Page 56 of Mason Wilder
Alyssa flipped her hair over her shoulder and turned her back on Kendall, exiling herself from the conversation.
“No you weren’t,” Audra replied, stepping closer to her sister. “Backstage is off limits unless you’re invited by the band. You need a pass.”
“I don’t need an invitation,” Kendall replied. “Me and Angel have known each other since we were kids. I’m always welcome. I want to go on stage and sing with Angel.” Kendall was persistent, almost pushy. “He won’t mind. Let me through.” She took a few steps forward, but Tessa’s mom stepped in front of her to block her path.
“Go away, Kendall,” Tessa’s mom said. “You know Angel doesn’t want you on stage. Just go back out front and stop trying to make trouble.”
Kendall gave a garbled reply, then abruptly left.
A weird feeling fluttered through Tessa’s belly and rose into her chest, and she stopped the DVD. She wished she’d never watched the video. It felt as if she invaded everyone’s privacy, especially Mason’s. She had no right spying on Kendall. It wasn’t her business. In a way, she was glad she did, though. The shabby clothing, messy hair and slurred words couldn’t be more different than the classy woman Kendall was today. She had changed, just like she had said a half dozen times. Tessa felt as if the woman was being judged unfairly because of things that happened in the past, and she was remorseful that no one wanted to give Kendall a chance.
“So, what’d you think?” Sindy asked, cautiously.
“It was horrible. They were so mean to her. All she wanted to do was sing, and they chased her away without even checking with my papi.” It was close and personal for Tessa. She was a singer and couldn’t imagine how broken she’d be if people stomped on her dream and dismissed her the way they just dismissed Kendall. Her family, women that she loved, admired and looked up to, had bullied Kendall. Tears stung her eyes, and she lowered her gaze to the floor. “I feel so bad for her.”
Later, after the design session with her mom, Tessa asked Sindy to wait in the studio so she could talk to her mom. She needed to clarify some of the issues with Kendall and caught her mother alone in the kitchen. “I’ve been spending some time with Mason and Kendall,” Tessa began, hoping to open up a dialogue.
Her mom froze, and her fingers tightened around the glass in her hand.
“I wasn’t sure at first, after the way everyone warned him about her, but I think she really cares about Mason and is sincere. She just wants to be part of his life.”
The agitated look of annoyance on her mom’s face disturbed Tessa, specifically because of the way her mom had treated Kendall on the video. She understood that they didn’t like each other, but she didn’t understand why there would be a grudge to last twenty-something years, and she wanted to know exactly what went down. “What is it? Can you please tell me exactly what it is about Kendall that has you so angry at the mention of her name?”
As expected, her mother’s jaw clenched and her nostrils flared. The heated flame in her eyes slowly waned and her expression relaxed as she let go of whatever was eating at her. “There’s a lot of history between me and Kendall,” she explained. “I don’t know why, but she hated me from the minute we met.”
“Why, though?” Tessa wanted concrete answers as to what caused the intense dislike. It didn’t make sense. There had to be a reason. No one disliked her mother. There was never any unfavorable publicity about her or rivalry by other designers. She was revered and respected by all in the industry – not just the fashion industry, but the music industry as well. Rock stars, male and female, adored her. Immortal Angel fans took to her as if she was part of the band. Her mom was always honest, so this vague camouflage of the truth frustrated Tessa.
“Let me tell you something that happened when we first met,” her mother said. “I set up a merch table for Immortal Angel at the famed Quadrangle. I had designed and constructed these corset tops. They were a big hit. Everyone loved them and I was so proud. I was still an associate designer at that time, working at someone else’s fashion house making boring mundane clothing, so these corset tops were a big deal for me.” She paused. “Kendall tried to steal one from the merch table. I caught her and we ended up in a little tug of war with the garment and it ripped. Right down the seam.” Her mother’s eyes grew hard and there was vehemence in her voice when she spoke next. “She ripped my garment. These corset tops were the first garments I ever constructed and sold. And she destroyed one.”
Tessa’s eyes widened and her lips parted. She knew that a designer put their heart and soul into a garment. Kendall may as well have ripped out a piece of flesh along with the seam of the top. Tessa understood her mother’s anger and resentment on the subject, but it hardly seemed like enough to warrant the hostile reaction her mother displayed any time Kendall’s name was mentioned. “That’s it? She ripped your garment? That’s why you hate her?” Tessa shook her head. “There’s more.”
Her mother let out a deep breath. “Baby, it’s very complicated. And some of it’s very personal. Believe me when I say that I’m very concerned that you’re spending time with her. She’s manipulative. And she seems to have some kind of vendetta against me.”
“Why?” Tessa pressured her mother, determined to get the real story.
“I guess she thinks I stole her thunder. Or something like that.”
Tessa replayed everything in her head. Her thoughts were swimming. She pulled at snippets of conversations, with Mason as well as with the family. Since her mother was skirting around the truth, Tessa had to piece it together. Suddenly, a thought washed over her that made her sick to her stomach. Mason had been the one to mention it initially, and it was so absurd that she had immediately dismissed it. Now, it seemed like the only viable answer that made sense. It crushed her and she wanted to vomit. “Oh my God.” She barely whispered the words as realization hit her. Fear made her squeeze her eyes shut as if to block out the ugly truth, and her breath heaved. She braced herself to ask a question she didn’t want to know the answer to. “Did Dad have an affair with Kendall?”
“What?” Her mother’s hand flew to her chest and her eyes nearly popped out of her head. “Of course not!” She got all flustered and her cheeks burned red. “I can’t believe you’d even think that your father would do something like that to me. Withher!” Her hands came down, hard, on the countertop, startling Tessa. She leaned forward, eyes ablaze. “Has she been saying things about him? Or Papi? Has she been spouting lies about how she and Papi were best friends and then I came along and she got tossed aside?”
Tessa took a step back. Never had she seen her mother so irate. “No. Why are you so mad?”
“Because that woman gets under my skin. I thought she was finally gone. But she keeps coming back, like a virus, infecting everyone she comes in contact with. What has she said to you?”
“Just that everyone dislikes her and no one wants her around. But she doesn’t dwell on that. At all.She stresses that she’s changed, Mom. And I think she has. She’s nothing like how everyone describes her. She’s poised and sophisticated. Her clothes are expensive and her hair is neatly styled. I know she loves Mason. It’s not a charade.” Tessa paused as she thought about the one thing that still nagged at her. “Kendall said that she and Papi have been friends since they were kids. Is that true?”
Her mother looked visibly calmer, although her cheeks matched the color of her hair. “Yes. Part of that’s true. They took voice lessons together. That’s how they met, but their friendship was one-sided. I never speak badly about anyone, Tessa. You know that about me. But she’s poison. She’s tried to ruin my life. On many, many occasions. And I give you my word that I never did anything to incur her wrath. Everything she’s done is for her own agenda. Both you and Mason say she’s changed. But I don’t trust her. She comes off sickeningly sweet, and it’s all a ploy. I’ll never trust that woman, and I don’t want her in my life again.”
“She’s not in your life. She’s in Mason’s life. And she’s only in my life because of him.”
Her mother leaned forward with one hand on the breakfast bar, jaw rigid. “If she’s back, shewillbe in my life. I’m just waiting for the bomb to drop.”
The vehemence, the resentment and the animosity that her mother harbored for Kendall scared Tessa. Her mother loved everyone – strangers, fans, friends. She was sociable, amicable and friendly. And everyone loved her back. Tessa had no idea what to make of her mother’s rant, but she prayed her mother was wrong because she couldn’t bear it if Kendall was only playing games with Mason’s heart for her own selfish reasons.
