Mommy Dearest
by Mallory Quinn
Chapter 8
"Dazed and confused"
Candy was on her bed, thinking. Her mother had told her that she started looking for her before she knew she would marry her father again… She married her father…Her father who could've helped her, had she told him she was pregnant…She told him just recently, like she told Candy just recently… How dare Lynda play God with people's lives like that??? How selfish could she be? She kept her mouth shut all those years ago and she acted like nothing happened…Then when her conscience was bothering her too much, she decides it's time to tell…There was a possibility for them to be one big happy family… Candy's anger was still there and she was still not ready to give her mother a chance…now she also had a father… And Terry… Terry was right on all the points. She interfered in his life and forced him to reconcile with his mother… now that the shoe was on the other foot… it wasn't as easy as she thought. She always thought that if she meets her mother, she would just hug her and live happily ever after, but reality came crashing down and showed her that even though she encouraged Terry to reconcile with his mother, it wasn't an easy task… she now understood Terry's anger, why he ripped his mother's picture to shred that night she went to his room by mistake… Why he didn't want to see her in Scotland. Parents are supposed to take care of their children, not abandon them. Sometimes the circumstances are hard, but… Lynda de Rothschild was filthy rich…She got pregnant after a one night stand and instead of going to her parents for help, she had the baby in secret and abandoned it…Her father, was now married to her mother… should she be angry at him too? He didn't know he had fathered a child…but he did sleep with his mother! When you do grown ups things, you have to be ready to assume your responsibilities…
Terry, seeing Terry again, talking to him, even if they were arguing, was wonderful… She was so relieved to hear that he wasn't sleeping with her mother! Deep down she knew it…she hoped it. She still loved him, she wanted to see him. But, did she have the right? She let him go, she walked away from him in that awful theatre… But seeing him again, talking to him…had made her very happy. She went to bed, thinking about Terry, about her mother about her father. It would be so simple and beautiful if she could have them all… But life had never been easy on her, she had to fight for everything…
Candy woke up in the morning, with the sudden feeling she wanted to see Terry. It wasn't the first time, but this time she wanted to do it…
- He's engaged to Susanna, she said out loud, well I'll go see him to… apologise for being rude last night! That's right! I'll go see him and apologise…
Like she needed a reason to go see Terry! On that happy thought, she got ready. Cook had breakfast ready for her. She hate and then she decided to visit more orphanages.
Terry woke up to go to work. He had had a good night. He had seen Candy, he had talked to Candy and he was feeling light, light, light… He was all smiles when he got to the dining room.
- Terry! Good morning! Said Susanna, breakfast is ready…
- Good morning! Thank you, said Terry smiling
- You're in a good mood! Said Mrs. Marlowe
- It's a very beautiful day, said Terry
- Huh huh, said Mrs. Marlowe, seeing your ex-girlfriend last night has nothing to do with it!?
- I can't hide anything from you, Mrs. Marlowe. You know how happy she makes me…you knew my heart was taken, yet you still insisted I be with your daughter…, said Terry, but today please, don't ruin my day. Yes, I'm in a good mood, because I saw Candy, she has that kind of power over me…she's my soul mate!
- Terry…, said Susanna sadly
- You want me to lie? Or to be honest? I think I'm going to grab something on my way to the theatre…
Terry left before Susanna could say anything.
- Mom! You had to ruin it! He was in a good mood!
- Because of Candy….
- I don't care! I'll take him like I can!
- He was happy because of another woman, Susanna…
- Well you knew he loved someone else and you forced him to be with me! Now you're being difficult, because that woman is making him happy???? News flash, mom: he doesn't love me! He loves her! Sometimes I wonder why you pushed for all this…
- Because you lost your leg saving him… you love him…
- The financial help would've been enough…we broke up a happy couple for our own selfish needs… I found a way to be with Terry while I knew that in normal time, he wasn't even looking at me! It took loosing a leg for him to notice me! I had to lost a part of my body saving his life!!!!!! That's a harsh price to pay to only get him to notice me, don't you think so??? Yes, I love him, but he loves Candy! He told me so, when I told him I was in love with him, when I hid her letter and begged him not to make her come for the premiere…He said he fell in love with her the moment he laid his eyes on her… I ran away crying saying I won't let her have him…be careful what you wish for… Candy doesn't have him physically, but she's got his heart…
- Susanna, maybe I was wrong to push for all this…
- No mom, you're not backing down now!
- He's still in love with his ex-girlfriend, he doesn't love you…
- That didn't bother you before, why now?
