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“Was the wedding terrible? I don’t understand why you’re so…” She twirls her finger at me. “Like this.”
My heart rate picks up, and I feel the blood whoosh through my neck. “I’m like this because of what happened before the wedding.” I raise my eyebrows at her, but she settles into her chair, sitting cross-legged, seemingly oblivious.
“Because you were rushed, and you forgot the card?”
“Mom!” I shout. “I saw you.”
“You saw me when?”
“Saturday night. Stop playing games. Just tell me who he is.”
Her porcelain face falls, and she swallows, setting her tea on the desk. “I wasn’t here on Saturday evening.”
“You’re going to sit there and lie to me? You were kissing some guy. Some guy who wasn’t Dad! He was pulling your blouse out of your skirt.” I squeeze my eyes shut to rid the image from my mind.
She says my name as if she wants time to explain, but all my patience was used up while she was playing stupid.
“How could you destroy our family?” I point at our family picture on the wall, part of a photoshoot she made us do last year. My heart hammers, and my blood feels hot. Tears well in my eyes, and I feel hollowed out. “You just took a knife and sliced it through that canvas. I hope he was worth it.”
“You don’t understand. He’s not important.”
Her words make me see red. “He was obviously important enough to you that you risked us! You risked Dad!” I turn around and head for the door.
“Kyleigh!” she calls. “Did you…”
I whip around. “Tell Dad? No. You’re going to tell him, and if you don’t, I will.”
Then I walk out of her office and continue walking right out of the building. Once I’m outside the back door, I rest my back to the brick wall, bending over and taking a few deep breaths.
There was so much more I wanted to say, but my anger got the best of me. All the things I practiced saying were forgotten.
My phone vibrates, and I dread pulling it out, thinking it might be my dad, but I see that it’s Alara telling me she’s here for me and to give my mom hell. Best friend for life.
I stare at my phone and just want to disappear. I want to get on a plane and fly somewhere no one can find me. I don’t want to think about how everything I’ve ever known and thought was true is just one big lie. But if I go to my apartment, Mom will come and try to talk to me. I need to go somewhere she’d never look until I can gather myself together.
I find the contact I saved last night and text Rowan, hoping like hell he’s home.
You busy?
The three dots appear immediately, and I walk away from the boutique toward the street.
Just finished my morning workout. Be back to my place soon. Horny?
Stop saying that, but…
You’re horny. It’s okay. You’ll have to ride me. I’m spent.
My stomach pitches, wishing I was already riding him.
How long?
I love this eagerness. Half hour.
Meet you there.
I order an Uber and climb in, giving them the address. I watch the people on the streets of Chicago, guessing they’ve all had better Monday mornings than I have, but as the Uber makes its way toward Rowan’s, I already know this is exactly what I need to escape.
Eleven
