Chapter
40: Secrets and Lies
Two days had passed since the trip to Vegas, and almost everything was back to normal. Almost. There were still some things that Chance found awkward. Dan and Shiri were acting as if everything was about to change for them. She didn’t want to bother with the details of their relationship and didn’t bother to ask what was going on between them.
Chance sat at the kitchen table that afternoon and began to read one of the Anne Rice novels that Darren always seemed to be reading. Not even through the first page, she got a call. She stood up to answer it.
“Hello?” she asked.
“Chance, hey, what’s up?” Shiri asked in a stressed tone.
“Nothing, just about to start reading my book when you called. What do you need?” Chance replied.
“Um… Could you come over with Darren? I need to talk to you guys about something.”
“Okay, we’ll be there soon.” Chance hung up the phone before saying goodbye. She found Darren in the bathroom laboring over his hair, as usual. “That was Shiri. She wants us to go over to her place. And for God’s sake, quit messing with your hair. It looks good as it is.”
Darren rolled his eyes at Chance’s comment. He continued styling his hair until he was ready to leave, and within 20 minutes, both were at Shiri’s sitting on her living room couch.
“We really need to talk to you,” Shiri started off when she and Dan walked into the room.
“Okay, talk,” Chance replied as she sat back to listen.
“First off, about the accident. I should have told you earlier what happened, but I was afraid and upset. Only Dan knew because it mainly pertained to him,” Shiri started. “You see, I was hit by a car and a shard of glass became lodged in my abdomen. I was coming back from your place because I needed to tell Dan something, but I just couldn’t. It’s still hard for me to say this, but I was pregnant. I lost the baby because of the accident, and it upsets me still.”
“Oh, my God! Shiri! I’m so sorry,” Chance offered her comfort.
“Wait, there’s more,” Shiri interrupted. “While I was at the hospital, Dan proposed to me, and I knew at that moment he was the one, so I said yes. We kept the engagement a secret because of what had happened to Dan the last time he proposed, and he wanted to make sure that our relationship would last.”
“Do you think I’m mad at you?” Chance questioned. Shiri nodded. “I’m not. I completely understand. I was scared too when Darren proposed to me, and I didn’t want everyone in the room at the moment, but I got over it. I’m not mad at you for keeping this a secret.”
“Chance, there’s more,” Dan interrupted.
“What more could there possibly be?” she asked.
“Plenty,” he replied.
“Okay, here goes,” Shiri said, taking a deep breath as she gathered her thoughts. “Dan and I got married.”
“What? When!” Chance nearly yelled.
“In Las Vegas. We brought you guys out there so that the press wouldn’t think much of it, and we got married.”
“What were you thinking?” Darren joined in. “Are you crazy? Do you know how disappointed I am? How could you do this? She still hasn’t even met your family.”
“And like Chance has met yours,” Dan retorted.
“Boys! Stop it,” Shiri butted in. “We still haven’t gotten to the really important part.”
“Which is?” Chance asked.
“Here, this will explain itself.” Shiri handed her a manila folder and Chance pulled out the papers within. They were the blood test results. Chance read them over to find nothing was wrong with her, but as she flipped the page, she saw the real reason she had been called to the apartment. A DNA test had been done comparing Chance’s along with Shiri’s. At the bottom of the page was the percentage possibility that they were sisters, 99.99%.
“No!” Chance yelled at the three of them. “This is NOT possible. I can’t be adopted. There’s just no way. My parents would have told me if I was adopted.”
“Settle down, Chance. We found the paperwork that proves everything,” Dan replied calmly. He handed another manila envelope to Chance. She looked through it, shocked at what she found.
“This can’t be true. Where did you get this?” she hissed.
“I had your grandmother fax it to us,” Darren said in a near whisper. He knew this was wrong, and couldn’t believe he had helped his so-called friends ruin his fiancés life.
“Oh, my God! They KNEW about this? And they never told me?” Chance was about to break down into tears. Her whole life had been a complete lie. She angrily paced the room, her hot tears flowing from her eyes, but she refused to explode.
“Look, Chance, we’re really sorry for doing this to you, but I had to know, for my mother’s sake. Ever since she saw you on ‘Roswell,’ she’s been pestering me about you and where you came from and all that crap,” Shiri tried to explain.
“So this was all your idea?” Chance screamed in an angry rage. “You… You… I don’t even know what to say to you. You were my best friend, and you betrayed me! How could you?”
“Chance, calm down,” Darren tried to quiet her. He placed his hands over her shoulders, but she shook out of his grasp.
“And you! My own fiancé! The supposed love of my life who would never do a thing like this. You BASTARD! How could you scheme against me? I thought you loved me?” Chance felt as if everyone she knew had betrayed her.
“They forced me into it!” Darren’s finger pointed to Dan and Shiri. “I didn’t want to do it, but they made me.”
“Oh, don’t even go and shift the blame to them. You could have stopped yourself from doing this, but NOOOOOOO! You did it because you were curious too!” Chance yelled into his face.
“I did not!” he tried to defend himself.
Chance stopped her pacing and looked at the three of them with red, hurt eyes. “I’ve had enough of this. I’m leaving,” she said. Quickly, she twisted Darren’s ring off her finger and threw it at him. “This is over. You could go to hell for all I care. I never want to see any of you for the rest of my life.”
