“Hello.” The sound of my mother’s nasal voice crept into my head. She greeted me in an agitated way that led me to believe it wasn’t the first time she said it, but to be fair, she sounded agitated most of the time when she spoke to me.
“Val. Shit.” And there she was standing, ramrod straight and lean, in my living room, perfectly angled to see into my bedroom. We had left the door open because, well, why not? This meant she had an unobstructed view of Brooks’s naked ass as he thrust into me. I couldn’t tell how long she had been standing there, but from the red on her cheeks it was certainly long enough.
I sprang off Brooks, knowing it had to hurt us both, and threw the bed sheet at him, which he quickly wrapped around his body. As my mother went out of sight, hopefully leaving never to return, I scrambled for clothing.
“Who’s Val?” Brooks asked as he shut the door.
“My mother,” I hissed.
“Damn.” He let out a low whistle.
“Yeah. Damn.”
“Well, what do we do now?” He gathered his clothing.
“I have no idea.” I pulled on black leggings and an oversized shirt since I had an abundance of them lying around. “Just stay here. I’m going to talk to her.”
“Shouldn’t I come too?”
I didn’t answer him. I took the few short steps into the living room and sat next to my mother on the sofa, because it was the only seat left. When I noticed Val was dressed similar to me, I had to resist the urge to change.
“How’d you get in here?”
“That’s the first thing you say to me after the depravity I just witnessed?”
“I thought I took your key off of you.”
She gave me an Are you kidding me? look that prominently featured the stink eye. “I need a key to your place, Ollie. Let’s not have this conversation again. Now, care to explain what I saw?”
It was a battle to not respond with You have a kid. I shouldn’t have to explain sex to you. “Well, Mom, you wouldn’t have seen anything if you didn’t just barge in my apartment.”
“Do not take that tone with me, little girl. Or after what I just saw, I guess I should call you a hussy.” She was speaking in a hushed tone, knowing full well he could hear us through the paper-thin wall, while still managing to convey all the anger she felt.
“A what?” My voice got all high and out of control in the way only she and Aaron could make it. “You can’t come in here and call me names. You broke in, and what you saw was your fault!”
“You are speaking to your mother like this? I gave birth to you and raised you and…and…”
She trailed off. She hadn’t been much of a mother to me at all, always more concerned with her friends and new husband. Val’s rant was so comical I wanted to laugh. She was saying the words but didn’t mean them. To be a mother meant to love unconditionally and her love came with so many conditions
Really, I thought she’d at least be happy I finally had a boyfriend. All she ever seemed to be concerned about was my relationship status, and while she didn’t want to see us doing it, at least I had a boyfriend to do it with.
Wait, did I have a boyfriend? He was my boyfriend, right?
Brooks dashed out of my bedroom then, fully dressed, surprisingly good-looking, and all cleaned up.
“Hello, Mrs. Oxmend, I’m William Brooks.” Then he added, “Ollie’s boyfriend.”
She took him in, studied every inch with her narrowed hawk eyes and not a single facial expression. A smile eventually flittered across her face for a split second. Then she turned to me and said, “He doesn’t even know my name?” She was so exasperated by this, like it was the only thing she had to worry about. She even robbed me of the thrill of being called his girlfriend.
“My mom’s new last name is Tyrrell,” I informed Brooks with the toss of my hand and a shrug.
“Of course. Apologies, Mrs. Tyrrell.”
She finally accepted his hand and he kissed hers. God, he was smooth for such a smarty-pants. I knew Brooks couldn’t distract her forever, but I hoped to God I could spare us the awkward safe sex talk that she failed to give me in my younger years
“So, you two are dating?” She perked up a bit and pressed her red, lined lips together.
“Yes,” we said in unison. I looked at him and smiled, feeling our connection growing.
“He looks a bit old…” She said it with a roll of her head in my direction and in a stage whisper.
“He’s a doctor!” I spoke a little too loudly, as if I just remembered it.
“Ohhh.” She clapped her hands together in a horribly embarrassing seal-like way. “What kind, sweetheart?” She patted the poorly put together Ikea coffee table for him to sit.
He did, while I worried it wouldn’t hold him and wondered why he got a nice pet name.
“Veterinary. I’m a surgeon. Minimally invasive procedures are my specialty.”
I watched her frown a bit at the thought of an animal doctor, but then she confirmed my suspicions and said, “A doctor’s a doctor.”
Just as I was starting to relax, she asked, “How long has this thing been going on?”
I started to answer her, but Brooks fielded it. “Mrs. Tyrrell, I realize our meeting has been less than ideal, but your daughter and I mean a lot to each other. We’re very close, and I’m sure it was only a matter of time before Ollie introduced us formally. I’m just crazy about her, and despite what your first impression of me might be, I have more respect for Ollie and her feelings than you can imagine.”
He had a way with words, but there was no way she was going to buy that. Hell, I was the one he was saying it about and I wasn’t buying it.
He was perfection personified, and in no way meant to be mine, my mother had to be seeing that.
I looked at Val to study her reaction. To my surprise, a single tear sat motionlessly on her cheek for a fraction of a second before rolling down. Then a smile spanned her lips that reached her eyes. She appeared so foreign to me in that moment, all soft motherly love and pride, crying happy tears.
It was obvious where I got my dramatic side from. Can you imagine how she’d react if she saw me get proposed to?
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, William,” she told him.
***
Brooks took us all out to eat at a fancy restaurant I’d never been to or even heard of. We didn’t get to go to his special place, but he assured me he thought it was more important we spent time with my mother. I never thought spending more time with Val, or any time for that matter, was a good idea, but when it was his idea I could agree to it—as long as he’d be there.
The thought of her retelling the story of how she first met my boyfriend to all her friends left me nauseated, but maybe a fancy dinner and more Brooks charm would whitewash the memory a shade or two. She could say he took her to an expensive dinner and it wouldn’t even be a lie.
In a way I was kind of proud. I had a handsome doctor in my life, which was all she ever wanted for me, and I wasn’t jumping through hoops to impress her with him. I wanted him all to myself, really.
The evening wasn’t unbearable due largely to the fact that Brooks kept touching my thigh under the table. When he was feeling particularly frisky, he’d push his fingers all the way up to my panty line and tease me while I’d do my best not to convulse and cause a scene.
Val embarrassed me a few times in her own brand of hurtful Val-humor, but when she said something too uncomfortable to laugh off, Brooks would clasp my hand and hold it on the table. I was feeling such strange, new emotions, my heart was practically swelling with both good and bad.
Brooks was accurate when he told my mother we were close. He seemed to know me so well, but not at all at the same time, and that was exactly what I needed from him. He knew the me who was better. He knew the me who could be happy and sexy and funny and adventurous.
He was getting to know the girl I always dreamed of being but never thought I’d become.
On the other hand, he had no idea that I absolutely hated any and all PDA, even innocent hand-holding. But, again, with Brooks it only seemed right to touch him at all possible opportunities.
The darkness still played in the corners of my mind, but Brooks’s light did a good job of keeping it at bay, making even the darkest things about me seem shadowy instead of concrete. I couldn’t help but wonder, though, if he could still feel affection for me if he saw it.