AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“She’s waiting in the dining room, sir,” he said.
There was nothing my mother hated more than waiting. And nothing I wanted to do more than keep her waiting forever.
I showered and dressed. I moved in quickly, then slowly, reflecting my two desires. One, I didn’t want to make Mom wait any longer than necessary, and two, I really didn’t want to see her.
Not right now.
Not here.
But she wasn’t going anywhere.
I might as well ask the Zychaphian Mountains to move.
I placed my hand on the sliding door. To get to the dining room, Mom had to pass through it. I said a prayer.
Please tell me no one’s here.
Please tell me they all went home after the party was over.
Please tell me they cleaned up after themselves.
I knew the answer to those questions before I drew the door open, revealing the front room in all its majesty.
The tables were packed with alcohol and other substances I didn’t even want to think about. I never took that stuff but others evidently had.
Bodies lay across the sofas and floor. Most displayed too much skin. Others lay in puddles of their own sick. It might have been the site of a mass murder event.
The hologram TV was on, showing some tasteless Changeling TV show. It looked like the one they called Lovers’ Escape but I wasn’t sure. Just one partier was still conscious. He stared unblinkingly at the show.
“Can you do me a favor and clean up in here?” I said to him.
He just stared. At the TV? Into space? I couldn’t tell.
“Never mind,” I said.
I couldn’t think of a worse sight for my mother to see than the one before me right now. She was a high-class lady with fine sensibilities.
What was I going to say? I decided to tell the truth—it wasn’t like I could deny it. I would add a little twist or two to make it more palatable.
Qat stood beside the door that led to the dining room.
Where she was waiting.
He reached for the door handle but I raised a hand and shook my head. Qat lowered his hand. He was a good friend. Better than I deserved. He was always there for my mother and took great care of her.
But he couldn’t help me now.
Usually, I could get out of these situations by smiling and being happy and easing her worries and concerns. That wasn’t going to happen this time.
Not after all the other times…
I reached for the handle and happened to glance up.
I spotted Mom’s silhouette in the glass, created by sunlight reflecting off it. She was a small figure. Anyone looking at her would have thought her frail but she was anything but. She was strong. She needed to be when it came to running the family’s business empire my father left behind when he died.
I was supposed to step into his shoes when I came of age but that age of requirement just kept getting pushed back further and further. I was twenty-four years old and I was yet to come into my full inheritance. My mother kept dangling it in front of me and pushing it away.
“You’re not ready for it,” she kept saying. “You’re not mature enough yet. Soon, you will be ready.”
