Rhonda was in the dining room, watching the apple-green silk curtains being put up. She had this warm snuggly feeling inside her that this was not a house anymore. And was gradually turning into their home. It was not a showcase of intimidating possessions but a place which soon become pleasing, harmonious and comfortable.
Rhonda was not expecting any visitors. It was Saturday and morning was not a time for people to call, especially in their home not without an appointment. It surprised her greatly when their newly appointed housekeeper, Betsy came into the dining room to find her and to hand her a business card and announce,” I have put the gentleman in the parlour, Mrs. Hunter.”
The gentleman. The rather old fashioned term and the respectful tone on the housekeeper’s voice immediately piqued Rhonda’s interest. The extremely efficient Betsy was only in her later forties and ha
The furious words crackled across the room as Oberon charged through it, barely clothed in one of the white toweling robes kept at the dressing room of the terrace pool. It hung loosely at his shoulders, gaping at the front because he clearly had not stopped long enough to drag the edges together and do up the tie-belt. The brief black swimsuit that he wore underneath was clearly visible.Ruriel, probably still naked as he had been in the pool was wrapped in a towel and riding in the crook of his father’s arm, his little face looking brilliantly alert to the fascination of his father in steaming attack mode, his gaze following Oberon’s other arm as it stabbed out at Mr. Ferrera then swept back, pointing to the door.“Get out of our home!” he roared.“Oberon!!” The shock literally exploded from Rho
“Serendipity, yes,” Oberon bit his words concededly,” But my marriage to Rhonda had nothing to do with the conditions that my father laid down for inheriting a part of his estate which he supposed too be my worth and my share.”“The inheritance…” the lawyer gestured his hands indicating that it was simply an ambivalent factor.” Cedric simply used that as a power tool to drive you to re-appraising your life from the way that you were leading it when you received the letter a few months ago? It worked, did it not?”Breath hissed out from Oberon’s clenched teeth. He was steaming at this manipulation which was being orchestrated from the grave however Rhonda reasoned that it had actually done him no harm. Even if it was the rebellion against the way that Cedric Hunter had lived his life still then it had led them to here where they shared togethe
“Don’t you see it?” roared Oberon,” Don’t you get how obscene this is? We are not his sons and daughters.. we are not his children…we are just performing monkeys for him…who will perform the tricks and he will enjoy it from hell or wherever he is!!”He threw out his hands in furious disgust and then he advanced in the direction of Ferrera with his hands moving animatedly,” And you…you are the other director of the circus to make sure that we perform right, isn’t it? Having fun, are you? Seeing how well the outcast bastards are going to come back into Cedric Hunter’s fold when he dangles the carrot of money in front of all of us? Are you making sure of handing out the rewards to us like the good performing monkeys get peanuts when they finished their act?”Ferrera stiffened in the face of the oncoming attack and said,&rdquo
Oberon felt too raw, too angry, too exposed, to be anywhere near Rhonda or near their son. He was not in the right state of mind to be taking care of Ruriel either. It was wrong to use his own fatherhood as a blindfold to the churning hatred stirred by his father’s attitude towards himself and his brothers and sisters…owing all of them nothing except their lives and not even each other. He had to deal with this all alone and then move past it…he had to step forward in the future.He sought out Karen, the nurse for Ruriel who was now an integral part of their household, finding her in the nursery quarters where Ruriel was due to have his morning nap. Having left his son in her care, he decided that what he needed at the moment was some of the hard mindless, physical exertion to get off from this sickening inner turbulence that was churning his insides.Oberon headed to the boatshed b
Oberon set down the towel that he had used to wipe down the water from his body and then drew Rhonda in a loose embrace as he focused his mind on speaking the truth on seeking the best path towards understanding. He rested his forehead lightly on hers and almost like he needed their minds to meet.“You have a family,” he started,” It may be dysfunctional but you have met every single member of it. You know what they are like. You know which cousins you like and which you hate. You know where they come from and you know what they can do. You can mix both freely with them, both on your mother’s side and on your father’s side.”Her shoulders pulled back, muscle tensing, whether in impatience or resistance he could not tell but she was in tune with this talk about her family.“That’s not to say that you were not alone, Rhonda. I know
Rhonda knew intuitively that he would retreat from her if she did not show her that she believed in him. Now was the moment to capture the intimacy that they had not reached before.”I am sorry that I listened to your mother. She conjured up things that have plagued my life and although I tried to look past them, I needed you to set them aside for me, to make me feel right with you again,” said Rhonda.“Have I done that?” asked Oberon, with blazing intensity in his gaze.“Yes,” she answered emphatically.” Yes, you have.”“Good!” A fierce triumph blazed from his eyes,” Because you are right for me, Rhonda. So very right for me. In every possible way that there is.”It would be easy now to revel in the rightness that he felt with her, to hold him to herself an
Oberon had planned to give this party before they left for Bolivia, its purpose to publicly celebrate their marriage which he still felt was the important thing to do. Their happiness together, he declared, would confound everyone and make it a scintillating affair, all the guests, glittering madly around them and trying to shine lights on cracks in their relationship and forced to concede failure because there were none.And that was certainly happening tonight, thought Rhonda, secretly amused by some of the outrageous questions that had been tossed at her and Oberon tonight as they stood arm in arm, greeting and chatting up with the guests who were rolling up despite the short notice. The whole A-list of Sydney society was agog with discussion to assess the newly married couple and how on earth had they been able to buy the place at Piper point as a family home.Besides, people generally wished them
Cedric Killian Hunter was dying. And even though whatever the doctors told him he knew that his time had come and there was no point in stopping the inevitable. He did not even want to do that in the first place.Cedric Hunter had been a man of his own name and caliber and he had certainly made his own place in the world and in the society with his skills and charms. The country which had consigned him as an outcaste and a bastard had been forced to give him the place and the title that he actually deserved. He had done a lot in his life too claim what was his and it had definitely not been very convenient either. But what was handed down easily to the future generations, they never came to understand it’s true value ever.He had no regrets in his life, except maybe one. Cedric Hunter was a name which was known and revered in every field that he had touched and stepped foot in. Except family.There he had been an utter and complete failure. He could never been a pr