- Because I've seen how cold he's been all this time and now he sees her and he's bursting of joy???? Susanna…he's never going to love you like that…
- Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence, mom!
- You saw how happy he was…it's because of her!!!!
- Do you have any idea how happy it makes me to see him, to be living with him? I love him so much mom…
- Susanna…, then get pregnant, he's never going to abandon his child…
- Mom, I can't get pregnant if he doesn't touch me! He doesn't even look at me!
- You need the big guns, Susanna
- Mom….stop it please. I won't do it…
- Then get ready for him to leave you, it's only a matter of time. With the woman he loves leaving in New York now…
- Mom…shut up!
Mrs. Marlowe stopped insisting. Her daughter was in an unhealthy relationship and it was her fault…
Lynda was having breakfast; she was in a very happy mood. Her daughter had made the first step, it was a little one, but it was a start… After breakfast, she was learning how to knit, one of her maids was showing her… Lynda was on cloud nine, waiting for her husband to come back from his business trip, so they could go together tell her family and his family about the baby they had had years ago, and the one they were going to have now… She didn't get to explain to Candy that she wasn't ashamed of her; she just wanted to be with her husband, her father, when she told both families about her new found daughter…
It was lunch time and Candy was walking around Broadway, looking for Terry's theatre. The driver had dropped her off. The memories came back running, the Reagans, the way she learned about the Susanna matter… her leaving the theatre before the play was over to go tell Susanna not to use her injury to force Terry to be with her…When she got there, finding out that Susanna had actually lost her leg saving Terry. From that moment on, her world came crashing down…Terry arriving to carry Susanna, their eyes crossing… Susanna…had come between them…
She arrived at the door and she knocked.
- May I help you? Said a young man
- Yes, I will like to see Terrence Grandchester…, said Candy
- Oh… are you a reporter? He's he expecting you? Asked the man
Candy thought it was better to play along.
- Yes, I'm suppose to meet him for lunch…
- Boy, he's lucky! He gets all the pretty reporters! Come with me…
Candy followed the man who took her to Terry's lodge. He knocked on the door.
- Hey Your Majesty! Said the man, you're reporter is here!
- My what? Said Terry behind the door
- Your reporter…! A pretty little woman!
- I don't have any appointment with a reporter that I know of; it must be a fan pretending again! Get rid of her!
- But Terrence, said the man…
- I said I don't have any appointment today…I… ! He said opening the door
He stopped talking when he saw Candy with the man.
- Are you sure? She said, because I've got you penciled in on my agenda, said Candy smiling
- I…It must've slipped my mind, said Terry smiling, of course Miss Andrew, now I remember… Silly me! Come in, please. Thanks Hank!
- Anytime, said Hank leaving
Candy went into Terry's lodge. It had flowers everywhere, with lovely little notes, asking him to join them for dinners, lunches, afternoon fun and late night fun.
- Hi Terry, said Candy, I see you've got a lot of admirers…
- Hi Freckles, he said smiling
- I came to apologise for last night…
- Apologise?
- Yes, for being in a crappy mood…
- Oh… that's all? You could've sent me a note…
- With flowers like your admirers inviting you to spend the afternoon or the night with them…
- If it had been from you, I would've come…
- Terry…
- I'm so happy to see you, you have no idea…
- Yes I do, because I'm happy to see you…I don't know what I'm doing here… I'm just going to hurt myself again. You're engaged to Susanna. I don't know what I was thinking…
- You were thinking you wanted to see me to apologise in person, because deep down inside you were dying to see me…
- I've apologised. I'm going to leave now…
- You want to have lunch with me?
- Terry, I don't think that's a good idea…
- Why not?
- Because I can't control myself when I'm near you…yesterday I was angry…
- And today you're in a better mood, said Terry approaching her
- I went to see my mother…, she said to change the subject
- Really? When?
- Last night…
- Oh… so…?
- We're taking baby steps…I think…I'm not sure…
- It's a start…I'm happy to hear that! She a great woman, you'll see.
