Page 82 of Empowered
Chapter 22
“It’s not here! She doesn’t live here!” Elizabeth slammed the landline phone back into its holster and went back to cooking breakfast for her children. After a night of Sarah dodging her mother’s questions – even when the waifish Mrs. Clayborn took up half of her daughter’s bed – she now had to face some of Elizabeth’s most invasive questions. But not before she gave every reporter and prank caller on the phone a piece of her angry mind. “What cowards. They won’t even introduce themselves before asking all sorts of nasty questions…”
Sarah sat at the island counter, where a glass of orange juice and some toast awaited her, like every day when she was a kid. “Who’s calling?”
Her mother kept a straight face when she said, “Reporters looking for you.”
“I see. Thank you for telling them off.”
“Didn’t think you wanted anything to do with that chaff. You’ve got better things to do with your day. Likeavoidingthis mess.”
Nigel popped out of his room, dressed in his work clothes. “What’s this, now?”
“You two need a real breakfast. I see all the bagels and bananas around here. Where the hell is the bloody protein?”
“In the hummus we put in our bagels.”
Elizabeth scoffed. “Eat your damn ham and like it.”
“I always do, Mum.”
Sarah wasn’t sure what her mother expected to find, but if it was uber-depressed, wanting to die Sarah, she was disappointed. That was the Sarah who went to stay with her after her miscarriage. This Sarah was too detached from the world to give a shit about what that same world thought of her.
“Whatever you do, don’t go online and don’t turn on the tele.” Elizabeth turned off the stove the moment Sarah received a text from Lucas. “Trash. Absolute trash.”
“Got it. Wasn’t gonna.” Sarah read her text.“Still meeting for lunch? I have some news to share with you.”
“What’s that? Who are you texting?”
Ugh. Moms.
“My boyfriend.” Sarah showed her mother a picture of Lucas from their trip that weekend. “Or did you miss that part of the news leak as well.”
“You don’t want to know what I thought the truth behind that was.”
“Lucas Blackbourne and I are dating, exclusively. He’s my boyfriend. Not sure how serious it is yet beyond that.”
Elizabeth scoffed at her daughter’s blasé candor.I know, Mum, I’m the most frustrating child you’ve ever had.Nigel got away with being quiet and withdrawn. Sarah, on the other hand, was expected to be the bubbly girl who lit up the room every time she frolicked in with her Sunday dresses and bouncing curls. The older she grew, the more analytical she became regarding her own life and of those around her. She was the one who kept her cool, remained rational, and thought out plans of actions when everything crumbled to shit. Like that time in high school when her family’s car broke down on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere. No cell reception. No familiarity with the area. While her mother had a panic attack and her father cursed out the vehicle (and Nigel fell asleep,) Sarah was the one who walked half a mile within her parents’ line of sight and started flagging other cars down for help.Because freaking out didn’t help anyone.
Sarah may be at the center of this scandal, but her emotional detachment would be a boon. For a while, at least.
“Sare,” Elizabeth said, exasperation smacking her across the face. “I hope to God you know what you’re doing.”
“Lucas has nothing to do with that video leaking. We’re pretty sure that the person who leaked it was trying to get back athimbecause we’re dating.”
“Sare…”
“Everything’s a bit crazy right now. I’m meeting Lucas for lunch tomorrow. Maybe you two can meet afterward. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about him earlier, but we literally just got serious and I was waiting…”
“God damnit, Sarah!” Elizabeth slapped both of her hands against the kitchen counter. Her daughter’s jerk was the closest thing to surprise she espoused all day. “You’re in a bloody porn video! With half a dozen men! Doing…” She choked, hand pressing against her head. Every time she tried to look her daughter in the eyes, she was compelled to look away again. “Doing things I never thought…”
Sarah put a consoling hand on her mother’s arm. “Did you watch it?”
“Rather hard to avoid the screenshots all over the media right now.”
Oh my God.Nigel seeing parts of it was bad enough. Her mother, though? “Nobody forced me to do anything.”
“What the hell is wrong with you?”
