Page 41 of Pretend I’m Yours
Though I wasn’t surprised by his threat, it still stung a bit nonetheless. So, after another moment of hesitation, I pushed the door further open. I didn’t want to talk to them at all, but I knew they wouldn’t leave until they said what they had come to say. As far as I was concerned, there wasn’t anything for us to say to each other.
I was living my life, and they had chosen their own path that took them out of it. They would rather have their money and their status in society. I would rather help those I felt had a fighting chance if they were equipped with the right tools.
“Sit wherever,” I said.
My parents walked to the living room and perched on the couch, looking as stiff and uncomfortable as I felt.
“Do you want anything to drink?” I asked. “You know what’s here.”
Both declined and sat waiting for me to join them. I chose to remain standing. I never felt comfortable in their presence these days, and I was too agitated to sit down. I was suddenly glad Drake wasn’t there. I didn’t want to have to deal with them treating him like shit.
“What do you want?” I asked. “I’ve got a lot of studying I need to do, and don’t really have the time to just sit around and chat.”
“The gala the other day,” my mother said. “You’re married?”
I sighed and looked up at the ceiling. Even though I had told Drake that I had handled things with my parents, I hadn’t told them about my arrangement. There was no way they would have understood what I was doing, and I’d felt it was better just to leave them in the dark since the situation wasn’t permanent. I did know, however, that the information would get back to them. I just hadn’t expected them to confront me with it in person and so quickly.
“Yep,” I simply said, choosing not to give too many details. “How could you do something so important without including your mother and I in it?” my father asked, the disappointment evident in his voice.
“I’m an adult and I can do what I want. And I cut you out of my life because of how you treat me. If you wanted me to be your daughter, then you should be my parents and support me,” I said as I tried to keep my temper under control. I didn’t want to go back into how they had always shit on my dreams and were never there for me.
They were some of the most discouraging people I had ever met, and I didn’t care what they had to say any longer about any part of my life.
“It really isn’t that far of a stretch to think I’d make a decision like this without you. We met, we clicked, we married. Simple as that,” I said.
“We are here to be your parents and tell you that this is unacceptable,” my mother said. “We don’t know this person, who he is, where he came from, or what he wants.”
“All you should worry about is whether I’m happy,” I replied.
“He’s using you for your money,” she said flatly.
“You just admitted you don’t know a thing about him! How the hell can you say that he’s using me for anything?” I asked with a laugh. “Maybe I’m using him for his.”
“That’s ridiculous. You have more money than you could ever possibly ask for. You don’t need to use anyone else’s. But then, you’d have to admit that you are part of the family if you take the money, wouldn’t you?” my father asked. “Admit that you aren’t just another good Samaritan out there on the streets just living the selfless life.”
“Not that you would know anything about living selflessly,” I said.
“That’s enough!” my mother rose from her perch on the couch. “We didn’t come here to bicker with you about what you are doing with your life, though we did hope that you would be making better choices.”
“I make great choices,” I said, but she ignored me.
“The fact of the matter is that we don’t care how much money that man has, or what you think you’re doing with him. We’re here to put an end to it,” she said.
“You don’t know him!” I snapped. “And how do you think you’re going to put an end to it?”
“Seeing him mingle with the others at the gala was painful. That look on his face made me think he was either going to faint dead away or get sick on the spot,” she shook her head in disgust.
“Your mother’s right. We don’t know where he got his money or how long he’s had it, but it’s clear that he’s not cut out to mix with the people we do, and he’s not welcome back,” my father said.
