Unexpected Visitor
AFTER A LONG DAY OF?that included no dancing but generous tips instead, I got back to the mansion block. A very lonely trip on the lift left me longingly thinking about Luke.
He’d weaseled himself through the cracks of my crumbling fortress and wrapped his careful fingers around my heart. Not yanking it out of my chest but embracing it instead. Keeping it safe. I hoped he was keeping it safe.
There was a red rose on the welcome mat when I stepped out, and the heart Luke was wrapped around kicked in my chest as my insides turned into hot lava.
A little note accompanied the stem, and I rolled it out with shaking hands. In a neat handwriting the message read:
Red like your cheeks. I thought it was fitting.
I giggled, then inhaled the sweetness of the rose. The scent made it all the more real. I rushed inside, ready to show Glen, so we could gush about how sweet Luke was. As I entered the living room, however, I ended up hiding the flower behind my back instead as my joy faded.
I stumbled to a stop. “Mum?”
The woman sat on the Victorian lounge set next to a rather sedate Glen. Still wearing a pantsuit that I found uncomfortable to look at and couldn’t even think about trying on, she clashed with the interior in a hilarious way, but I would never point that out to her. No, when she was around, I was better off eating my words. Nothing good ever came from speaking my mind.
Mum turned to look at me, her eyes narrowing. “When were you going to tell me that you were moving here of all places?” She shook her head distastefully, not expecting me to answer as she continued, “Don’t you think I had the right to know? I’ve been doing background checks on real estate agencies and going through all the recent sale and rent records not finding your name on any of them. You don’t call to let us know you’re all right. I’d thought the worst had happened!”
I just stood there by the door, clamping my mouth shut. She’d rather go searching through records than ask me about it herself. She could’ve asked Dad. She probably did eventually, but I was still the one to get an earful.
“And then what do I hear? Men texting Arlo trying to reach you!”
Of course, Dad would have told her about that, too, if they were already talking about me. Just once, I wished he’d be on my side.
Glen looked like she’d bitten into something sour but was unable to spit it out. I squeezed the rose behind my back, thorns biting into my palm.
“Who is he?” Mum demanded.
“That’s none of your business.” I considered that a polite answer, but she didn’t take it that way. Oh, no, she went on about background checks and all manner of other things nobody else’s mother was able to threaten suitors with. I simply set my jaw and counted seconds in my head.
“See?” I finally huffed, unable to keep quiet any longer. “This is why I couldn’t stand to be under the same roof as you. You can’t possibly think controlling every aspect of my life is going to help me in any way.”
“All I’ve ever done is try to help you, Haylee,” my mother said harshly. When those horrible videos of you were going around—”
“That was two years ago! We are done talking about it.”
“...it was me who got them taken down. You wouldn’t be dancing in a studio but a strip club if it wasn’t for me! I am only trying to look out for you, because we both know you can’t do it on your own.”
I gaped at her as a firestorm took root in my stomach, raging with the ferocity and heat of a giant-ass dragon straight out of a fairy tale that wasn’t meant for me.
“I am twenty-five,” I said very slowly, gritting my teeth. “You should go look after Henry, who is twelve and actually unable to look out for himself. Just leave me alone.”
“Henry doesn’t get his tits blasted all over the internet.” Glen slapped a hand over her mouth, her eyes wide, but my mother didn’t even notice her reaction. “Of course, I’m worried when a new man comes into the picture. I will not leave until you tell me who he is.”
Tears pricked my eyes. I was pretty sure my palm was bleeding from the force I was gripping the rose with. I’d been so happy to receive it just moments ago. Now I wanted to snap it in half.
“The problem with you is that you don’t trust me, and therefore, I have never learned to trust myself. Now, I am going through life doubting every single decision I make, worrying about every single little thing. You know what that means? You no longer have to worry since nobody does it better than me. Nobody is getting through those walls that you’ve built around me. Nobody. I am going to die alone and unhappy. Congratulations, you’ve gotten what you came for.”
I wanted to be wild like Glen and free to express my feelings the way Luke was. I wanted to jump head first into love. Get wrapped up in this short-lived dream, but that just wasn’t for me, it seemed.
“Haylee, you haven’t told me anything yet.” My mother’s voice was beginning to sound like a fire alarm that kept blaring no matter how fervently you tried to make it stop. Taking out the batteries wouldn’t change a thing. Nothing would.
