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Draw your own conclusion (for Tarrakhash and Blurugirl)

Blurugirl

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Joined
Oct 25, 2019
Shahlah Jacobson thought she had a perfect life. Mostly.

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Granted, her life hadn't started off perfectly, mostly or otherwise. Her father had become enamored with an Iranian man, and Shahlah had been the result of the romance. But the romance quickly devolved into abuse and control from her biological father, who left her mother and her when Shahlah was five,

No problem. When Shahlah was nine, Shahlah's mother would meet the man who would become Shahlah's stepfather.

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Shahlah loved her stepfather. But she loved all her family. Shahlh's stepfather was a commercial artist who still kept tabs with his classical roots. He was successful enough that he could run his own business out of their office. But he also taught an art history class at the local college, and drew "non-commercially", as he called it. And though Shahlah had no talent of her own, her stepfather made sure Shahlah was still introduced to his world. He had not only taught her about different artists and artistic movements throughout history, but also how to appreciate and critically analyze art as a whole.

Shahlah had a good relationship with her mother. Mostly. Well, Shahalah's felt her slightly nerdy mathlete daughter should be outgoing, and she definitely did not appreciate the mostly frumpy, form hiding clothes her eighteen year old daughter wore. But Shahlah still appreciated her mother. Well, things had become strained between Shahlah's mother and stepfather, and she knew her stepfather spent some nights on the couch in his office, but he always said that was because he was working late. And if the two were having problems, they were going to great lengths not to expose their kids to their marital strife.

And Shahlah adored her little five year old brother. Mostly.

Hunter was blonde and blue eyed (the same as everyone else in the family except Shahlah) and was just as sweet as he could be. He would sit by Shahlah on the couch, cuddle up to her, and ask her for a story if she wasn't busy. Or just sit there and be sweet and good if she was busy.

Hunter was perfect. Mostly.

Except Hunter would draw on anything if given a chance. In response to Hunter's artistic exuberance, the walls were painted with wipeable paints, Hunter was given special crayons, and anything you didn't want drawn on, was locked up and put away. Because Hunter would listen and obey about everything except drawing.

Which is where the story begins.

Shahlah's stepfather would keep his office locked, to ensure that Hunter didn't draw on any of the more expensive books he had on his shelves. In addition, all important papers were kept locked in the bottom drawer of the office.

Shahlah and her mother had keys to the office, and Shahlah went into the office one to use the family printer. While she was printing out a paper due on Monday, she noticed the bottom drawer of the desk was ajar. She was about to close the drawer when a folder in it caughter eye. It was titled "Life Drawings." Shahlah immediately knew that meant Nude Sketches. Although she was a modest young woman (overly modest, in her mother's opinion), Shahlah wasn't shocked about the idea of her father making nude sketches. That's what artists did, after all. She would have been more shocked if her father made landscape paintings. He did have curt words about that sort of thing.

Curious, Shahlah pulled out the folder and began flipping through it. She didn't recognize some of the models, of course, but assumed they were student models her father had met at the college. One of the models, though, looked familiar to Shahlah. It took the teen a few minutes to recognize who the nude woman was in those sketches. It was HER!

Shahal was more than a little shocked that her father has been imagining her nude. Well, he had not only been imagining, he had been mentally airbrushing the nude mental image of his stepdaughter. The young woman in these pictures was gorgeous! It was sort of like the optimized version of what Shahlah thought she could ever aspire to.

Probably the only thing her stepfather had not improved on, Shahlah though with a self-conscious smirk, was the size of Shahlah's breasts in the sketches. But then she couldn't really fault her father on that. After all, with the frumpy clothes she made sure she was wearing any time she stepped out of her room, he had no idea on how to guess. The breasts in the sketches looked to be about a cup smaller than Shahlah's D cup.

Still, the part of Shahlah's mind that her stepfather had trained to look at a drawing analytically thought they were good, if woefully inaccurate. So Shahlah took a couple of post its from the desk, wrote some critiques, attached it to the drawings, then returned them to the bottom drawer. This time, though, she made sure the bottom drawer was locked. Hunter definitely didn't need to get to those pictures!

