clear envelope with cash
in it and a small keyfob.
“What’s all this?”
“The credit cards are for you to purchase some
suitable clothing for your trip, the cash for if
you don’t want to use your credit cards or if
you need to tip, and the keyfob is a personal
alarm,” The old man explained. “If you push
the red button, a security team will converge on
your location and extract you from any
situation or threat in the vicinity.”

“Like bodyguards?” Kyle asked, shaking his
head. “This is too surreal.”
“I’d imagine there will be many surreal
moments in the days to come,” The old man
replied.
“Pin numbers for the cards?” Kyle asked,
picking them up and looking at them. They
seemed almost holographic.
“The year of your birth. We can change that
tomorrow for you.”
“I suppose they’ve got like a twenty grand limit
or something extravagant like that?” Kyle
laughed.

“Not quite, no.” Mister Crowler smiled. “I
believe they’re somewhere in excess of a couple
of hundred thousand dollars, but they were set
up in a hurry, so we’ll get that straightened out
too in the next few days.”
Kyle snorted with laughter.
“Another surreal moment?” The lawyer asked,
his expression blank.

“Something like that.”
“So I’ve got a driver, a load of credit and cash
and a goon-squad on standby, just to cover me
for nine hours until I catch a plane to an Island
paradise?”
“Not a plane, a private jet, but yes, close
enough,” he nodded.
“F-----g hellfire,” Kyle said quietly, the
laughter and incredulity of the moment
stopped. “So do I just go back to my desk until I
finish work now? What happens?”
“Oh, good lord, no,” Mister Crowler replied,
looking taken aback for the first time. “Mister
Tripps actually owns this company, although
it’s not widely known. However, no, you don’t
need to return to your desk. In fact you don’t
need to return to it ever again if you so
choose.”

“What about my boss?” Kyle asked. “Sometimes
he’s a real d--k, and I don’t want him to throw
a b---h fit.”

“Kyle,” The old lawyer said, leaning forward
across the table. “It’ll take a while to get your
head round some of the changes that are going
to happen to your life in the next few days,
weeks and months. However, if your boss is, as
you put it, a real d--k, then you can always deal
with it by coming back here in a few weeks and
firing him.”

“Good point actually.”
“Now then, onto the last file,” The old man said,
gathering the other documentation away.
“What’s in this one?”
“Your sisters.”
Kyle felt that cold sinking feeling in his stomach
again and suddenly his mouth was dry. He
realised he was craving a cigarette again, and
had been for some time, which was unusual as
he’d quit nearly a year ago and hadn’t had a
craving in seven or eight months.

“Okay, let’s see them,” Kyle said, feeling a hint
of excitement and fear at the thought of having
sisters and wanting to find out who they were.

The lawyer opened the folder and slid two
photographs across the table and Kyle’s
breathing almost stopped. His face turned
white.

“Is everything okay, Kyle?” The old lawyer
asked as Kyle stared at the photographs on the
table. “You’ve gone a little pale.”
In a voice barely above a whisper, Kyle said,
“Oh, f--k, please let this be a joke.”
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