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I was in a bad mood. Everything had gone wrong, and this was exactly what I had been afraid of. I had told Brett that I shouldn’t have stayed over, and he had shrugged it off as if it wasn’t important. Well, maybe he understood now how important it had been. I realized, of course, I couldn’t be angry with him. This wasn’t his fault any more than it was mine. We had both taken a risk, we had both messed up, and now we were both in the same boat.
Some of the reporters followed me home, and I had to drive around the block a couple of times to lose them so they wouldn’t have my address. Of course, I was sure they could find out if they really wanted to know where I lived. The only reason they gave up so soon tonight was that they knew I was going home alone. When I finally felt it was safe, I parked the car and rushed as quickly as possible to my apartment, unlocking my door. What I needed was a hot shower and to get into bed early. The longer I slept, the more time would pass that I wasn’t aware of, and maybe this would all go away.
A woman sat on my couch, and I jumped.
“Jesus, Mom. I nearly had a heart attack,” I said when I recognized her.
A long time ago, I had given my mom a key to check on the apartment when I had gone away on a girls’ trip with Katie. I had never taken it back, and now more than ever I wished I had. My mom was the last person I needed to see right now. If everyone else knew, there was no way my mom wouldn’t know. As a single mother, she was tuned into all the news channels, and her nose was in my business more than when I had lived at home.
“What are you doing here, Mom?” I wasn’t in the mood for her lectures right now. I wanted to get into bed. I wanted to forget about all this shit and close my eyes for a second, reflect on the life I used to lead. Because I had the sinking feeling that life as I knew it was over.
“Is it a crime to check up on my daughter?” Her graying hair had once been the same color as mine. Now it was a lot lighter. But she still had bright eyes that missed nothing.
“I wish you would have called first,” I said with a sigh. “I’m tired.”
“I can imagine you are. You’ve had quite a day, haven’t you?”
I groaned. She knew. Of course, she knew.
“Do you want to tell me what’s going on?” my mom asked.
I shook my head. “Not really.”
“No, let me rephrase. Tell me what’s going on.”
I walked to the couch and collapsed. “Honestly, I don’t want to talk about it.”
My mom pulled out a piece of paper from her handbag. She handed it to me.
“Did you print the article?” I asked. It had obviously been pulled from online.
“What the hell were you thinking?” my mom asked, ignoring my question.
“I didn’t think I was going to be on the front page of every newspaper in the country, that’s for sure.”
“Don’t be sarcastic with me, missy. This won’t go away. What were you doing at his house?”
“I told you, I was having dinner for a business meeting.”
“You didn’t tell me it was going to be at his house.”
I rolled my eyes and groaned. Was I a teenager again? Why was my mother here to scold me? She had no right to tell me what I had to do with my life. If I had fucked up, I was going to deal with it myself.
“This is terrible,” my mom said, sitting next to me and taking the article out of my hands again. “Have you considered how this will impact your life?”
I sank lower onto the couch. I felt like a child again. My mom had that effect on me. “Didn’t you read the press release?”
My mom rolled her eyes. “Don’t think I’m going to believe that load of trash for one second. And I’m pretty sure the rest of the world won’t buy it either. Tell me how dumb you think everyone is.”
I scrubbed my face. “Please, Mom. You’re sitting here on my couch, in my home, acting like you still have the right to lecture me. Did I fuck up? Yes.”
“Language.”
“Do you think I don’t know that?” I asked, ignoring her comment. “But I’m going to fix it. It’s my life, and I need to deal with whatever comes my way.”
