Other Sides of The World: Chapter Seven - Confessions

Lachie Boyle sat opposite his sister at the dinner table that evening wondering if he should tell her about the visitor earlier that day. Hamish eyed his son curiously, knowing that something was bothering him, but continued to attack his pork chop with his knife and fork. Eventually the curiosity got the better of him and he slammed his cutlery down noisily. "Awright son, whit's the matter eh?" he leaned his elbows on the table and clasped his hands together.

"Nothin'!" Lachie mumbled and pushed his peas around his plate guiltily.

"C'moan, get it aff yer chist eh?"

"Naw Da, no the noo!" Lachie dropped his fork and pushed his chair away; standing abruptly he excused himself and left the room.

"Right that's it!!!" Hamish growled and followed his son out.

"HAMISH!" Annie scolded, "Be nice!" Hamish let out a large huff as he stood in the doorway.

"Aye awright wuman!" Lachie was in the living room across the hall punching the buttons of the TV remote roughly as he sprawled himself on the small two seater couch.

"Lachlan son, gonnae tell me whit the matter is?" he sat down beside his son; it was a squeeze for the two of them being on the rather larger side.

"Da, a dinnae know whit tae dae! A think Oz is in some kinda trouble!"

"Like whit?" Hamish looked at him with surprise, Oz was a good boy, surely it couldn't be so bad?

"There wiz this guy, came tae reception this mornin', lookin' fur Oz! He says Oz nicked money aff his boss and..."

"Wait jist a minute there! Ye mean he's a THIEF???"

"Da..." Lachie rubbed his temples gingerly and squeezed his eyes shut.

"Naw, a dinnae believe it Lachie! No Oz!" he shook his head roughly and crossed his arms.

"Da, a don't know what tae tell Rhona!" Lachie's face was pained; he didn't want to hurt his sister any more than she had been lately. And to find this out about Oz would just break her heart!

"Ye huvtae tell Oz, that's fur sure! He needs tae know this man is after him! And he needs tae explain!!!" Hamish nodded sternly, "Gi 'im a phone son!"

Lachie had tried several times that evening to get through to Oz, but his phone was obviously switched off. Rhona knew there was something going on between her father and brother but they weren't giving anything away as to what it might be. She thought Lachie may be having problems with Elspeth, because he sure looked down in the dumps! She hadn't seen him with her since the day before and wondered if they had split up, so she felt it was her duty as his sister to find out. As he sat in his room staring down at his mobile phone in his hand, Rhona knocked lightly on his half open door. "Lachie? You got a minute?" he jumped up off of his bed and dropped the phone on the floor, cursing to himself he wiped his hands down his black trousers and stared straight at her, like a rabbit caught in the headlights of a truck.

"Awright wee yin?" he tried to put on a smile but it just looked so false, she was right! Elspeth had dumped him, it must be that!

"I wanted to see how you were! You were acting kind of off at dinner! Is everything okay between you and Elspeth?" Lachie looked relieved at her line of questioning which puzzled her. She expected him to break down, to get even more upset but he didn't!

"Naw, it's no that it's..." he stopped and bent down to pick up his phone, the back casing had snapped off but it wasn't broken. As he pieced it back together with a grunt, Rhona approached him and looked up into his brown eyes with determination.

"Then what is it Lachie???" she still would not leave his gaze, he crumbled and dropped down onto the bed.

"It's Oz!" Rhona gasped at the mention of his name but pulled herself together and sat down beside her brother.

"Is he alright? He's not..." realising what she meant, Lachie shook his head and smiled.

"He's fine, naw it's no that either!" then he sat up straight, preparing to tell her the truth. "He's in a bit of bother Rhona! He got a visit fae a guy a can only describe as a thug, he said Oz stole money fae his boss and it looks like it's a lot of money!" Rhona did not move, she did not say a word; she just sat looking at her brother with a blank expression on her face. "A cannae get him tae answer his phone! A think he switched it aff after a phoned him the last time!"

"Where is this guy now?" was all she could say.

"A dunno shorty! But he said he'd be back! A didnae lie tae him but a didnae tell the truth either! A dinnae know whit tae dae Rhona a jist...a wish Oz wiz here!"

"But then he'd probably beat him up or worse...kill him!"

"Naw, he wants the money! Whit's he done?" Just as they were sitting there, Lachie's phone rang, it was Oz.

"Oz pal, av been tryin' tae get ye aw night! Whit? Where are ye? Ye need tae get back here noo!!!" Rhona stood up and grabbed the phone out of Lachie's hand.

"Oz?" there was a pause, and then he answered.

"Rhona?"

