The Daughter In the Corner

A Farley Never Begs

Jenny knew she couldn’t go home in her current state. Her family would be worried and then she would have to explain what happened. Although she hated Derrick for his last forceful encounter, she didn’t think she was without fault. Her placidity to their murky relationship must have goaded Derrick to more drastic measures.

She sobbed as she drove. How was she going to get married at this rate? She gave her first kiss to a stranger just because she had an insatiable s****l urge– Nathan would never accept this betrayal.

From her perception, Nathan was one who greatly valued tradition and his faith. He would have never thought about engagement if she hadn’t been a virgin in every sense of the word. At thirty-five, he was still single because none of the women were good enough for him.

But now…

Now, she was damaged goods.

She may not have had s*x with Derrick, but her mind and lips were already tainted.

Parking on the side of the road, Jenny took a deep breath and looked at her cell phone.

‘What if I never told him? He would never know…but would Derrick let me be? What if he blackmails me later on into having an affair or makes me ruin Nathan?”

Her lips quivered at the thought, and she burst into tears anew. Leaning her head against the steering wheel she wept bitterly, cursing her own weakness.

***

The phone rang and Nathan glanced at the screen.

Habibti

Raising an eyebrow, he put her on speaker and answered casually, “Hello?”

Jenny’s hoarse voice whispered from the other end. “Nathan? Are you busy?”

Nathan scowled; he noticed something was off. Taking the phone off speaker he placed it to his ear. “No, what is it?”

“I need to meet you right now. Can you come out to the coffee shop near your place? The one we always go to?”

Nathan glanced at the table clock. It was almost 9pm. “Habibti, I’m pretty sure they will be closed by the time we get there.”

Jenny’s voice trembled as she replied, “I’m… I’m not there to drink coffee. I just need to talk to you. Please…”

“Okay. I’ll be there in five minutes.”

He threw on a jacket and walked out the door. His dark eyes flashed under the lights with each hurried step. Something didn’t seem right and the way Jenny spoke, it seemed as if her world was crumbling around her.

***

Jenny was sitting in her car staring blankly at the flickering streetlight. Her thumb constantly rubbed against the engagement ring band as if ascertaining that she was still engaged.

‘At least until I tell him…’

A light knock on her passenger door window jolted her back to the present. She glanced over nervously and found Nathan, looking rather worried. Unlocking the door, she smiled weakly.

“Thanks for coming out so late.”

“Sure. What’s going on? You look awful.” He got in on the passenger side and closed the door.

Jenny took a deep breath. Nathan’s musky woody scent filled her car; this was the last time she would be able to smell him. Her eyes started to water but she lifted her chin slightly and blinked it all back.

With a quick sniffle, she licked her lower lip and spoke quietly, “Nathan. Thank you for everything. I wanted to tell this to you in person because it’s only right to do so.”

She took a shuddering breath and spoke in a low voice just slightly above a whisper, “I want to call off our engagement.”

Slipping the diamond ring off her finger she placed it on the armrest between them.

Nathan stared at it for a long time before he raised his head to look at Jenny. “What brought about this decision?”

Jenny pursed her lips. “I… I’m no longer able to marry you.”

Nathan tilted his head to one side. “Why is that? Did you have a change of heart?”

Jenny’s lips quivered and her eyes brimmed with tears. She wanted to explain it was just a momentary lapse of judgment, but it really wasn’t. She wanted it… she was just a slut who wanted to have physical intimacy that he was unable to offer until marriage.

With a shaky voice, she responded, “No. It’s not that. I just… I can’t marry you anymore. Please stop asking for a reason and let’s just part ways amicably.” She lowered her head and sniffled.

Nathan’s dark eyes searched her partly hidden face. ‘She’s ashamed. Something must have happened.’

His daily report about her was due in ten minutes and for once he was in the dark; he loathed that helpless feeling.

“Habibti…”

Jenny screamed, “Please! Don’t call me that… I don’t… I don’t deserve to be called that anymore. Please… just take your ring and leave. I’ll return all your gifts at a later date. I can’t do this anymore; not tonight!”

With a sob, she turned away. Her trembling body was a pitiful sight to behold. But Nathan’s ever-discerning eyes noticed how messy the back of her head was. It looked as if someone had ruffled it.

