“I think this is my favorite part of the night,” he said as he curled his body around mine. “What do you think ?”

I sighed, there were no words to express how happy I was. Earl was everything that I could hope for in a boyfriend. He didn’t push me to spend time at his place, knowing the lavishness of it made me uncomfortable. Some would say that we were moving too fast, but everything with him felt right. This was the third night he’d spent in my apartment. Even though it added time to his morning commute he never once complained about it. Somehow, I had hit the jackpot with Earl .

“I have no complaints,” I told him honestly .

“Good.” He nuzzled against my neck. “I wish I didn’t have to work tomorrow .”

“Yeah,” I agreed. “I thought since you were the boss you could pick your own hours. I’d love to get you alone for a whole day and night .”

“Oh yeah?” he said .

His boner pressed against me and I giggled. His sexual appetite was just as ferocious as my own. If we could have stayed in bed all the time, it would have been perfect. The real world though loved to get in the way. If his assistant wasn’t calling with one appointment or another then it was my sister looking for support in her fight against family drama .

“Have you talked to Selina at all?” he asked me .

“Not since this afternoon. I don’t know what is going on between her and Mom, but it’s getting ugly. She said that your dad and Opal were fighting a lot .”

“Well,” Earl said. “I think that the best thing we can do is stay out of it. Be there for Selina as support, but don’t get sucked in .”

“I agree,” I told him as I butted my rear up against him. “My mother and her problems can stay far away from us .”

He reached around and pinched my nipple, I squealed with delight. Just as I turned around to give him more access, someone pounded at my door .

I bolted up in bed. “I wonder who that is .”

“Do you want me to answer it ?”

I shook my head and pulled my dress back over my body. “No, my neighbor likes her boyfriends. They sometimes get the room numbers mixed up. If I had to guess, it’s probably some poor sap looking for a good time .”

“That doesn’t make me feel much better .”

I chuckled. “Don’t worry, they are mostly harmless .”

“Mostly?” he called after me .

I laughed again and went around the corner to the front door. Peeking out the security hole my heart started to race. Suddenly, I wished it had been a drunken boyfriend of my neighbors. I took a deep breath and undid the chain holding the door closed .

“What do you want?” I hissed at my mother .

She stepped past me, not bothering to ask first before barging in. Her eyes were bloodshot, she’d been drinking again .

“What the fuck do you think you are doing?” she asked me, her voice slurred. “Do you have any idea how long it took me to set this god damn marriage up ?”

“Excuse me? What the hell are you talking about ?”

“You think a whore doesn’t know another whore? Whatever con you’ve got running on that boy of his I want you out of it now!” she boomed .

“You are drunk,” I said pointedly. “And I don’t have to answer to you. My life with Earl is none of your business .”

“The hell it isn’t! I spent three god damn years buttering up that old man. Do you know how long it takes to get an old man’s dick hard? Three years! I’ll be damned if I’m going to lose out on my money because of a new, younger toy .”

“Oh my god,” I said. “You’ve lost your damn mind !”

She took a step forward, her finger raised up and pointing at me though it wavered in her current state. I was blown away by her accusations that I was using Earl or that I was like her in any way at all. She was the last person on Earth that I had anything in common with. I knew that she was playing Gary, but he was no fool. I doubted if anything really slipped past him. Earl had told me a few nights ago that most of the time his father just pretended to drown people out to get out of conversations .

“You,” she slurred again. As she stepped forward, she lost her balance and grabbed ahold of the table. “That old fart doesn’t do a damn thing and now all the sudden he’s got meetings at night? I know when a new cunt is trying to get her piece .”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Are you seriously accusing me of sleeping with your husband ?”

“Nope!” she said in a fit of rage. “You are fucking his son !”

“Again,” I said through clenched teeth. “What I do with my life is none of your business. I’ve tried to stay out of yours .”

“Bullshit,” she blurted out .

There was nothing I could do to reason with her. She wanted to believe that I was stealing her meal ticket and no one’s opinion was going to change that. I heard shuffling and looked up. To my horror, I saw Earl standing in the hallway, slowly tucking in his shirt. I could tell from the horrified look on his face that he had heard everything .

“Earl,” I whispered .

He ignored me and went to my mother. “You bitch. You’re using my father .”

She stumbled backwards and gasped, having just realized that Earl was standing in front of her. She looked from him to me and her eyes narrowed into a hateful glare that I knew all too well. The flush of her cheeks wasn’t just from the wine anymore, now it was rage that made her look like a man in drag .