"Did you really steal money from someone? Because there was this man came here today and he said you did!" again there was a pause but this time it was much longer, she could almost hear him trying to figure out an answer.

"Yes!" was all he replied, after all that time that was all he could say? Rhona didn't know how to answer that, everything she knew about him felt like a lie.

"Where are you?" she finally managed to say.

"I'm by the Loch!"

Rhona ran as fast as she could down the little path towards the jetty where she could just about make out Oz's silhouette. As she slowed down to a fast walk, trying to get her breath back, she saw his face for the first time since he left her there a few days before. He'd shaved his beard but there was a generous amount of stubble growing in its place, he looked scared, he looked sad but despite his recent revelation, she still loved him! She still wanted to disappear into his arms and feel his warmth, breathe in his scent, kiss his soft lips! And now they were standing face to face by the moonlight, a familiar setting they found themselves in. "Hey!" he mumbled as they stood, just looking at one another.

"Hello Oz!" she nodded and slipped her hands into the back pockets of her jeans. "So, you owe me an explanation!" he hung his head and she could hear his breathing, it was unsteady, nervous.

"When I was 21, I set up my own photography business, taking shots for weddings and christenings and stuff you know? I was good at it; my business went from strength to strength. I had a good reputation, I was making lots of money, I had my own studio and website and...then one day I got a job to go out to Andreas Delfino's place, he's a very well known...shall we say...businessman in L.A. and you do not cross him. Well I did so...he wanted me to do a family picture for his Christmas card that year. I met his daughter, Catalina, she was young and pretty and very high maintenance! She asked me out, I declined, she asked me out again, again I turned her down. Until one day Mr Delfino threatened to ruin my business if I didn't make his little girl happy, I wasn't interested and I'm not into leading people on! But I did as I was told; I went out with her, the more I went out with her the more she wanted me and it just got worse and worse. I was scared to break it off, but eventually I did find the courage to do so, and she took it very badly!"

"What happened?" Rhona felt her heart thumping in her chest as Oz continued.

"She went to daddy, he got mad, did what he promised and ruined my business! He trashed my studio, destroyed all my photographs and my cameras. I had nothing left, I rented out the space so I had to pay for the damages, I was broke and I couldn't afford the rent on my apartment either so I got kicked out! I went back to my mother's in the country and got a job cleaning pools. Then one day I got a call out to Delfino's place, he was having an engagement party for his daughter and wanted the pool cleaned, really all he wanted was to rub my nose in it! Catalina took great pleasure in treating me like something on the bottom of her shoe; I got so mad I wanted to punish them! I remembered one night Catalina rambled on about her father's safe combination being her date of birth and at the time I wasn't remotely interested. But that day, when I was so close to the room he kept it in, I was tempted! The last straw for me was when Catalina came out and pushed me into the pool in front of all her friends. So I took my chance when Mr Delfino sent me inside to get dried off. I went to the safe, why no one was around I'll never know but I went ahead and opened it! I took what was inside and...I ran! I got on a plane to London and hung out there, then to Edinburgh...then I found myself travelling on a train from Glasgow to a place called Tavish Brig and...well you know the rest!" he blushed and looked away.

"What was in the safe?" Rhona breathed and closed her eyes briefly, as she looked at him he seemed like a stranger to her now, not the man that saved her life a couple of weeks ago!

"$80,000!" he replied in a flash.

"So you wanted to spend it all before you died or..."

"About that..." he screwed up his face, "I er..."

"You're not dying are you?" she said, mostly to herself.

"I am going to die! When that guy who came here, Deano, gets to me? I'm a dead man! So I wasn't telling the truth, but it wasn't a lie either! I'm on borrowed time!"

"I don't know who you are anymore!" she began to cry and bit her lip, "You stood on that sand over there, and you told me you were dying! My heart shattered into a million little pieces because even though we'd only just met, you meant the world to me and the thought of losing you...it was killing me the whole time we were together! These past couple of weeks, I...I couldn't fully enjoy or...or...embrace because I knew you weren't going to be around for long and...how could you???" tears blinding her, she stepped forward and balled both her fists, punching him with all of her strength on the chest. Pounding him until the strength drained out of her and he was holding her arms gently, she dropped to her knees as he let her go. Sitting on the jetty looking out at the water, she felt an eerie calm wash over her. "Did you ever love me? Or was that a lie too?" her voice took on a bitter tone.

"I think you know the answer to that! I think you felt it!"

"So what were you going to do? Fake your own death? I mean, you had to know the game would be up when you were still alive and you didn't die!"

