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“She’s stalking you?” my mother asks.
“Aren’t there laws against that?” my father says, not looking concerned as he sucks on his cigar.
“Of course I can understand her not wanting to let you go. Are you sure that she’s not someone you can care about? Your father and I would love to have grandchildren someday,” my mother asks.
I hold in my laugh, because I’m pretty sure Theo won’t let his kids go anywhere near my parents. Not after the way they treated him. And at the rate I’m going, I’d be lucky if I ever dated again. It isn’t just because I don’t feel I could trust a woman after Hayden. It’s because any woman I date won’t be Charlotte.
“I’ve been talking with my attorney and giving him all the text and photos and-”
“What photos?” my father demands, now taking an interest in this conversation.
I let out a long sigh. “She took a video of us together and has sent me screenshots and clips of it over the last few months.”
My parents look perplexed, clearly not understanding my implication.
“In an intimate situation,” I clarify.
My mother’s jaw drops and my father’s scowl deepens even further.
“Are you saying there’s a sex tape with you in it?” my father asks, his voice as dark as I’ve ever heard it before.
“That’s what I’m saying.” I try to be nonchalant, but it’s no easy thing to tell parents about a video of a sexual encounter that could be made public.
My mother begins to cry. “Oliver, how could you do such a thing?”
“I didn’t, mother. She did it without my knowledge, and now she’s using it against me. Which can impact you and Theo.”
“This is Theo’s fault,” my mother cries, reaching over and getting a tissue from the box on the lamp table.
“What? How?” I’m not surprised that she’d blame him, but I can’t quite figure out her thinking.
“If he wasn’t famous and someone that the paparazzi always wants to embarrass, there wouldn’t be any interest in you,” she sniffs angrily.
I gape at her. “This is my fault, mother.”
“What does she want?” my father asks, ignoring my mother.
“She says she wants me to get back with her. It’s hard to believe she still wants that. I suspect she likes making me squirm.” I decide to not tell them at this point that she can’t make me squirm anymore. Let her release the video. I don’t give a fuck. “I plan to see her in the next day or so and I’ll see what she wants then.”
My mother rises from her chair and comes to sit next to me on the loveseat, her hands gripping my forearm. “Oliver, you have to give her whatever she wants. If she wants to be with you, you need to get with her. We cannot have something like this come out. It would humiliate and shame your family.”
I look down at my mother’s hands as they clutch my forearm, and for a moment I consider her and my father’s feelings. But then I remember that their reaction is all about their image. They don’t care about how this is going to impact me.
“I’m beyond caring about the fallout,” I say.
“I won’t let you bring this family down, Oliver,” my father says, pointing his cigar at me.
“What family?”
My mother yanks her hands away as if my arm burned her. I continue:
“You loved me only when I was achieving, and lucky for me I was good at it. But now that I’m struggling, all you can worry about is your own reputations. I always felt bad for Theo in the way that you dismissed him, but now I’m thinking he got the better end of the deal because he was able to break away and make a life for himself.” I stand and begin to pace as agitation sizzles through my body.
“That’s a terrible thing to say,” my mother whimpers, wiping her tears.
“It’s true. Theo owns his own production company. He’s the biggest star in the world, and you two still treat him like the proverbial unwanted step-child.”
“That’s not-”
