I stopped short at the entrance to his study. His girlfriend sat in the room, perched stiffly in his wingback chair. “Yes, Dad?” I asked, voice as polite as I could muster. “Hello, Raquel.” She nodded at me with a waspish smile.
I wasn’t thrilled he had a girlfriend, especially that particular girlfriend. She acted as sweet as syrup to me when he was around, but as soon as he wasn’t, she changed. She hadn’t said or done anything rude, more an overall feeling she projected toward me.
My dad gave me a blistering smile. “Ellie-Bellie, I have great news!”
“Dad,” I whispered urgently. “I asked you not to call me that.” When mom died, I wanted him to stop calling me names she also called me. He never gave up, though. I didn’t usually mind, but I hated it in front of her.
“Sorry, sorry. Raquel and I have news!” He grabbed her hand and flipped it over. I stared at the huge rock on her left ring finger, and my world crashed down around me as he said the words. “We are getting married!”
My first instinct, screaming and storming out of the room, would get me grounded. I couldn’t bring myself to smile though. I settled for a grin. “Congratulations.” I tried to adjust my features to grin without grimacing.
The excited expression on Dad’s face faded. “It’s a surprise, and we haven’t dated long. But Raquel has two children around your age, and I think you need more feminine influences in your life.” He released her hand and walked to the doorway to take mine. “You can be friends with her daughter, Michelle. And, I care deeply for Raquel. I ask that you give our new family a chance.” His eyes pleaded with me; He wanted it to work and wanted me to get on board.
I glanced at Raquel and dropped my voice to a whisper. “But, Dad. What about mom?” I spoke as softly as I could.
Pain slashed through my father’s eyes, and I regretted mentioning her. He coughed once. “Ellie, Mom’s been gone for five years. You need someone to teach you the ins and outs of being a woman. I can’t do that.” He pulled me in for a bear hug. “I wish I could.”
“Of course, Daddy. I’ll give it a chance. Congratulations.” Tears prickled my eyes as I pulled out of my father’s arms. I needed to escape before Raquel saw me cry. The whole time I’d been in the room she hadn’t said one word to me.
“Excuse me; I have to go get…” I trailed off and hoped they didn’t question me. I whirled and ran out of the room.
How could he consider remarrying? Only five years had passed since I stood between my father and my best friend, and watched my mother’s body being lowered into the ground.
A few minutes after I threw myself onto my bed to sob, I heard a knock at my door. “Come in, Daddy,” I called, wiping the tears off of my face.
Raquel pushed my bedroom door open and stepped inside. She shut the door with her heel as she glanced around the room. Her upper lip curled at the small pile of clothes in the corner of the room beside my bathroom door.
“Cynthia,” she said severely. “We should talk.” I jerked off the bed and hastily neatened my hair.
“I don’t go by Cynthia. I go by Ellie.” She’d called me Cynthia since my dad told her my full name. I couldn’t imagine why she came to my room.
“Yes, well. I wanted to make sure we’re on the same page.” I didn’t say a word at first, but my expression said every thought running through my mind—mainly her craziness. What page did she mean?
“I don’t know what you mean, Raquel.” I’d never been rude or mean to her, but she appeared to be angry with me. “Did I do something to upset you?” Something about her demeanor, her stiff, cold posture, made me a little afraid of her answer.
“You made it perfectly clear that you have no intention of respecting the marriage between your father and me.” She sniffed delicately, eyeballing my messy bed. She walked in her high heels over to my bookcase and glanced at the titles.
“I didn’t mean to do that. It was a surprise. I’m sure we’ll all get along fine.” I didn’t believe for a red-hot second we’d get along, but I knew I must be respectful. My mother would’ve been upset if I spoke impolitely to my elders. I fought tears as I considered what my mother would think about Raquel.
She ran a finger over one of the shelves then studied the dust on her finger. I hadn’t done a deep cleaning in several weeks, and I never let the cleaning lady in my room. It was my space, and I’d keep it clean—except during summer break I’d been a bit lazy.
“I won’t allow lies in my home.” She turned to me and brushed the dust off of her finger. “You’ll follow my rules, or you’ll regret it. As long as you do, you’ll have no problems.” She made her way to the door. I stood in front of my bed, wide-eyed and terrified of the impeccably dressed woman. “Am I clear?”
“Yes ma’am,” I said. I didn’t know what else I could say. My dad obviously thought she was awesome. I’d already told him she gave me the creeps, and he rolled his eyes and told me not to be melodramatic.
She walked out of the room and shut the door behind her. The closing of the door had finality to it, like she closed off my life as I knew it. I grabbed the phone by my bed and dialed my best friend. He’d help me figure out how to deal with this new development.
I was so shocked in the beginning of their marriage that I didn’t say anything to my father—a decision I’d later come to regret.
Charles’s hand warmed my arm as he led me away from Raquel. His presence comforted me a bit. We soon reached the car, and I continued to seethe as I lowered myself into the driver’s seat. After a few moments of attempting and failing to collect myself, Charles reached over and loosened my bruising grip from the steering wheel.
“She’s a horrible woman!” I flapped my hands in an attempt to dissipate my anger. “What did he ever see in her?” The years I’d been out of the house hadn’t tampered my repressed emotions as well as I hoped. Waves of anger cascaded over my body, causing my stomach to be upset. My neck burned, and the flames crept up my cheeks.
Charles snorted. “She was different with him. She’s a charming, alluring woman when she has her sights set on marrying a rich, lonely widower.” He let out a long sigh and motioned me to put the car in drive. “They seemed to be in love, but any woman devoted to your father would’ve loved you. As far as I’m concerned, that’s how true love works, and I have a fair bit of experience in that area. You’ll experience it one day, Ellie.” He sighed and gazed out the window, lost in his memories. “Your mother and father had it. A more perfect couple I’ve rarely seen. If it’s possible, they might’ve been even more compatible than my dear, late wife and me.”
When upset, Charles rambled. I smiled at him and let him run his steam until we hit the road.
“That woman would run your company into the ground. But we’re not going to let her. I’ve got several options for names that I’d let run my own trial. I’ll call some of them tonight and have them get in touch with you to set up a meeting.”
