Page 12 of The Sin of True Love

“Why do you think I was where I was, Dad? So no one would recognize me! So I would be just another girl in the corner of the bar! And I would have been. If Jerry hadn’t followed me!”

“Ah, and let’s talk about that!” Dad roars, grabbing himself another glass and filling it halfway with whiskey. “Jerry says you were with a man. Who was he?”

I’m seething. On one hand, my dad has a point: I have grown up with everything. And I don’t have a right to complain in that department. But I’ve also grown up in a prison. I’ve never had a choice in the direction my life has gone, and ever since my mom died two years ago, my dad has only gotten worse.

“I don’t have to answer that,” I retort.

“Oh, yes you do,” he laughs.

“You wouldn’t even know him.”

“Then why don’t you want to tell me?” he asks, taking a large sip of his whiskey.

“Jerry didn’t tell you?” I reply, sneering defiantly. “Or was he embarrassed because of how much of a fool he made him look?”

My dad scoffs as though what I’m saying is ridiculous. “What are you going on about? Made him look like a fool?”

“Why don’t you ask Jerry the next time you two are talking about me?”

“Ask him what?”

“Ask him why he started a fight with a random guy talking to me,” I say. “Ask him why it took three full-grown men to haul that same man away from him and save him from getting his ass handed to him. Why don’t you ask him that!”

I stomp out of the living room, repulsed by the guttural sounds of my father downing the last of his whiskey.

“You better watch yourself, missy!” he shouts after me. “You are a reflection on me and this family, and the Williams family now as well! I don’t want to hear about anything like this again!”

Casey’s face fills my mind. “Michelle, come on. You should have control over your own life!”

What was I doing? Why did I push Casey away?

I should have gone through with it. I should have let him take me back there at the construction site.

“My life is my life, Dad!” I shout, whirling back at him. “And maybe I want it to be more than just a reflection on you and whatever perfect vision you’ve dreamt up for how you see your life turning out!”

And with that, I storm out, climb back in my car, and hit the gas, leaving the house behind me.

That house doesn’t even feel like a home right now.

What am I going to do? How am I going to I fix this?

6

CASEY

I wake up feeling like I’ve been cracked over the head by a two-by-four.

I barely slept. And it wasn’t because I was up late drinking or out partying either. I just couldn’t sleep. Every time I did, I woke up an hour later. And every time I closed my eyes, I saw her face.

Michelle.

So gorgeous. So seductive. Hypnotic eyes filled with innocence but also indecision.

She wants me. I know she does. I just have to find a way to make her see the choice she needs to make.

How could she have chosen him over me? Jerry, that arrogant son of a bitch. So what if she’s engaged to him? It’s not like that vow means anything to either of them. Jerry just wants her as arm candy and to appease his family. He’ll probably end up cheating on her after the marriage, if he isn’t already. And Michelle is just going along with it because…well I guess because she’s scared.

I guess in her mind, she has no other choice. I can’t really blame her. She’s never known a life except for the one under her father’s thumb. And who am I? Just some blue-collar guy working construction. Even if she left Jerry for me, I could never provide a life for her like the one she’s been accustomed to.

---