Hello anyone who reads this story. I have been working on this story for a while and have it posted on other sites, but I wanted to put it here too. I have taken some liberties with the characters so please know that Mariah is not a twin and was never in a cult, but was in foster care. Hilary is still married to Devon and Sharon is still married to Nick.

I hope you enjoy this story. Writing it is helping me deal with the Teriah drought we are having to endure right now. Hopefully that will end son.

I hope to update weekly. As I have already been writing it for a bit, I am trying to get the first 5 chapters up tonight or tomorrow.

Chapter 1

Man, I am so screwed. I am so late for work and not for the first time this month. I jump into my jeans and run a brush through my fiery red hair. Throwing my hair into a messy bun I run downstairs and out the door.

Driving to work I know my boss Hilary will rip me a new one. That is nothing new. If I'm honest with myself, I know I don't want to work there anymore. It was such a fun job when I started there. GC Buzz was a local TV show that was basically a gossip rag. We catered to an audience that loves juicy news; the messier the better. For the most part, even though the shows were fraught with shameless gossip and personal drama, the stories were undeniably true.

That was… before. Before Hilary took over the show; well actually, Hilary's insanely rich husband Devon bought her the show. Ha, can you believe that? Most girls would be happy with flowers or jewelry. But not Hilary. A TV show, so she can be the center of attention, is what she wants. And Devon, for his part, gave it to her.

The transition from my old boss Todd to Hilary has been traumatic to say the least. It is nothing for her to fabricate and sensationalize a story to better our ratings. To me, that is wrong. Also, Todd never minded if I came in a little late. He knew I worked a 2nd job with my brother Noah at The Underground Lounge as a bartender. The Underground is Noah's father Nick's bar, but basically, Noah runs it. There were some nights I didn't get home till 3:30 in the morning. Hilary could care less. Her exact words were, "If pouring drinks at some bar means more to you than giving this show 110% of your attention, then this is not the job for you." So…I quit The Underground. The money is significantly better at GC Buzz, and despite Hillary, I still love the atmosphere of a live TV show.

I peeled into the parking lot at exactly 8:05, run upstairs and through the door of the GC Buzz studio. Hilary is working with her assistant producer discussing today's segment. Without her looking up she says, "Oh look, Mariah's here. Thank you for gracing us with your presence. Please, explain why you are late…again. Mad cow disease? Flat tire?" She looks up with a mocking expression, "Oh wait, let me guess, your dog ate your alarm clock." She stands up, crossed her arms and glares at me.

"I'm sorry Hilary, I overslept. I could give you plenty of excuses, but I won't waste your time. Can I get your coffee?"

I'm not really sure what happens next. I, legit, am seeing red. I know for sure Hilary is throwing criticisms at me from everything angle. She is saying something about how dreadfully I make her coffee. There is something about how my hair is so red that I look like a strawberry and I need highlights…or is it lowlights? She definitely says something about my clothes and how I need to learn how to dress since I am representing her and the GC Buzz brand. At this point something snaps inside me. I know I should ignore her. I have actually gotten really good at tuning her out. But, in this moment, I have had enough. I ball my fists, turn around and lose my damn mind.

"Listen, you miserable excuse for a human. I have had enough of you attacking me personally. I am sick of you thinking that because you own this show that you are the most amazing television host since Julie Chen. You forget that you know nothing of this business and that the only reason you own it is because your lap dog Devon bought it for you. You think you deserve to be here? Reality check Hilary, you are here to keep you out of your husband's hair. This job? It is no longer worth the aggravation of dealing with you." Possessed with something beyond any reason or control I grab a full bottle of water and pour it over her head.

For a moment, Hilary just stands there in suspended animation. Shock is etched across her face. Her hair is flat and her makeup is running down her face. Then comes the eruption. "YOU BITCH! I'm shooting in 5 minutes. I can't go on air like this!"

I smirk at her, feeling triumphant. Leaning in I look her square in the eyes and say, "Sorry, that's not my problem. I QUIT!" Turning on my heal I walk out the door. I hear her screaming at everyone around her to help her clean up.

—-

After the elation of finally telling Hilary exactly how I feel wears off, panic starts to set in. Oh shit, Mariah, what did you just do? You now have no job, very little money and you ROYALLY pissed off the wealthiest man in town's wife and probably the man himself. Uggh, I need a drink.

Considering the hour, I settled for coffee. Slowly, I make my way to my mother's coffee shop, Crimson Lights. She will love this. She hated me working for Hilary. But, then again, she was the one who had to listen to me complain night after night about how dreadful she was. Oh yeah, my mom will be over the moon about my news.

I walk up to the counter where I see my mom upon arriving. "Hi Honey! What a pleasant surprise! What are you doing here?" She walks around the counter and hugs me, smirking when I rolled my eyes.

"Always with the hugs" I groan, pulling away and stiffening.

"Ohh, cut it out, Mariah. I'm your mother, and I'm happy to see you. I will hug you if I want."

"Yeah, Yeah, but do you have to squeeze so hard? Your gonna crack my ribs." After 4 years of knowing my mother, you would think I would be used to her affectionate nature. To be honest, I do like it; but I cannot show it. After being in and out of foster families for all of my childhood, affection is nothing I am use to. In my experience, anyone who wanted to touch me then, either wanted to hit me, or get in my pants. So the first time my mother tried to hug me, I shoved her and told her to never touch me again. It took a long time for me to stand it. Now, secretly I crave it. I want my mom to hold me and tell me everything will be OK. That foster girl is to much a part of who I am to ever admit that though.

