CHARLES CALLISON, from FOR NOW AND FOREVER
Bio provided by author:
Charles is the patriarch of the Callison family. He is married to Francis Albany Callison and they have three children; Reginald, Trevor, and Maggie. Charles was not the favorite child. That roll fell to his older brother Landon, whom Charles idolized. When Landon was killed while Charles was still in his early teens, Charles was deeply traumatized and the roll of heir to the Callison name fell on his shoulders. He worked his entire life to live up to his father's expectations and and live up to Landon's legacy. In many ways, he succeeded. However, he felt he had to give up a part of his carefree self in the process. It didn't really matter, until recently, when he began to realize exactly how much he'd thrown himself into the family business and how much he missed his carefree days before Landon had died. This made him easy prey for the scheming, gold-digging Annabelle Lake who wanted Charles for herself.
However, despite Annabelle's best efforts, Charles refused to betray his wife. That was something that would not be acceptable and something that Landon would not do. Eventually, though, through a series of events (i.e. Annabelle drugged him and fixed it so that Francis would discover them together), Charles did succumb to Annabelle's temptations of a reckless life. In Annabelle, he saw an attempt to be the carefree person he used to be. However, he is still deeply in love with his wife Francis even though he is planning to divorce her. He realizes how much he's hurt Francis and fears doing it again. To protect her, he continues to push her away, much to Annabelle's joy. Though Charles and Francis still love each other very much and, in truth, wish to reconcile, they avoid doing so out of pride and fear.
SCENE #1:
The Callison Home
Mary Albany stood on the front porch and banged loudly on the door. Within moments, the Callison family housekeeper opened the door to see who was making all the noise.
"M-Mrs. Albany!" Hannah exclaimed as she saw the angry look on Mary's face. "What's going on? Why does is sound like you're trying to knock the door down?"
"Hannah, I want to see my son-in-law!" Mary announced as she breezed past her and into the foyer. "Charles! You come here right this instant!"
"What's all this racket?" Charles questioned as he stepped out of his study. The sight of Mary's angry face quickly unnerved him. "Mary, what's got you so upset? There's not something wrong with Francis, is there? Is she alright?"
"She's fine." Mary glared at him with an icy gaze. "No thanks to you! There are a few things I need to say to you!"
"Mary, you seem very upset," Charles said as he tried to display a calm exterior. "Just come sit down and tell me what's wrong. Hannah, that'll be all for the evening. Please make sure we're not disturbed."
"Yes, Mr. Callison," Hannah replied before leaving them alone.
"Now, Mary, why don't you tell me what's got your feathers all ruffled."
"How dare you keep flaunting your affair with that woman in public! Don't you have any concern whatsoever for your wife's feelings?" When Charles sat down, Mary motioned that she preferred to stand.
"I care about Francis' feelings very much. In fact..."
"Well, you have a really fine way of showing it! Don't you realize what it does to her to see you carrying on with that woman? Don't you realize what kind of talk that it instigates?"
"Mary, 'that woman' has a name. You can refer to her as 'Annabelle' or can not refer to her at all!" Charles looked up at Mary and tried to keep his rising temper in check. From his seated position, Mary seemed to nearly tower over him. She could be a rather intimidating figure, but he was determined not to let her get the better of him.
"Annabelle is really none of my concern," Mary said as she nearly spat out the name. "My concern is what your behavior is doing to my daughter! Are you deliberately trying to hurt and embarrass her? Don't you understand what she's going through?"
"Causing pain for Francis is the last thing on my mind." All the trauma his wife was going through was not lost on him. Hurting her was, in fact, the last thing he wanted. That's why he had to keep her away from him. True, she might be hurt now, but Charles was sure that it was a small price to prevent the pain that he would surely cause her in the long run. "No matter what's happened, I still care about her very much. In fact, I still love her."
"You have a damn fine way of showing it!" Mary stepped closer to him and looked at him sternly. "That's what all of your shenanigans with Annabelle Lake are doing...causing pain and trauma for Francis! I'm here to warn you that it all stops now or you'll have to deal with me!"
"Mary, I only want what's best for Francis," Charles asserted as he looked up at his mother-in-law. "All I've managed to do, so far, is hurt her."
"But you keep hurting her over and over!" Mary glared at him as she shook her finger in his face. "Can't you see that? Every time you go showing off with Annabelle Lake on your arm, you stab her in the heart all over again! Can't you keep your scandalous activities to yourself? Must you parade them all over town?"
He let out a deep sigh and slumped down into his chair. "She needs to get on with her life. She needs to find a better life without me! If she doesn't let go of me, she's going to keep getting hurt. Over and over again it's going to be the same thing! All I seem to be able to do is hurt her."
"Oh, Charles, would you quit wallowing around in self-pity and stand up and act like a man?" She folded her arms across her chest as she continued to look down upon him with her determined stare. "You have to take responsibility for what you've done to her...for what you're still doing to her!"
"Can't you see? That's exactly what I'm doing! It's my fault for what happened between me and Annabelle. It's my fault that Francis has been hurt. She's not to blame at all!" His head sunk down in defeat as he ran his hands through his hair. "That's why you have to convince her to get on with her life. You have to convince her to forget about me. It's so she won't be hurt anymore. It's for her own good."
"And how is she supposed to do that? How is she supposed to forget about you when you share three wonderful children and 23 years of marriage? How is she supposed to forget about that over night?"
"I-I don't know," Charles sighed. "But she has to. I couldn't bear it if I hurt her again."
"Charles, do you still love Francis?" Mary watched his reaction closely as she waited for an answer. "Do you?"
"Yes," he confessed. "I love her with all my heart."
"Then why aren't you two together? Why are you running around with that tramp?"
"Because! That's the way it has to be. I refuse to put Francis in a position where I could hurt her again. I won't do it!"
Mary pursed her lips and silently evaluated Charles answers. Why wasn't she completely convinced that this marriage couldn't be saved? Mary knew that, given ample opportunity, Charles and Francis could find their way back to each other. However, there was one big obstacle standing in their way. Her name was Annabelle Lake.