by Todd, E. L.
“Yeah. You’re getting your dress tomorrow, right?”
I felt my heart accelerate. “Sean, why didn’t you tell me?”
“I thought it was implied.”
I ran my fingers through my hair, the stress kicking in. “You should have told me! How long is she staying with us?”
“Just for a few days.” He looked nervous as he stared at me. “Babe, I thought you worked everything out with my mom.”
“Yes, I did. But you didn’t tell me she was coming.”
“I can call her and tell her it’s off if you don’t want her here.”
“No. It’s not that. I just wish you had told me she was coming. I do like her.”
He came back to me. “Scar, I’m sorry. I’m so stupid. I thought we already discussed this. I’ll work on my communication better. She’s just really excited to help you pick out a dress.”
I sighed. “It’s okay, babe.”
“Is it okay if she stays with us?”
“I guess.”
“We can pay to have her in a hotel, if you want. I’ll take care of it. You don’t have to deal with her. I just didn’t want my mom staying in a hotel by herself. It’s rude.”
“No, I don’t want that.”
“Scar, you’re my first priority. Whatever you want, I’ll do.”
“It’s okay. I just wish I had known she was coming. I haven’t cleaned the apartment in a week.”
He glanced at the room. “It looks fine.”
“Only sterile is fine for a mother-in-law. And I don’t know what to cook for dinner.”
“We’ll go out. Problem solved.”
“And we can’t have sex for two days.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me right now. Not this again.” He sighed and rolled his eyes.
“Sean, she’ll be right across the hall. That’s even more uncomfortable than at their place.”
“Scarlet, this is my house. You’re my wife. We have sex. She already knows we fuck on planes. How can having sex in our bed be any worse than that?”
“First of all, I’m not your wife. Stop saying that.”
He narrowed his eyes at me like I had poured salt in an open wound. “Same thing.”
“No, it isn’t. I’m your fiancé. Stop jumping the gun.”
“Well, I wish you were my wife.”
“I will be soon. And secondly, it’s still awkward even though she knows we have sex. It’s disrespectful.”
He crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head. “You’re so fucking annoying. We’re having sex. That’s final.”
“Excuse me?”
“We don’t have to fuck like animals and break down the wall. We can be quiet. She won’t hear a thing. Besides, she’s old. She’ll be asleep at like six.”
“That’s not the point. It’s only for a few days. You can wait.”
“Excuse me? I don’t wait.”
“You’re being an asshole. What are you going to do? Hold me down?”
The anger on his face disappeared. “That’s not funny. Don’t ever say that to me again.”
Now I felt bad. “That’s not what I meant, Sean.”
“I don’t care what you meant. Don’t ever say that to me.”
The incident with Carl made him even more sensitive to that topic than he was before. I wish I hadn’t said that. I never wanted him to think I thought of him that way. “I’m sorry. I take it back.”
He nodded but didn’t say anything.
“I just don’t think it’s a good idea.”
“I just don’t understand what the big deal is. We live together, we’re getting married, she knows we have sex. There should be no reason why we can’t make love when she’s here. Absolutely no reason. If it doesn’t bother me, it shouldn’t bother you.”
“Can you just go two days without it?” I asked incredulously. “Is it that big of a deal?”
“It is a big deal,” he snapped. “I want to make love to you every single night. I need to. I’m not changing my ways for anyone, especially my mom. I love you and I love being with you. We don’t have much time left.”
“Much time left?”
“A lifetime seems like a long time, but it’s really not. I want to have you as many times as I can. The presence of other people doesn’t make a difference to me.”
I sighed. “Why are you so stubborn?”
“Me?” He laughed. “You’re the one with a hard head.”
“Let’s just talk about this later.”
“There’s nothing to talk about. This is settled.”
“Then we’ll have sexual abstinence for two days.”
“No,” he said firmly. “If I can make you come without touching you, I can make you open your legs and beg me to fuck you without touching you either. Game on.”
As much as I hated to admit it, those words got to me. My mind started to fantasize about Sean’s bedroom nature. He definitely was domineering and controlling. I loved that side of him. I felt like I didn’t have a choice but to enjoy it. “Why does everything have to be a challenge to you?”
He smiled. “Believe me, it won’t be challenge.”
“You’re so full of yourself.”
“I just know what my wife likes.”
“Stop calling me that.”
“I can call you whatever I want. You’re wearing my ring, aren’t you? You already agreed to marry me.”
“But we still aren’t married. You’re diluting the meaning.”
“Or increasing it.”
“Just stop calling me that.”
“Fine.” He grabbed the bags and placed them in the bedroom. I looked at the living room and thought about how I would start cleaning the apartment. I wished Sean had told me we were hosting his mom. I didn’t mind having her here, but a heads up would have been nice.
Sean came back into the living room. “Do you need help cleaning?”
“It’s okay, Sean. You’ve been carrying the luggage all weekend.”
“What does that matter?”
“Just don’t worry about it. When she going to be here?”
Sean looked at his watch. “Soon.”
