DANGEROUS DESIRES; FORBIDDEN PLACEMENT

Annabel Robinson always thought that enough love could eventually teach anyone how to love her in return. At twenty-three, she was starting to wonder if that belief was mistaken. She waited outside her mother's bedroom holding a paper bag of groceries in one hand and her keys in the other. She meant to say hello when a woman's laugh drifted out of the room. It was her mother laughing. A man's voice followed right after, and it was a voice she knew better than her own. “You are going to get me into trouble, Selene.” Annabel froze. She recognized that exact voice. She had fallen asleep hearing it through phone calls, smiled at it over dinner tables, and spent two years thinking it was her future. Reed. She went ahead and pushed the bedroom door open. Her brain simply refused to process the scene for one bizarre second. Her boyfriend was lying right on her mother's bed, cuddling with her mother, butt naked. Selene had her blonde-brown hair spread all over the pillow. Reed sat right next to her without his shirt on, and his smile froze instantly. He sat straight up. “Annabel?” The bag of groceries dropped straight out of her hand. An apple rolled across the floor and hit the wall in the bedroom. No one bothered to pick it up. Her mother pulled the sheet up higher on the bed. “Anabel, sweetheart, I can explain.” Sweetheart. The word almost made her want to laugh. Her mother hardly ever used that name unless she needed a favor. Anabel stared at Reed, who was already grabbing his pants as his expression turned from shock to annoyance. “Listen,” he started. “This is not what it looks like.” She stared at him for a few seconds longer. “Then what is it?” He opened his mouth to speak, but words failed him. Selene sat up taller. “Do not speak to him in that tone.” Anabel shifted her gaze to her mother. Out of all the scenarios she had pictured happening in this home, this exact situation never crossed her mind. She thought she might find disappointment. She figured there would be another lecture about how selfish or ungrateful she was. She even imagined catching Selene with some other guy. Instead, it was Reed. The same man who held her hand during her university interview. The person who promised to support her when she finally became a doctor. Her mother was fully aware of all those things. She knew the whole story. “How long?” Anabel demanded. None of them said a word. She gave a slow nod, acting as if the quiet room had just proved some big point. “Right.” "Anabel, stop acting like a child," Reed snapped. "We need to talk about this properly." She stared right back at him. “About what,” she asked, “your romance with my mom?” He winced. Good, she told herself. At least one person in the room knew how gross this whole thing was. Selene threw the bedsheet aside and reached for her robe. "You have no idea the connection between us.” “I do not want to hear it.” “Well,” Selene started, “if you had just watched Reed closer—” “Don’t.” That single word cut through the air sharper than she meant it to. Her mother went silent. For the first time in ages, rage boiled up inside her. It felt hot and totally new, but she had no idea where to aim it. Should she hate Reed for stabbing her in the back? Should she blame Selene for letting it happen? Or was she mad at herself for being foolish enough to care? Her whole childhood was about lowering her expectations. Somehow, she still turned into an adult who wanted people to surprise her for once. She was done with hope. Anabel spun around and headed for the exit. "Where are you going?" Reed called. She kept walking. "Anabel! Don't you dare walk away while I'm talking to you!" Her hand landed on the front door. Behind her, her mother shouted, "You always do this! You make everything about yourself!" Anabel's fingers paused on the doorknob for a second. Her eyes burned with tears. Then she pulled the door open and stepped out into the night. The chilly evening wind hit her cheeks. Cars drove down the road while a couple walked past, sharing a laugh about something from dinner. The world kept moving on. It almost felt like an insult. She reached her car, only then noticing her grip on the keys was so tight her palm ached. Her phone started to buzz. Reed. She saw his name flash on the screen, then the call cut off. It rang once more. She turned the phone off. She thought she’d break down, maybe scream, feel a pain that would make her doubt ever loving anyone again. Instead, an awful silence settled in. She slid into the driver’s seat and rested her forehead on the steering wheel. “What’s wrong with me?” she murmured. That question lingered with her all the way home. It haunted her in the shower and later, when she lay awake in bed long after midnight. When morning arrived, the question was still there. The worst part wasn't that Reed had betrayed her. It was that some small, wounded part of her had always believed she wasn't worth being faithful to. Her phone glowed on the nightstand. This time the caller wasn’t Reed. It was a text from Harlow Private Hospital. Your placement starts in three days. Report to the Women’s Health Unit at 7:00 a.m. Anabel stared at the message. Only seventy-two hours remained. All this time she had worked hard just to reach this point. Years went by filled with lonely studying, family fights, and difficult tests, all faced with the quiet grit of a person who had to rely entirely on herself. This moment was meant to mark the start of her future. Sitting up in bed, she erased the unread texts from Reed straight away without even reading them. After that, she pulled up her planner and circled the day her new job started. Right then, for the first time since entering that room, she finally felt excited about the future. Little did she know, Reed was parked right outside her mother's place, looking intently at a picture of her on his mobile phone. She also had no idea that he had already made up his mind to make her pay dearly before she could ever get away from him.