Chapter 22
"So what's going on with you and dad?" Arielle demanded the moment they were in the car.
She knew something was up, but none of the grown-ups were talking. It was almost like they didn't know anything. And every time she asked her dad what was going on, he just tweaked her nose and told her to mind her own business. Scowling, she rubbed her nose and stared at her mom.
Here was the moment she'd been waiting for as Jasina took her daughter's hand, squeezing it gently with a smile. "Your father and I talked and we've decided to remain friends." She seen Arielle's face drop and bit her bottom lip, going when the light turned green, sighing gently. "I told you not to get your hopes up, Arie. We just decided it was better this way for not only your sake, but ours as well." She hated lying to her daughter like this, but knew she had no other alternative.
"How do you figure?" Arielle asked in a resigned tone of voice.
She supposed she should have known better, adults were so darn stubborn sometimes! Honestly. She was tempted to lock them in a room together for a few days just to make them sort this out and realize they needed each other as much as she needed them both. Then she began forming an idea, that wasn't too bad a thought.
"I want you to stay out of this, Arielle." Jasina stated sternly as she pulled into her penthouse complex, cutting the engine, seeing the scheme formulating in her daughter's mind. "There is nothing you can do or say to change this. Do you understand? Your father and I talked and we've come to an agreement. Now please let it go. Kids go every day in this world without having their mother and father under the same roof. You'll be fine." She stepped out of the car, seeing the scowl on Arielle's face, and sighed.
"I'm not 'kids', I'm a KID and I'm-" Arielle shut up when she got a dark look from her mother, flashing a sweet; innocent smile that fooled nobody. No matter what she said or did huh? One way or another, if they weren't going to open their eyes and do what everyone else already could see coming, then she was going to help them.
"Don't give me that look Arielle Marie Calaway." She stated, using her daughter's full name, shaking her head and knew this wasn't going to go down well. "Come on, I don't want to talk about this anymore. I'm moving on and so is your father." That was harsh and she knew it, but she had to convince her daughter somehow as they walked inside her penthouse, tossing her keys on the table, and kicked her heels off before walking into the kitchen. "Now what do you want for dinner?"
"Food and before you ask, the kind you eat." Arielle shot back sarcastically, not too keen on her full name. "And it's ARIE!" Sighing, she crossed her arms over her chest, arching an eyebrow and looked exactly like her father, minus the hair. "You don't love him anymore?"
"Arie, what did I just say?" Jasina shot back, glaring at her daughter, knowing she had her father's stubborn streak. "I told you, I don't want to talk about it anymore and it's not going to be discussed. It's done. It's over with. We're friends. Now come in here and tell me what you want to eat or you'll starve." A headache was brewing as she pinched the bridge of her nose.
"You wouldn't starve me." Arielle said with a snort and an eye roll, tossing her hair over her shoulder for good measure, but...just in case Jasina really meant it, she went into the kitchen and began browsing. "Brownies?" She suggested with a grin, sighing when she got a look she had began mentally referring to as 'the parent LOOK'. "Um..."
Jasina decided on fried chicken with macaroni & cheese along with mashed potatoes. She ordered Arielle to go watch TV, really not in the mood for a cooking lesson, especially since her head was pounding in her skull. They sat and ate in silence before Jasina went to change into a simple black nightgown that went to her knees. A knock sounded at her door around nine o'clock, knowing who it was, and watched her daughter get the door while she finished dishes.
"Hi dad, Sorry you missed fried chicken." Arielle said by way of greeting, patting her stomach, the top button of her jeans undone. "Ahh.. it was so good and crispy." She sighed contentedly.
"Best go eat some more, you're still looking scrawny." He said, surveying her critically. When she went to deck him, Mark scooped her up over his shoulder.
"Whoa, careful, there's a ceiling up here!" She giggled.
Jasina smiled as she walked out, drying her hands off. "She got her homework done." She informed him softly, tossing the towel on the counter, and knew she still had her article to get done before she went to bed that night. Jasina could only pray her daughter kept her mouth shut, doubting it, and walked into her room to grab her bag while Mark set Arielle back down on her feet.
"Mom says you two are just going to be friends." Arielle said casually, playing it cool. Her mom she didn't have to live with, her dad she did. "So...I guess you two won't be going out anymore?"
"It was lunch."
"Oh, yeah...I see..." She shrugged, the gears in her brain working in overdrive.
"Arielle, what did I say?" Jasina demanded when she walked out, placing her hands on her hips while handing Mark her bag. Seriously, didn't her daughter ever LISTEN? When Arielle went to open her mouth again, Jasina held her hand up, snapping her fingers, shutting her up effectively. "Thank you." She stated when Arielle scowled, her eyes turning to Mark. "When did you want me picking her up again?" She asked softly, stifling a yawn.
"Two weeks from Friday, I'm booked." Arielle said finally, that scowl still on her face.
Mark looked down at her mildly surprised. "You are? Since when?"
"Since now. I got stuff to do." Arielle shrugged, picking up her bag. "Ready dad? I got to go home and give Toni a call."
Mark shot Jasina a 'what the hell' look over his shoulder as he was dragged out.
Jasina sighed heavily and shook her head, silently telling him with her eyes what Arielle was upset about. "Love you sweetheart." She called, her heart hurting when Arielle didn't say it back, and shut the door.
