SETH
I’d been in a lot of embarrassing situations, but this one certainly took the cake. If there was a way that I could die of mortification, I would do it right now. Emily didn’t seem to be feeling any better. She was in hysterics.
“Ohmygod, I’m so stupid! You literally asked me if I heard a sound…I should have kept the security alarm switched on my phone…I could have been notified when she entered the front door. Why didn’t I remember to check it…what is Ruth going to think—"
I placed both my arms over her shoulders, “Relax, baby, deep breaths.” I lifted her chin to look at me, “I’ll talk to mom and make her understand.”
I pulled out of her, threw the condom, and got started picking up my clothes. I’d get an Olympic award for getting dressed this fast.
She started wearing her discarded nightgown. I ran my fingers through my hair in frustration, knowing full well what was about to go down when I was finally alone with my mother. She was going to give me hell for this, and for good reason.
“Stay here,” I told Emily before walking out of the bedroom door.
From the staircase, I could see my mom seated on the living room couch with her hands covering her face.
She wasn’t supposed to join for work for at least a week and she’d obviously wanted to surprise Emily only to find her son naked in bed with her boss’s daughter. I would imagine she would want some good amount of detergent to wash her eyes with.
My mother looked frail but better than how I’d last seen her. The lines of tension that were previously etched into her forehead were gone. She wore a beige sweater over blue Demin jeans, and her blond hair was tied up in a loose braid. I’d taken after my father; the dark hair and green eyes were a constant reminder of how I looked like the man who had hurt her.
I couldn’t even meet her eyes. This is not the way I expected to see her when she was back.
“Mom…what you saw there—”
Before I had a chance to complete the sentence, a loud crack resonated the place. My cheek burned with the aftermath of the slap.
Mom had never slapped me before, not even when I was twelve and had broken her favorite flower vase that grandma had given her before she died, and not when I’d been caught for causing the arson. I understood how majorly I’d fucked up this time.
“Do not say a single word.” She snapped; her nose flared with anger. She was never the type to showcase how furious she was unless she’d had enough. “Out of all girls that you could have been with, it had to be Emily!”
“Mom—”
“I’m not finished yet!”
I stared at the carpet and the intricate patterns on it. I wasn’t about to risk looking at her since she’d morphed into a fire-breathing dragon. She was short, like around five-two, and cute. I might have grown up like a giant now, like my father (unfortunately), but I guess giants were allowed to be scared of their tiny mothers too.
“What were you thinking, Seth?” Her voice turned into a whisper as she caught my shoulders and gave them a violent shake. “She’s Diego Vásquez’s,
daughter! What if her father had walked into that room and seen you…in that…compromising position with her…”
“But he didn’t!”
“Do not interrupt me when I haven’t finished talking!”
“Okay.” I guess I was about to study the carpet patterns tonight.
She rubbed her forehead in obvious distress. “I let you come live here because I thought you pulled your act together. I believed you when you said you would keep your head down, and get through high school. If you wanted to cause trouble and let history repeat itself then you were better off in Connecticut with your father.”
I opened my mouth to speak but she held up a finger to shut me up. Her eyes were now brimming with tears. I was going to be subjected to some mellow drama. More than that, it hurt me to see that I’d hurt her.
“When I asked your dad to let you live with me, he laughed and said you were ‘his son and that you would walk in his footsteps’is that what this is about? I told him that wasn’t the case and that you are my son but right now you’re proving me wrong.” She wiped the tears from her cheeks, “Emily’s father will ruin you if he found out about this. I don’t even care about my job!”
“Can you allow me to speak? If you want to do this one-sided conversation then I’ll just leave.”
“Go ahead, let me hear your excuses.”
“I’m not playing with Emily. I’m serious with her.”
“How long has this been going on?”
“A month.”
“What? You’ve been sleeping with her for a month?!”
“No. We were just messing around that time, but we started dating last week.”
“Did you say dating?”
“Yeah. What did you think?”
She had that blank expression on her face.
“Well, that’s even worse!”
“It just happened, Mom.”
“Did your clothes suddenly just happened to disappear and you ended up in her bedroom, is that what you’re telling me?”
“I swear I didn’t do it on purpose. I liked Emily even before I joined here for work. I didn’t even know you worked for her family. How was I supposed to know that you were working for the girl I planned to ask out?”
That did the trick. Mom didn’t have a comeback.
“Emily’s my girlfriend.” I clarified.
She slumped down onto the couch in resignation. The muscles in her shoulders were tensed, “You can’t live here anymore.”
There were loud thumping sounds of footsteps, Emily came running downstairs. She'd pulled on a robe over her flimsy gown which covered up the sexy lingerie. She came to a halt in front of my mother.
"Ruth, it's not Seth's fault." She explained, "I was the one who wanted this. I take full responsibility."
Mom turned her attention to Emily. Her volcanic demeanor suddenly changed when she addressed her, you'd think you had walked into a sugar factory.
"Sweetie, we can have this conversation later, okay? I'm just going to wrap this up with my son first."
Emily stepped towards me, "But I'm telling you the truth. Seth didn't seduce me or do anything inappropriate. I've wanted this as much as him. Please don't yell at him."
Mom rubbed her temple in frustration, I know she still had the urge to draw my blood but she managed to keep a sweet smile plastered on her face for Emily.
"I guess it's my fault then because I should have known what would happen if two hormonal teens were left in a house alone for a month." She looked between the two of us, "Don't get me wrong, I love you two equally but it's clear to me that you don't realize the consequences that your actions might have in the future."
She turned to Emily, "Sweetie, your father will make sure that Seth doesn't live a normal life. It wouldn't matter what you say to him."
Emily started picking on the fabric of her robe, a habit she had developed for when she was nervous, "I'm eighteen. He can't stop me."
"I know, Em, but Diego has money and influence. Seth has been through a lot for the past two years, I don't want him to get into any more trouble. I hope you both understand I'm not your enemy here. I want what’s best.”
There was a suffocating silence in the room. Neither of us said a word, just stood there, giving each other the strength we needed to get through this.
"Seth, you're not living in the studio. You're going back to the old accommodations. I'll pay the rent."
"NOOOOO!" Emily yelled loudly, "NO!" It was hard to hear her voice breaking.
"Emily...sweetie..."
"I said No!" Emily closed the distance between us and wrapped her arms around me, tightly, her long nails dug into my waist. "Seth is not going anywhere!"
Mom's expressions softened as she watched Emily cling to me like I was her last hope, her thread of sanity. I put my arm around her, holding her close to me.
I needed to make a decision.