Chuckling, Shahlah locked up her father's office, headed to her bedroom, did a few things on the compute, then called it a night. At ten o'clock on a Friday night, Shahlah was happily asleep in her own bedroom.
 
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Max explained that Stephen could press charges but, technically his wife could argue that she had as much right to their joint assets as Stephen did, and since the money was offshore, Stephen probably couldn't get to it anyway. Especially if his wife decided to leave the country.

When Stephen called his wife's number, he would discover that it was no longer valid.

Just as he was discovering this fact, Sarai called out from the kitchen, "Hey everyone, dinner on the table!'

Even though the dinner was a hodgepodge of different things that Sarai had found in the refrigerator, she had made an outstanding meal from them. There was a spicy (but not too spicy) chicken and rice entree, some kind of savory, twisted bread, and vegetable dishes from frozen and canned sources that still looked fresh and inviting. Even Hunter seemed excited by the prospect of eating the vegetables.

It looked as if Sarai could add cooking aficionado to the list of her accomplishments, along with movie triviaist.

Shahlah came down, holding Shamira's hand as she led the other girl to the dining room. WhenHunter plopped himself down on the other side of Shamira, the shy Chinese-American girl looked up at him and gave him a radiant smile.
 
Sighing he put the phone down, unsurprisingly he was quiet and withdrawn during dinner, trying to figure out what was going on. He thanked Sarai for the meal and then asked Shahlah casually,"Hey, Shay, did mom get a new phone or something? Did she give you a new number? I tried to call her and the number didn't ring....I hope something didn't happen to her phone." If she had left contact details with Shahlah he might still be able to get hold of her, it was a long shot but it didn't hurt.

He smiled a little at the interaction between Shamira and Hunter, he was upset, but he could appreciate how great his kids are...even if his wife was, well, gone.

Once dinner was done he said to Shahlah,"You guys make sure Hunter get's to bed in time, I've got some work stuff that came up I'm going to be working on. I'm in my office if you need me." With that he moved to his office, once there he sat down and started to do what his wife couldn't moving all his money out of her reach. Shutting down anything that she had that he paid for, or blocking it so she couldn't reach it. Then he pulled up her bank records and started through them, looking for payments to travel agents or anything else that would give him a clue.

All the while he kept an ear out for the locksmith to change the locks, he wasn't letting her get to the kids. Once he was done with the banking and anything else he could think of he walked through to the kitchen, to his special cupboard and grabbed a bottle of whiskey and a shot glass before heading back to his office...what the fuck had just happened?
 
Both Shahlah and Sarai noticed Shahlah's stepfather was being quiet, but they just assumed he was trying to be thoughtful toward Shamira. When her stepfather asked about her mother's phone number, she replied, "Not that she told me. But she has been complaining about spammer and telemarketers. Maybe she to ti changed and just hasn't got around to telling us yet? Anyway, she'll be back on Sunday night, so no big deal," Shahlah added with a shrug.

"Sure thing, Mr. Jacobson," Sarai answered. At the instructions issued by his father, Hunter looked up hopefully at Shamira and asked, "Jenga?" Shamira's laugh in return was soft and musical. "Story and bedtime tonight, Jenga tomorrow." Hunter seemed satisfied that all was right ini his world/

A glance at the bank accounts showed for some unaccountable and unexplainable expenses. Little things here, little things there, things that added up to big things. Whatever Shahlah's Mom had been planning, she apparently had been planning for a few months now, but had done it in as unobtrusive way as possible, apparently waiting for the big score for this weekend. A big score that Stephen's friend Max had fortunately been able to successfully, if only partially, block.

As Stephen got his whiskey and glass, Shamira, clad in an almost floor length robe, wandered in to the kitchen. When she spotted Stephen she froze, like a deer caught in the headlights.

She stood silent for a for a minute, before she quietly said, "Thank you for having me over, Mr. Jacobson." When her eyes lit on the whiskey bottle, she asked in the same quiet voice, "Is everything all right?"
 
