11 - Dean
“Hello, mother,” I say as she opens the front door.
“Dean, darling. When are you going to stop calling me that! It sounds so formal.” Probably never. Her hands fly up to her mouth and she motions to my arm. “What happened!”
“Occupational hazard,” I say with a grin. “Just got the cast on today.”
“When did this happen. We can get Dr. Long to look at it this evening!”
“Mother, I’ve been to the hospital already. It’s broken in two places but they set it and put a cast on it. It’s fine, just a bit sore.”
She makes a noise and I smile as she ushers me inside. I can smell the roast already, and I take a deep breath in. My mother’s new cook came highly recommended, and I can already see why.
We walk through the grand foyer and into the living room. They’ve hired a new decorator. The overstuffed sofas and Persian rugs of my youth have been replaced with an ultra-sleek, modern-looking decor. I whistle.
“Big change!”
My mother waves her hand lazily. “Oh, you know. It was time for something fresh. Change is always good.”
My eyebrows shoot towards my hairline as I nod. “I’ll agree with you there, change is definitely good.” My thoughts drift to Sam. I can still see her as she drove, when the sun was shining on her face making it look like she had a halo. Change is definitely good.
My mother floats towards the bar and pours us both a drink. I take the glass of whiskey and sniff, already knowing it’ll be the best of the best. She sits down beside me as my father enters the room.
“Dean!” He exclaims in his big booming voice. He walks in with his arms outstretched, dominating the whole room. He is always the centre of attention. “How is my favourite son doing today. I’m glad you could make it. What’s this!”
He points to my cast and I’m already tired of explaining myself. I’m guessing it’ll be happening a lot these days.
I tell them both about the twins’s birthday party this morning, but I leave out the part where Sam drove me to the hospital. It feels wrong to tell them about it. I want to keep her locked away far away from them, far from where they can taint her.
“Will you be able to come in to work on Monday?” My father asks, eyeing my cast. I chuckle and shake my head. The only thing he’s ever been concerned with is work.
“Yeah, I’ll be fine. Might be a bit slower when I type but the rest of me is still fully functional.”
“Good. Well! We have a surprise for you and it sounds like it’s just arriving!” He says as the doorbell rings. It’s not a regular doorbell, it sounds like chimes ringing through the entire mansion. I raise my eyebrows and look towards the living room entrance. My mother jumps up out of her seat and smooths her hands over her pants. I hear the clack-clack-clack of heels walking down the hardwood floors. Alarm bells start ringing in my head.
I know that walk.
I stand up just as Victoria turns the corner. Her eyes float up to mine and my veins turn to ice. My stomach drops and all I can do is stare at her. My mother glides over to her, crooning and saying things I can’t quite understand. All I can do is stare at the woman who broke my heart.
She’s perfectly made up, as usual. Her jet black hair is pulled into a low bun, and her clothes look expensive and perfectly tailored. Her purse hangs lazily off her forearm. She greets my mother with a kiss on either cheek and turns her eyes to me. A chill runs down my spine and I’m still frozen in place.
“Well don’t just stand there, Dean, come and say hello!” My mother’s voice draws me out of my stupor. I swing my eyes to her and frown.
“What is she doing here?”
“Dean,” she titters nervously, “don’t be so rude.”
“I’ll be as rude as I fucking want,” I snap. “What is she doing here?”
“We invited her, son,” my father says as he puts his hand on my shoulder. “Victoria has been speaking to us and she says she’s ready to forgive you for leaving her like you did.”
“Wait, what? She’s ready to forgive me?” Am I Alice? Is this Wonderland? Is everything backwards? What is going on!
My mother walks over to me, guiding Victoria closer. With every clack of her heels on the ground it’s like a dagger pierces my heart. She gets close enough that I can smell that perfume she always wears - the one I grew to hate. I shake my head.
“Is this why you had me over for dinner? I should have known,” I say with a scoff. “It’s never just about having dinner with you two. There’s always an ulterior motive and it’s always self-serving. Unbe-fucking-lievable,” I say, side-stepping and heading for the exit.
“Dean!” my mother shouts. I stop in my tracks and spin around. She’s breathing heavily, her chest heaving up and down. “It would be a good idea for you to reconsider your attitude.” Is that a threat? “Victoria has been gracious enough to come over and hear you out, the least you can do is spend a bit of time with her.”
“She was gracious enough to come alone, I see. Or is your lover waiting for you in the car?” My words come out like venom and Victoria bristles. Finally, she speaks.
“Dean, baby, I just came over to try to fix things up. Your mother has been inconsolable, you know how much is riding on our wedding. I told you I was sorry.” Her voice is sickly sweet and she sways her hips as she walks towards me. Her heels bang on the ground and I resist the urge to shiver. I take a step back as she raises her hand to touch my arm.
“Enjoy your roast,” I say before spinning on my heels and walking out. I make my way to the black Bentley and slide inside. I remember when my parents bought this car for me, how happy I was. Now it’s nothing but a reminder of their power over me.
I sigh and bang my hand on the steering wheel with my good hand. “Fuck!” I yell. My heart is thumping and I can’t think straight. She’s been talking to my parents? They’re not going to let this go. It sounded like my mother was threatening me! I take a deep breath and start the car.
This is an automatic, at least, so I can drive myself around even with an injured arm. The car rumbles to life silently, and I put it into gear. It’s a gorgeous car, and it drives like a dream, but it’s too flashy for me. I don’t like taking it anywhere because it gets too many looks. When I drive out of my parent’s gate, I let out a sigh.
So much for dinner.
I pull over on the side of the road and shift my weight to get my phone out of my pocket.
Dinner ended a bit early. How about that drink? Where are you?
I lean back in my seat and take a deep breath. The best thing I can do to get Victoria and my parents out of my mind is to see Sam. Even if she wasn’t attractive and smart and sexy, at least she’s normal.