"So… how bout a coffee sweetie. And why are you here? Did Hilary the Tyrant's espresso machine break down?"

"Yes please!" I say, eyes widening as I reached for the steaming cup. I greedily hover over the cup and take a sip. "I swear mom, you make the best coffee known to man," I mutter with eyes closed, "and no, Hilary's espresso machine is still frothing away. At least, I think it is anyway. I wasn't there long enough to find out."

"So, then why are you here?" She looks at me quizzically.

"Well…" I look up guiltily.

"What happened Mariah?" Her eyes widening.

"Umm… I quit. I walked right out. Sayonara evil boss lady. And hey, choke on this water as I pour it over your head. I did too, mom. I poured a whole bottle of water right over her head. God, did that felt great!"

My mother's eyes progressively get larger as I tell my story, and by the time I'm finished, they were the size of saucers. Just as I finish she busts out laughing.

"Oh my God, you didn't!"

"Oh, but I did. Not sure what I'm going to do now though. You hiring?"

"Oh no. No, no, no, no, no. You're not changing the subject that quick," She says, and grabs my arm and hauls me to the nearest booth to sit down. "I want every detail; leave nothing out. No tidbit is too little."

So, I tell her. I tell her how I was feeling on my ride in this morning; about everything Hilary said to me and how I snapped, culminating with a bottle of water over her head. By the end, she is laughing so hard, tears are rolling down her face.

"She must have looked like a drowned Chihuahua," she bellows between laugh sobs. "Oh God, baby. You are my daughter," she says, shaking her head back and forth.

"Yeah," I mutter, sitting back, equal parts smug and equal parts defeated, "I'm your daughter who is newly unemployed. I mean, I know my bills are minimal because I'm living with you, but I can't stay with you forever. I'm 26 years old mom."

"Honey, please don't look at it that way." She grabs my hand and meets my eyes. "I missed out on the first 22 years of your life. Having you with me now, it's everything. Everything I've dreamt about. I know some time you will meet someone, move out, and start your own family, but for now…now, this is our time, ok?"

I look away. How could this kind, sweet woman be my mother? When I was a kid, I dreamt my parents would show up and whisk me away. I would dream it was all a mistake. They would take me home and all the horrors of foster care would disappear. But as I grew older, I knew that would never happen. Eventually I came to hope that my parents were either drug addicts or had died and that's why I was there. The truth however, was much more predictable. My mom had been young and my father was an asshole. At 15, she thought the best she could give me was a chance with people who were ready for a child. But that didn't happen. I had been adopted. For the first 5 years of my life I was loved and taken care of. But then my adoptive mother got sick and died. My adoptive father couldn't stand the thought of keeping me. I guess I reminded him of everything he had lost. So back into the system I went. And that is where I stayed until my 18th birthday.

Lost in my thoughts, I don't hear my mom speaking until she waved her hand in front of my face. Blinking, I look at her and give her a small smile. "Thanks mom, it's nice knowing I'm welcome with you."

With my hand in hers she just looks at me for a long moment. I know she wants to say more. She wants to assure me that I was loved then, and that I am loved now. She tells me that all the time. She knows that my past makes me hesitant to accept her words. So she has painstakingly showed me. She shows me in a million little ways every day. Every time she asks to spend time with me I believe more and more that she wants me around. Every time she has defended me to my new found family about my less than personable personality, I see the fierce mama bear that can only be coming from someone who loves me with her whole heart. Slowly, I have been able to accept she loves me and truly wants me to be a part of her life.

She has been so clear about her love for me that I have been able to push aside the jealousy and anger I felt when I found out about my brother and sister she had with her husband. I have been able to stop thinking about them as her other family and start to think of them as my own.

"Honey..."

"I know mom." I say. And I do.

I can see she is close to tears, so I look away and change the subject. "What am I going to do now mom? I wonder if Noah needs a new bartender."

"I have an idea, but I'm not sure you will go for it."

"I was just kidding when I asked if you were hiring. I love you, but I don't want to work for you." I laugh.

"No, no. That's not what I meant. Why don't you take some time off honey? You work so hard. I don't think you have taken more than a long weekend since you came back into my life. Let me pay for an amazing vacation. 2 weeks of fun, sun, and sand. What do you say?" She looks at me, hope pouring out of her eyes.

"2 Weeks?! Are you crazy? I can't do that when I have no job. I need to get my resume out. I don't have time for 2 days, never mind 2 weeks." I don't want to let her down, but I could never relax when I have no security in my finances.

"I can understand that," she says. "Hmmmm," she presses her index finger to her lips and I can see her wheels turning. "Ok, call your brother. I know you don't want to work with him forever, BUT, if you have a job lined up to come back to, will you please let me do this for you? Paaaallleeeaaaassseeee?"

It is too much. It's clear that this is important to her and I really do need to get away. "Fine," I say with exaggerated strained patience.

"Eeee!" She claps her hands in glee. "Ok, you go talk to your brother. I will make all the plans." She floats off with a huge smile plastered to her face.