Written On The Wall

 

CHAPTER 6: DAMIEN BRADLEY FOSTER

Brad finished off his second can of beer, and set it on his coffee table harshly. It was Saturday night, and not only did he have nowhere to be, but all he could think about was what happened the night before, with Lina, and the fact that she was out with Sean at that very moment. It made him sick that Lina would go so far as to willingly put herself in that position. He couldn’t believe how stubborn and stupid she was being, and for her own sake, Brad was honestly hoping that Sean actually for once pulled his head from his ass and stepped up.

Truthfully, kicking himself for what he pulled last. He didn’t know what came over him or what he was thinking. This was Lina Anderson, after all.



It was all her fault. She was the one who had to have those pouty lips and flash her eyes at him when she got angry. She was the one who always had to wear shorts, exposing her long legs like that. She was the one who had those haunting eyes. God, her lips… Brad grunted in frustration, her body felt too right, too good pushed up against his. It had been a while since he felt a warm woman’s body pressed up against his like that, but even still… those didn’t compare.

Brad padded over to his fridge and grabbed another beer, fully aware that if he were going to keep up this drinking for the rest of the night, he was going to hate himself in the morning. Fuck it. He didn’t care. He needed to numb himself, and forget about last night.

He cracked it open and looked around his apartment, sighing heavily in disappointment. His life wasn’t supposed to turn out this way. What little furniture he had was bought at various thrift stores. He wasn’t used to living like this. Brad plopped down on his couch and set his beer down, after draining half of it, and closed his eyes, letting his head loll back.

Bradley Foster, better known to his family as Damien Bradley Foster, came from an exceedingly wealthy family. His grandfather on his mother’s side, Anthony DeLuca, was (oddly enough) the head of an Italian Mafia based in Cleveland; he made his money selling illegal drugs, underground gambling, controlling some sweat-shops and other extremely cliché odds and ends that Mafia’s controlled. Not to mention, having millions passed down from his father’s legacy. 



Anthony De Luca only fathered one child: Avon Marie DeLuca.



Growing up, Avon had an exceptionally healthy and absolutely normal childhood. Anthony did everything in his power -and succeeded- to shelter her from all illegal activities. He doted on his daughter, yet kept a strict household, demanding mutual respect from his daughter and developed a strong bond. 



Avon later went onto medical school to become a nurse, where she met Kevin Foster. They fell in love and Kevin finished school to become a plastic surgeon. A year after their wedding, Kevin and Avon Foster moved to New York, where the adorable Damien Bradley Foster was born. Brad visited his grandfather many times over the years and Anthony and Bradley were like two peas in a pod. 



It wasn’t until Kevin’s practice started to falter, did he start showing his true colors. Kevin Foster couldn’t handle the pressure or stress.



When Brad was seven years old, his father had beaten him for the first time. Brad suffered a black eye and a couple bruised ribs. Avon said nothing to her father, fearing for her husband’s life; she didn’t think that it would happen again.



But two months after that, it happened again, and Brad at seven years old began the process of resenting and hating his own father. It started happening more frequently, evolving into more than physical abuse… but mental and emotional as well. All of Kevin’s insecurities, all his frustrations and doubts of himself, he threw onto Brad. And then on the eve of Brad’s tenth birthday, Anthony DeLuca received a startling call form the child.



Anthony gave is daughter an ultimatum: “Avon, either let me take my grandson away from your good for nothing husband, or let me get rid of the problem”. That night, Avon made a decision that would haunt her for the rest of her life. She sent her baby boy away, and gave all guardianship to her father.



Brad’s life was pampered and happy for seven years, giving his grandfather time to heal Brad and build his self-esteem, self-worth and confidence up again; then one day… Anthony DeLuca’s heart failed him and he passed away in his office; Brad was the one to find him. The newly seventeen year old felt scared and alone for the second time in his life. 

A few days after his grandfather’s death, at the reading of the will, Brad found out that at the time of his death, Anthony DeLuca demanded that the Mafia be extinguished, not wanting the burden to lie on his grandson’s shoulders. Brad, at the age of twenty-five would inherit all of his grandfather’s possessions. Every last cent. 