Jasina let a few tears fall down her cheeks before pulling her laptop out, beginning her article. She was exhausted and knew she had angered her daughter, but it couldn't always be wine and roses between them. She turned on some music to help her think before beginning to type, letting her work sweep her away.
"You realize you probably just hurt your mom's feelings?"
"You don't care; she left you, remember?"
Mark's eyes narrowed, glancing at his daughter. "What's gotten your tampon in a twist?" Sometimes her being almost a woman had its perks, like now, when she scowled at the joke.
After her article was finished, Jasina decided to call it a night. She saved her work after rereading it before shutting her laptop down, knowing Trish would be happy with it. She hoped. Jasina shut the lights off before going to her bedroom, leaving the door open since nobody was there with her. It was lonely, empty...Jasina flipped her light off before climbing into bed, and snuggled against the pillow. With Mark on her mind, she managed to fall asleep.
~!~
"Are you sure you want to do that?" Toni asked the next morning at school, staring at Arielle with wide eyes.
"Of course I'm sure, it'll be cool. They'll either kill each other or decide I know what's best."
Gary was grinning, hands folded behind his head. "I'm with Arie, this is going to be funny."
She grinned at him.
~!~
A week later, Jasina was at home and it was a beautiful Friday afternoon. Her cleaning day. Trish gave her the option of having Thursday or Friday off, she chose to have a long weekend. Currently, she was in a pair of red cotton shorts with a matching tank top, her hair pulled up in a high ponytail, though it was killing her head. Sighing, Jasina knew she would have to get another haircut soon. Her hair grew too damn fast, she was thinking about chopping it all off. Then thought better of that, knowing how attached she truly was to her hair. Jasina whistled as she listened to some country music, Jason Aldean 'We Laughed Until We Cried' while she dusted her place. She'd recently gotten some pictures of Arielle from Mark, who had given them to her. She immediately went out and bought frames, wanting to make her penthouse look like a real home.
~!~
"Now, all you have to do is get her over here." Gary said, busy putting the final adjustments on Mark's bedroom door. "Your dad had great taste, you know how hard this kind of wood is? He'll throw out his shoulder if he tries knocking it down."
"He will try though." Toni said, helping Arielle sliding the new window pane in place. "I hope they don't mess with these windows. Where'd you get this stuff, Gary?"
"My dad. He's trying to buy me again."
If this didn't get her parents to work things out, nothing would. Of course, Arielle knew the consequences and it would be worth it to have her parents together again. Sighing happily, she took some more of the wood and began boarding up the windows, knowing her dad would need a hammer to get it off. That and they were two stories up.
"Okay Toni, help me scan the room to make sure there's nothin' for them to try to get out."
Toni nodded and ripped the phone out of the wall. "We definitely gotta get rid of this."
Arielle nodded before taking her dad's cell phone out that was in the top drawer of his dresser, knowing he used it for emergencies only.
Gary lugged a duct taped box into the room, placing it at the foot of the bed. "That is a big bed." He commented, studying it thoughtfully, then kicked the box with a grin.
"What's in there?"
"Stuff not meant to be seen by little girls." He groaned when he got punched by both of them.
"Okay, now Arie, you need to go call your mom. Then when we get them both in here, Gary can bolt the door."
~!~
Jasina sighed when her cell phone rang and shut her vacuum off, walking over and flipped it open when she saw the name on the caller ID. "What can I do for you sweetheart?" She asked, having not spoken to her daughter in a week, knowing she probably needed time to cool off.
"Mom, can you come over?" Arielle asked quietly. "I want to talk to you, in private."
Gary could hear Jasina in the background, demanding to know what was going on, shaking his head.
Arielle narrowed her green eyes at him. "It's about Gary...he kissed me and I...I just want someone to talk too. If I said anything to dad, he'd shoot first then ask questions."
Gary swallowed hard.
To say she was excited was an understatement. Her daughter had her first kiss and she wanted to talk about it! Jasina was a moron, she knew it, but this was a proud mommy moment as she rushed out of her apartment, wearing white Skechers, and got in her car. She told Arielle she would be right over and stopped at a local store to pick up some snacks for their girl talk. When she arrived at the ranch, Jasina got out, carrying the bag and rushed up the front steps before knocking on the front door.
Arielle let her in, Gary and Toni both hiding at the moment. "Hi." She said shyly. "Dad's at the store, he won't be back for awhile." She had sent him out with a list of things she and her friends would need for the sleepover they were having this weekend, at this house. How convenient was that? "What's in the bag?"
"Snacks, I figured we'd need them." Jasina smiled down at her daughter, unaware of what was going on, and took her hand as she lead her to the kitchen. "Sweetheart, I just want to start off by saying that it's perfectly natural for you to feel whatever you're feeling toward boys. Don't let your father mislead you or scare you." Mark was overprotective and his temper often ran away with him, especially when it came to Arielle. "Now what happened, tell mom everything." She was already taking the snacks out.
"Tell mom everything? What'd I miss?" Mark grunted, home right on time for Arielle, even though she had told Jasina it would be a few hours. Not that either adult was aware of that. 'Hello, Jasi." He nodded, setting the bags on the floor.
"Gary kissed me." Arielle said promptly.
"He still here?"
"Hiding, in your bedroom." She said slowly. "Daddy!" Arielle watched as he took off, watching as her mom followed, trying to stop him.
