Mainstream
Prologue
August 1, 2016
Mr. Liam Payne
437 Hampton Boulevard
London
P14 9MM
United Kingdom
Mr. Liam Payne,
I regret to inform you that Geoff and Karen Payne have both passed in a recent whale attack. While on a whale-watching trip off the coastline two days ago, an impregnated female killer whale launched a spasmic attack on the boat, ending in the death of all passengers aboard as well as the whale and her babies.
Your sisters, Ruth and Nicola, have scheduled a funeral date for this upcoming Thursday, August 4th, 2016 at the Willow Cemetery for the Dead. A reading of the wills will be held the following day, August 5th, in my office located in the court building on J and K Street at 8 A.M.
I send my sincerest condolences to you, and I hope to see you Friday.
Sincerely,
John Johnson
London Estate Attorney
The London UK Court Office
5820 J Street
London
Q17 2WW
United Kingdom
I take my time to walk up the steps to the funeral home. I’m not exceptionally excited to be here, but then again, who is ever excited to walk into a funeral home? No, my lack of excitement is due to other reasons than the unfortunate death of my so-called parents. Everyone says that you don’t know what you have until it’s gone, but I already know what I have: dead parents. My parents were dead to me before; my parents are dead to me now, just on a more literal term.
Ruth and Nicola stand in the front of the home close to the single casket where our parents now reside. They don’t seem to notice me at first, and my plan was to avoid them so I don’t have to talk about this all, but once my eyes meet the teary eyes of Nicola’s, I know I have to confront them.
I make my way to the front where they stand and immediately accept their sorrowful hugs. Mum and dad may have favored my sisters over me, but that never gave me a reason to hold a grudge against them – not a huge one at least. Of course I’ve always envied the love and affection that they were given over the ignorance I received, but we can’t choose what we receive.
“I’m so glad you came, Liam,” Ruth tells me, holding onto me for a little longer than Nicola had.
I shrug. “Why wouldn’t I be here?” I ask her, but she glares at me through her tears giving me a knowing look. I roll my eyes and look away from them.
Nicola puts a hand on my shoulder, bringing my attention back. “You can’t be upset with them forever. It’s time you start looking past their wrongful choices and realize that they loved you even when they didn’t appear to.” She smiles, but I can tell that it is fake because it doesn’t seem to meet her eyes. I fake smile back so she doesn’t feel alone and tell her that I have. I really have; they’re gone now anyway.
Harry, Louis, Niall, and Zayn walk through the doors, and I say my goodbyes to my sisters before I go and stand with the lads. They give me sad looks and phrases of pity as we take our seats in one of the rows towards the right middle just before the service begins.
“I’m so sorry about your loss,” a woman, around my mum’s age (or at least I’m guessing), says to me after the service ends. I think I’ve seen her before, but I can’t quite recall. Instead of trying to figure it out, I just smile lightly and thank her politely. A few more people, mostly just family friends and distant relatives I haven’t seen for a long time, come up to me to give me their condolences before the lads come up to me.
“Liam, we’re going to leave now. Will you be all right here by yourself?” Louis asks. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so serious and not joking before.
“Yeah, I’ll be fine. I think I’ll just be around a few more minutes talking to my sisters before I leave,” I tell them. “Thanks for, uh, coming today…”
“It was no problem,” Niall speaks for the rest of them.
Like I have just told the lads, I go and talk to my sisters for a couple more minutes before saying my goodbyes to them and some of the remaining guests.
~
I wake up on Friday morning unsure of how to dress for the reading of my parents’ wills. The letter does say that the reading will be held in the local Court Office building, but it’s only a reading. With that in mind, I still don’t know how to dress properly, so I pull on a pair of jeans and a shirt that isn’t too casual, but also not too formal.
When I’m completely ready, I get in my car and drive down to the offices on J and K Streets. I find a parking space, park my car, and walk into the building. I talk to the lady at the front desk and she gives me directions to Mr. Johnson’s office.
As I follow her directions, I can’t help but think about why I’m here. What can my parents possibly have that they would want to leave me in their will? I don’t need their money, and I certainly don’t want any of their things. If they think that they can leave me a pitiful apology note with their will to say they’re sorry for everything, I don’t want it.
