Post by StoryGirl83 on Nov 10, 2011 0:49:40 GMT -5
Chapter Twenty-Six – Dinner With Dad’s Girlfriend
Seth looked across the table at his dad’s girlfriend, Danielle Josephs. Her short red hair was groomed to perfection. Her small smooth hands were professionally manicured. But what really stood out wasn’t even her obviously pregnant belly due to eight months of growing a baby. It was the small frown on her rouged lips.
“Derek tells me that you two spent the day together,” Danielle commented. Looking at Peter she asked, “Did you enjoy yourself?”
Seth looked at her surprised. Maybe having a second child was going to have a positive effect on her.
Peter glanced at his brother on his right, before looking at his mother. “I showed Seth how to do an internet search.”
Seth rolled his eyes. “I know how to do a search.”
Peter shrugged. “Right. That’s why I was the one on the computer.”
“I was trying to include you,” Seth returned.
Danielle frowned. “What did you research?”
The two brothers looked at each other. It hadn’t occurred to either that she would actually pursue this line of questioning.
“Unusual stones,” Seth mumbled, wanting to be as vague as possible.
“Ancient mythology,” Peter announced at the same time.
Danielle frowned and glanced over at Derek.
Derek leaned back, a smile on his face. He wasn’t entirely sure what his sons had spent their day doing, but he was sure that they could figure this one out on their own.
“Unusual stones in ancient mythology,” Seth amended.
“I see,” Danielle commented hesitantly. “Did you find anything interesting?” She looked a little like she had forced the question out.
The brothers were silent for several seconds before Peter asked in a quiet voice, “Do you really want to know?” He gave her a hopefully look, because despite not thinking he should tell his mother what they did over the day, he wanted her to be interested.
She sighed. She didn’t really answer. She just turned to Derek and announced, “My mother called last week.”
Seth winced as he watched the downcast look on his little brother’s face.
Derek didn’t respond and waited for her to continue.
“My cousin told her about a wonderful career opportunity and my mother believes I should take it.”
Derek sat very still. He knew what was coming. He didn’t like the way she was broaching it, but he knew what was coming.
“She believes being a mother has been putting a serious strain on my career and that I shouldn’t let that hold me back any more,” Danielle announced.
Seth watched his little brother. The woman was a moron.
“She says I am putting too much into the relationship . . .”
“That’s enough!” Seth demanded, not willing to listen to her hurt his brother any more, even unknowingly as it seem to be. He saw his little brother glaring across the table at her and saw Derek’s white knuckles clutching his fork. Seth sent a glare at his dad. Derek should have been the one to end this conversation. Seth was beginning to wonder if his dad had taken too much abuse from her that he had lost the ability to stand up to her, even when it was his son that was being verbally abused. “You have no relationship with your son. You don’t make any effort. You can’t seriously consider twice monthly dinners where you almost never say anything to him as a relationship. Peter barely knows you.”
Her nostrils flared. “I am leaving for New York at the end of June after this baby is born,” she informed him. “It’s an excellent opportunity and I’m going to take it. I am also inviting the three of you to join me, in order that I might gain a relationship with my son.” She glared back at Seth. “Derek has agreed to consider this. I hope that you will decide to come. Your father tells me you are between jobs right now and I know you are out of school, so that shouldn’t be a problem.”
“No,” Peter announced.
Danielle looked at him surprised. “No?”
“I don’t want to move,” he announced. “I have friends here. I like it here.”
“You’ll like New York,” she informed him. “It’s a beautiful city.”
He shook his head. “No, I won’t.”
“You can’t know that,” she argued.
He ignored her. “And Seth may be out of school, but I’m not. I don’t want to start a new school.”
“You can call your friends from school,” Danielle reminded him. “They’ve made some pretty cool advances in telephone technology since I was a girl.”
He shook his head harder.
“I think you should,” Seth announced in a quiet voice.
Peter turned to look at him. The look on his face was hurt, as if Seth had just betrayed him.
Seth heaved in a deep breath.
“No,” Peter breathed at him, tears threatening his eyes. “How could you even suggest it?”
“If there’s even a chance . . .”
“You can’t really think there is,” Peter protested.
“I don’t know,” Seth admitted. He looked across the table at Danielle. “You have given us a lot to think about. This isn’t a light decision to be making. We won’t be making any decisions tonight.” He looked at his dad and his brother. “Will we?” Ironically, while he thought this might be good for his brother, he suspected it might be disastrous for his dad. The three of them were going to have to do a lot of talking, but before that went anywhere, he needed to talk with his dad. He needed to know if he was being an idiot for even considering that she might genuinely want to change ways.