“Don’t worry, Habibti. I will take care of it,” he spoke in a quiet voice.

Taking the ring he placed it in his breast pocket, “I will hold onto this for you for the time being but let’s revisit this in the morning. I will have my chauffeur take you home. You are in no state to drive.”

Jenny gasped for breath and tried to protest but Nathan was already out of her car.

A few minutes later, a large sedan parked up next to Jenny’s car and a middle-aged chauffeur hurried to Jenny’s window and bowed slightly.

“Ma’am, please come out. Mr. Al Saad has ordered me to take you home.”

Jenny wiped her tears with the back of her hand and took a deep breath to compose herself. Smiling gently at the man she shook her head.

“That’s okay. I am fine now. Please give him my thanks and drive home safely. Good night.”

With that, she drove off without a backward glance. Afraid that she would regret her decision and throw herself at Nathan’s feet to beg for forgiveness.

She loved him… yes… but she was a Farley, and a Farley never begs.

***

“Darling, please let me in! I was wrong! I’m sorry!” Henry wailed piteously in front of his bedroom. Noticing the maids peeking from around the corner, Henry scowled menacingly at them, and they quickly scurried away. Albeit his old age, he was still a dangerous man to cross, only becoming a whimpering simp in front of his wife.

Henry turned his attention back to the solid door between himself and the love of his life. His face contorted to a pitiful pout. “Baby, I was wrong, please open the door.”

“What did you do wrong?!” A muffled shout replied.

Henry perked up. Helena only responds when she is ready to forgive him. Henry took the olive branch reverently with both hands.

“I shouldn’t have laughed when someone said you looked young. It wasn’t that I didn’t love you! It’s just that he was so lousy with his brown-nosing that I thought he was being ridiculous.”

He heard a click.

“The door is unlocked; you can come in.”

Henry eagerly turned the handle and walked through the door. He was well into his eighties while she had just turned eighty last year but even so, he thought she was the most radiant human being in the whole world.

“Honey,” he crooned as he sat down next to her, “you know I love you to the moon and back, right?”

Helena snorted but let him edge closer.

“I just don’t like young men flirting with you, is all.”

Helena turned toward him with an eyebrow raised. “Flirt? With me!? Are you insane Henry Farley?! I am an eighty-year-old wrinkly prune of a woman. Who would flirt with me?”

Henry grabbed her hand and pressed it against his old face. “I would…”

Helena snorted but this time her lips curled up in a smile. “You old fox…”

Henry grinned and hugged his wife. “I love you, dear.”

“I love you too,” she whispered.

The old couple snuggled together like they were still newlyweds.

After a few minutes, Helena scowled and brought up a topic that she had been mulling over. “Don’t you feel like the kids are kind of acting weird these days?”

Henry frowned. “Why are we talking about them? This is our time…”

Helena smacked his thigh. “Stop it! This is important! Something’s wrong with Dillon and Jenny. I don’t see Peter around because he’s so busy with his new company, so I don’t know about him, but something is off about the other two. Don’t you think they have been acting funny these last few days?”

Henry pursed his lips and concentrated on recalling the last few days, but he only managed to remember what cookies he ate with Helena, what outfits she wore, and the scenes from the last romance novel he read. He shook his head in defeat. “I don’t know… I can’t recall anything out of place.”

Helena rolled her eyes. Her husband was known for being meticulous and attentive to his surroundings in his youth but in his old age, he has become much more laid back.

“Dillon seems like he’s lost a screw somewhere. I saw him trying to drink soup with a fork the other day. Jenny, on the other hand, seems jittery as if someone is out to get her. She used to love going to work every day but now it’s as if she’s being led to the guillotine. Don’t you find it weird?”

Henry nodded. “That does sound odd. What should we do?”

Helena shrugged. “You work your magic on Jenny; she loves you the most. And I’ll see if I can help Dillon.”

Henry nodded again in affirmation. “Got it. Talk to Jenny, dig out secrets, report back to honey.”

Helena smacked him playfully on his thigh. “Don’t just dig the secrets! Help her out.”

Henry bobbed his head up and down dutifully. He lived by only one rule: Happy Wife, Happy Life.