I raised an eyebrow. “What’s soon?”
“An hour, maybe.”
My jaw dropped. “We just got home.”
“And you’re going shopping tomorrow, right?”
I sighed. “I could kill you.”
He smiled. “I wouldn’t believe you if you were pointing a knife at me.”
“I guess I’ll concentrate on the guestroom.”
“I’ll help.”
I didn’t reject his offer because I realized I had very little time. We changed the sheets of the full size bed and vacuumed the room, changed the towels, and prepared the guest bathroom. I cleaned up the living room as much as I could before there was a knock on the door. I didn’t mind his mom coming to visit even though our relationship was still tense, but I wished she wasn’t coming so soon.
Sean opened the door. “Hey, Mom,” he said with a smile. He hugged her for a long moment before he pulled away. I could see the awkwardness he still felt toward his mother after she treated me so poorly, but I was glad he was working on the relationship. I never wanted him to lose his mom because of me. I loved Sean too much to ever do that to him.
“Hello, dear. Thanks for letting me stay with you. You know how your father is about me staying alone.”
“Definitely. I’m the same way with Scarlet.”
“Poor girl,” she said with a smile.
“Yeah. It annoys her too.” He grabbed her bags then carried them inside.
Her mother stepped into the room and looked at me. “Hello, honey. How are you?”
“Good,” I said as I hugged her. “How was the flight?”
“Long,” she said with a sigh. “Thank you so much for including me on your dress decision. I’ve been looking forward to this.”
“Of course.” Her enthusiasm made me feel better about her staying here. I guess
I was still on my guard from being compared to Penelope for so long.
“You have a very nice apartment,” she said as she looked around.
I knew she was just saying that to be polite. We lived in a hole compared to the mansion she lived in. I wasn’t embarrassed about it. We had just the right amount of room for the two of us. “Thank you.”
“Scarlet decorated it,” Sean said as she wrapped his arm around my waist. “And she did a wonderful job.”
“It’s always good to have a female touch.”
“I’ll carry your bags into the bedroom,” Sean said as he grabbed them.
“Thank you,” Diane said. When Sean was gone, Diane looked at me. “So, do you need help cooking dinner?”
“Actually, we thought we would go out.”
“Ugh. I’m so sick of being out and about.”
I didn’t think of that. To be honest, I was tired of eating out too, but I knew we had limited groceries in the house. “I just need to run to the grocery store.”
“You don’t have anything here?”
“Well, we were just in Vegas all weekend.”
“Oh yeah. How was that?”
“It was a lot of fun.”
Sean came back. “Where should we go for dinner?”
“We’re going to eat here,” I said quickly.
“Oh okay.”
Diane looked at him. “And where did you go for your bachelor party?”
“Vegas,” he answered.
“Wait. You both went to Vegas?”
“Yeah,” he said. “We combined our parties.”
“Together?” she asked, still confused.
“Yep,” he said as he returned his arm to my waist.
“But that’s not traditional,” Diane said.
“And neither are we. So, should we head to the store?”
I liked that Sean wasn’t taking shit from his mom. She still looked confused by the revelation, but Sean didn’t seem to care.
“Yeah, we should,” I said.
“I can go and you two can stay here,” he offered.
“No,” I said quickly. “You’ll never follow the list.”
“I can follow a list,” he said.
“You’ll come back with heavy cream, beer, bacon, and deodorant.”
“Which are things I need.”
“But you won’t get the things I asked for in addition to that.”
He rolled his eyes. “I forgot one time.”
“I don’t think we should risk it.”
His mother walked away. “I can whip up something with what you have.” She walked into the kitchen and looked in the refrigerator. “I can work with this.”
“Diane, don’t worry about it. You’re our guest. We’ll take care of it. I just didn’t have a chance to prepare for your visit.”
“Nonsense. I don’t mind helping.” She started taking out tomatoes and onions, then pulled out some frozen chicken.
I sighed, knowing she was as stubborn as Sean was.
“Mom, please let Scarlet take care of it. You’re our guest.”
She stopped and looked at him. “I just want to lend a hand.”
“Mom, you’re being rude. Knock it off.”
She sighed then sat down at the dining table. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay,” he said as he patted her on the shoulder.
It was such a relief that Sean defended me every single time. I was starting to feel like we were really a team. “Would you like some coffee, Diane?”
“Yes, please. Cream, no sugar.”
“Coming up,” I said as I worked in the kitchen.
She sighed. “I should call your father, but my phone is piled under my clothes in my suitcase.”
Sean pulled his phone out. “You can use mine.”
She glanced at it. “I can’t figure out those weird itone things.”
“iphone?” Sean asked.
“Yeah, whatever. I’ll just call him later.”
“Okay,” he said as he placed it on the counter.
I worked in the kitchen and prepared the chicken and the vegetables. I knew how to cook and I did it well. That was one of the few things I was good at. Sean came to me and asked if I needed help every few minutes, but I just shooed him away. He talked to his mom at the kitchen table while I made the finishing touches.
