Page 28 of The Ring
I narrow my eyes. “What did you do?”
“I may or may not have invited your mum over for tea.”
I glare at him. “Didn’t I make it abundantly clear that I didn’t want to talk to or see anyone?”
“Yes, and normally I would let you go through whateverthisisyou’re doing,” he gestures at me, “to handle what happened. But since you’re not answering anyone’s calls—your family, their publicist, and the media have been calling me. Being your personal secretary has become a full-time job, and I already haveone. So either you take some steps to face what happened, or I’ll invite everyone who calls me on your behalf to talk to you in person—even if they’re reporters. I don’t care if the middle of our living room turns into a press conference. I just need my phone to go back to normal.”
I sigh. “Fine. Let her in.”
West goes to open the door, and my mum walks in. Without a word, she heads straight to the couch where I threw my phone. She picks it up, pulls out her phone from her bag, and mine starts ringing in her hand.
“So it does work, and you have been avoiding my calls.” She raises an eyebrow at me.
“Sorry,” I mutter.
“I’ll go get the tea,” West says, retreating to the kitchen.
“It’s okay, sweetie,” she says, her gaze softening. “The whole situation is… messy, for lack of a better word, but it would have been nice to know how you’re doing.” She sits down on the couch in front of me, setting her brown bag back on the floor and smoothing out her matching dress. “How are you doing?”
I look at the art on the walls. “Fine,” I lie. I haven’t really been fine since that night in September. And I don’t know if I will ever be again.
She opens her mouth twice, hesitating, but the third time, she finally says it. “So, you and Cornelia broke up because you had sex with her mother?” She looks like the very question makes her uncomfortable and disgusted.
Can’t blame her. Every time I think about it, I feel disgusted too.
I nod, biting my cheek.
“One sugar and a splash of milk?” West asks my mother as he sets down a tray I didn’t know we owned with a kettle, teacups, and all the shit needed for a proper tea, and sits beside me.
She nods. “Yes, please,” and then she turns to me. “I have to ask, sweetie, does me being your mother cause you to have some unresolved issues with women?”
I glance at West, who almost bursts out laughing but contains himself. If my mother weren’t here, I’d flick him off. He shouldn’t be finding this hilarious, especially when he actually has a thing for older women.
“No,” I answer.
Talking about this with my mother is probably one of my worst nightmares.
“Then why did you sleep with her mother?”
West was very focused on serving the tea, likely because it was the first time he’d ever made or even served it. But that question piqued his interest, probably because he’d been asking me the same thing. Both of them look at me instantly. I feel all the attention on me, and on this topic, it overwhelms me.
“I—I don’t want to talk about it,” I say, though it comes out more like a shout.
“But—”
I cut her off. “We… we can talk about anything else except that.”
“Fine,” she sighs as West hands her a teacup. “Thank you,” she tells him, taking a sip. “I’ve talked to your Aunt Clarisse, and Nate hasn’t been very talkative either, but we both agree the best course of action is for you two to meet up and talk it out.”
“Not happening,” I state flatly. If I never see Nate again, it will be toosoon.
“You have to talk to him; if you don’t, how will you two fix what happened?”
“I don’t want to fix anything,” I snap.
My mother looks like she’s not going to let this go. She turns to West. “West, help me here.”
“I’d prefer to stay out of it,” West says. He’s on my side regarding Nate.
