Page 93 of Best In Class
She laughs too loudly at parties—until someone gently, discreetly ushers her away. She flirts too hard with young men—until she’s hidden behind closed doors and whispered apologies.
She ignores her children. Always has.
One of my earliest memories of our mother is watching her get ready for a gala—dressed in gold sequins, sprayingperfume into the air, and walking through it like it was a force field.
I remember standing in the doorway, barefoot and small, holding a crayon drawing I made of our house. She looked at me, blinked slowly, and said, “Sweetheart, not now. Mama has to sparkle.”
Another time, I had a fever so high I couldn’t lift my head. Miss Abigail sat by my bed all night, placing cold cloths on my skin. Mama never even came to check.
That was how it was—being her daughter meant being dressed up for photographs, paraded for the Christmas card, and then sent off to be handled by someone else.
My father has mistresses. Yes, plural. That’s how he squandered some of the family money, the rest he blew up by being a pathetic CEO.
Mama spends her life pretending she doesn’t know about the blonde in the penthouse apartment in downtown Savannah, or the brunette in the cottage outside of Augusta, or the….
He cheats. She forgives. Actually, it’s worse than that. She behaves like it’s not happening.
She’s the reason I never want to be vulnerable. Didn’t want to need anyone. Because being born to someone who doesn’t really see you teaches you how to disappear before you even understand what it means to be present.
Lev and I have each other. So that’s something.
When we were kids, we were each other’s safe harbor. Then when Miss Abigail came to the estate, we got her and Dom. We became a family.
Until Dom cheated on me.
I suck in a breath as memory smashes against the reality that is my mother.
I won’t be like her.
Let it go, Luna. He’s not that boy anymore. He’s the man who adores you. He makes you happy. Let him love you.
The meeting starts and there is the usualblah, blah blah.
Lev’s already annoyed, flipping through his report while nodding at our CFO.
I keep quiet, listen, and vote when needed.
“Thank God, we don’t have to do this for another three months,” I say to Lev after the interminably long meeting as I prowl around his office while he’s finishing up something on his computer.
I’m waiting for him so we can go have dinner together.
Maybe Dom can join!
Lev’s office door opens and we both visibly stifle a groan. There’s only one person who’ll walk into the CEO’s office without knocking.
“Well, look, it’s my kids.”
“Dad, what do you want?” Lev demands.
Our father ignores my brother’s question and sits on one of the plush leather client chairs. “Good meeting today.”
“Good because Lev’s made the company profitable, or good because you weren’t sober but didn’t face plant on the table?” I muse aloud.
Lev let’s out a long breath.
“How are you doin’, Luna?” Dad asks, a little too cheerfully.
“I’m fine, Dad.”
