Chapter Thirty Nine

"So are you going to tell me what this is all about?" Oscar watched Lizzie squirm under his gaze, but there was nowhere she could run. Outside the car all the other school parents were talking and preparing for whatever their day involved, now that all the children had run excitedly into their class. She was sat in the passenger seat, shaking.

She was silent, though he wondered if he'd seen the hint of a shrug through her shoulders, all she seemed to do was bloody shrug. He gritted his teeth, and then turned in his seat, fighting the desire to roll his hands into fists.

"Silence. That's what I get?"

She looked at him and the sadness in her eyes almost made him back down, but not quite.

"Have the last few weeks been blanked out of your brain?"

She shook her head, eyes still dropped to her lap, where her thumbs twiddled.

"I don't believe this means nothing to you, what we have..." he ran a hand through his hair, "it's special. YOU know that, I know that. So why are you acting as though I'm a piece of shit on your shoe."

Her eyes flashed at him, "it was a few nights out and sex...that's all."

He wanted to yell, but there was a potential audience still near the car, so instead he hissed, "just sex...do you want me to remind you of how wet our kisses made you ...how quickly you came from me touching you...how you screamed my name? Not sighed, not moaned, SCREAMED. Didn't take reserved Lizzie Breen for a screamer, but I loved it...and SO did YOU!"

Shaking her head, she turned to him, "so it was fun!" She was shouting, but her eyes glared at him, "but that is ALL is was, do you hear me? It was fun, it was sex, but it was just that. FUN."

Reaching his hand out, he grabbed her chin, and too roughly pulled her to face him, then he shook his head, "all lies."

Then he planted his lips on hers, and it was a cruel punishment, but he loved it from the very first touch. For a moment she was stiff, rigid, resisting, but within a few breaths, he was gasping as she responded, parting her lips, letting her tongue dance with his.

But that lasted all of a few seconds, before she shoved him away, two hands firmly on his chest, "get off me."

"You enjoyed that, you wanted that...this isn't one sided."

She shook her head angrily, "I want you to leave me alone!"

He punched the steering wheel in frustration, "for fuck's sake, Lizzie, I know this isn't conventional, I wanted to play this so differently, but..."

Her laugh stopped him in his tracks, so angry, so hostile, "that's all this is, you playing a game. You haven't been honest with me, not ONCE. You are trying to suck me in..."

He had to stop this, so he placed a hand over her lips, "please, stop."

She shook her head battling his hands away, "get off me, you bully."

That made him laugh, loudly, "me? I haven't bullied you; I have only been trying to help you."

"Ha, help! Control you mean, I have no idea what your fucking agenda is, but it isn't anywhere near the same as mine."

He paused as he tried to decipher what that meant, "I don't have an agenda...I am flying by the seat of my pants and trying to make this work."

She shook her head, "you are making this work for YOU!"

"Shit, Lizzie. What are you trying to say? Why do you think so lowly of me?"

Oscar watched as her chest rose and she took a deep breath, "you lied, all the time."

"How the fuck have I lied? I haven't lied about anything."

Lizzie rolled her eyes theatrically, "how long are you working here for, Oscar? How long is this job thing of yours working, because to me you said you'd worked something out?"

Suddenly he felt sick, she had found out. He hoped that he'd have sorted something out before he had to confess that he was on borrowed time. He was searching, and digging out any possible contact or link he had in the country, it was the only way to stay with her and Nate with the least disruption. He thought he'd find something else in days...that wasn't proving to be the case.

"I have a three month sabbatical of sorts."

She nodded knowingly, "of course, and why the HELL would you need to tell me that? This affects me."

He spotted three women. School parents watching then from the school gates, this was too public. Starting the engine he snarled at her, "we're taking this back to yours."

Oscar ignored any protest as he roared along the streets to her house. He knew the route well, which was just as well, as his mind was clouded with ways to manage this, how to make her see his side. The truth. That was what Freya had told him all those weeks ago back in her house, almost as if she'd known he'd get himself into this scrape.