"I wasn't going to stick around! I was always going to leave...and then you'd just assume I'd passed away either at home or during my travels I...hadn't really thought it through, only that I was never staying here for good! Falling in love with you was not on the agenda!" he knelt down in front of her and grasped her chin gently with one hand, lifting her face up to meet his own. "It's all your fault you know! You had to go and try to drown yourself, make me rescue you and steal my heart in the process! Why couldn't you just stay hidden within the walls of this old hotel? So I would never see you, then I could have gone on my merry way and we'd all have been better for it!" she pulled her head out of his grip roughly.

"I didn't make you take that money and I didn't make you save me! You could have just walked on by!" She stood up, shakily, as he did the same. They were facing each other once again as she added, "You should have just left me here to drown, because my God the way I feel right now? I wish I'd died that night to spare all the pain you've caused me!" As she ran back to the hotel, leaving Oz standing alone on the jetty, she couldn't believe that even after everything he'd just told her...she still loved him, more than anyone she'd ever loved, even though he was a liar!

Rhona did not sleep a wink that night, after telling her family what Oz had told her, Lachie wanted to break his arms and his legs! Her father wanted to break his neck! But it was her mother who told them all to go to bed and that things would look better in the morning. She was wrong about that as Rhona felt even worse, especially when she found her brother and Oz at each other’s throats in the foyer of the hotel. "A don't want tae see ye in here again, awright???" Lachie growled as Oz stood his ground despite being half Lachie's size.

"I just wanna say goodbye to her and then I'll go!"

" A wiz right aboot you all along!" Lachie sneered, "Yer a bad yin! A wiz right!" as he raised his fist to hit Oz, Rhona stood in between them.

"STOP!!! Lachie no!"

"Rhona he lied tae us aw!!!" Lachie tried to push her out of the way.

"I didn't lie, I just embellished the truth! Rhona, I just wanted to tell you that I love you and I don't regret you coming into my life! If Deano comes back just tell him I left for Loch Ness to find the monster or...something!"

"What? That's it?" Rhona looked at him with wide eyes as Lachie circled them like a wild animal waiting to pounce on his prey.

"Come oan Rhona can a hit him noo?"

"No Lachie!" she turned back to Oz and put her hands on her hips, "Don't I even get an apology?"

"You know I'm sorry does it even need saying?"

"Just go Oswald, if that's even your real name! Go and never come back, have fun spending your blood money! Don't forget that someone died for that money, someone who was probably like you once!" As Rhona left Oz standing in the foyer, with Lachie desperate to tear him apart, she just wanted him out of her life so that she could try and move on. She headed for the Loch, the jetty always made her feel safe despite the history she had there. It made her think about Oz, but it wasn't bad memories, it was at a time when Oz was a good guy, her hero! As she walked towards the edge she spotted something sitting there. As she got closer she realised it was a backpack, Oz's backpack with a note attached to it. She picked it up and saw that the note was addressed to her...

"Dear Rhona,

You'll find in this bag $78,699, that's £46,731.09. It's all yours to do whatever you like with! I don't want it, all I want is you! I know I lied and for that I am sorry but what I'm not sorry about is falling in love with you and having these two weeks with you! When you asked me to stay for good, I panicked, the truth was going to come out and I was scared! Deano will come back and I will die! So I'm going to run, he'll never know I gave you the money, it's the only way I can prove to you just how much I love you! If the circumstances had been different, I would so have married you! I would have loved to have children with you, grow old with you and just have you in my arms forever! But like I told you once, I'm not worthy of you. I'm not a nice guy, I've done some bad things and you're too good for me! I will always love you Rhona, always! No other woman will ever compare! You are my true love and I will die wanting, whenever that may be!

All my love, Oz xxxx"

Rhona looked inside the bag; she'd never seen so much money! She'd never seen US dollars before either, there were a mixture in there of dollars and sterling! She grabbed the backpack and ran towards the hotel, but not before hiding it in Lachie's special place under the boards between a concrete block and the sand.

Oswald Truman sat on a bench at Tavish Brig station. Waiting to head back to Glasgow and then on to somewhere else, he was going to close his eyes and put his finger on a map. That way Rhona could never find him and Deano would leave her alone! He'd spent some of the money on his travels and kept a little to get him to a safe place, but the rest was Rhona's. Yes he'd lied; it was a despicable lie, telling someone you loved that you were dying! He should have told the truth about the money, he should have come clean from the start and maybe he and Rhona could have gotten past it. But now it was all over, he would never see Rhona again, he would leave her in peace! The next train wasn't for another forty five minutes, so he would wait here, wait and see where his next adventure would be! He hoped that Lachie would be big enough to deal with Mr Delfino's lackie! He hoped that with him out of the way, Rhona would be safe! Was this the best plan of action? Run away? Of course it was, Deano couldn't trace the money back to Rhona and if Oz stayed, he would know the money was there in the hotel somewhere and he'd never leave the Boyles alone! No, running away was the best thing to do this time!