Stephen nodded at Shahlah's attempt to make a logical leap, she didn't know what was going on. He turned and almost bumped into Shamira, he paused, not looking at her and not speaking as he tried to find a way around her that wouldn't involve him touching her and then she spoke, he kept his eyes down and pulled a face slightly at her question. Of all the people asking questions the innocent little girl with communication issues was not the one he wanted to speak to, particularly since she was likely more emotionally sensitive too,"It's a pleasure, Shamira, I like the way you spend time with Hunter, he really likes it."

Shuffling to one side to try and get around her he nodded, still looking at the ground,"Yes...it's fine....are you looking for something? Can I help you?"
 
Shamira looked at Stephen with wide blue eyes, not saying anything, then she did the unexpected. She wrapped her arms around Stephen and hugged him. She broke the embrace after a few seconds, then put her hands on the whiskey bottle, as if telling Stephen to give it to her. She gave him the same wide eyed innocent stare as she waited for his response.
 
Stephen was confused, he thought the girl didn't like touching people but at this point he was almost broken inside anyway, his shoulders slumped as she hugged him and when she put her hand on the bottle he simply let it go, his eyes sliding up to meet her eyes and a weak smile curling his lips,"You're probably right, Shamira, I likely don't need that...." He gestured to the cupboard,"It goes up there...." And a tear leaked out of the one eye, rolling down his face as he smiled at the innocent girl who didn't like to touch people, how much must he be hurting for her to go through her boundaries just after seeing his face.

"I'm going to go lay down....don't...don't tell, Shay, okay?", he let her do what she needed to for him to move past and then tried to head to his office, and the bed that he become his. A half-laugh, half-sob escaped his lips as he realized he could go back to his own bed if he wanted...but not tonight."
 
Shamira nodded as she took the bottle, putting it back in the cupboard. She gave Stephen a sad little smile, before she left the kitchen and headed back to Shahlah's bedroom.
 
Stephen went to his bed, it was a long, lonely night and many a tear was shed, but he had people to look after, things to do and kids to get ready for sports. He got up when it was still dark, not a whole lot of sleep had been had, went up and checked on Hunter, once he was sure the boy was good he went downstairs, drew a little and then started cooking breakfast for the kids. There was so much going on in his head that he burnt more than one piece of toast trying to get breaskfast ready in time for Hunter and the girls to get up.

He called the mom who was picking Hunter up to make sure if she had heard from his wife at all, visions of Hunter being taken by his mother from the soccer game or something floating through his head as he tried not to get sucked into the paranoid depression waiting for him just inside his head.
 
"Oh, hey, Stephen, I was about to call you," the mother in question answered. "I was trying to get a hold of your wife this morning, but I'm not able to get through to her. She told me earlier this week she had some family thing going on that was going to take her away from home for a couple of weeks. She seemed a little uneasy to talk about it, so I didn't press. Anyway, I know you've got a great helper in Shahlah --- she's such a sweet girl, and everyone loves Hunter -- but if you need anything while your wife is gone, don't be shy in calling. And I'll be by to pick up Hunter at noon. See you then!"
 
A couple of weeks.....,"Yeah, thanks for the offer, I think we'll be okay. See you in a bit..."

This was one long plot, how long had this been going on and where had she gone. Once he put the phone down he considered calling her family but decided against it, it didn't matter where she was. She had planned to abandon her kids, he sent another round of emails to his lawyer detailing what he had found out. The most important thing now was getting things figured out so he got to keep the kids...but he couldn't not tell Shahlah.

That would have to wait till the friends were gone, because he knew Shahlah would be upset, what was he going to tell Hunter?
 
"Hey, Dad, breakfast is ready!" Shahlah yelled out.

In the dining room, Sarai had pulled out the rarely used waffle maker to make some kind of fruit stuffed waffles with a collection of mostly empty bags of frozen fruit from the freezer. Alliteration aside, it was a definite tasty meal, served with chicken sausage and large glasses of cold milk.

Hunter was excited to see the spread set out on the table. When Stephen came in to the dining room, Shamira looked up and shyly said, "Good morning, Mr. Jacobson. Thank you for letting me stay as your guest."

