Chapter Ten #2
“I need to go freshen up. The first customers should be here soon for lunch,” Stevie says. When she isn’t serving, she tends bar for extra hours and money.
She strides off and I’m grateful for the badly needed space. I’m even more thankful for managerial busy work as I dive into bookkeeping and forget about everything else.
After the lunch crowd lessens, I sit myself down on a barstool, a large glass of water in front of me. I take a sip and close my eyes, grabbing a much-needed break.
“Caroline!” A familiar, shrill voice breaks into my meditative state.
God, no. Not here. Not now.
I open my eyes to see my mother standing in front of me, dressed up as if for lunch at The Plaza and not The Back Door bar.
Her auburn hair is freshly blow-dried and fluffed, her makeup done to perfection, her lips accentuated with a deep red color, and her Botox prevents her expression from moving.
Rising from my seat, I face my mother. More like the woman who raised me. Why give Cassandra a name I don’t feel?
“What are you doing here and please don’t call me Caroline. You’ll confuse people and I’ve told you I go by my birth name now.” I’ll press that issue for as long as it takes until I win.
When the Kanes adopted me, Cassandra changed my name, her first step in molding me into the perfect little girl she wanted me to be.
When Cassandra discovered I had a mind of my own and a strong will to be my own person, years later she had Cara in order to fulfill the dream.
She lost on that score too. The only child that’s like Cassandra is Lance, something I find frightening.
“Are you even listening to me?” Cassandra asks, her voice shrill.
“You already know why I had to come have a word. Does family mean nothing to you? How could you implicate your brother in a break-in when he’s fresh out of prison?
” She lowers her voice on the last word as if the fact is too embarrassing to say out loud.
I do my best not to roll my eyes. It’s not like anyone here knows or cares who Cassandra Kane or her precious son Lance are.
“I implicated him because it was obvious who’d broken in.
” I don’t bother to explain how to a woman who won’t believe me anyway.
“I just told the police what I think is true. It’s up to them whether or not they investigate or question him.
Besides, if your favorite child is as innocent as you say, they won’t bother him again.
” This time I do treat Cassandra to an eye roll.
Undeterred from my rant, Cassandra places her hands on her hips and goes on.
“Caroline,” she emphasizes the name. “It’s your fault Lance was sent away in the first place.
Now you’re trying to get him sent to that horrid place again.
You’ve always had an issue with him and for no reason.
” She shifts her Chanel purse higher on her shoulder.
I study the woman whose house I grew up in, amazed as always that Cassandra truly believes her words.
“I had an issue with Lance because he terrorized me. I testified against him because I found him in the middle of assaulting my roommate and about to rape her.” My voice rises with every pertinent and awful fact.
“And I’d think a woman of your stature and supposed intelligence would know better than to blame the victim, or the eyewitness. ”
“It’s your fault!” she says, not for the first time. “We took you in and you made Lance crazy, flaunting your body and teasing him, coming into the hallway in a towel, of all things. And you turned Caleb against me. He believes every lie that comes out of your mouth!”
Jesus. The woman is truly insane. And the patrons and employees have stopped what they were doing to watch and listen. I’m horrified but there’s no stopping Cassandra once she gets started.
“You have no appreciation, Caroline Kane. I could have left you to rot in foster care but I wanted a little girl and the doctors said I couldn’t have more children. Then I got you. Unruly, disobedient…”
I fold my arms across my chest, the only defensive measure I can find.
The words are nothing I haven’t heard before and most of it is untrue.
I might not have been the daughter Cassandra wanted but I obeyed the rules at home and did what was asked of me.
I just wasn’t a frilly, bow-wearing child.
I normally ignore these tirades but I’m not alone this time, I’m at my place of employment where people know me. It’s embarrassing.
If Cassandra regrets adopting me, I feel the same way. I’d have been better off rolling the dice with the foster care system and if my mother wasn’t so busy going off on me and creating a scene, I would have told her as much.
But with every jab against me, more people stare, and I withdraw further into myself. This. This is what drove me to write down my angry, dark feelings, creating poetry with sad and somber themes. Dark stories… until Remy.
“What the hell is going on?” As if I conjured him, Remy joins us, Stevie trailing behind. I assume my friend let him know what was happening up front.
Cassandra stops yelling and glances at Remy.
As always, one look at a handsome, younger man, and she morphs into a fake seductress, batting her eyes at him.
“I was just giving my daughter a piece of my mind,” she says with a sneer on her face.
“I apologize if I made a scene but you see, she’s trouble, always has been and—”
“Quiet!” Remy bellows.
