Seven
1666 Words
“Are you listening, Isabella?”
I shook my head and focussed on the present. My mind still couldn’t shake away what I’d seen upstairs. The pained grunt Weston had let out as he was smacked to the floor. Weston was about two hundred pounds of pure muscle and seeing him cower from his father…
Was that Arthur’s true face? He was nothing but charming to me and my mother. Did he get like that because of his spoilt son?
From the sounds of it, Weston had not voluntarily offered up his apartment. There was no way I could stay there now. Not when I knew how his father got him to agree.
Should I tell my mother? I looked at her. She seemed so happy. Plus, they were already married. What was the point of telling her? But what if he turned his anger on her?
“Has… has Arthur ever…” I said hesitantly. I wasn’t sure how to phrase what I wanted to say. Would she look at me as if I was mad for even suggesting anything was wrong with Arthur?
“What are you saying?” she asked.
Steeling myself, I went ahead and asked her outright. “Has Arthur ever hurt you?”
She frowned, her face lined with confusion. “No. Why would you think that? He has been nothing but nice to me. I know it’s hard seeing me with someone else, but you don’t have to make up shadows and theories to villainise him. Arthur is a nice man and he makes me happy.”
I wanted to tell her I wasn’t trying to villainise him. But would she believe me if I told her? What would I even tell her? That her new husband beat up his adult son? She didn’t even want to consider that there might be something shady about him. Maybe I was mistaken about what I saw…
I swallowed my words. “I know. I’m sorry Mom.”
“I wanted to talk about something with you. I am very embarrassed to even be telling you this. It’s been very difficult to manage your tuition payments. I won’t be able to make them for your next semester. I’ve been trying to get more hours at work but they’ve actually given me less.”
My heart stuttered in my chest. Was I so busy complaining about my dorm situation when she had been struggling with keeping me in school? Eden University was an expensive school. Why had I let her convince me to come here? Why did I not fight her harder and attend somewhere more affordable?
I had a partial scholarship and while it helped, it simply wasn’t enough. It was too much for my mother, who was a teacher. There was a time she used to work two, sometimes three jobs just to keep us clothed and fed. I refused to go back to such an existence. I wouldn’t let her suffer like that again. I thought things were finally looking up for her; I thought she could finally start thinking about her own life.
“Mom. Why didn’t you say anything?” My words were quiet, trying to get past the lump in my throat.
She lowered her head. Her long dark hair, so like mine, spilt over the sides to hide her face. “It’s so hard as a parent when you can’t provide for your family. I am embarrassed to even be telling you this. When you told me about your dorms, I wanted to cry. I can’t provide you what you need. I’m a failure.”
I was up and sitting next to my mother in seconds, grabbing her hand and squeezing it in mine.
“You’re not a failure. You’re the best mother ever. We’ll figure something out. I’ll drop out. I’ll work for a while and save the money,” I said, trying to alleviate some of her stress.
She shook her head vehemently. “No. Don’t you dare even entertain such thoughts. I am your mother; I am the one who takes care of you. You are a smart and beautiful girl, Isabella. You deserve to be at that school and achieve your dream. Arthur offered to cover your costs. I won’t have you derailing your future because I’m a failure. I already accepted his offer.”
My mouth opened in a quiet gasp. What?
“Mom-” I started.
“No,” she cut me off. She held my hand tightly, squeezing it as if to let me know she wanted me to hear her words. “I’m not too proud to accept help when it’s offered to me, especially when it concerns you. I know it’s a lot but Arthur is really generous.”
I kept shaking my head. “I can’t take his money. I refuse.”
“You have to. I already have. I said it was a loan, so I’ll pay him back when I’m back on my feet. It’s fine.”
A tear slipped down my face. “Mom. I’m so sorry.”
“You need this education, Isabella. Please, just focus on school. That’s the only thing you need to do. Please, think about his offer for the apartment too.”
“No-”
“Truly think about it.”
“I’ll live with Christine.”
“You said she lives in a tiny apartment with her boyfriend. That can’t be a long-term solution.”
I opened my mouth to tell her my plan to get another job so I could afford a place somewhere but we were interrupted.
“What are you guys talking about?”
My spine straightened when I heard Arthur’s voice. I looked surreptitiously at him, trying to see if anything would look different about him but it was no use. He looked as charming as ever. There was nothing of the deep rage I’d seen earlier, and something in me trembled at that. It was scary how different the two facets of him were.
“The apartment,” my mother replied. I glared at her, willing her to say nothing. It was bad enough we were taking handouts from him already.
“Oh, have you thought over the offer? It is quite large so you two won’t get in each other’s way. Weston agreed to not have parties there when he moved in so it will be quiet enough for your studies.”
I looked at my mother and thought of everything she had said. She was busting her ass trying to put me through school. The offer was right there.
My mother looked at me with imploring eyes. Knowing I had no other choice, I gave them a tight smile and said, “Yes. Sure. I’d love to move in. Thank you for the kind offer.”
…
The ride back to the dorm was silent. Weston had decided against travelling back with the bike so he’d pulled a car from the garage. I tried not to gape at the number of cars parked there.
I couldn’t complain much about the new mode of transportation. After all, I’d already told myself I wasn’t going to get on that death machine.
I took a peek at Weston. His jaw was tight and his eyes were resolutely fixed on the road.
My eyes trailed over his face and caught on a bruise blooming on his cheek.
“What happened to your cheek?” I asked. It felt scummy asking when I knew, but it would be more suspicious if I pretended not to see it when it was a new addition to his face.
“I’m a hockey player, Freckles. It’s normal to have a few bruises and black eyes,” he replied.
I didn’t point out that the bruise was not there earlier in the evening. Instead, I said, “Listen. I’m sorry about everything.”
“What’s there to be sorry about? That you’re too poor and you have to wait for handouts from those more fortunate in life?”
My mouth tightened. I almost forgot how much of an asshole he was. I wouldn’t make that mistake again; it didn’t matter what I had seen tonight.
“You’re such an asshole.”
“Yeah, you’ve said that before. Do you have anything more original? Maybe you can talk my dad into paying for a class on diverse comebacks.”
I looked away from him and watched the world flash by outside the window instead. “I wish you would stop with the gold digger jokes.”
“Well, if the shoe fits…”
“Well, not everyone has a rich daddy to buy their way through life.”
I immediately knew it was the wrong thing to say. I opened my mouth to say something to rectify the situation but I couldn’t find the words.
He abruptly stopped the car on the side of the road. “Get out,” he said.
“What?”
“Get the f**k out of my car,” he bit out.
“You can’t be serious.”
“I’m about as serious as a heart attack.”
I watched the hard line of his jaw, his hands gripping the steering wheel like he was only just stopping himself from trying to strangle me, the way his eyes were dark with fury and I swallowed. He wasn’t joking.
I stepped out of the car, shivering in the cold. His jacket was in the back of the car and I was pretty sure he wouldn’t appreciate me trying to take it. I rubbed my hands over my arms as he drove the car in front of me.
He leaned my way and sneered. “Don’t worry, pretty sure you’ll soon be driving a car as good as mine. Seems like you have a rich daddy to buy you s**t now too.”
I watched him drive off, the headlights of his car disappearing into the night.
- Writer