He swung the car into parking space outside the house, then got out. When Lizzie didn't move, he stomped around to her side, then pulled open the door...only to find it locked.

That bloody woman was going to be the death of him. Using his key remote, he unlocked the doors again, only for her to re lock it from the inside. Growling under his breath, he stomped back to the driver's door and opened it, "for god's sake woman! Will you come in the house or do you want to air ALL our dirty laundry in the street?"

Her scowl was almost comical in its severity...if this was only a light-hearted situation, but it wasn't. So he rolled his eyes, "I'll drag you up the path by your hair if I have to, via my door."

He saw her flinch, but she didn't back down, he loved that about her, other than today when he wanted to kill her in frustration, "I am going to work, so please back down."

He shook his head, "no. NO. We will talk, there'll be time for work another day."

Turning in her seat, she glared at him, "will there? Are you sure about that? Because you seem intent on making me end my career too. Why is that?"

He wanted to scream, "because you hate it and you deserve more." But she dropped her head before that happened.

"I know why, because you don't want any obstructions to your Master plan. Do you?"

This was so much more than he had imagined, all his best intentions were being spun a hundred and eighty degrees and shooting him in his own feet.

Through gritted teeth, he stepped back, "you sit there throwing insults and accusations. You owe me the chance to explain things, because you are WAY off the mark."

With that he took a huge gamble by crossing his arms and marching into the house.

Lizzie was sat in the car shaking. She had no intention of ever having this confrontation, she hated it. But she couldn't pretend that things were fine. He was in the house, waiting for her, and she was still quivering from that kiss. She wanted to hate him for all that he'd done, and she was managing that...until he touched her. She had to keep her distance, because he could undo her with a glance.

It was a long moment before she got out of the car. But she did, and on shaky legs she walked up to the house.

He was in the kitchen, a tumbler and a bottle of whisky beside him, pouring a measure, he knocked it back before turning to make eye contact with her.

"I thought you'd run away..."

He didn't add the word 'again', but she could hear it in his tone. And she flinched, this wasn't about her, it was about him. She wanted to scream that at him, but she didn't, instead she shook her head, "no, but I am angry that you are behaving like some...caveman!"

That made him shake with rather ironic sounding laughter, "I can toss you over my shoulder and act like a heathen if you want...make you FULLY hate me."

"I don't' hate you." Those words escaped before she even thought about it, and it was the truth, despite how angry she felt.

"You have a funny way of showing that. Accusing me of all sorts."

She shook her head, "you made me think this job move was permanent, you said you had sorted it, that you had worked something out with your bosses...you had ample time to tell me that it was only for a few months. And I can only wonder what your motives are."

He poured another fingers worth of whisky and knocked it back.

Lizzie glared at him, "It's not even half past nine!"

He laughed again, "you just called me a caveman. I'm just referring to type!" Tossing the glass on the table, she flinched again, "so you're scared of me now?"

She shrugged, "you're angry...I've never seen you like this."

He laughed, an ugly sound, "well I have never had shit like this thrown back in my face."

"Shit? Hardly. I'm just calling you out on your lies!"

Running a hand through his hair, he rolled his eyes, "I have not lied to you. So I wasn't explicit..."

"Wasn't explicit?" She marched up to him. "You led me on, made me think that you were coming here to work things out, to be there for Nate. Instead I find out second hand that you are here for a short time, and that's where it all starts to make sense."

Bracing his arms on the kitchen table he glared at her, "what makes sense? What other...shenanigans are you creating in that fuzzy head of yours?"

Her anger was complete, "you are an arrogant bastard. My head is anything but fuzzy now, though no doubt it was when you were making me empty promises."

"I can't win! I am losing a battle and I don't even know what the fucking hell I'm meant to have done."

"Huh!" She hated that she flounced, but that was exactly what she did as she stormed away from him once again. "You know full well what you've done, lied about your future...which in turn will affect Nate and MY future...and all the while trying to force me to sever my commitments here so that we can drop it all on a whim."

