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This is an ambush. A very well-timed and planned military attack.
Mother has always been good at ambushes...
“Of course I would be here at your premiere,” Mother replies to me in her ice-cold voice. “Your team did invite me here. I thought I’d come along and surprise you.”
Oh, she is a sneaky viper, that’s for sure.
And I really don’t want her to meet Josie. I don’t want to subject my poor fake girlfriend to my family, especially not here in this goddamn movie theatre in LA. Josie has had to experience a lot today without having to fall into the lion’s den.
This really is an ambush.
“Well, it’s always wonderful to see you, Mother,” I reply. “You look so well.”
I want her to focus on me and not on my date. I want this to be a quick little interaction, nothing more.
I want to save Josie...
But it’s already too late - Mother has already spotted Josie by my side. I couldn’t hide her from Mother’s prying vision for long.
And it is clear Mother’s venom is ready. Her fangs are out. She is ready to go in for the kill.
Poor, poor Josie...
But I’m going to protect her as much as I can.
“Who is this?” Mother asks me, her eyes darting from mine to the girl by my side.
“This is Josie Gunn,” I say with a forced smile.
“Ah.”
“How about we retreat to a more... private place?” I suggest to Mother. “Somewhere just for us two? Just for you and me to talk on our own?”
I really don’t want her properly meeting Jodie. I really don’t want to put the girl through that sure-to-be-fun experience. She doesn’t deserve this punishment.
“I’ve been meaning to speak to you,” Mother says directly to Josie, deliberately ignoring me. “You’re dating my son, aren’t you?”
Josie looks hesitant at first, but then purses her lips and stands tall.
“Yes, I am,” she replies. “I’m dating Victor.”
She’s pushing back on my Mother’s suffocating dominance. She’s actually doing it.
She’s a braver person than me.
Mother leans back and nods gently to herself. She’s mulling it all over – Josie and her reaction to her. People tend to shirk away from Alda Penmayne, but Josie has reacted quite differently.
“You seem lovely,” she finally says to Josie. “I would love to get to know you better.”
I can hear the dripping virulence in her voice... that extra level of something...
Mother is figuring it all out. I can tell she is beginning to suspect the relationship is fake. She’s always had an almost supernatural finger on the pulse of her sons.
“Thank you, Alda.”
Mother’s eyes widen at the use of her first name. Few people ever call her by that, and most of them seemingly don’t live for long after that. But Josie is unflinching. She has an inner steel to her.
“You’re a pretty girl,” Mother remarks.
