Chapter 42
42
MAGNOLIA
O ver the last two weeks, Kolbi and I did everything we could to avoid being seen out in public. While I figured it was Daniel who’d ratted us out, I wasn’t positive and didn’t want to risk being seen with him now that my mother knew about us. When we did see one another, it was at his place where I knew she wouldn’t randomly show up asking to come in. She must have thought Kolbi wouldn’t tell me about her little sit down with him because she hadn’t said anything to me about her knowing of our relationship. I’d seen her a handful of times since they spoke to help organize the Fourth of July fundraiser, but she hadn’t let on that she knew who I was sleeping next to every night.
Before coming to tonight’s event, we agreed to pretend like we had broken up for the sake of show and his business. He promised me we would make it work and I trusted that we would, but part of me was also deeply worried about how his connection to me would affect his work. He was one of the hardest working people I’d ever met and the last thing I wanted was for that to be ruined because of me. We’d decided that we would stay on opposite sides of the house and to not speak anywhere where we could be seen. His attendance had been requested months ago by my family, long before he and I had gotten together, so it would look odd if he wasn’t here.
As I walked around my childhood home which was packed wall to wall with people, I looked around and took in all the faces I could see. Most were people I’d seen before at my father’s campaign events—loyal supporters and friends who were excited for the progress he’d made in the polls. With election day only a few short months away, they were brimming with excitement to see someone from their own circle elected. Other people were new to me. Faces I’d never seen before. The house was decorated to the nines as my mother had been fastidious in the linens and flatware she’d chosen for the event. ‘Everything must be perfect’ she had pressed.
Everything. Including me.
When I arrived earlier this afternoon, I’d brought the party dress I had purchased specifically for today’s event. It was a muted red color with an A-line skirt that hit just below my knees. The halter neckline tied behind the nape of my neck and the strands of the bow fell down my back. To me, it was the perfect summer party dress, but to her, it was a disgrace to my family and a blatant disregard for the position my father was about to fulfill. She’d forced me to wear a cropped white cardigan with oversized gold buttons and stood in front of me, buttoning each of them up as she mumbled under her breath about my ‘sheer lack of common sense.’
I walked into the formal dining room and spotted my father standing with a group of men, waving his scotch between them and giving them a winning smile. When he caught sight of me, he waved me over and I obliged, ready to be the perfect daughter for him and his friends. While he and I didn’t have the same type of strained relationship I had with my mother, it definitely wasn’t a normal type of father and daughter relationship. What we had resembled that of a business partnership: I was the dutiful daughter he never wanted, and in return I was rewarded with the privilege of the family credit card. I knew I was the quintessential trust fund kid, but if it didn’t bother him, it didn’t bother me either.
“Here she is, my perfect daughter.” He beamed at me, which I returned with my own wide smile and a polite laugh.
“I wouldn’t say ‘perfect,’ Daddy,” I paused for impact, “but I am pretty close.” I scrunched up my nose, knowing it would make the stuffy old men encircling us laugh, which it did.
“Magnolia, I’d like you to meet some of my friends,” he started, before pointing to each one of the men, naming them off. “This is Mr. Hamilton, Mr. Jones, Mr. Willingham, and Mr. Dove.” They all nodded at me as they were introduced.
“It’s nice to meet you all. Thank you so much for coming out to support my daddy’s campaign.” I patted my father’s chest lovingly and smiled at the group again.
“Magnolia, that’s a pretty name. A pretty name for a pretty girl,” one of the men said, tipping his drink at me and winking.
“How old are you, Magnolia?” another inquired.
“I turn twenty-nine in September, sir.”
“Ahh I see, twenty-nine. Is there a lucky man in your life? Should we expect to get a wedding invitation in the future? Maybe once your father’s elected and in office?” The third man spoke and I tried not to give myself away. Not only was his question incredibly inappropriate and out of line, it also felt like a test. Like they also knew about Kolbi and I and were trying to bait me into exposing our secret. I’d opened my mouth to respond but my father beat me to it.
“Actually, my daughter is engaged to the Bates boy, Daniel. Our families are very close and we’re all very excited to be joined in this way.” My father’s tone was grandiose and rivaled that of the many impassioned speeches he’d given on the campaign trail. I brought my eyes to look at him and let out an exasperated laugh, confused by what he was talking about. He knew that Daniel and I had broken up back in the fall so I had no idea why he was saying we were engaged when we very much weren’t.
“Uh, I don’t mean to be impolite, but Daniel and I aren’t engaged.” I smiled up at him respectfully and glanced at the men who were watching the awkwardness grow between us. “We separated back in the fall, remember?”