- I can see it, I can feel it…
- But you can't forgive her yet…
- I'm not ready…I'm going to go before I do something I regret…
- Like what? Lately you've been letting your feelings out, all your anger… what about your impulses? You can let them out too… you'll feel better after…
They were looking at each other in the eyes… Candy was tempted…
- Come on Freckles; follow your impulses… what you wanted to do at the train station when I came to pick you up…what you're dying to do now…
Candy looked at him. Letting her anger out has been a good thing, she was feeling better, not good, but better…so she jumped at Terry's neck and she put her lips on his in a fiery passionate kiss. He held her closer and responded to her kiss with the same passion. It was even better than the first time. The sensation was wonderful, made them dizzy at the same time. But they didn't want to stop, their lips were welded together, their lips were stuck together like they had glue on them. Candy was surprised to see how passionate she was, how much her tongue was playing with Terry's, how good it felt and how her body was reacting, she felt a weird sensation in her intimate part, her whole body was reacting to the kiss, she was a little afraid, but she didn't want it to stop. Terry was kissing the woman he loved, the woman who had become part of him from the moment he laid his eyes on her. Kissing her the first time was almost ruined by the slapping, but he still had a good memory of it…he's been dreaming about her since the night they separated, no, that wasn't true, since the day he had seen her for the first time…Maybe it was just a puppy love…but no… it was the real deal, the real love and no other woman will even come close… He was in love with her for good, and kissing her was something he would've never thought possible a few months ago! It felt good, it felt right…They were in seventh heaven.
When they finally stopped, after an eternity, they were breathless. Candy pulled away from him…
- Oh my God! I didn't come here for this! She said, I just came to apologise…
- Apology accepted, said Terry with a mocking tone
- I'm going to go…
- Wait…
- No…I have to go, before I do another stupid thing!
- It was good…
- You're engaged to be married!
- To the wrong woman…
- I can't do this, now!
She ran out of the theatre. Terry let her go. She was right, he was engaged to another woman…the situation was so complicated… but kissing her was bliss!
Candy took a cab back to her apartment. Her lips were swollen…She couldn't get Terry's kiss out of her mind.
"What am I doing??? My life is a mess… I just found my mother and I'm angry with her, but I can't seem to be able to get away from her, I'm so drawn to her it's not even funny!…now I'm kissing Terry, whom I walked away from not once, but twice???"
The phone rang. Georges called her every day to check upon her. She answered.
- Hello?
- Hello? Candy?
- Albert!
- Yes…how are you little one?
- Oh Albert, I wish you were here with me! I'm so lost and confused!
- What's wrong?
- You've never guessed what happened to me here…
- You saw Terry….
- Yes, that was inevitable; I was bond to run into him at some point so I can suffer…I'm lucky that way…
- Come on Candy…
- That's only one part of my problem…
- Why are you still in New York? Why don't you go back to Chicago…?
- I can't…
- Why?
- My mother lives here….
- Your mother?
- Yes… I went to a mansion for something I thought was going to be an interview and it turns out it was my long lost mother looking for me…
- What????
- Yes…she just got married and she wants me back!
- Candy, that's wonderful!
- Yeah…
- Or not… what's wrong?
- I'm so angry at her!!!!
- Candy…
- When I think of how much I've suffered…all that time I could've been living the great life…
- Candy you never cared about that…
- That's because I was brought up not to care… I was abandoned and I got used to wear other people hands me down… I've never expected much …
- What's changed?
- My mother is… are you sitting down?
- Yes, said Albert holding his breath
- Lynda de Rothschild!!!!
- WHAT???? Rothschild?
- Shocking isn't it? She couldn't take care of me? She couldn't hide me with all the money she had??? She just dumped me on the doorstep of an orphanage…did she even made sure the Pony Home had money? NO!
- Candy, you have to calm down… this is a lot for you to swallow… you need to talk to someone…
- I'm talking to you…
- I mean professionally…
- A psychiatrist? You want me to see a psychiatrist?
- Candy, you need help… you're confused, upset…
- But…
- It's true what they say; the medical staff make the worst patients!
- I don't need a psychiatrist! I'm not crazy!
- Candy, being a nurse, you know that it's not only for crazy people…
- But Albert…
- I've met a psychiatrist during my trips; his name is Smiley Blanton…
- Smiley? He's a psychiatrist and his name is "Smiley"? You've got to be kidding me!
- Well since he tries to put back smiles on people's faces… I think it's appropriate
- Smiley Blanton…does he smile a lot?
- Candy…
- I'm sorry…I'll think about it…
- Candy, you're angry with your mother. You don't want to leave her…so fix the problem…you'll feel better.
- Maybe you're right…
- What about Terry?
- Well my dear ex-boyfriend is rumoured to be my mother's lover
- What????
- It's so fun to be a socialite; you hear all kind of nonsense stuff!
- Is it really nonsense?
- They both denied it, and I believe them….
- Ok…
- They're just good friends. Terry was drawn to her because she reminded him of me…
- Right…I hope it stopped there…
- It did… the alternative would be too disgusting!
- You still love Terry…
- I just came from seeing him at the theatre
- Why?
- I wanted to apologise for being rude to him last night
- And…?
