Bradley Krasner (_kissthecook) wrote in light_of_may, @ 2010-06-21 18:40:00 |
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Entry tags: | #solo, 2009-07-17, bradley |
But if I held the door open for you, it wouldn't make your day
Who: Bradley and Bridget (NPC)
Where: Bradley's cottage via phonelines
When: Evening
Dinner that night was to consist of chicken, mashed potatoes, and mixed veggies. All made from scratch, of course. Bradley figured Eva could use something hearty after being in the hospital for so long. Nothing too fancy. Just kept it simple and let the food speak for itself. He wasn't sure what his daughter was up to that very moment, but she was out of the kitchen, thus he could focus on cooking. The chicken just finished baking in the oven and the vegetables needed to be steamed for a while longer before being done. Shifting a few things here and there, Bradley stopped only because of the ring emitting from the phone.
He stood there, a perplexed look strung upon his features while he looked over his shoulder to eye the device. Who the hell called during dinner time these days? Very rarely did he receive a phone call at this hour and he couldn't help but wonder who was bothering to get a hold of the earth elemental. He figured it was either one of the following options: work or Linnea. Bradley made sure to take the next several days off to be with Eva and he knew Josiah knew that, so that probably ruled out that possibility. He had just saw Linnea earlier that day, but his earth affinity got the best of him and began to worry. Did something happen? She would call if it was an emergency, no doubt. With the water elemental in mind, he rushed to the phone to unhook it from its stand and simply stared at the numbers thanks to the caller ID.
Bridget.
His ex-wife only called when she was looking for money. The monthly child support was never enough and Bradley never hesitated to give more. Anything for Eva. Except Eva wasn't in Florida anymore; she was with him. It was then that he recalled Eva mentioning that Bridget kicked her out of the house after finding out she was like her father - an earth elemental. It never occurred to Bradley to call Bridget and let her know their daughter was fine. She had been in Scarlet Oak for over a week now? Give or take? Though Bradley couldn't ignore the call. He wasn't spiteful enough to silence it and go on about his cooking, thus he pressed a button and brought the phone to his ear. "Hello?"
"You better start explaining to me what the hell is going on right now, Bradley!"
Well then, hello to you, too. He stood there, suppressing a heavy sigh before responding, "Explain what?"
"Don't act like you don't know what going on!" Bridget scoffed on the other end, acting huffy as ever. Like always, Bridget remained vague when it came to their daughter, never bringing up their name unless he did. He knew she was trying to bait him to mention her, then proceed to yell at him for whatever reason seemed fit in her mind. Perhaps something to do with the fact she was there and not in Florida.
"No, Bridget, I don't know what's going on." His voice remained dry while he walked on over back to the stove, serving pieces of chicken onto the nearby plates.
His ex let out a highly irritated sigh and he could just picture her rolling her eyes, maybe even facepalming a bit. There was a moment of silence before she continued. "Is she with you?"
"Is who with-"
"FOR CHRIST'S SAKE, BRADLEY, EVA! YOUR DAMN DAUGHTER!" He flinched a second, pulling the phone away from his ear while Bridget screamed at him. "She left Florida weeks ago and I don't know where the hell she is now! She could be dead for all I know! This is all your fault, you know. She found out you were like her - some hippie witch - and she went on this crusade to try and find you."
Oh, Bridget. Always finding a way to twist the truth and make Bradley look like the bad guy. And to think he was actually head over heels in love with this bitter woman at some point. The fact she left him over making her flowers last longer was a red flag on its own. Raising an eyebrow, Bradley barely breathed out a chuckle. "Funny, she told me you kicked her out. Something along the lines of she wasn't your daughter anymore and Eva being herself was planned somehow."
"She told you?! She's with you?!" Bradley didn't have a chance to reply, for Bridget merely trampled over his words with no remorse. "You didn't even BOTHER to call me and let me know?! She could have been dead for all I know!" She went on and on rambling and lecturing Bradley, though he simply tuned it out. He couldn't quite make sense of why Bridget was making sure a stink about this, especially when she more or less disowned her own daughter. Wouldn't she be happy to no longer be affiliated with either of them? "You better send her back down to Florida immediately."
And the second those words left her lips, Bradley finally figured it out. No, she didn't want her precious daughter back in her safety. She didn't even care about the girl's well-being at this point. What she wanted was Eva back so that she could milk Bradley for more money for the sake of Eva. And while he fell for each and every plea for money in the past, he was not going to fall for this one.
"Why?" Bradley questioned, his voice actually growing cold. "So you can ask for more money that she doesn't even need? It's not like she was going to a private college. From what I heard, she was attending a state university on partial scholarship and had to take out a massive loan to help support her education. Not a single penny from you in regards of help. So dare I ask what frivolous, material objects you're spending my money on to please yourself these days?"
Silence. Nothing but sweet silence.
"She's not going anywhere, Bridget. She's old enough to make decisions on her own, so if she wants to come up here and live with her loving father, who won't disown her for what she is, as opposed to her bitter, heartless mother, than that's her choice. I'm just here to make sure someone actually loves her in her life, because she needs it more than ever. You did a damn good job at making her grow up faster than she needed to."
He paused only to give Bridget a moment to soak all the information in, hoping that it would be enough for her to just give up and end the conversation. Instead, she had to rub the salt into the wound even further. "Can you at least tell me how she is?"
Bradley simply laughed. "You honestly just asked that? You? Of all the people in the world? Really, Bridget? I have asked you that same, damn question every week for close to nineteen years and not once did you even bother to enlighten me with such details. You went above the call of duty when it came to leaving me in the dark. Not only did you leave me there, but blew out every candle along the way. And now you expect me to let you know how Eva is doing? No. I won't. Not after what you have done to her, let alone what you've done to me. If she decides to stay here, then she stays here. That is all you need to know. That is all you'll ever know. And as far as I'm concerned, if you are that concerned about our daughter, then you would get off your lazy ass and come up here to see her. But seeing you've made it your top priority to stay as far away from me as possible, then I doubt that will ever happen. On that note, I must be going. Have some dinner to finish. You take care, Bridget."
As he pulled the phone away from his ear, he could hear incoherent rambling emitting from the phone. It didn't last long for he finally ended the call with a press of a button. She was gone now. Completely out of his life as far as he was concerned. Bridget would never dream of coming up to Scarlet Oak, especially if everything Eva said was true. He trusted his daughter more than his ex. The only thing he trusted Bridget with was to be a manipulative bitch. And now that she got a taste of her own medicine, he doubted she would even bother to call again. And with that, he hung the phone back up on its stand and dished out the veggies and potatoes onto their respective plates before poking around the corner. "Eva! Dinner's ready."