“Mr. Payne, I’m glad you got my letter. I’m John Johnson,” the man in the office introduces himself. I shake his hand and greet him, noticing that other than him and I, no one else is here.
“Am I the first one here?” I ask, taking a seat in a chair in front of his desk.
Mr. Johnson shakes his head. “Yes and no. You are the first one here, but you are the only person that is coming, so in a way, you are the first and last to arrive.”
My eyes go wide. “So I’m the only one mentioned in the will?” They couldn’t have left everything to me, could they?
Mr. Johnson laughs. “Of course not. The actual reading of the will was on Wednesday, but per request of Karen and Geoff, God bless their souls, I was asked personally to tell you some extremely important without the accompaniment of anyone else – not even your sisters.”
I relax myself, knowing that I am right about the apology letter. Why else would I be here alone talking about stuff regarding my parents’ deaths?
“Liam, your parents and I are very close friends. I know about the ignorance, but do you know why they ignored you at all?”
I’m not too shocked by his question, but it still catches me off guard. He pulls a folded up document from a desk drawer and hands it to me. He gestures for me to open it, and I sigh, still thinking it’s an apology note, and when I find a birth certificate rather than a letter, I am more than surprised – I’m also very confused right now.
“What is this?” I ask. “Whose birth certificate is this?” I correct myself. Mr. Johnson throws me a short smile and slides a picture of a tiny newborn over the desk. I set the birth certificate down and trace my fingers over the small newborn’s picture. I don’t know why, but I feel like some emptiness inside of me is about to be filled.
“Liam, you have to understand how hard it must have been on both of your parents to have to make such a decision. Believe me, it wasn’t easy.”
“What decision?”
Mr. Johnson sighs. “You have a twin, Liam. Your parents couldn’t afford to care for both of you, so they kept you and gave your twin up for adoption. It was a hard decision to make, but she was given to a nice family when you two were born. Your parents regretted their decision of course, and they ignored you a lot because they would never have known what to do if it was ever brought up.”
I can’t speak. I have a twin – a twin that I never knew about – and my parents decided to ignore me so that I would never find out if they ever slipped up. Well, they slipped up even more now, thinking they could hide my twin from me. All these years, I was left to believe that all of the empty void inside of me was due to their ignorance for me, but really it’s the empty feeling that I have due to not having my twin. Now, a piece of me feels like it’s being filled, but the void is still there.
“I know that this must be a lot to take in for you-”
“What’s her name?” I cut him off. “I- sorry, I don’t mean to be rude.”
“It’s quite alright. I understand,” he tells me. “Her name is Lina Payne – well, Ellis because she took on the surname of her adoptive family.”
“Do you know where I might be able to find her?” I ask. It’s wishful thinking on my part, but I won’t be able to live with myself until I find her.
Mr. Johnson ducks down and shakes his head. “Unfortunately, no. Karen and Geoff didn’t want to keep getting updates from the family that adopted Lina, so we’re not sure where they are. Plus, Lina is of age to move out as you have, so she could be anywhere by now.”
I tell Mr. Johnson that I need to get going, though my schedule for today is free for the rest of the day. I thank him for telling me the news to which he replies that it’s only his job. Before I leave, however, I ask for a copy of Lina’s birth certificate and he allows me that and gives me the newborn picture of her.
When I get to my car, I put the birth certificate in a safe place – my glove department – and look carefully at the baby picture. It is then that I notice the crease and unfold the picture to reveal the other half. The picture is one that I have seen many times before, hanging on the family’s wall of pictures. Next to Lina is me. The picture that I had passed by many times has always been just a half. I wipe away a stray tear that has managed to fall in my disappointing discovery.
Everything is disappointing me right now. My parents have disappointed me. They could have told me all this time but they chose until their death to tell me. I’m disappointed in myself, for not finding out sooner. I can only imagine what might have happened if it would have been me that died before them.
But I’m especially disappointed that he doesn’t know where Lina is, because it is better to have found out than to not have and that doesn’t mean I’m not going to look for her. I can’t get her out of my head, and I don’t even know what she looks like. I wonder if she had a better childhood than me and if the family who adopted her was really nice. My new goal is going to be to find Lina – no matter the obstacles. The question now, I guess, is where do I start looking?
