Dirty Seduction

ROSIE

I wasn’t expecting to find Mum in the kitchen when I stepped out of the bathroom the next morning. I was still toweling my hair dry as she gave me a huge grin, the frying pan already sizzling on the hob.

“I’m getting you some breakfast before college.”

“Wow. Thanks.”

I couldn’t remember the last time Mum made me breakfast.

“How many eggs?” she asked me, and I stood beside her, still in shock.

“Two, please.”

“Toast?”

She already had the bread out, ready to go.

“Yes, please.”

The swelling had gone down on her face, and she was already made up to hide the split in her lip, which was lucky, but hmm, the realization took me a little off guard. She looked very preened compared to usual for her morning of care work. I looked her up and down, noticing that she was in her best pair of jeans.

She read my gaze.

“I called in sick,” she said. “I’m not feeling well after the Scottie blow-up. My face is still sore.”

I understood that but kept on staring at her as she fried our eggs. Something wasn’t quite adding up here.

“Are you going out or something?”

She didn’t look at me, just focused on the eggs.

“Yeah. I’m heading out with Trisha for a bit to take my mind off it. We’re going downtown to get some clothes for Ramsay.”

That was code for heading downtown and hitting the clothes shops for themselves. I should have realized it was the end of the month and her wages had landed in her bank account. At least she’d usually wait until the weekend to hit the shops, not call in sick at work on a Friday. It was lucky I was working so many pizza shifts since I’d be the one bailing us out on the electricity meter.

I couldn’t hide how pissed off I was with her best friend.

“Nice that Trisha wants to be bothered with you this morning, considering she wouldn’t come when I was screaming for help last night.”

“She didn’t hear you,” Mum said, even though she knew that was bullshit. Trisha would have heard me loud and clear.

Mum buttered my toast and put my eggs on top, handing it over like it was a gift. I guess it was. A token sign that she cared was always worth a lot to me.

I walked through to our dining table, which was backed up in the corner of the living room. The place looked weirdly big without the coffee table.

Mum sat alongside me to munch on her breakfast, flashing me a smile.

“Thanks for last night,” she said. “Julian was a hero.”

That same wistful grin was on her face, and I counted myself lucky for the good fortune. At least it wasn’t Scottie she was doe-eyed over this time.

It didn’t take long for us to finish, so I took her empty plate out along with mine. I washed them off in the sink, wondering how many we had left after a load went careening to ceramic death last night.

“I’ll get some more from town,” she told me from the doorway, reading my mind. “The charity shops have a lot of them.”

“Good call,” I said.

She moved closer, propping herself against the counter.

“So, about Julian. Do you think I should thank him by inviting him over for dinner?”

It was a rhetorical question because she didn’t care what I would think about it. She never cared what I thought about Scottie, the guy who raised his fists to her. I looked her in the eyes as I dried our plates, and I knew what she was asking me. She needed a hit of confidence.

“Yeah, I think he would like you. Sure.”

“That’s not what I asked,” Mum said.

“No, but it’s what you meant. And yeah, I think he’d like you.”

“You do?”

I smiled a genuine smile because Mum looked so happy standing there. Such a contrast with the wreck she was last night.

“Yeah, I do.”

“I guess I’ll have to ask him then when I see him next.”

So much for never, ever speaking to the man upstairs. It gave me a weird lurch in my stomach. Part of me was mega happy at the thought of Julian taking Scottie’s place a hero in a storm when Mum needed one. But another part of me wasn’t quite so sure I wanted him as my mother’s partner. I had some very deep tingles of my own…

But I couldn’t let myself go there. Julian must be in their late forties, almost fifty, so it would be a huge age gap for Mum at thirty-five, let alone me. Plus, Mum liked him. She was already smitten, and it was showing. I shoved my thoughts aside and went to my bedroom, grabbing my college bag and tying my damp hair into a ponytail.

“I’ll see you later,” I told Mum. “Thanks for breakfast. It was great.”

“No problem.” She laughed a little. “I hope Julian enjoys my dinner just as much. I’ve almost forgotten how to cook one.”

She wasn’t lying. I’d barely known her cook in years. It was mainly me, making our pasta dishes and frying up budget chicken stir fry, or bringing back slices of pizza from work.

I left her there, still flying high and tapping out a message on her phone. I wondered if she’d already given Trisha the lowdown on what a knight in shining armor the man upstairs had been.

What a shame I’d learned to be the eldest out of the two of us. The laundry and housekeeping around Mum’s issues had taken more of my time than kid’s show coloring pens, or the billions of stories I’d wanted to be reading. Thank God for audiobooks. Small mercies, plus at least they kept Scottie’s voice out of earshot. Usually.

Shame I didn’t have my book on loud enough this morning. I was almost at the college gates when I heard an ‘Oi, Rosie’ over the narrator. I could have cursed when I spun around and saw Jayden, Scottie’s son, right up behind me.

Fucking hell. I wished he’d been off my radar for today. I tugged out my earbuds so I could hear him.

“Dad said your mum kicked off at him last night. He said she was winding him up.”

“Not exactly how I’d put it…”

“He said you got the crazy guy upstairs to throw him out, like an asshole.

Dad’s got a massive splinter in his leg.”

“Yeah, and my mum’s got a swollen jaw and a split lip!”

Jayden looked embarrassed at that. He scuffed the curb with his shoe.

“Did he hit her again?”

“Yes.”

“It’s been a while though, right? Dad’s been trying.”

“Not fucking hard enough.”

I couldn’t hold back the rage. My eyes were burning fiercely as I went on my way because rage was easier than crying. But Jayden wouldn’t let it lie, following on behind me.

“Do you think you could talk to her? Dad was upset last night. Said it got out of hand, and if you’d have just left it, it would’ve been fine.”

That was more than I could take.

“BULLSHIT! He had his hands around her fucking throat, Jay! If I hadn’t stepped in, he could have killed her!”

Passers-by looked at us but didn’t say a word, pretending ignorance, as usual. I put a hand to my forehead, hating this place and everyone in it. Jay shrugged, hands in his pockets.Material © NôvelDrama.Org.

“Yeah, well, anyway. If you could speak to her, Dad would be grateful.”

“I don’t want him to be grateful! I want him to stay the fuck away. I’m not putting in a good word for him. Ever!”

“That’s pretty harsh,” Jayden said, but I didn’t care, just carried on walking.