Page 56 of British Daddy to Go

Maggie

I’m hyperventilating when I walk through the door and find my parents red faced and waiting.

“Magdalena! Where on Earth have you been?”

“I was at Jenna’s,” I answer meekly. The lie is sour in my mouth. I can feel Sean’s semen dripping from my pussy!

Dad stands silently by and stares with a stony expression on his face. Mom studies my face carefully.

“You’re lying!” my mother shouts. “Where were you really?”

I shake my head. “You’re crazy, Mother. I was at Jenna’s. You can ask her yourself!”

Quicker than I can react, Mom snatches my phone from the back pocket of my jeans. She won’t let me have a password on it. I usually delete incriminating conversations, like the ones I’ve had with Sean and Jenna, in case my mom ever looks through my phone. This time, I didn’t have a chance to clean things out before she got ahold of it.

My mom begins to cry. “Who is Sean?” she screams in her shrill voice. “Is he one of Jenna’s friends? I knew that girl was corrupting you!”

Mom falls to the floor in a heaving sob.

“Jenna didn’t introduce me to Sean,” I say calmly. “I met him at Havisham’s.”

Mom screams. “I knew it was a bad idea to let you have that job! What was I thinking? Now you’re ruined!”

“Ruined?!” I sputter. “Mom, this isn’t the 1700s.”

She doesn’t respond. My father drops down beside her and pulls her into his arms. For the first time in my life, I wonder if my parents love each other or if their relationship is simply convenient. Dad looks uncomfortable as he tries to comfort my mom. Had their parents set them up like they tried to do with Randall and me?

My parents never talk about their lives before me. It’s quite possible that their marriage was arranged for them. However, I doubt either of them had a relationship like I have with Sean. They were probably perfect children, obeying their parents’ every command. How unfortunate that they ended up with a daughter like me.

“You will quit your job,” Mom says when she finally catches her breath. “You will never set foot in that store again.”

I nod. I assumed I would lose my beloved job today. It was a price I’d expected to pay for staying out all night.

“I understand.”

Mom stands with my dad’s help. She can’t meet my eyes. It’s like I’m so shameful to her that even eye contact will contaminate her soul.

“You are never to see or speak to Jenna again.”

Once again, a punishment I knew was coming. While keeping my job without my parents’ knowledge will be impossible, I’ll have no trouble remaining friends with Jenna. This is the fifth time my parents have tried to ban me from seeing her. It has obviously never worked before. I don’t know why they bother to keep trying.

“This boy, either. You will never see or speak to him again.”

“Mom, come on. You’re being ridiculous!”

Her eyes widen. I’ve never spoken to her that way before.

“How dare you!” she shouts. “You’ve disobeyed our rules, and you will pay the consequences.”

“I’m twenty-five, Mom. You don’t get to decide who I date!”

More tears escape her eyes, but she still won’t look at me. “You will never date anyone again! Who would have you now that you’ve ruined yourself? Certainly not Randall! How could you do this to me?”

“Do what to you, Mom? This isn’t about you! I really like Sean. I don’t like Randall. I’m sorry that you’re angry with me, and I’m sorry that I stayed at his apartment without calling, but you can’t take everything away from me!”

“You’ve taken it away from yourself! Randall would have been a perfectly good husband for you, and you threw that away for a one-night stand with some heathen!”

This time, I start to cry. I can’t believe she has the nerve to talk about Sean this way! She doesn’t even know him. “Sean is a great guy, Mom. I think that if you met him…”