The Hunter and The Butterfly

Chapter 25

The tension was thick in the air as all four stood in the doorway of Lorna's apartment. Sandy was staring at her husband with an ignorant, grim expression with her arms crossed, Bradley was eyeing her disapprovingly, James was stunned and unable to comprehend what to do in the moment, and Lorna was perplexed herself with the entire scenario. She had a gut feeling that things would not turn out the way she had planned, but she never expected to have to bring things up so soon. If only her parents put a wrench in their wretched surprise, things would have turned out differently. Balling her hand into a fist, she silently cursed herself for fantasizing a different outcome for her family's introduction to James.

"Sandy, please, keep your personal grudges to yourself!" Bradley once again intervened, this time harsher. "Lorna has already made her choice, and you need to accept it. It doesn't make it easier with you humiliating them botg!"

Sandy turned to James and Lorna who stood there side-by-side dead silent. She saw the horrified expression Lorna was giving off, and James himself was not to pleased being accused of things Lorna herself decided would remain buried in the past. If it hadn't been for Lorna beside him, he would have put up an argument with this woman, yet realizing she was her mother, it was best to kept the rude comments to himself. He was trying to change himself for the better, and Lorna did not give up on him. Sandy kept her gaze on him for a long, quiet moment before clearing her throat.

"I'm sorry, Lorna," she apologized. "I didn't mean to go off like that. It's just...being here with him, I got lost in the moment."

"Well you made your point very clear, didn't you mum?" Lorna scratched her head, unable to think of words clearly.

"No, baby," Sandy tried again. "I...I just wanted this day to be happy, about us three being together again as a family. We wanted to celebrate your huge success, but...we never expected you to arrive here with your boss at your side."

"How's that going for you right now?" Lorna narrowed her eyes. "Not only have you humiliated James, but here you are insulting him when you've only just met him right now. What happened to you, mother? Haven't you learned about forgiveness and letting go of the past?"

Sandy's mouth hung opened and her eyes grew wide. Lorna looked away, unable to stare at her for a moment longer. Bradley watched the two women stand in silence, comprehending on how to approach this situation. It had been a long day for everyone, and the heaviness of it all was unhelpful for any of them. James crossed his arms, observing the family closely. He felt like he had had enough of being a bystander, and carefully and thoughtfully, he cleared his throat to intervene. Lorna, Sandy, and Bradley's ears picked up the sound of his voice and all three turned to his direction. James did not look mad or offended, and his look caught Lorna off guard. His eyebrows were arched upward, though only the slightest, and his hands were folded together. He slowly stepped in between the two women and grunted.

"If I may intervene," he respectfully added. "I know my visit comes as a shock, but Lorna had plans of introducing me, just not in the way we had hoped. It must have been a long trip for you both, perhaps you would like to get settled in first before things go further than anticipated."

"You're right," Bradley quickly agreed. "We are due to check into our hotel room in thirty minutes.

Sandy looked towards the two before her husband and reluctantly nodded in agreement. "So it seems. Lorna, sweetheart, your father and I have to go now, but we'll be back later tonight, if we are still welcomed. Perhaps we could...start over and clean up this mess?"

"I'll...I'll think about it," Lorna left it at that. Smiling hopefully, Sandy gave her daughter's hand a quick kiss before she and her husband headed towards the door. Bradley shook James's hand and gave him an apologetic smile before following Sandy passed the two and out of the apartment. As quickly as they went, Lorna marched towards the door and locked it tightly. Relief fluttered her stomach as she sank to the floor, chest heaving up and down and breathing labored. Proper air filled her lungs, and it felt good to finally be able to breathe again without her mother dragging her down. However, there was the lingering notion that she needed to tell them that he was not just only her boss. James walked towards her and offered a helping hand, pulling her to her feet and steadying her with a hand on her back.

"Are you all right, Ms. Bow?"

"I will be," Lorna took in a deep breath and stumbled towards the couch. She flopped onto the cushions and sighed deeply. "My mother...I don't know how I can apologize. I don't even know if an apology is enough coming from that woman!"

"She was pretty blunt about her feeling of me," James agreed. "But...she was not wrong."

"What?" Lorna looked at him in shock. "James, she had no right to say that!"

"Lorna, think about it," James narrowed his eyes. "It's because of me she feels this way."

"James..."

"However," James looked intently at her. "One thing will never change, and that is your worth to me now."

The anger that Lorna felt vaporized into smoke with a loving smile. Grabbing his collar, she commanded that he stopped thinking about her family and pay more attention to her, making him wrap his arms around her waist and kissing her passionately. Before they could control themselves, James was now straddling his legal assistant with no intent of stopping his pursuit for pleasure.

Outside the balcony of their hotel bedroom on the fourth floor, Sandy Bow laid flat out on the lounge chair with her sunglasses on, looking out towards the large skyscrapers before her. A frown crossed her lips as she tapped the arms of the chair pertinently, overlooking her daughter's boss and Lorna herself. It was unmannerly of her to go on a tangent of sorts, but her anger rose to fruition after seeing the man's face. Her eyebrows narrowed, reliving the moment she looked into those hazel blue eyes. From a mother's point of view, his eyes were filled with sadness, longing, and bitterness. The way he acted with the interlacing of his fingers, the arching of the brows to the slightest degree, the frown on his face whence talking to them: that was a man who spelled mysterious. Yet, Lorna had been bold enough to call her out for her abrupt change in attitude, and her challenge for being unable to let bygones be bygones. The way she defended James, the way he intervened on her behalf to defuse the situation, could it mean what she was thinking? Was there more to boss and paralegal than she had anticipated?

"What have you gotten yourself into, my darling?" Sandy asked herself, staring up at the clouds rotating in the sky.

"Sandy, dear?" Bradley called from the open screen door. "Aren't you coming inside? You know laying out in the sun too much isn't good for one's health!"

"Oh be quiet, you!" Sandy rolled her eyes and stared back out to the scenery before her.

To Be Continued

So, this chapter was kind of hard to write. The previous idea that was intended disappeared thanks to a hard drive malfunction in my computer, meaning I lost it all folks. :( But the good news is, things are back on track because I got it fixed! Yay! :)

Anywho, thanks to all the comments and viewing! All words are welcomed.

See you next chapter! :)