Calmly, Chance walked out of the apartment and headed for her car. Once she had gotten in and was heading down the road towards the beach house, she broke down and began to cry. Everything she had ever known, everyone she had ever trusted, all lies. She was on the verge of a mental breakdown, her mind a blurry mess that she couldn’t even begin to sort out.
Pulling over, Chance reached into her purse to pull out a tissue. She grabbed the first piece of paper she found and looked at it before she wiped her nose. There was a phone number scribbled on it and the name “Stephen.” Chance stopped crying and pulled out her cell to call the number of the only person who she thought could help her.
“Hello?” he answered.
“Hey, Steve. It’s Chance. Remember me?” she replied, wiping the tears from her eyes as she stared out on the road again.
“Yeah, hey. What’s going on?” Steve said.
“I’ve just been to hell, and I don’t think I’m gonna be back in the next few days,” she miserably answered with a sniffle.
“What’s wrong? What happened?” he gently questioned.
“I just found out my so called friends were plotting against me for no fucking reason,” Chance cried out. She pulled over again and waited for her anger to pass.
“Whoa, no need for language. Start from the beginning and tell me everything. I’m listening,” Steve said.
“I just found out my entire life has been a lie,” Chance began. “Darren tricked me into taking a DNA test that revealed I was my best friend’s sister, and my parents never told me I was adopted. Then he whips out proof and boom, hell.”
“Slow down. I don’t understand,” he replied, confused.
“Okay, this is what happened,” she began once again. “Darren, my fiancé, asked me to take a blood test a few days ago at the hospital. Shiri, my friend, and Dan, the guy you met at the airport, were there because Shiri was involved in an accident. I took the blood test thinking it was for out marriage license. Today I find out that the real reason I took it was for a DNA test to prove if I was Shiri’s sister. I think you can see where that has led us now.”
“Oh, my God! That’s horrible. I can’t believe anyone could be so deceptive,” Steve said.
“Oh, that’s not the worst part. That’s coming up next,” Chance continued. “My parents never told me I was adopted, and I told Darren, Shiri, and Dan that, but then Dan whipped out the paperwork to prove that I was, in fact, adopted at the age of one month. Of course I wanted to know where he got the papers, and Darren tells me that he had my grandmother fax them to him. I went ballistic. My own grandparents knew and they still didn’t tell me. What did they think? I’d never find out?”
“I’m so sorry, Chance. This is unbelievable. I can’t even begin to try and understand your situation.”
“That’s okay. I just needed someone who would listen, and you were the only person who hasn’t heard about my turbulent life. That and I can trust you.”
“You can always trust me,” Steve said.
“Thanks,” Chance replied. She wiped her nose and started on her way to the condo. “I don’t know what to do next. I just wanna get the hell away from here and start my life over again. I can’t stand being around all these people who pretended to be my friends.”
“Well, you could stay with me,” he offered.
“No, I can’t. I think I’m just gonna buy a plane ticket and see where it leads me. Hopefully I’ll be able to move on. If I don’t, this is goodbye for good,” Chance said as she pulled into the driveway.
“Okay, just tell me when you’re leaving so I can at least say bye to you at the airport,” Steve answered.
“Okay, bye.”
“Bye.”
Chance reluctantly hung up the phone. She was going to miss her only friend. Steve had always been someone who would listen and help no matter what. That was her favorite part about him. He was always so caring.
~~~~~~~~~~
Chance stood at gate B12 waiting for Steve to arrive to see her off. He was the only one that knew where she was going, and she could trust him not to tell anyone. She was headed to Tibet to hopefully get some guidance from the monks in the mountains. Her only hope now was faith, and she wasn’t about to go the Orthodox way. Maybe a new religion would help to open her eyes a little more.
Just as she was about to give up on him, Steve arrived at the gate panting from his sprint through the terminal.
“For a second there I thought you weren’t coming,” Chance said as she put her bags down and hugged him.
“For a second there I thought I wasn’t going to make it,” Steve replied, still out of breath.
“What took you so long?” she asked.
“I wanted to get you something just in case I never saw you again.”
“Really? What?”
Steve pulled a little wrapped up box from his pocket. He handed it to her so she could open it. As Chance gently pulled the pieces of colored tissue paper away, she found a little white box. Opening the box, she found a little necklace with a music note charm on it. It looked so familiar, but she couldn’t remember where she had seen it.
“You shouldn’t have,” Chance told him. “It’s so cute.” She pulled the necklace out of the box and looked at it.
“I saw that look in your eyes when you saw it,” he replied, helping her put it on.
“What look?” she retorted.
“That ‘I’ve seen this before somewhere’ look,” Steve answered. “Let me refresh your memory. This is an exact replica of that charm you gave me at that concert a few years back. I’m only returning the favor by giving it back to you.”
“Oh, my God! Do you still have it?” Chance asked in surprise. Steve reached under the collar of his shirt and pulled out the necklace and the charm. “I can’t believe you kept it.”
Steve only smiled as he saw the wonderment in Chance’s eyes. Her childish face only seemed to get younger with every passing minute. “I’m gonna miss you,” he finally said.
“I’m gonna miss you too. It sucks that we didn’t have much time to talk. Sorry to take and run, but I’m gonna miss my flight,” Chance said as she picked up her stuff and began to head for the doors leading outside to the waiting plane.
“Get back here,” Steve called to her. She turned around and he gave her another long hug. “Take care of yourself.”
“I will, I promise,” Chance replied, then kissed his cheek. “Bye, Steve.” He waved to her as he watched her leave the terminal and get on the plane.