“I guess,” she hugged the kitten tight and rose from her spot on the floor. She kissed Phineas’ cheek, “go get my mama please.”
“On it.” he stroked the furry cars of the kitten and then dropped a kiss to her lips before heading for the door.
Veronica shook her head, “you really are going to date all three of these assholes? I’d rather eat lead coated in arsenic. I hope Janice is bringing coffee because I didn’t have enough time to stop.”
“I made coffee,” Suki pointed to the pot.
“Girl, it’s not going to be strong enough. I need a triple espresso to deal with these fools.”
“You hate your job,” Suki said matter-of-factly.
“No. I love my job when I can do my job. When I am forced to watch the three of them act like animals or to clean up their messes, it’s not as much fun. This chaos this morning with getting up at four-thirty, kittens, kitty litter, all three of them not dressed and hungover, is not my cup of tea. I need copious amounts of caffeine. Also, I babysat the kitten last night and I am running on roughly two hours of sleep because she climbed my curtains.” She looked at Juniper, “good luck.”
Adil was rifling through a bag, “add yourself a bonus for cat sitting last night. I don’t mind. Also, Phineas is making breakfast.”
Veronica flung herself into a chair, “thank God. The man can cook.”
“He’s going to make stuffed French toast.”
“Yes!” Veronica sighed happily.
“What is a stuffed French toast?” Suki asked curiously.
“He makes this eggy dipped bread thing that he fills with strawberries and cream cheese.” Veronica said with a smile, “he could create world peace with it.”
“It sounds delicious.”
“It is delicious. I’m no longer angry I’m here so early,” Veronica looked at Juniper, “are you okay? You look like you’re ready to stick your head in the oven.”
“Veronica,” Adil’s hiss of her name was a sharp rebuke.
“Look at her. She is pale, her hands are shaking, and she is squeezing that kitten like it’s a life raft.”
“Baby girl,” Adil moved to Juniper, “talk to me. What’s wrong?”
“Why is he calling my mother and being harassing?”
“I don’t know but we’ll handle it. All of us together.”
She moved into his arms, and he cuddled her, “I am quickly moving from the sadness and anger to hatred. I never wanted to hate him, even when I knew what he did but I really hate this motherfucker.”
“You and me both,” Maeve’s voice called into the space as she entered the room ahead of Sandra and her face was set angrily. “I hate him for hurting you, but his mother is going to get my fist right into her snooty face.”
“Mama,” Juniper looked at her mother in confusion. “What is going on?”
“It’s what I need to ask you.” Her mother looked around the room. “What did you all get up to last night?”
“Suki came home from Europe yesterday and we went out to blow off steam. The guys came with us.”
Her mother looked at the kitten in her arms, “and what is this?”
“This is the kitten Adil got me. Part of my therapy was to spend time all alone, so I went to cat café and Adil saw how much I loved it there and he went and got the kitten and adopted her for me.”
“I went and got it,” Veronica snorted. “He simply paid me to do it and paid for everything.”
“She is very pretty,” Maeve said quietly and moved to scratch the kitten’s soft fur. “Did you name her yet?”
“No. She only just arrived.” Juniper looked at her mother, “what did he do, Mama?”
“Kyst called his mother and said you were drunk and acting out. He sent me a message saying you were drunk and being taken advantage of and that three men were taking you away while you were drunk and he was concerned you were being coerced into something inappropriate.”
Sandra cleared her throat, “Maeve wasn’t too concerned but then he and his mother threatened to call the police to report you were
“Asshole!” Suki cut Sandra off. “Seriously. He was going to call the cops?”
“It’s what he said. I wanted to get here before the cops showed up.”
“Can I borrow your phone, Mama?”
Her mother passed her the phone and Juniper noted the nearly fifty calls from both Kyst and Lois and the innumerable text messages. She scrolled through the messages growing increasingly angry as Phineas, Adil and Beni reading over her shoulder. She could feel the tension from them. She finally finished reading and she pressed the call back button and waited for the call to connect and for Kyst to answer.
“Maeve, thank you for calling me back.”
“Fuck you, you lying sack of shit. How dare you scare my mother to death with lies?”
“Juniper. Honey.”
“Don’t you dare call me honey. This the last time you and I are going to speak directly. After this call, I will be calling your mother, and I will be telling her the same thing I’m going to tell you now. At this very moment I am sober and wide awake. I am not under the influence of alcohol or drugs like you alleged to my mother. I do not need a police intervention. Hear me well, you worm. I filed for a divorce from you. I will get my divorce from you. The fact I needed to get an STD panel of tests done because you cheated on me without wearing a condom is more than enough reason for me to divorce you. I hate you. I hate you with every fiber of my being.”
“You don’t mean that.”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.