AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Fuck.” The strength of the word surprised her. “You wondered that? You thought I….” He cut himself off. “And my mother….”
“Well, you see, there’s only one proof for not being a bigot, Bastian. And that’s not acting like one. Your mom may know a swell couple from the Virgin Islands and be all yippee-for-diversity, but attitude isn’t something you pull out of a hat. Magical attitudes don’t matter, not to me. What matters is what I see.”
“What did you see?”
“Same thing you did. She went off with no provocation. All I did was show up at her party.On her precious son’s arm. And she came at me about where I’m living and my career and my connections and then she went and repeated it all to you in case you missed it the first time. Can you honestly tell me she does that with your other dates?”
“No,” he said. “But how do you know it wasn’t because you’re the first woman I’ve brought along that I actually like?”
“You….” That threw her for a moment. “Okay, but why would she loathe someone just on that basis? I’m not buying it.”
“Has anyone ever told you your debating style is…”
“Irrefutable? Incontestable?”
“Argumentative.”
“Only everyone who knows me. Well? Are you saying rudeness is the norm for your mother? A socially practiced woman like her?”
“I already admitted she was worse today. But that’s how she is. She has her own idea of what kind of woman is suitable. Any chance she gets, she presses me toward it.”
“Oh, I’m sure if I were part of the wealthy, connected set she’d play it differently.”
“You’re right. She’d be sickeningly sweet and push us together. If she knew your actual credentials, she’d have been a lot sweeter to you.”
“But her attitude would still be there, underneath it all.”
“It would bother you?”
“Oh, no, not at all, it’s fun being hated.”
He frowned.
She sighed. “Actually, if she did her fake sweet act with me, worked it really hard, I probably wouldn’t care what her issues were. But over time it would become too obvious to ignore.” She stared at him. “I get that you don’t want your mother to be this way. What I don’t understand is why you’re defending her.”
His frown deepened. “Is that what I’m doing?”
“I feel like I’m trying to prove a point I shouldn’t even need to prove. My word should be enough.”
There was a lull as he stopped at a red light. It turned green and the powerful car purred into motion as his voice came in a low growl. “When you came over and stood by me, I was close to doing something violent. I can’t listen to her insults against you.” He glanced her way. “Don’t say it.”
Say what? That until recently, you were also in the anti-Paula camp?She bit her tongue. “And?”
“And this is why I barely see her. I stay away. My mother is a toxic bitch. I’m well aware of what she is. I feel no need to defend her.”
“And yet you are. By not admitting what she is.”
He said slowly, “You’re right that it hasn’t been on my radar. And you’re right, I don’t want to believe my own mother would…shit, I can’t even say it. I don’t want it to affect you.” He shifted in his seat. “To hurt you. Now or in the future.”
“The future? You think we’ll know each other in the future?”
“Without a doubt,” he said with fervor, his hand abandoning the steering wheel to reach across the seat and grasp hers.
She stared at their clasped hands. She could almost believe in Bastian’s sincerity. “Then I’m sorry, but you can’t make it a non-issue simply by wishing it away.”
Out the window, the passing light displays magnified her suddenly acute sense of loneliness.
“It’s not like I anticipate being attacked. If anything it’s the reverse. I give too much credit, and that’s how I get burned.”