~
“Is Liam Payne seriously pulling my leg right now? What do you mean you have a twin sister?” Louis exclaims.
I groan. I knew I should have told Zayn rather than Louis. Louis probably thinks I’m trying to prank him or something and won’t be taking me seriously. “Would I ever lie to you, Louis?”
He isn’t hesitant to answer, “No, and that’s what is scaring me, Li! For all I know, you’re just amazing at lying and you’ve only chosen now to use that to your advantage in pranking people.”
“Well, I’m not lying to you. Cross my heart!”
“Hope to die?”
I roll my eyes. “Yes, of course.” I pull out the baby picture of Lina and me from my back pocket and hand it over. “Here, look. This is the full picture with both Lina and me as newborns. You’ve seen my half of the picture before; I’m not making it up.”
Louis glares at me and takes the photo from my hand. I wait impatiently as he examines the picture thoroughly. He glances several times between the photo and me, and I cross my arms and tap my foot on the floor as I wait for him to say he believes me.
After a few more minutes of him being stupid and in denial, he shoves the picture back in my hand. “Fine, I believe you.” I sigh in relief. “So what are you going to do?”
“I want to find her, Lou, but my family and her adoptive family didn’t keep contact – my parents’ choice – so I don’t even know where to start looking. She could be pretty much anywhere.”
I’m really exhausted, and I don’t really want to talk about Lina anymore. I mean, I do, but if I do, I won’t be able to stop. Louis seems to understand, and he changes the subject.
“So I think I’m getting a new neighbor finally,” he smiles. We both glance out the window to the yard over and the for sale sign is actually gone – surprising because the house has been up for sale for at least half a year since the last owner’s moved out.
“That’s good. It must suck for whoever’s moving in though. There must be a lot of dust and cobwebs by now.”
“Yeah, but if there’s a cute girl, I can always help with the move.” He does that weird thing with his eyebrows and I wish him good luck with that.
Mr. Liam Payne
437 Hampton Boulevard
London
P14 9MM
United Kingdom
Mr. Liam Payne,
I regret to inform you that Geoff and Karen Payne have both passed in a recent whale attack. While on a whale-watching trip off the coastline two days ago, an impregnated female killer whale launched a spasmic attack on the boat, ending in the death of all passengers aboard as well as the whale and her babies.
Your sisters, Ruth and Nicola, have scheduled a funeral date for this upcoming Thursday, August 4th, 2016 at the Willow Cemetery for the Dead. A reading of the wills will be held the following day, August 5th, in my office located in the court building on J and K Street at 8 A.M.
I send my sincerest condolences to you, and I hope to see you Friday.
Sincerely,
John Johnson
London Estate Attorney
The London UK Court Office
5820 J Street
London
Q17 2WW
United Kingdom
I take my time to walk up the steps to the funeral home. I’m not exceptionally excited to be here, but then again, who is ever excited to walk into a funeral home? No, my lack of excitement is due to other reasons than the unfortunate death of my so-called parents. Everyone says that you don’t know what you have until it’s gone, but I already know what I have: dead parents. My parents were dead to me before; my parents are dead to me now, just on a more literal term.
Ruth and Nicola stand in the front of the home close to the single casket where our parents now reside. They don’t seem to notice me at first, and my plan was to avoid them so I don’t have to talk about this all, but once my eyes meet the teary eyes of Nicola’s, I know I have to confront them.
I make my way to the front where they stand and immediately accept their sorrowful hugs. Mum and dad may have favored my sisters over me, but that never gave me a reason to hold a grudge against them – not a huge one at least. Of course I’ve always envied the love and affection that they were given over the ignorance I received, but we can’t choose what we receive.
“I’m so glad you came, Liam,” Ruth tells me, holding onto me for a little longer than Nicola had.
I shrug. “Why wouldn’t I be here?” I ask her, but she glares at me through her tears giving me a knowing look. I roll my eyes and look away from them.
Nicola puts a hand on my shoulder, bringing my attention back. “You can’t be upset with them forever. It’s time you start looking past their wrongful choices and realize that they loved you even when they didn’t appear to.” She smiles, but I can tell that it is fake because it doesn’t seem to meet her eyes. I fake smile back so she doesn’t feel alone and tell her that I have. I really have; they’re gone now anyway.