Sarai and Shahlah both did a double take to see their friend actually talking to a near stranger. Sarai looked like she was about to comment but Shahlah cut her off with a shake of her head. Whatever had created this opening up by her friend toward her stepfather, Shahlah was definitely not going to jinx it by asking a question.

Hunter was in heaven as he ate his meal and talked about playing Jenga with Shahlah after breakfast and then going to the all night party at the bouncing palace business with all his friends on the soccer team.

"Eat up, Mr. Jacobson," Sarai said with a smile. "I made plenty, although..." she added with a mischevious smile toward Hunter, "I may not have taken into account Hunter's two hollow legs." Hunter just grinned at the mention of his name and continued wolfing down his waffle.
 
Stephen came through, forcing a smile, looking at the food he grinned,"Sarai, we may have to have you over more often you keep cooking like this!" He smirked at the greeting from Shamira, and lifted his eyes so he could see her but not look directly at her,"It is a pleasure, Shamira, you are welcome any time." He didn't have to look at the other girls to have some indication of their puzzlement, but it was his and Shamira's little secret.

He tried to ignore the pain gnawing at his heart as he ate, trying to enjoy his kids and their friends. He nodded to Sarai,"Oh, I will, I will, he inherited his hollow legs from someone! We'll see if he can keep up with his old man...what do you girls have planned for the day?"

More importantly when would they be gone so he could speak to Shahlah....he seemed to think they were staying the whole weekend.
 
"Shamira is playing Jenga with me until Mrs. Wilson comes to pick me up," Hunter announced. Shamira laughed at Hunter's announcement,, and tickled the little boy as her answer, which made him laugh.

"Sarai and I will be cleaning up the kitchen, which hopefully won't be a whole day," Shahlah announced, which got her a fake elbow in the ribs from Sarai. "And we're going to do some research for Steam Con. We do a little mini-Steam Con the weekend before, for our little crowd, in case some can't make the main event." What went unsaid was that some of the girls' group, and especially Shamira, were unable to handle the huge crowds that would be found at Steam Con.

"My Aunt and Uncle let us use the game rooms at their shop for our Mini-Con," Sarai added. "Not to brag, but considering the miniaturized scale, I think it's just as good as the big Steam Con. With nicer people," she added, looking at Shamira. The other teen blushed prettily at the sudden attention, but didn't draw in on herself.

"Hey, Dad, did you need something?" Shahlah asked, suddenly picking up on something.
 
Stephen laughed at the various bits of conversation between Shamira and Hunter, between Sarai and Shahlah and he secretly wished the Elephant in the room wasn't there to be dealt with he nodded at the comments about the Mini-Con,"That sounds like a whole lot of fun with you guys there! I'm sure it's great." He made sure to include Shamira in his comments but kept it general like he had been told,"The best people, better than anything you find at the big Con's I've been to enough of those back in the day, there are some strange people who go."

When Shahlah addressed him he nodded,"Yeah, come chat to me quick in my office." He got up, leading her in and closed the door behind them,"Have a seat, Shahlah...."

Once she was seated he sat down as well, and looked at the ground,"Well...there really isn't a nice way to say this, but I think your mom has left me." He didn't mention that she had also left her daughter and son behind,"She tried to take money out of my accounts last night, her phone is disconnected and she told Mrs. Wilson she's gone for the next few weeks. I don't know where she is, and I don't know what she's planning...but she's gone....Shay...she's gone."

He paused, breathing in and out slowly, trying to think how to make it feel better,"I don't really know what to do, I'm not even sure if I should be telling you but at some point Hunter's going to want to know where Mom is....."

Sitting back he shrugged,"In the big scheme of things I can arrange my time at work differently so I can be home in the afternoon to get Hunter from School and stuff but......" He stopped and shrugged,"I don't really know...what her plans is....if she has one....I don't want her to take you guys away from me, I couldn't stand that."
 
Shahlah didn't hear a word after her stepfather told her that her mother was gone.

In her heart, she knew it was true. Her subconscious mind knew her parents were unhappy, and her mother had been taking it out on her---

Shahlah shook her head. Her father had been taking the brunt of this for the longest time. And he had kept on going and going and goi---

Hunter! What was going to happen to Hunter?