Oscar pulled out a chair and slumped into in, "Jeez woman, this sounds like a soap opera. What the hell are you talking about?"

She closed her eyes, taking several deep breaths, "having me compliant in your bed wasn't enough, you've been trying to get me to walk out on my work, one of the only other things tying me here. I KNOW what you're doing; I can see how you are manipulating me. And it stops...NOW!"

"You are deluded woman, standing there spouting...I don't know what!"

She crossed her arms, "are you denying it?"

"What? No, none of it. I didn't lie, obviously I omitted a little of the truth..."

Lizzie stared at them, "that is exactly the same. You deliberately didn't tell me the truth..."

He groaned, "maybe...but for the best reason."

She shook her head, "there is no right reason. Why should I ever believe a word you say? This is my life, my future, my nephew...you can't make decisions without me. Can't you see that?"

Tears had started to well, she hated such a blatant sign of weakness, but he had pulled her in, made her trust him, and now was tearing her apart. "I love Nate. You cannot take him away from me."

"He's my SON. I want to do what's right for him."

"And that is returning to America with him, is that right?"

He shrugged, "I don't know. I'm just trying to make this work."

She swiped at a tear that escaped her laden eyes, "you thing I'm being stupid? You thing I'm over reacting." Lizzie almost staggered when he didn't reply immediately, and then muttered under her breath, "more silence, more avoiding the truth."

She had to get out, get away from him, as she turned, he reached out and grabbed her wrist, pulling her into him more harshly than she expected. She yelped rather indignantly.

Oscar heard that sound and suddenly looked down to where his hand wrapped around her small wrist. He'd hurt her...after promising her repeatedly that he wouldn't hurt her, here he was causing her physical pain. He gasped, dropping her hand, then stepped back.

After pausing, staring at her for just a moment, he stormed past her into the lounge, dropping his head into his hands. What the hell are you doing? He'd never as much as spoken aggressively to a woman before, here he was, not only shouting at her, making her cry...but now hurting her. He closed his eyes, but felt Lizzie's presence. When he opened his eyes again, she was nervously perched across the room from him, on the arm of the other sofa.

"I'm not like this," he finally lifted his head. "I've never been like this."

She stared at him for a moment, then sighed, "and I'm sorry I've made you angry."

He shook his head, "I just grabbed you!"

She laughed, "and it was a bit rough, but it didn't hurt."

Oscar ran a hand through his hair, "I can't believe you've stored all this up...you've convinced yourself that all this is lies. You should have asked me, talked to me..."

Lizzie dropped her eyes, "I never wanted this, it's too complicated."

Oscar wanted to shout, this day was going from bad to worse. "It's not complicated, if anything it's simple." He ran a hand over his face, then looked up at her, "since I came here after you called me, I wanted to sort something out...here. And after out trip to the States...I just knew that you would be happier here." Reaching for his briefcase, he pulled out a wad of papers, "I've reached out to every contact I have...but there's nothing cropping up at the moment."

She took the sheaf of papers and thumbed through them, "you're looking for a job?"

He nodded, "I don't want to uproot you. I can see that being here is important to you both."

Shaking her head she placed the papers on the coffee shop, "so why are you trying to get me to give up work..."

He gave a half laugh, "cos I honestly think that you don't like it, that you'd love to do something else. It's about time you loved for you."

Tears fell down her face, he was telling her everything she wanted to hear, but still there was that element of doubt, that fear. She couldn't just give in to this.

"I'm not expecting you to believe me, not like this, but can we at least talk this through?"

She nodded, and it made him smile, "It's just not easy."

He smiled softly, "I know that, but let's start again...no lies."

There were so many questions, but they had time for her to ask, and him to answer. She felt bad; he'd really upset, him, but almost like poking a wild animal, that anger had brought out the depth of his feelings. She now had to decide if she could believe him and trust him again.