Harry, Louis, Niall, and Zayn walk through the doors, and I say my goodbyes to my sisters before I go and stand with the lads. They give me sad looks and phrases of pity as we take our seats in one of the rows towards the right middle just before the service begins.
“I’m so sorry about your loss,” a woman, around my mum’s age (or at least I’m guessing), says to me after the service ends. I think I’ve seen her before, but I can’t quite recall. Instead of trying to figure it out, I just smile lightly and thank her politely. A few more people, mostly just family friends and distant relatives I haven’t seen for a long time, come up to me to give me their condolences before the lads come up to me.
“Liam, we’re going to leave now. Will you be all right here by yourself?” Louis asks. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so serious and not joking before.
“Yeah, I’ll be fine. I think I’ll just be around a few more minutes talking to my sisters before I leave,” I tell them. “Thanks for, uh, coming today…”
“It was no problem,” Niall speaks for the rest of them.
Like I have just told the lads, I go and talk to my sisters for a couple more minutes before saying my goodbyes to them and some of the remaining guests.
~
I wake up on Friday morning unsure of how to dress for the reading of my parents’ wills. The letter does say that the reading will be held in the local Court Office building, but it’s only a reading. With that in mind, I still don’t know how to dress properly, so I pull on a pair of jeans and a shirt that isn’t too casual, but also not too formal.
When I’m completely ready, I get in my car and drive down to the offices on J and K Streets. I find a parking space, park my car, and walk into the building. I talk to the lady at the front desk and she gives me directions to Mr. Johnson’s office.
As I follow her directions, I can’t help but think about why I’m here. What can my parents possibly have that they would want to leave me in their will? I don’t need their money, and I certainly don’t want any of their things. If they think that they can leave me a pitiful apology note with their will to say they’re sorry for everything, I don’t want it.
“Mr. Payne, I’m glad you got my letter. I’m John Johnson,” the man in the office introduces himself. I shake his hand and greet him, noticing that other than him and I, no one else is here.
“Am I the first one here?” I ask, taking a seat in a chair in front of his desk.
Mr. Johnson shakes his head. “Yes and no. You are the first one here, but you are the only person that is coming, so in a way, you are the first and last to arrive.”
My eyes go wide. “So I’m the only one mentioned in the will?” They couldn’t have left everything to me, could they?
Mr. Johnson laughs. “Of course not. The actual reading of the will was on Wednesday, but per request of Karen and Geoff, God bless their souls, I was asked personally to tell you some extremely important without the accompaniment of anyone else – not even your sisters.”
I relax myself, knowing that I am right about the apology letter. Why else would I be here alone talking about stuff regarding my parents’ deaths?
“Liam, your parents and I are very close friends. I know about the ignorance, but do you know why they ignored you at all?”
I’m not too shocked by his question, but it still catches me off guard. He pulls a folded up document from a desk drawer and hands it to me. He gestures for me to open it, and I sigh, still thinking it’s an apology note, and when I find a birth certificate rather than a letter, I am more than surprised – I’m also very confused right now.
“What is this?” I ask. “Whose birth certificate is this?” I correct myself. Mr. Johnson throws me a short smile and slides a picture of a tiny newborn over the desk. I set the birth certificate down and trace my fingers over the small newborn’s picture. I don’t know why, but I feel like some emptiness inside of me is about to be filled.
“Liam, you have to understand how hard it must have been on both of your parents to have to make such a decision. Believe me, it wasn’t easy.”
“What decision?”
Mr. Johnson sighs. “You have a twin, Liam. Your parents couldn’t afford to care for both of you, so they kept you and gave your twin up for adoption. It was a hard decision to make, but she was given to a nice family when you two were born. Your parents regretted their decision of course, and they ignored you a lot because they would never have known what to do if it was ever brought up.”
I can’t speak. I have a twin – a twin that I never knew about – and my parents decided to ignore me so that I would never find out if they ever slipped up. Well, they slipped up even more now, thinking they could hide my twin from me. All these years, I was left to believe that all of the empty void inside of me was due to their ignorance for me, but really it’s the empty feeling that I have due to not having my twin. Now, a piece of me feels like it’s being filled, but the void is still there.
