Page 9 of Discord
It sure feels like it.
My business partners were impatiently awaiting my return after the impromptu coffee break, but this call suddenly felt imperative. An annoying voice wouldn’t shut up until I picked up the phone. I clenched my teeth at the reminder of Mia’s irritating words.I always put my family first.
“Just take the win, dear, evil stepmother.” My gaze perused the framed pictures of Mia in the Sinclair home hallway.
“Wow! Next, you’ll be asking to come over for family dinners.”
I didn’t deny the vile accusation.
I was bitter after returning from Nice. Life had dealt me a bad hand, but I was determined to snap out of it. Instead of expending every ounce of energy on an irrelevant girl, I became resolute in destroying Carmen. I needed to redirect my anger, and Carmen was the perfect scapegoat. She was once my friend who deceived me.Just like Mia. I hadn’t been able to stop myself from drawing the comparison between the two. Since I couldn’t take it out on Mia, Carmen took the gruff of my anger, and I cut off my gold-digging stepmother.
Carmen fought back, claiming the right to a stipend. We were at a stalemate in a drawn-out legal battle that was depleting her remaining resources. Unfortunately, my vindictive plan wasn’t satisfying, nor did it distract me from my ever-growing obsession. The thoughts of Mia didn’t leave enough space for Carmen to curl my blood. I was over this feud between us. The beach house was a peace offering.
The heavy pause on the other end of the phone sounded meaningful with understanding. “Why?” she asked slowly. “Why are you doing this out of the blue? The last time we spoke, you even denied my request to split the beach house on select weekends.”
“Did I?”
“You cited your reasons, and I quote,It rains a lot in the Hamptons. What will you do with a beach house after you melt from the first bout of rain?”
“Hmm. I don’t recall.”
“And now you want to give me the beach house?”
I sighed. “Preemptive move, I guess. When the house falls on you after a tornado, there’ll be too many people searching for ruby slippers. Hampton homes lose value once privacy is compromised.”
Once more, Carmen didn’t speak for several moments. “You met someone,” she suddenly exclaimed.
Instead of responding, I studied two pictures. One photo was of Mia as a child—wild hair, insane clothes. The other was from recent years—straight hair and strait-laced clothes like a Barbie. The only thing to remain the same throughout the years was the optimistic eyes. When I first metMaya, I was drawn to her because of those eyes lacking cynicism. It never crossed my mind that they could be the same person. My recollections of Mia were from her childhood since I stopped coming over to this house. I didn’t realize she had grown up or turned into a woman. Rookie mistake. The farfetched possibility left me in a bottomless vortex.
My chest felt heavy at Mia’s hopeful expression. I had wanted to look at life through her eyes. If I was honest with myself about the real reason for living in this house, would I end up stealing her hope and optimism instead of sharing it with her?
“Let me guess, she wants to meet your family, and you don’t want us to bad-mouth you?” Carmen asked sardonically when I hadn’t responded. “Color me curious about this girl if you are willing to put aside your hatred for me.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” I grumbled. “My hatred for you is stronger than ever.”
I could almost hear Carmen rolling her eyes.
“She is… young,” I admitted somewhat grudgingly.
“Thank God. I was starting to think you had a cougar fetish.”
No. Just an immense paranoia of someone like you setting me up.Much good it did me in the end.
“It’ll be good for you to date someone closer to your age,” she continued briskly. “And you don’t have to give me the beach house. We can share it. Come over for dinner tonight.”
She made numerous compromises in one breath, and I didn’t know which one to focus on. I hadn’t expected an easy settlement, especially after dragging her through the mud for months.
Carmen tutted at my prolonged silence. “Can you stop being so damn paranoid? I happen to be a lovely person and perfectly capable of letting shit go.”
I secretly hated that Carmen knew me enough to realize where my thoughts had fled. Distrust was part of my innate nature.
When I didn’t respond, she sighed heavily. “I know this is difficult for you to accept, but your dad was a total DILF.”
What the hell. “Excuse me?”
“DILF—Dads I’d Like to Fuck,” she explained easily.
“I know what the fuck it means,” I snapped.
