10. Daniel

10

DANIEL

I watched Emily saunter out of my office tugging at the hem of her skirt. She fluffed her hair and stepped into the hallway and I relaxed behind my desk. The storm that walked into my office, however, was one I wasn’t expecting.

My mother’s head jerked back and forth worse than a bobble head on the dashboard of a 1970s Volkswagen van. She scoffed and huffed, pointing in the direction Emily was moving. “You have got to be kidding me.” Mom stood there staring down the hall, and I had to restrain myself from rolling my eyes at her ridiculous dramatic response.

“What, Mom?” I sat forward in my chair, resting my forearms on the edge of the desk and clasping my hands. The room smelled like sex, and I didn’t care. It was my office, my firm, and my business.

She whipped around and shut the door behind her before stomping to my desk and slamming her purse down. Her nostrils were flared out and her eyes narrowed. “I can’t believe he was telling the truth. I had to come see it for myself.” Standing with her hands on her hips, she glared at me the way she did when I was a naughty child, but she had to know that wasn’t going to work anymore.

“See what?” I gestured at the chair for her to sit, and she flopped into it dramatically.

“That two-bit floozy your father told me about. An assistant, Daniel?” She leaned in as she hissed out the words. “You can do so much better.”

“Please don’t talk about Emily like that, Mom. You don’t know the first thing about her.” My temper bristled at her insults. I wanted to be respectful as always, but I had to draw the line somewhere. My parents meddled in my life far too much.

Mom huffed again, sitting back on her chair and crossing her arms over her chest defiantly. Her red, pinstripe suit buckled in the front, leaving wrinkles, which normally would have annoyed her. Today, it appeared as if I annoyed her more than wrinkled clothing. She crossed one leg over the other and bounced her foot hard.

“I want what’s best for you, Daniel. Any mother would want what’s best for their child. I just don’t know why you insist on lowering your standards so low. An assistant? Really? I mean, is she in law school?”

“No, Mom, she’s not. She is brilliant and kind, and if you took even two seconds to get to know her, you’d see for yourself that she is pretty perfect for me.”

“Because she’s easy? What did you do, bend her over the desk?” Her tone was nasty, and it was difficult to remain calm. I refused to respond to her question, which didn’t faze her. She kept right on with her insults. “Her hair was fussed, her skirt riding up. This whole room smells like sex. You can’t lie to me. I’m your mother. You are purposely destroying your career.”

“Mom!” I snapped without raising my voice, but if she didn’t stop what she was doing, she would see my claws come out. “Please, we can talk about this and be civil. Emily has done nothing wrong. She is a good girl.”

“Girl! Ha. See? Even you admit she’s just a child. What will the media say when they find out you're dating a child? Hm?” Her eyebrows rose in accusation, and she gestured wildly with her hand. “This whole thing will be over. You’ll lose everything. She’ll get wind that you have as much money as you have and file a lawsuit for sexual harassment. The media will pick it up and call you a pedophile or something. Daniel, listen to me. End it now.”

Mom picked up her purse and opened it, rifling through it. She pulled out a bottle of pills and took two of them then put the bottle back. She didn’t even use water to wash them down. I wasn’t sure if they were anxiety pills or just medicine for a headache. Maybe she took them as a means to make me feel guilty, like my actions had spurred her into some frenzied state she couldn’t control.

I wished I had a bottle of tequila to drown out the anger roiling around my gut, but even if I had it, I’d have passed on it. I had important meetings this afternoon that I couldn’t screw up. Dealing with my mother wasn’t ever easy, but this interaction was really pushing my buttons in a bad way.

“Look, I know you care, but you are way out of your realm of authority.”

“Am I?” She glared at me. “I think your dating a gold-digging whore is sort of my realm of authority. We made you everything you are. Let me remind you who paid for your college? Who invested in this firm to get you started? Who got you on the right track with your first cases and?—”

“I get it, Mom. You and Dad sacrificed a lot to get me here, and I appreciate that. But my career is separate from my personal life. Dating Emily is not going to tank my career.” I had to take a deep breath to keep from shouting at her, though I really wanted to let loose.

Mom bolted out of her seat, pacing the length of the room. She simply didn’t understand where I was coming from because she hadn’t even spoken to Emily. Neither of my parents even wanted to. They’d just as soon make their quick judgments and write her off as not good enough for me because she didn’t have a name or a reputation.

“You know, Daniel, I thought I taught you better than this. Think of what your clients will do when they see you dating someone so young? You think that’s just a threat? What about Bob Nickles? His daughter was preyed upon by an older man who nearly brainwashed her into joining a cult. How will you explain to him why you’re so obsessed with her? And she works for you!”

Mom was seething, eyes bulging out of her head, hands clenched into fists. “What if your other staff members see you as playing favorites and start expecting you to do things for them the way you do for her? Hm? When you don’t do it, they’ll file a lawsuit against you for preferential treatment or uneven working conditions.”

“Mom, please sit down. This is ridiculous.” I stood, pressing the tips of my fingers into my desk. Mom sat on the couch angrily and leaned back. As she did, she fidgeted a bit until she reached behind herself and pulled out Emily’s black lace bra. I remembered peeling that thing off her and letting it fall. I hadn’t even realized it was lost in the furniture.

“My God, Daniel.” She shook her head and dropped the bra, covering her face. “You can’t possibly be doing this to me.”

There it was, the hard eye roll. Everything in my mother’s life was about her, including who I chose to date. I could already hear the next phrase out of her mouth before she opened it. The ladies at her rotary club were going to have a tizzy. The men at Dad’s cigar club were going to tout me as the king of the hill, big man on campus for scoring such a hottie, all to his obvious disdain. And I was the black sheep, bleating out the family shame at the top of my lungs.

“Daniel, I?—”

“I know, Mom. Your friends. Dad’s friends. Etcetera, etcetera.” I waved my hand in the air and strolled over to her, bringing her purse along with me. I handed it to her and snatched Emily’s bra up. “Look, I understand your concern, but I want you to know I’m not going to ruin my life. I know what I’m doing. I really like this woman.” Careful not to call Emily a “girl” again, I thrust a hand out and helped her stand. “Now I have work to do, which if I don’t get it done will actually tank my career. So if you have anything else to say about my personal life, maybe it can wait until I’m on personal time.”

Mom fussed with me, grinding her foot into the carpet as if she were not leaving, but I opened the door and stood there waiting for her. “Daniel, you can’t believe that you’ll be happy with someone like her.”

“What do you mean, Mom? Someone gorgeous, funny, smart, driven, and free thinking?” I scowled at her. “Or do you mean someone poor?”

“Well…” She trudged over to me and pursed her lips. “I think we need to continue this discussion when your father is here because it’s obvious I’m not talking any sense into you.”

“Goodbye, Mom,” I called as she walked past me.

With the office door shut, I rubbed my forehead, frustrated. The intense relaxation I felt after sex was gone. Mom had seen to that. I slumped into my desk chair and stared blankly at the screen. It didn’t matter to me that my parents didn’t approve of Emily, though it would mean a lot to me if they at least gave her a shot.

I just hoped Mom didn’t corner Emily in the outer office and lecture her. I didn’t want that to be Emily’s first impression of my family. They were great once you got to know them. It was just getting past their ridiculously high standards.