The money and everything else that went with it didn’t matter to Brad. All he wanted was his Grandpa Tony back. All he wanted was to go back to that day he found his grandfather hunched over his desk and come home early that day. Maybe… just maybe if he wasn’t late coming home, he could have saved him. 



But he thanked his grandfather every day until this very day for making his life better, like he always had.



Three months after his grandfather died, Brad emancipated himself, not wanting to go back and look at his father’s face again. After packing up his belongings, he had emptied out his bank account that his grandfather set up for him; it held money from Christmas’s, birthdays and paycheck money from a few jobs that Brad held for a period of time. 



There was all of $13,000 in the account, and with it, Brad had paid his apartments first and last rent payment, and a small, cheap storage space for everything he couldn’t keep in his apartment. He couldn’t bring himself to stay in the old family house; it was too painful -he hadn’t been back since, either.



It amazed Brad how fast the money went by after he had to buy supplies for his photography ‘studio’ that took up half of his room. He now got money from his photography jobs and somehow it worked.

Sean had taken her to a cute little Greek restaurant that Lina hadn’t even heard about before, but she loved everything she tasted. So far, it had been a great evening. They talked mostly about school and his sports interests… Sean was very charming and funny when Lina got the chance to sit down and talk to him, one on one. The waiter had just taken their plates away after writing down their dessert orders, and Sean just sat and smiled at Lina for a moment. It would have been unnerving if he weren’t so darn good-looking.

“Did you like everything?” Sean asked her, grinning.

Lina nodded, wiping at her mouth with the napkin again, and then smoothed out her emerald green dress, “It was amazing. Thank you.” She blushed.

“Good.” He responded, “I noticed that I’ve been talking an awful lot about myself tonight. Tell me something that I don’t know about you.”

Lina blushed lightly and pursed her lips in thought, “I dance.” She said simply. “Jazz, mostly. I mean, when I was little, I was in ballet but since I got older, I’ve been focusing on jazz.”

Sean’s hazel eyes twinkled as he listened, “That sounds great.” He grinned, “Hey, at least you have something you love, right?” he offered.

Lina arched a brow, “Yeah, I guess so.” She chuckled.

After they finished desert, Sean drove Lina home. He turned down his music, which Lina was appreciative of, since it was grating her nerves. Sean had been very kind throughout the whole night. He held the door for her and held out her chair for her. However, Lina couldn’t help but the keep comparing him to Brad. And it annoyed her to no end that he kept popping into her mind.

The bottom line was that there was something ingrained into Brad naturally that made him take care of people, and Sean lacked that. Lina hated herself for comparing that aspect of Sean to Brad, because one, it made her sound like a prima donna and two, she had no right in comparing the two of them, when Lina had never even been on a proper date with Brad.

As they stood at her front door, Lina fiddled with her keys a bit and grinned over to Sean, “I had a really good time tonight.” She told him.

Sean smiled at her, “I did too.” He replied and reached up, moving a strand of hair out of Lina’s face, “Damn, you are so pretty.” He breathed.

Lina bit her lip, chuckling softly “Thank you.” she grinned “I will see you Monday then?”



“Definitely.” 



“Okay.”



“…okay.”



They both laughed together, again before Sean reached out and wrapped his arms around Lina in a hug while still laughing; she laughed along too, wrapping her arms around his waist. It was a nice, warm hug, one that Lina could fell asleep in easily.

Then Sean pulled back from the hug and gently brushed his lips across Lina’s. She closed her eyes and sighed as he kissed her again, deepening it somewhat. Sean Wilson kissed her; he was a good kisser. The kiss was small, sweet and soft. The polar opposite of Brad’s –Lina pushed the thought of Brad down, out of her mind while she kissed Sean back, sighing softly when he held her face in his hands.



“Okay” Sean whispered against her lips, grinning.



Lina giggled against his mouth and detangled herself from him slowly “Okay… see you Monday”



Lina unlocked her door as Sean walked back to his car. Stepping inside, she shut her front door, sighing heavily and grinning to herself. The fat, gray cat perched on the stairs looked at her with mild curiosity. Lina smiled and laughed. It had been a good night.

 

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xoxo -Chaos