“You!” she hissed so loudly that it shook my eardrums. “You led me here as a trap! You let me say all of those things with him in your apartment !”

“What?” I exclaimed in shock .

“Don’t you dare try to turn this back around on Tabitha!” Earl boomed .

We both jumped, but my mother was quicker to recover. “How dare you try to tear me and your father apart!” she bellowed. “What have I ever done to you? Our love isn’t going to be broken by you or her though .”

“Are you kidding me right now? After everything that I just heard, you think I’m going to buy that shit ?”

“Thank you,” I said .

He spun around and glared at me. My heart skipped then sank to my stomach. “I am not defending you. I can’t believe that you knew about this,” he said .

“Earl,” I begged him. “I didn’t know ab — ”

“I don’t want to hear it!” he yelled. Turning back to my mother his voice got eerily quiet. “And you, just wait until my father hears about this. I think he’ll be interested to know how you really feel about him .”

“Son,” my mother begged in a pathetic display .

“Earl,” I said quickly taking his arm .

He pulled away from me. The door slammed behind him, making me jump. I stood there frozen for a minute before turning my rage back to my mother .

“You did this,” I hissed. “You ruin everything that you touch! You are a monster .”

She pulled her jacket around herself tightly and looked down at me, “Oh don’t be such a brat. I think we’ve got a good thing going here. You can go after the younger one and I’ll stay on the father. One of us is bound to end up on top. I’ll even go fifty-fifty .”

“Are—” I stammered in shock. “Are you kidding me right now? You just ran off the man that I love! I never want to see you again !”

“Suit yourself,” she said with absolute disdain. “You never were very bright. I’ll come out on top of this, just you wait and see. That disgusting man would never pick his son over me. Not with what I do to him .”

“Get out!” I screamed at the top of my lungs .

To my petty happiness the shriek made my mother jump and she quickly scurried to the door like a rat from a sinking ship. She didn’t stop to tell me goodbye or bother to shut the door after herself, but I didn’t care. I was just glad that she was gone. Standing in the silence, though, my mind started to process everything that had just happened. Earl was gone .

My heart felt like it was being crushed. I stumbled backwards and collapsed down onto the couch as it dawned on me. The week of beauty and love was over and now he was done with me. He thought that I knew what a monster she was, but how could I fathom such a beast? Everything that had happened was my fault. It was too good to be true so it could never last. The pain coursed through me, taking over all the wonderful places of pleasure. Now they were just painful reminders that Earl was gone .

I wanted to call him, but there was nothing to say. He would think what he wanted and I couldn’t stop him. Still, I couldn’t survive this alone. With shaking hands, I dialed my sister’s number and managed to tell her what happened between crushing sobs. The conversation was brief, but it was done. An hour later she was sitting on the couch with me, playing the role that my mother abandoned. We did it for each other because that was all we had left .

“I—” I could barely speak. “I don’t know why she came here .”

Selina shifted as she stoked my hair. “I think I might. We got into a fight last night, a pretty big one. I had no idea she was taking money from Gary on the side .”

“What?” I stammered .

“Yeah. Well I was looking at getting my own place so I had the bank run a credit check. Turns out my credit is great because I have almost a million dollars in offshore accounts .”

I gasped. “What !”

“Don’t get jealous, though, because you do too. I hope you don’t mind, I had them run yours as well. I didn’t know what to do! I thought someone was stealing our identities so I called Gary because he knows all those high-powered attorneys and stuff. It was a huge thing that happened last week .”

“That’s why you were so upset with her,” I said, connecting the dots finally .

“Well, aren’t you? She was stealing money from her husband and hiding it under our names! Who knows what else she’s done .”

I frowned, I had a pretty good idea. I knew what kind of person she was. “Yeah, I’m upset about it, but then why did she come here ?”

“Well,” she stalled. “I might have told her that you and Earl were a thing in a fit of rage .”

I groaned. “Why ?”

“Because she kept going on and on about how Gary and Earl were both morons and she was going to take everything from the father then move onto the son. I just go so angry .”

“Hey,” I said as I pulled her into my arms. “It’s not your fault okay? This whole mess isn’t your fault. You just got caught in the crossfire. Everything will work itself out in the end okay ?”

“Promise me that you’ll never leave me,” she said in a soft voice .

I squeezed her tighter. “I promise you, Selina, I won’t ever leave you and Mom can go to hell .”

She laughed softly. “Yeah. She can go right to hell .”