Shahlah wondered about the emotional devastation this was going to wreck on her brother. On her. On her father.

Shahlah's thoughts were so all over the place, racing back and forth and changing at a moment's notice, that she was unable to form an emotional reaction. She just sat in her chair, stunned.

Then there was a soft knock on the door. Not waiting for an answer, the door opened, and Shamira walked in, followed by an embarrassed Sarai.

"She insisted we come in," Sarai said, obviously confused, "And Shamira never insists."

Shamira knelt down beside Shahlah, given the other teen a soulful look with her big blue eyes.

Shahlah broke down, burying her head in the other teen's chest and bawling her eyes out.

"She left us," Shahah said, leaning back long enough to tell Shamira what had happened. "She left us." Shahlah buried her head again, wailing

"I, uh...", Sarai said, clearly floored, "I'll go make sure Hunter doesn't wonder in until you're ready to talk to him." Sarai was looking straight at Stephen, making sure that was okay with him.
 
Stephen watched the interplay, aware that Shamira was somehow sensitive to what was going on and her reaction was to help not run away, it impressed him even as he watched his little girl start to cry. Shaking his head he put his head in his hands and nodded at Sarai,"Yes, Sarai, that would be wonderful. Take him upstairs and play a game with him, not Jenga or he'll want Shamira.....that seems to be a thing."

Moving forward he stroked Shahlah's head, even in his sadness making sure he didn't touch Shamira who had been so good to them in such a short time,"I'll keep you safe, Shay, I'll keep you two safe. You don't have to worry....I'm going to make sure I get to keep you and Hunter....." Not that it seemed like his wife wanted them the way she had left,"You guys just have to tell me if she tries to get in contact with you....I can't live without you guys. Not you, not Hunter.....I'm so sorry my girl, I thought I could handle it...."

He closed his eyes, hand on his stepdaughters head as tears rolled down his face, soaking into his mustache.
 
"if I might make an observation," Shamira said quiet;y, so quietly it shouldn't have been heard over the sounds of Shahlah's sobbing.

Yet somehow Shahlah heard the words. She pulled away from both her stepfather and her friend, waiting to hear what the quiet teen was going to say.

"I understand," Shamira began, not looking up, her voice barely above a whisper, "That when you lose something or someone, you don't want to lose anything or anyone else. I think it is important to let others know they won't lose you, and not that you are afraid of losing them."

Shahlah just nodded at Shamira's words. The other girl did not look up as she continued.

"Sarai and I will be able to help you transition in this time.." Not saying another word or looking up, Shimara left the room.

"I...I'm going to clean up the kitchen," Shahlah said. "I guess...maybe we'll tell Hunter when he gets back from his overnight." She said this as she stood up to go to the office door.
 
Shamira's words struck deep and he focused on them a little as the wise young girl left, when Shahlah stood up he reached out and took her hand pulling her a little closer,"Yes, we'll talk to him afterwards, but Shay, she's not wrong." He pulled his stepdaughter into his arms, giving her a hard, hard hug,"I'm not going to let anything get between us, Shay, I'm going to keep us together no matter what, you understand?"

He stroked the side of her face,"You are my girl, and I won't let you down." He kissed the top of her head and smiled,"And if you need anything, even if it's just a hug you let me know, okay?" He let her go and smiled, even though his heart was still aching,"As long as I got you, my girl, we'll be okay."
 
Shahlah nodded. "Don't worry, Dad." She paused before she added, "I'm eighteen now, so, you know, I can take care of myself. Legal adult and making own decisions. I think you ought to think about Hunter and stuff. I mean, I'm okay, but Hunter's just a kid and----"

Shahlah paused when a thought struck her. She didn't want to say anything, because she could tell this had hit her stepfather hard. He was being more than a little needy and all, and she felt she should step back and lean on her friends, and let her Dad focus on Hunter.

Hunter, she thought to herself. Let Dad focus on Hunter. I'll ask Sarai and Shimara.

And where did Shimara get all Kung Fu wisdom on her, Shahlah wondered? It was like a role reversal. Her stepfather, who was always so supportive, had suddenly gotten all me-ish. It was all HE couldn't give this up, and HE couldn't do without, and HE wasn't going to lose them.

