Excellent Danielle's mother comforts Oliver His Silence : His Silence - Chapter 82 by Jacob1395

Background When Harvey murders his parents, he refuses to say why he did it. Twenty years later, he's finally ready to talk. December 1990 Sally lifts her mug of tea to her lips and takes a sip. She can’t believe what’s happened. It’s surreal, it’s like she’s slipped into a bad dream and can’t wake up. Oliver's wife’s dead. She can only imagine how she would feel if she was in his position; if Neil had died and she hadn’t. The guilt would be awful. ‘I didn’t know you and this bloke were so close,’ Neil says to her, raising an eyebrow. She shakes her head. ‘He’s just; he’s just been really friendly. He was there for me when I needed a helping hand a couple of months ago. I . . . I need to do something to support him, he’ll be going out of his mind.’ Neil places his hands on her shoulders and she breathes in the woody scent of his Jo Malone aftershave; she buys him a bottle every Christmas, it’s the one thing she always knows to get him. ‘I think you should leave things be for now, if he wants to talk to you he will, but you don’t want to go barging in at a moment like this.’ There’s a knock on the door which makes Sally jump, Harvey murmurs in his crib but soon settles. ‘I’ll see who it is.’ Neil drifts towards the front door mumuring something to himself, leaving Sally in the kitchen. The front door opens and she hears Neil talking with someone. She doesn’t recognise the voice. Sally frowns and edges towards the hallway. The front door closes with a click. Neil comes back into the kitchen followed by a man wearing stocky Ted Baker coat. The man runs his hand through his thick wavy brown hair. His eyes are red. ‘Hi Sally,’ the man says. ‘I’m Gavin, Oliver’s half-brother.’ Sally clutches the edge of the seat under the kitchen table, remembering what Oliver said to her about his family. ‘He spoke to you about me?’ she asks. ‘He did, yes. I’m sorry for troubling you like this, but, I’m worried about him, he . . . he’s just sitting in the same seat not moving, he won’t eat, he won’t drink. I . . . he told me about your friendship and I was just wondering if perhaps . . . he might listen to you.’ Sally flickers her gaze to Neil. ‘Do you mind?’ Neil shakes his head. ‘No of course not, I’ll stay here with Harvey.’ Sally grabs her bag off the kitchen worktop. ‘OK, let’s go.’ She follows him out of the apartment pulling her purple coat off the hook. It’s a ten minute drive to Oliver’s house. She hasn’t been here yet. Whenever they’ve met, they’ve always met in town or on the promenade. She gazes up at the tall, white, semi-detached house. There’s a little pathway and a small garden. She takes a steady breath and gets out of the car, the biting wind stinging her cheeks as she does. They hurry up the front steps and Gavin slides the key into the lock. As Sally steps inside, soft music reaches her ears. ‘He’s in here,’ Gavin says, gesturing to the living room. Sally takes in a deep breath and steps through. She’s in a small room with a couple of luxury looking sofas. She’d never get off them if she had a pair like that. There’s a coffee table in the middle of the room with a couple of magazines sitting on the top. Her eyes drift to the photos on the mantelpiece, Oliver and Sandra on their wedding day, beaming into the cameras. She swallows. He’s sitting in the armchair by the window, staring blankly ahead, he hasn’t even acknowledged her. ‘Oliver,’ she says, taking a step forward. He looks up and his eyes fill with tears. ‘She’s gone, Sally, I . . . I don’t know what to do.’ Sally crosses the room and bends down. ‘Oliver, you need to . . . look it’s going to be really hard, of course it will be, but Sandra wouldn’t want you to be like this.’ He wipes his eyes and she squeezes his hand. ‘God, she would’ve been the stronger one out of the two of us. She would’ve known how to cope.’ He heaves a sob. ‘I told you about what happened to me in the past, I thought . . . I thought I’d found my happy ever after, you know.’ Gavin slips out of the room. In a few seconds the sound of a kettle roaring fills the house. ‘Oliver, I know it’s hard to believe at the moment, but things will get better. It’ll take time, but you will be able to live again,’ she says. He nods. ‘Promise me you won’t leave me.’ Sally nods. ‘I’ll be here for you, Oliver, every step of the way. I promise.’ February 1991 Sally picks up her glass of wine and leans back in her seat. Oliver’s sitting opposite her; Neil opposite Gavin. Oliver places a final mouthful of spaghetti into his mouth and places his fork and knife down on the plate. ‘That was delicious, Sally, thank you.’ She beams at him. ‘You’re welcome; you know you and Gavin are more than welcome here anytime.’ She listens into Gavin and Neil talking about the recent Spurs game, they’ve actually hit it off. She's surprised.  Oliver wipes his eyes. ‘Listen, um, Sally, I wanted to let you know that I’m . . . um, I’m thinking of selling.’ She raises an eyebrow. ‘Selling?’ He nods. ‘There are too many memories there, everything in that house, Sandra chose, I’m not saying I want to move a million miles away, but I think I’d still like to be close.’ ‘I understand, have you, have you seen anywhere you like?’ Gavin and Neil have both stopped talking and are listening to them. Oliver nods. ‘There’s this little farmhouse I really like; my therapist actually said to me that what I need is lots of fresh air, outdoor space, I know we’ve got that here in Southend, but I’d like to . . . well, I’ve always been obsessed with farm houses, believe it or not. Sandra and I were eventually going to . . .’ he breaks off. ‘I think it’s a wonderful idea, Oliver,’ Sally says, smiling. ‘But take things slowly, yes; don’t rush into anything that you might regret.’ Gavin half-chuckles. ‘That’s what I’ve been telling him.’ Oliver picks up his wine. ‘Hey, perhaps, I know you’ve said you guys fancy moving, perhaps we could move in together.’ Sally glances across at Neil. ‘Oh, um, maybe.’ Sally looks at her plate. ‘Why don’t we talk about that closer to the time?’ Harvey whimpers from his crib in his bedroom. Sally wipes her mouth with her napkin. ‘Sorry, I better check to make sure he’s OK, please help yourself to more wine.’ She gets up from her seat and drifts into their bedroom, wondering what living with Oliver would be like.             Author Notes For people who have been following this story, I have decided to make a change and tell the diary extracts in this way to make it more immersive. Danielle's parents names, before they changed them to John and Laura Cole, were Sally and Neil. Characters: Danielle (protagonist) - renamed Grace by Oliver Callum (Danielle's best friend) Harvey (Danielle's brother) Michael (Danielle's adoptive father) Emma (Danielle's adoptive mother) John Cole (Danielle's biological father) Laura Cole (Danielle's biological mother) Ian Jones (third person who Harvey killed) Max Hardy (podcaster) Jeremiah (works with Oliver) Oliver Adams (Marsh View House owner) Mary (works with Oliver) Abraham (Marsh View resident) Abigail (Marsh View resident) Isaac (Marsh View resident) Noah (Marsh View resident) Eve (Marsh View resident)

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