Yep. He raises his normally calm voice and yells at Cassandra.
Stepping up beside me, Remy wraps an arm around my shoulder and pulls me against him, causing Cassandra’s mouth to open in a perfect, shocked O.
“Mrs. Kane, if you don’t want me to call the police and have you arrested for creating a disturbance in my place of business, you’ll leave. Now.”
“But she—”
“Raven did nothing wrong. And if you come near her again, I will personally take her to file a restraining order against you. I have a room full of witnesses, all of whom are her friends and would be only too happy to give a statement.”
Cassandra narrows her gaze. “There is no way you can get a restraining order for a simple disagreement. Besides, I have connections everywhere.” She sniffs, raising her nose in the air.
“Try me.” Remy’s slow smile is scary. “I used to be an NYPD detective and if you think your connections are good, you should see mine. Time to go.”
“Mother!” Caleb’s voice startles me and I stare at my brother in surprise.
“How did you know she was here?” I ask.
A grim frown has settled on his lips. “Mother called me to ask if I knew what you’d done to Lance and informed me of her intention to come find you. I got here as fast as I could.”
“Caleb, darling, I know you have a relationship with Caroline, so could you please try and talk sense into her?” she begs, once again turning on her fake charm.
“Her name is Raven.” Caleb winks at me, his expression reassuring. “Don’t worry. I’ll get her out of here.”
He grasps his mother’s elbow and leads her out of the restaurant, Cassandra complaining the entire way. But her absence doesn’t make my embarrassment disappear. Although I do my best to ignore what others say, think, or do, Cassandra’s tantrum in front of my colleagues was appalling.
“Come on.” Remy’s voice causes my tension to ease.
I’ve forgotten he has an arm around me, one he now uses to guide me back toward his office.
Once we’re inside, Remy shuts the door and I sit down on the seat across from his desk.
He lowers himself into the chair beside me and takes my hand. “You okay?” Frown lines have settled in the creases of his eyes and I hate how worried he is for me.
I blow out a deep breath. “A little shaken, to be honest. She took me off guard by coming here and those verbal blows hit me where it hurt.”
“I didn’t catch anything but those last awful comments,” he says, rubbing his thumb back and forth over the top of my hand. “But I know without hearing it all, she was out of line.”
“Except nobody listening would know that. I’m the manager here. These people are supposed to respect me and do as I say. Meanwhile…”
“No.” His voice is curt and to the point. “Not only are these people you mentioned employees, we’re all tight. Like a family. Trust me, they will automatically be concerned about you and think Cassandra was an arrogant, snooty—”
A knock interrupts his list of impolite words to describe Cassandra Kane, and I’m smiling when Remy calls out, “Come in!”
The door opens and Caleb stands in the doorway. “Am I interrupting?”
I shake my head. “Not at all. Come in. I assumed you’d be taking Cassandra home.”
Caleb shakes his head. “No need. She took a driver. She was still complaining when I made sure she sat down in the back of the vehicle and closed her in. I made certain to watch the car drive off.” He closes the door behind him and walks over to the desk, leaning against the metal frame, facing Remy and me. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t you dare,” I warn my brother. “Her behavior is not on you.”
He nods. “How are you?”
Now that I’ve had time to calm down and get over the shock of Cassandra’s visit, I realize Remy has a point. As much as his mother’s behavior wasn’t Caleb’s fault, my friends will take what happened in stride… though I know they’ll be curious.
“I’m better, thanks. I shouldn’t have let her get to me.” There’s no point in elaborating again on why I did.
Caleb smiles but it doesn’t reach his eyes. “Yeah, but that’s not easy. Mother knows where to aim her arrows. Now, on to more important things. Are we still on for dinner? Your nephew was asking me all morning if we were seeing Aunt Raven tonight.”
“I wouldn’t miss a date with my little man.” I’m excited about the evening ahead. “Do you mind if I bring a guest?” More like a bodyguard, but I won’t insult Remy by calling him that, and my gaze slides to his to find his warm stare watching me.
“Of course not. But I need to get going. I’ll see you at our usual spot?”
“Yes.” I push myself up from the chair, dislodging Remy’s hand, and I immediately feel the loss. It’s not sexual either, it’s the certainty that this man can protect me. That he wants to.
And I don’t quite know what to do with that.
Remy stands as well and says goodbye to Caleb.
Once my brother has left, Remy turns to face me. “Dinner with your nephew, huh?”
“Think you can handle it?” I tease, feeling lighter than I have since Cassandra showed up.
“If you’re going to be there, I know I can.”