"So you know what you're doing?" Rhona looked down at her brother as he seemed to be rather shell shocked.

"Aye, Aye a think so!" he shook his head roughly and then nodded.

"There's no time to have doubts here Lachie! You know where the bag is, just stick to the plan okay?"

"Whit are ye gonnae dae?" Lachie gave her a worried look.

"What I should have done in the first place!" she replied sadly. As she hugged her brother and left him to deal with the money, she wondered if she was doing the right thing. But when she got to the train station and Oz was sitting there all on his own, she knew she was doing the right thing. He looked so lost, so small; this was the man she loved! This was the man she was risking everything for, it was a gamble but if it worked, they could be happy together...she knew they could be! She sat down beside him and looked straight ahead, "Hi!" she said as he looked round.

"Rhona what..." she swivelled round to face him and placed her index finger on his lips.

"Don't say a word, let me speak! Okay so you lied about a couple of things, but who doesn't tell lies from time to time? And okay I was hurt, you really did hurt me but...all I know is that I love you and it hurts more when you're not around! I want you to stay and I know you're leaving because of the big bald guy that Lachie freaked out about, but I have a plan! And if it works? You get to stay, that's if...you want to!" she bit her lip and stared him down as he closed his eyes and opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. He tried to form words, to utter some sort of sentence, but still he couldn't make a sound. "Oz?" she tried to find some sort of clue in his expression, she wanted to know what he was thinking. Then finally he spoke,

"Rhona, if I stay he will kill me! I took that money and I can't ever undo it!"

"And I turned you away and I can't ever undo that, but I can ask you to come back with me! All you have to do is say yes!" Oz wanted so badly to be with her, but his moment of madness was stopping him, that money!

"What about Deano?"

"Let me worry about that!" she smiled and kissed him softly on the lips.

"I'll never lie to you again, I promise!" Oz cupped her head in his hands and kissed her back. He wanted to believe that everything was going to be alright, but he had his doubts!

Lachie sat at the reception desk trying to look calm when the man from the previous day reappeared in the foyer. "Good day to you!" he nodded and glared at him menacingly. "Has there been any sign of Mr Truman today?" Lachie blinked and stood up slowly.

"A told ye yesterday and a'll tell ye again the day! A havnae heard of any Truman stayin' here and a should know because a run the reception awright? Noo dae a huvtae get the polis involved or whit?" the man seemed startled by the mention of police and staggered back.

"Police? Why would you do that? Look, all my employer wants is the money! There's no need for that!" he waved his hands in the air and smiled nervously.

"Well, a did find this bag sittin' oan the jetty this mornin'! A think somebody left it there, it's got dollars in it, dae ye recognise it?" Lachie lifted the backpack from under his desk and placed it in front of the man. His eyes lit up as he opened it and looked inside. Lachie added, "One other thing mind, there wiz a note wi it, seems like the person who left it there committed sidey-ways!" he handed the note to the man as he read it aloud,

"I can see no end to this; I am forever a wanted man! The only solution is death!

Oswald Edward Truman."

"Av phoned the polis anyway, they're comin' tae dredge the Loch fur a body!" Lachie shook his head slowly and feigned a sad expression. The man frowned and looked in the bag again.

"And this is all the money that was in there?" Lachie gave him an offended look and pushed the bag towards him.

"Aye, are ye callin' me a tea leaf or somethin'? Ye think a took yer money eh? Get tae France pal!" he bellowed and gestured for the man to leave.

"Thanks, I'll be on my way. On behalf of Andreas Delfino, thank you for your honesty and cooperation!" he half bowed and backed out of the hotel. Lachie had indeed taken some money out of it, only the sterling notes as Rhona had instructed. There was still half of it left. Once again Lachie threw himself into his chair and swung around breathing a sigh of relief.

After getting the call that it was safe to return to the hotel, Rhona and Oz walked back from the train station hand in hand. As they stood at the gate leading up to the big old building, Oz felt hot tears fill his big blue eyes, "I've been an idiot!" he mumbled and wiped his face roughly.

"Well, you've got plenty of time to make up for it!" Rhona smiled and squeezed his arm gently; she nuzzled his neck and giggled.

"What?" he sniffed and kissed her head.

"It's just you and me now, no more lies, no more secrets!"

"Yeah, just you and me!" he smiled, but deep down he had a feeling that it wasn't going to be that simple. The thought of Deano returning was never too far from his mind!

To Be Continued...