He furrowed his brows at me and dropped his hand that had been resting around my waist. “Oh, well, maybe I misunderstood then. Your mother shared the good news with me just a few hours ago, said it happened earlier this week while I was out of town. She was telling me how she’d already let the paper know and was looking at venues and all.”
It was as if someone had stuck me in a blast chiller and frozen all the blood in my body. I wasn’t sure how she’d done it but my mother had managed to get what she wanted. Me with Daniel and the magazine worthy wedding she’d thought she lost when I broke up with him for cheating on me. I swallowed hard and tried to fake a convincing smile.
“Will you gentlemen please excuse me?” I dashed away from them as soon as they all nodded their goodbyes.
I pushed through people, trying to find her. I hadn’t seen her in the last half hour but had been trying to ignore her since the party started. As I hurried down the hallway that connected the dining room to the large front drawing room, I caught the image of Kolbi talking with one of his men. I stopped for just long enough to take in how striking he looked in his suit. When his eyes met mine, I could tell he knew something was wrong. Everything in me was begging to go to him, to pull him into a hug and ask him to run away with me. Instead, I pushed past a few guests who were milling in the hallway and started my search for her again.
When I entered the front room, I spotted her standing just in front of the fireplace. She was wearing a soft pink dress that was inspired by the ones Jackie Kennedy used to wear. Standing next to her was another woman I recognized—Daniel’s mother. I walked right up to the pair of them knowing good and well what they were talking about and planned to put a stop to it. They would not conspire together to bring Daniel and I together again.
I didn’t wait for Lillian to finish speaking before cutting in. “Mother, I don’t know what you’re doing but I will not be marrying Daniel.”
Lilian let out a small gasp and brought her hand to her chest. My own mother turned to me, screwing up her face and turning her eyes into slits.
“Magnolia, now is not the time to discuss this,” she sneered through pursed lips. “How dare you bring this up during your father’s party. You can’t truly be that daft.”
“I think now is a perfect time to talk about this, seeing as how father is telling people they can expect wedding invitations in the mail within the next six months.” My voice was rising at a steady pace and the people around us were starting to stare. We glanced around the room and that’s when I noticed Kolbi walk in and start to watch us. She caught sight of him and quickly looked back at me.
“Keep your voice down, now ,” she chastised under her breath, smiling at the guests around us and trying to contain the growing scene.
“No, I won’t,” I snapped, making my voice even louder. “I won’t let you control me like this. You can tell me what to wear, you can tell me how to act. You can even tell me how to decorate my condo and where I need to be and when. But you won’t tell me who I will love.” My hands were balled up into fists and shaking at my sides, the years of suppressed rage bubbling over with every word.
“Magnolia, as a member of this family it is your duty to uphold the family name and part of that is being with a man who can carry that weight. Daniel and his family are the kind of people who can carry that type of responsibility,” she paused and tossed a hateful glance towards Kolbi who was listening to everything being said. “Unlike certain types of people,” she spat.
A crowd has started to form, marveling at the typically poised and polite Sinclairs who were starting to unravel. I didn’t care, let them hear. Let them see the type of people we really are.
Fake.
Hateful.
Judgemental.
Our voices must have traveled down the hall and caught the attention of my father because he was now cutting through the crowd of curious bystanders with a force. He stepped up to my mother’s side and looked at us both with a muted sense of fury. I was locked in a staring match with her, refusing to take my eyes off of her.
“Unlike what type of people, mother? Huh? Why don’t you share with everyone what you mean by that?”
“Magnolia, you lower your voice right now young lady. You do not speak to your mother like that,” my father threatened, leaning in and grabbing my arm. I tried to pull away from him but he gripped it even tighter.
“No, I won’t. My whole life I’ve been obedient and quiet. I’ve willingly put myself into whatever box you forced me into but I’m done. I won’t do it any longer!” I shouted at both of them. “I love Kolbi, more than I have ever loved anyone else, including you two, and I won’t let you take that away from me. Nothing will keep me from him, not this house or the fake perception you want to feed to people, not even our stupid family name!”
I spewed the words at them so fast I didn’t even have time to think about what I was saying before the words tumbled out of my mouth. Then, before I could even reel in the words that had fallen from my lips, a deafening crack of a hand across a cheek split the room in two. I brought my hands to my face trying to lessen the sting I felt in it and only caught a glimpse of the rage on my father’s face, hand still across his chest, before he was tackled to the ground.