Chapter 47
Chapter
Forty-Seven
Kate’s mother wasn’t working until second shift, so both her parents were home and waiting for her when she arrived back at around eight thirty that morning.
After a quick, goggle-eyed look at her disheveled clothes, her mother stirred her coffee way past the point of necessity and simply stared at her.
Her father, on the other hand, threw down his copy of the Oakland Tribune.
“Where were you last night?” he barked out.
She winced. She knew how it had to look. She was wearing yesterday’s clothes, no makeup, and her hair was a frizzy, air-dried mess.
Because it’s not a true shame walk unless you’re in front of your Irish Catholic family.
But the real capper was the newspaper, with its big, bold headline:
Fiendish Secretary Denies Banging her Boss.
“I can explain,” she said reflexively.
“God damn it!” her father exploded, and both Kate and her mother winced. “I’m going to have to face all my friends—cops, damn it—and listen to those guys talking about how my daughter’s a slut. Is that what you wanted?”
“If you read the article or saw the press conference,” Kate said, trying to keep her voice calm and reasonable, “then you’d know that reporter was baiting me, Dad.
She brought up Thomas’s relationships with old secretaries, and then threw my temping in my face like it was something to be ashamed of. She even brought up San Clemente...”
“And how the hell did she know about that?” His face was as red as his hair had once been, his eyes wild.
“I have no idea! It’s not like I told her!” Kate snapped back.
Her mother’s lips were pursed like she’d just eaten a moldy strawberry. “Well, it’s not like the reporter was lying.”
Kate turned to her mother, letting out a hiss of dismay.
“You haven’t kept a job,” her mother said, with more exhaustion in her voice than fury. “You haven’t been able to start a career. And that boss of yours! I’ve read about him. His last secretary died under suspicious circumstances, did you know that?”
Kate felt anger bubble in her bloodstream. “She killed herself, Mom. She had cancer, she was in a lot of pain, and she killed herself.”
“Oh, really? Did your new boss tell you that?” her mother slapped back.
“The one that you spent the night with last night?” her father tacked on, adding his punch to the combination.
Kate wanted to sink down in one of the kitchen chairs. They were sitting there, like judges in a tribunal, and standing made her feel like the accused. Hell, she was the accused.
On the other hand...like her mother said. It wasn’t like they were lying, was it?
It wasn’t like they were wrong.
“I know I don’t do things the way you want me to…” she started.
“Do you ever think?” her father demanded, cutting across her words. “Do you ever think about the consequences of what you do? Do you ever even give a shit about anyone but yourself?”
“I know I’m a fuck up,” she said, ignoring the flash of her mother’s eyes at her language. “But I do what I do with good intentions.”
“That means exactly nothing,” her father growled.
“No, it means that I don’t do what you want me to, and that makes things hard for you,” Kate shot back, taking a step toward her father.
“I can’t even tell you what I’ve been through in the past week, and at this point, I’m not even sure you’d care.
But this isn’t about what’s best for me.
This is you worrying that your friends are going to judge me and you’re going to have to deal with what it looks like.
Do you care if I’m hurt or unhappy? If I’m in over my head? ”
“You’re not,” he snapped bitterly. “If you were, you’d have already asked us to bail you out.”
That stung, even more because she suspected it was the truth. Hadn’t she always been looking to someone, anyone, to bail her out?
Even now she was flailing, desperately struggling for help.
Only this time, it was quite clear. She didn’t have anyone. Not her family, sure as hell not her new lover and boss. Not even Prue.
“You’re right,” she said. Then she turned and headed for her room.
“We’re not finished here!” her father bellowed.
“I’ll be right back,” she called out. She headed to her room, shutting the door behind her.
She quickly set up a ride, then grabbed her largest duffel bag out of her closet, stuffing jeans, T-shirts, and underwear into it haphazardly.
She looked over the Fiendish clothes the store manager and stylist had forced on her, then kept only the few she knew she’d wear.
She’d buy whatever else she needed, she decided.
She then saw the pictures of her family, and of Prue. Biting her lip, she left them there on her bureau.
She grabbed the duffel and hanging clothes and then headed back out.
Her parents saw the belongings, and her mother rolled her eyes. “Oh, for God’s sake. What now? Do you have to make everything a Broadway number?”
“You’re going to go run away to Prue’s, I suppose?” her father asked. “Throw a tantrum like a toddler?”
“No.” Kate went past them, putting the things down on the couch.
She walked back, then let out a deep breath.
“I know what this looks like, and I could tell you I’m not running away, and that this is different, but I think I’ve used up all my ‘trust me’ cards, so let me just say this.
This time, I really did the best I could, the best I knew how at the time.
I truly am sorry for the trouble I’ve caused you, and I’m going to do my best to fix it. “
Her father snorted. But he was also starting to turn his normal ivory color. “Damn it, Kate, I am not interested in your dramatics right now.”
“I know. I just wanted to let you know that I am moving out.”
“For how long this time?” Her mother’s voice was acidic.
Kate let it slide. Instead, she grabbed her phone and opened her banking app, transferring some of her signing bonus from her account to theirs. “I’ve just sent you some money. I’ll send more, as much as I can, as soon as I can. That’s the daily max.”
Her father glanced at it, startling with surprise. Then he scoffed.
“I know that you loaned money to Felix to try to keep me employed,” she continued. “I overheard your phone conversation with him. I know that you might lose the house.”
Now, her father flushed again, not a full red-purple angry but a deep, embarrassed pink. “We’ll manage.”
“I’ll keep sending money,” Kate said, mentally adding at least until Thomas stops signing checks—or until I’m dead. Whichever comes first. “It’s up to you if you take it or not.”
Her mother, who had checked her own phone, stared back in surprise. “This is a few thousand…how did you…?”
Kate sighed, then sent her a tired grin. “Sold my soul, Mom.”
Her mom’s eyes narrowed with confusion.
“Well, technically,” Kate said, with a pained smirk, “I think I used it as collateral.”
“Are you some kind of—” Her mother couldn’t bring herself to say the words, so instead she made a weird waving motion with her hands.
“What, hula dancer? No, I’m not getting paid for sex,” Kate said, when her mother glared at her. “That’s just a perk.”
Her father was on his feet. “Damn it, if you walk out of this house, don’t bother coming back!”
Kate’s cell vibrated. Her driver was messaging her, letting her know he was there. She swallowed hard, looking at the angry, frustrated, disappointed looks on their faces.
“Love you,” Kate whispered, then gathered up her stuff and walked out the door.