Shahlah decided she'd pull back from her Stepfather for a while, let him get things together and get Hunter settled.

"I'm good, Dad," Shahlah said, interrupting her internal discussion. "But you got stuff to do, and think about Hunter and all. And I got a kitchen that won't clean itself," she laughed as she left her stepfather in the office.
 
She was growing up so fast. He sighed nodded and let her go. He then slipped out of his office to get Hunter ready for his pick up, he just wished his wife had left a note or something so he at least knew where she was or if she was even going to see the kids ever again. He forced the thought of her mind, he had to just assume she had abandoned them and when she came back he'd deal with it.

It didn't take him long to wrangle Hunter and have him ready to go before his lift arrived, in fact focusing on Hunter helped him keep it together and he was glad to be standing outside waiting for his ride with a small smile on his face as Hunter played with a stick he had found off in a wonderful world of fantasy that five year olds just seemed to live in. He smirked, he knew it was just as likely he was about to bury himself in his own world of fantasy...a thought occurred and he smiled he already knew what he was going to draw!

Passing Hunter off to go on his overnight bouncy castle excursion, he just about had to hold him down to get him buckled in the kid was so excited, Stephen scurried into the house and into his office. Dragging out a piece of paper and the drawing he had made of Shahlah and Sarai...they were missing a cohort and he knew just who to make her. Using the one drawing as an example he started sketching, his emotional disturbance forgotten as he lost himself in his art.

It was very likely that the girls would have to drag him away from his drawing as the trio of super heros started to form on the paper he was sketching on, his hand rising to rub against his thick mustache as he drew.
 
There was a soft knock on the office door and it was again shy little Shamira.

"If I might come in, Mr. Jacobson?" she asked quietly, face cast downward.
 
Stephen sat back, not looking directly at her but in her general direction he smiled,"Come in, Shamira, if course. What can I help you with?"

This girl was a mystery, she had already shown great understanding of situations, but more importantly a tolerance for him...and it was intriguing when he wasn't on the middle of emotional breakdown but she was still here and speaking to him so he smiled as good as he could.
 
"I have a few things to discuss with you, if I may," Shamira began, her voice quiet, her eyes focused on the floor.

"First, Sarai and I have discussed your situation and our own home situations, which allow us a certain amount of freedom," Shamira began. "To this end, we would both like to move in with your family. Between ourselves and Shahlah, we can help take care of Tucker, which will allow you to continue your professional responsibilities without disruption."
 
Stephen gestured to the chair opposite him, letting the strange girl come in, again he didn't look at her directly still working on his drawing absently until she made her suggestion. Then he couldn't stop himself his eyes locked on her pretty blue ones and he sat still, just looking at her for a minute or two. How did she end up the spokesperson of this group? He would have put that on Sarai or Shay....

He reached up and stroked his mustache as he thought about it,"What do your parents have to say about this? I'm not protesting, it makes sense, and is very, very kind of you two. I just want to make sure this is not going to cause problems..and you know Hunter would love to have his Jenga playmate around more often."

He smiled at her, he liked the idea, Shay would love it, and he wouldn't be sad about it.
 
"As I said," Shamira continued, her voice remaining quiet and inflectionless, while she herself never looked up, "My home situation, like that of Sarai's, is unique, and affords us freedom. In addition, like your daughter, we are both eighteen and do well in our schoolwork, so we have independence. It is this thought that I wish to discuss.."

Shamira cupped her hands and said, "Bay zong dee ay wreng zi shoozong." She then made a fist. "Ay jen jen dee lou zow." She paused before translating. "It is a saying that my mother has. Love is like water. Held gently in the hands, it quenches. Held tightly in the fist, it flows away. Shahlah, like myself and Sarai, is a grown woman. If you tell her you fear losing her, then you will lose her. Grasp her too tightly, and she will flee. Be strong and let her know that you are there, but do not seek to bind her with words or actions. It is a thought."

For the first time Shamira looked up, though not at Stephen. Instead, her attention was focused on what Stephen was working on his desk. "Shahlah says you are an accomplished artist," she said simply, still not looking his way.
 
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