Page 87 of Mercy
“Mom, this is Dr. Liam Lexington, Liam this is my mom, Sophia.”
She walks around the car and throws her arms around me and whispers to me, “How old are you?”
I answer, “Forty-one.”
“Oh shit. Good luck. I don’t care, but my forty-five-year-old husband will not be pleased.”
“I assumed.”
She stands back and looks at me, “As long as my daughter is happy, I’m happy. But Gilbert won’t see it the same way. I hope you have your bullet proof vest on,” she laughs.
“Yeah, I don’t have one of those.”
“I’m kidding, he won’t shoot you. Probably not anyway.” Sighing she says, “Let’s go get this over with, so we can have a nice visit.”
Mercy takes my hand, gripping it hard, as we walk through the front door. What happens if he won’t accept our relationship? Is she the type to end things if her parents don’t approve? That scares me far more than getting shot.
We walk in and he’s sitting in a recliner reading a paper and holding a glass of what appears to be scotch.
Looking up from his paper, he arches an eyebrow at me.
“You’re the boyfriend?”
“Yes, sir. Well, fiancé I suppose. I asked Mercy to marry me, and she said yes.” I hoped that the fact that I was serious about her might soften him. No such luck.
“I don’t think so,” he says before downing his drink.
“Sir?”
“How old are you?”
My hands are sweating, I don’t get intimidated by anyone, but I am right now. It feels like he holds my future in his hands and he’s about to crush it.
“Forty-One.”
He laughs, “Four years younger than I am, and you’re fucking a little girl, my little girl. You have quite the nerve to step into my home.”
Tears run down her face.
“This is how this will go. You’re going to stay away from my daughter. If you don’t, I guarantee you, I will make your life hell.”
I rub the stubble on my jaw, this is going far worse than I had even thought it would go, “I’m sorry to have upset you, but I can’t stay away from Mercy.”
He sits his empty glass on the small table beside him, “Very well, then you have brought this on yourself.”
Mercy takes my hand, “Come on Liam, let’s go. This was obviously a terrible idea.”
Her mom gets upset, “No, don’t go. Gilbert stop this! She’s the only child I have left!”
Mercy pulls on my hand, urging me to the door, as I hear his final words, “Don’t come back to my house until you're done with this rebellious stage. No daughter of mine would act like such a whore. Now leave.”
Every muscle in my body tenses. My jaw is clenched so tight that it clicks.
“Liam, no. Let’s go,” Mercy pleads.
We get into the car and leave, heading home since we had already checked out of the hotel. It’s a long two-hour drive with my girl crying most of the way. Once we pull into the driveway, I’m relieved. I want to take her in my arms and make her feel better. Walking inside, I try to do just that. But she steps back from me, “No!”
What the hell?