- I ended up kissing him like there was no tomorrow…
- Oh…
- It wasn't my intention believe me. I just wanted to say I'm sorry and the next thing I knew, we were sucking our faces off!!!
Albert burst out laughing.
- Albert, that's not funny!
- Actually yes, it is! Said Albert still laughing, I'm sorry Candy.
- It's ok… where are you?
- I'm near the Mexican boarder…We have a an Hacienda there
- An Hacienda? Wow! Do you know how much you're worth?
- Yes… and your mother's family is very very rich too…
- You're telling me? I've heard of the Rothschilds…the bank where my account was set…
- Right! We share ownership in that bank…
- What about the Lloyd's Bank?
- What about Lloyd's Bank, they're a sinking ship…
- Not anymore, the Rothschild helped them out…
- How do you know that?
- My dear mother recently got married, to Steven Lloyd…
- Really?
- It was the condition Rothschild gave to help them…
- Why?
- I guess he wanted his daughter to get married at all cost…
- So Steven Lloyd is your stepdaddy?
- Try daddy…
- Daddy?
- Yes… Steven Lloyd is my old man!
- Oh my God! I've met him; he was kind of a playboy…So he settled down with your mother?
- Yes…
- Looks to me like their timing is perfect to get you back… you can be one big happy family…
- Right…too little too late!
- Candy, call Smiley…he can help you…your mother and your father…
- And a future brother or sister… my mother is pregnant…
- Oh… the more reason for you to be with them…
- This pregnancy is so different, she wants this baby…
- And she didn't want you…she could've got rid of you…
- Sometimes I wish she did…
- Candy, you can't mean that….
- Yes, I do…when I was crying alone after being mistreated… I wished I was never born…
- Well I'm glad you were born…said Albert, I love you Candy
- I love you too. You're my family…I'm going to let you go, said Candy, and I'm going to eat something cook made
- Good for you…
- Thank you for everything, Albert
- You're my adoptive daughter…you deserve it…and I love you
- Thank you…
- You're not working?
- I'm taking a sabbatical to take care of my problems…we'll see later
- All right…
- But I'm doing charity work…
- Great! You can ask Georges for anything you need….
- Thank you Albert. Bye Albert
- Bye little one…think about what I said…
- I will…thank you again.
She hung up the phone. A psychiatrist? What a ludicrous idea! But… Talking ease the mind…but getting her head shrunk? She'll think about it later. She went to have lunch by herself and she thought about her conversation with Albert…
Terry went to see Lynda for dinner in the evening. He found her knitting a blanket for her new baby.
- Knitting? Said Terry, I never thought of you as the knitting kind…
- I'm going to be a mother again… no more parties… I want to raise my baby, no nannies, well I mean, I'm not going to dump it on the nanny all day. I'm going to be raising this baby…
- To make up for abandoning Candy?
- In a way… I hope she forgives me one day…
- She will…
- What about you? Did you talk to her last night?
- Yes, she was very bitter…
- Oh…
- She came to apologise today, said Terry smiling
- Apologise?
- For being rude to me last night
- And…?
- What do you mean, "and"?
- You're telling me that the woman you love came to see you in your loge and you didn't try anything?? Give me a break!
- Lynda…
- Did you kiss her?
- Well…
- Did you…?
- I kind of made her kiss me….
- You made her kiss you???
- I can't help it, I've got that kind of power on her…
- Like she's got that kind of power on you…
- It was sensational! I didn't want it to end…
- What happened after?
- She ran out of there…I let her go… I mean… I'm engaged to someone else
- Whom you don't love…
- I have a duty…
- To be married to a woman you don't love and be miserable all your life?
- It's not that simple…
- Well to me it is… I messed up all the engagement my father forced me into…he said it was my duty to help the family with mergers….
- Not quite the same…
- I agreed to this one because it was Steven…what I'm telling you is that you don't have to do what's expected from you…If it makes you unhappy…
- You want me to be with your daughter…
- I want you and my daughter to be happy…together…
- Thanks Lynda…
They had dinner and they continued talking. Terry went back home late and Susanna was sulking as usual. But Terry didn't care one bit as usual. He had a smile on his face. He had kissed the woman he loved and nothing was going to ruin his day…
Candy was in her bed relieving the kiss over and over again. What did she do? She couldn't help herself, being so close to Terry…Wasn't she supposed to be angry with him??? She couldn't help it, when she's around Terry, she's not herself…. She was so confused…she was angry at Terry. Why did she go see him to apologise? Why did she kiss him? Well she'll be angry the next time she sees him, for the moment, reliving that kiss over and over again was making her the happiest woman in the world….