His mother would cast glances at him, staring at his face when he wasn’t looking. I could see the sadness in her eyes. She was still worried she might lose her son because of her behavior. In my heart, I tried to believe that she really did just make a mistake and she would have behaved differently under other circumstances, but doubt would flood back. Sometimes I still felt like I wasn’t good enough for Sean. But he made it clear that he was marrying me with or without their consent, so it really didn’t matter what they thought. I was glad Sean was on my side. I didn’t do anything wrong.
I set the table and poured glasses of wine. Sean sat next to his mother while we ate and I sat across from both of them. Diane took a bite of her food then looked at me.
“This is wonderful, Scarlet. You’re an excellent cook.”
“Thank you.”
“Just don’t make my son and grandchildren too fat.”
Sean shook his head. “We can’t promise anything. If I didn’t go to the gym every morning, I would be obese because I devour everything my fiancé makes.”
I smiled at him, glad he used the right marital term.
“Who taught you to cook?” Diane asked.
I shrugged. “I just picked it up.”
“Was your mother a good cook?”
I wanted to vomit at the thought of her. “No.”
“Will she be joining us tomorrow?”
“Who?”
“Your mother.”
“No.”
She stared at me for a moment, confusion on her face.
Sean intervened. “Scarlet needs help choosing a dress. She isn’t sure what she wants.”
“Oh, there will be so many there she won’t know what to choose,” she said.
I breathed a sigh of relief, glad that Sean changed the subject.
“When are we going?” she asked.
“Tomorrow morning.”
“Will it just be us two?”
“No, my brother, my friend, Cortland, and my two girlfriends are coming.”
“Men are coming?”
“Scarlet is really close to her brother,” Sean explained.
“And he’s my maid of honor,” I said.
“Oh,” she said, sounding surprised. “And the other man?”
“He’s a best friend.”
She nodded but didn’t say anything.
I waited for her judgment to come, but it never did.
When everyone was finished, I took the dirty plates to the sink and started to clean up. Sean came beside me and started to help me rinse the dishes and put them in the dishwasher.
“I got it, babe,” I said.
“No. You cooked, so I’ll clean.”
I smiled at him then continued to scrub the food off the plate then hand it to him so he could load it in the dishwasher. I was grateful that I was marrying a man that didn’t mind doing some housework. Even though he worked all day, he still helped me around the house and didn’t expect me to do everything. He grew up with a maid so I was surprised he learned how to clean at all. His thoughtfulness made me love him even more.
“Sean, your phone is so confusing,” his mother said, squinting her eyes as she looked at the screen.
“Just look up ‘Dad’.”
She touched the phone with her finger then flinched.
“I’ll be there in a second,” Sean said as he continued to load the dishes.
Diane gasped then covered her mouth. “Oh my god.”
The sound of club music played loud from the phone. The sound of Cortland shouting and Mike clapping was audible. I dropped a plate in the sink when I realized what she was watching. Sean abandoned the dishes
, almost tripped over himself, then grabbed the phone from his mother and turned it off as quickly as possible. The sound disappeared.
I was so mortified I didn’t even turn around.
“Mom, I can explain.”
“Was that Scarlet?” she asked immediately. “Who was that other woman?”
“Yes,” he said hesitantly. “But it’s not how it looks.”
“It looked like Scarlet was kissing some other girl. What’s going on? Is your fiancé a lesbian?”
I closed my eyes and tried to still my beating heart.
“No, of course not! It was a dare.”
I didn’t think that was much better than saying I was drunk.
“A dare?” his mother asked. “So she did that for fun?”
“No,” he said, his hands sliding through his hair.
“Is she twelve? I don’t even know what to say,” Diane said. “Not at all.”
“She was drunk and it just happened.”
“How drunk was she?”
“Mom, drop it.”
“Should I be worried about the wedding? Are you still getting married?”
“Yes, of course. It was just a crazy night. That’s all.”
“She doesn’t like—women?”
“No,” I said, finally turning around. “I don’t. It just got out of hand.”
Diane wouldn’t look at me, continuing to stare at Sean. “I—I’m gonna call your father in my bedroom.” She rose from the chair then walked away. When I heard her bedroom door shut, my heart slowed down slightly.
Sean turned around and looked at me. “Scarlet—”
“You told me you deleted it!”
“No, I said I would. I just forgot.”
I shook my head, feeling steam blow from my ears. “I could slap you right now.”
He gave me a sympathetic look. “Babe, I didn’t know that was going to happen. You know I never would have shown anyone.”
I stood in front of him then stared him down. “This never would have happened if you kept your word to me.”
“Scarlet, I just forgot. I swear.”
“I trusted you.”
“I didn’t show her on purpose!”
“This is the worst thing that could have possibly happened.” I walked past him then moved to the front door. Sean followed close behind me. When I reached the front door, I grabbed the doorknob but I didn’t turn it. I wanted to storm off but I knew I couldn’t. I promised I wouldn’t.
When I looked Sean, he looked scared.