The room suddenly shrunk, becoming so much smaller. In that small room, it was as if soone was holding a bomb, and the tir was counting down to sothing___, an explosion. The air was thick, almost alive as if it had a pulse and weight, unbearable weight that no one could hold.
No one moved. No one spoke, Eyes darted around the room--seeking understanding, seeking denial, seeking answers but found none. Mouths hung slightly open, frozen in unvoiced questions that refused to be asked.
Minka's fingers hovered over the edge of the armrest, Phoebe's words rebounded in her ears over and over persistently like the ticking of a tir of a bomb. She could not comprehend whether she had heard right.
George Osbourne was gawking at Phoebe; he was as surprised as Minka was that a truth which had been buried so deeply for so long had made it to the surface sohow. How did she know? This was a secret that was not out there, his parents had told him never to ntion it to anyone. Outside his imdiate family, nobody knew.
"How did you know?" He asked. The question ca out unintentionally, admitting that indeed he had been married before.
He closed his mouth, opened it, closed it again. It was if he was trying to decide if he should take back the question or double down as he had admitted the truth without aning.
Minka leaped from her seat, she settled into a confused pace from left to right. "Wait George, is this really true? No__it is true because you have just basically admitted to it." She laughed harshly, "So you have been married before and you never thought to share this with , your fucking wife!!!!Who did you marry and when was this marriage?
Why did you keep this from ?" She scread and then laughed again as she ca to another realization. "Your family knows about this, don't they? They have always been certain that the problem was not you, so it seems they had a good reason to believe so. To think that they been claiming that we lied to them, yet you people are the ones that lied about such an important thing." Her tone was sharp as it was condemning.
George folded himself a little in the corner of the chair, he was a puppy being barked at by an angry large dog.
Phoebe poured water into a glass and handed it to Minka. "Please calm down, screaming at him will not get us anywhere." She urged her to take so water. She had no plans to comfort George, he was the sinner here and he deserved to be shouted at.
Grandma Mayfair was in a stupor of her own, the Osbourne's were a private family, they acted snobby and polished like gentlen or noble won from a Victorian era. Their manners were usually refined, and they frowned upon those families that raised unruly children like the Mayfair's Spellcaster's Saxon's, Darling's and others. This was the first ti she was getting any dirt on them, and she was going to spread it everywhere.
She moved closer to George, hiding the smile on her lips. "What is the story here George? Why did you hide your first marriage."
Phoebe rolled her eyes; her grandmother was like a paparazzo or news ghoul. Her posture was like that of a reporter and all that was missing was a microphone for the interview she was conducting.
George shook his head, cheeks flushing with a mix of embarrassnt and regret. "I never hid it, I did not an to anyway. And it was so long ago when I was still young and foolish during my university days. I fell in love with a girl whom I decided that I wanted to marry. My parents rejected her right away, but we got married nevertheless and run away from ho. My parents continued to search for until they found us after three years. They offered her a huge sum of money which she took and left, I never heard from her again." He wiped his hands over his face.
His emotions clearly depicted a man that was still in love with his ex-wife and hurting over her abandonnt even after so many years.
"Just like that? Why I an you loved each other enough to elope so why did she agree to abandon your marriage?" Grandma Mayfair asked.
George shut his eyes briefly. "She left a letter in which she said that she was frustrated because we had been trying to have a child for two years and it was not happening. She admitted that it was her fault, and she said that she was freeing to find a woman that could have babies for . Also leaving a life with in-laws that hunted her down and always being on the run or hiding from them was exhausting so she left." He made eye contact with Phoebe. "But how did you know? That marriage was never registered." His voice was tinged with curiosity with his question directed at Phoebe.
Requesting for his palm, Phoebe began to interpret what she saw. "Maybe the marriage was not registered but you two were wed in a temple, you entered into a spiritual covenant when you exchanged those vows. You have a marriage marker, a shared thread that tied your souls together." Phoebe explained the best way she could.
"Pheebs, he has two marriage markers actually." The spirit pointed out quietly.
Phoebe could see that too but was this the ti to detonate another bomb?
Minka who had been quiet pulled her lips to one side, sneering greatly. "So, what was so hard about sharing this with , George? What was so shaful about it that you had to keep it a secret? You watched your family condemn when you already have history of an ex-wife that coincidentally failed to give you children too" She threw him a disapproving stare. "It seems to like the problem is not and your family knew this. You are a bunch of malicious people I will tell you that. You all trampled on my self-esteem and made feel worthless, you watched down one bottle of a wine after another, blaming myself and you never thought to ntion this."
In response George apologized for the trauma his family caused his wife. "Honey I am sorry; I just didn't want the past to affect us. That marriage is not related to us or the live we are leading now. I forgot that woman a long ti ago, all that matters is that we stick together from now on no matter what. I promise that I will never keep a secret from you again." He grasped her hands and held them tightly.
Phoebe smiled warmly, they did not know just yet, but their situation was not plain and simple. "George do you perhaps have a picture of this woman? I would like to see it." She inquired, hoping that it was the ghost she had seen hovering around him.
Minka and George exchanged gazes. "Why? What has that got to do with you helping us conceive." He answered a question with a question, his tone filled with doubts.
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