“I know that this must be a lot to take in for you-”
“What’s her name?” I cut him off. “I- sorry, I don’t mean to be rude.”
“It’s quite alright. I understand,” he tells me. “Her name is Lina Payne – well, Ellis because she took on the surname of her adoptive family.”
“Do you know where I might be able to find her?” I ask. It’s wishful thinking on my part, but I won’t be able to live with myself until I find her.
Mr. Johnson ducks down and shakes his head. “Unfortunately, no. Karen and Geoff didn’t want to keep getting updates from the family that adopted Lina, so we’re not sure where they are. Plus, Lina is of age to move out as you have, so she could be anywhere by now.”
I tell Mr. Johnson that I need to get going, though my schedule for today is free for the rest of the day. I thank him for telling me the news to which he replies that it’s only his job. Before I leave, however, I ask for a copy of Lina’s birth certificate and he allows me that and gives me the newborn picture of her.
When I get to my car, I put the birth certificate in a safe place – my glove department – and look carefully at the baby picture. It is then that I notice the crease and unfold the picture to reveal the other half. The picture is one that I have seen many times before, hanging on the family’s wall of pictures. Next to Lina is me. The picture that I had passed by many times has always been just a half. I wipe away a stray tear that has managed to fall in my disappointing discovery.
Everything is disappointing me right now. My parents have disappointed me. They could have told me all this time but they chose until their death to tell me. I’m disappointed in myself, for not finding out sooner. I can only imagine what might have happened if it would have been me that died before them.
But I’m especially disappointed that he doesn’t know where Lina is, because it is better to have found out than to not have and that doesn’t mean I’m not going to look for her. I can’t get her out of my head, and I don’t even know what she looks like. I wonder if she had a better childhood than me and if the family who adopted her was really nice. My new goal is going to be to find Lina – no matter the obstacles. The question now, I guess, is where do I start looking?
~
“Is Liam Payne seriously pulling my leg right now? What do you mean you have a twin sister?” Louis exclaims.
I groan. I knew I should have told Zayn rather than Louis. Louis probably thinks I’m trying to prank him or something and won’t be taking me seriously. “Would I ever lie to you, Louis?”
He isn’t hesitant to answer, “No, and that’s what is scaring me, Li! For all I know, you’re just amazing at lying and you’ve only chosen now to use that to your advantage in pranking people.”
“Well, I’m not lying to you. Cross my heart!”
“Hope to die?”
I roll my eyes. “Yes, of course.” I pull out the baby picture of Lina and me from my back pocket and hand it over. “Here, look. This is the full picture with both Lina and me as newborns. You’ve seen my half of the picture before; I’m not making it up.”
Louis glares at me and takes the photo from my hand. I wait impatiently as he examines the picture thoroughly. He glances several times between the photo and me, and I cross my arms and tap my foot on the floor as I wait for him to say he believes me.
After a few more minutes of him being stupid and in denial, he shoves the picture back in my hand. “Fine, I believe you.” I sigh in relief. “So what are you going to do?”
“I want to find her, Lou, but my family and her adoptive family didn’t keep contact – my parents’ choice – so I don’t even know where to start looking. She could be pretty much anywhere.”
I’m really exhausted, and I don’t really want to talk about Lina anymore. I mean, I do, but if I do, I won’t be able to stop. Louis seems to understand, and he changes the subject.
“So I think I’m getting a new neighbor finally,” he smiles. We both glance out the window to the yard over and the for sale sign is actually gone – surprising because the house has been up for sale for at least half a year since the last owner’s moved out.
“That’s good. It must suck for whoever’s moving in though. There must be a lot of dust and cobwebs by now.”
“Yeah, but if there’s a cute girl, I can always help with the move.” He does that weird thing with his eyebrows and I wish him good luck with that.
Notes
What happened with Liam and his parents?
When will Liam find his twin?
Who will move in next door to Louis?
Next Chapter Release: August 9.
Signing off for the first time,
Xoxo,
~TRU&ice
posted 08.02.14
I love this :') think its fab and so well written!
8/9/18