Chapter 8

Maureen sat on the big comfy couch in the living room, her feet up on the coffee table, her eyes glued to the TV. She was in a state of pure relaxation that is until Mrs. Jefferson walked out of her bedroom.

"Is Joanne home?" She asked.

"She's at work." Maureen replied with out taking her eyes off of the TV.

"So is this what you do all day?" Mrs. Jefferson bitterly asked. "Sit at home while Joanne makes the money to pay for the cable your lazy ass watches all day?"

Maureen's face fell into a frown. She shut off the TV, and slowly sat up straight, her head turning to face the mother of her girlfriend. "What is your problem?"

"You." Mrs. Jefferson blurted.

Maureen sighed. "Okay I thought we went over this? Weren't we going to try and get along for Joanne's sake?"

"Well I take it back; I'm out of the deal." Mrs. Jefferson said.

"Why?" Maureen asked, angrily standing up. "Why do you hate me so much? What did I ever do besides love your daughter?"

"You…you..." Mrs. Jefferson stuttered, her mouth gaping open.

"Yah that's right." Maureen nodded with a smirk. "Nothing. You're just mad because she's all grown up and independent and you don't want to take it out on her, so you take it out on the girlfriend, hoping you can drive me away, so she'll came back to your loving mothering arms. Well I got news for you missy…it isn't going to work this time around. Joanne is dating me now, a hardcore diva, who doesn't take shit from no one!"

"I'm happy Joanne is in love." Mrs. Jefferson said with annoyance. "She's happy. I'm just upset she's in love with you!"

Maureen sighed. "But why!? Please tell me so we can just settle whatever is bugging you."

"You're a fucking cheat!" Mrs. Jefferson exclaimed, her veins pumping with fury.

"That hurt." Maureen said her body sinking to the couch.

"Well it's true." Mrs. Jefferson said. "You cheated on that Mark filmmaker guy, and not only with Joanne. I heard stories about you Maureen and I do not approve of you with my daughter, you're only going to hurt her in the end."

Maureen rolled her eyes. "You screw up once, and you never live it down do you?"

"You brought it on yourself." Mrs. Jefferson said.

"I love Joanne." Maureen said. "I would never do anything to break her heart, because I know she loves me too."

Mrs. Jefferson eyed the ground and then sat on the couch across from Maureen. "Well can I ask you something personal?"

"I guess." Maureen said.

"Why did you cheat on the filmmaker guy?"

Maureen fell back against the couch, her hand running through her hair. "Okay…fine." She sighed letting out a breath. "Have you ever been so in love you shake when you know you're going to see that person, or have you ever lost your breath at the first sight of them, become nervous at the sound of their voice over the phone, smile uncontrollably at the touch of their hand, and all of a sudden become really giddy? Your stomach floods with butterflies, your hands start to become really clammy, and you actually have doubt that the person you are with is just a person of your imagination, until they kiss you for the first time sending tingles up your spine, and their lips make it all real…and it's kind of like you're floating on air and you're stuck in some cheesy romantic movie because you can't believe someone so wonderful has walked into your life?"

Mrs. Jefferson slowly nodded. "Yeah."

"I never felt like that with Mark." Maureen quietly said. "He never gave me a reason to fall in love with him. He was always watching me through that damn camera. He was and is a great friend, but once you're his girlfriend it's all different…it's like you're not a friend anymore…you're just his prize trophy; it was like he didn't have to care about you anymore because he had you. With Joanne…" Maureen smiled happiness in her eyes. "It's different, different from anyone I ever been with. She's not just with me because I'm good looking; she's with me for me. She listens to me, she can tell when I'm sad just by talking to her over the phone, even if I try and cover up my feeling with a smile she still knows when I'm in a bad mood. Nothing gets past her and she won't allow it to slide until she knows I'm feeling better. She's caring, and I'm not only just her girlfriend I'm her friend too. Sometimes I don't even feel like I deserve her."

"So why didn't you just break up with Mark if you weren't happy with him?" Mrs. Jefferson asked. "Why cheat on him?"

Maureen shrugged. "I don't know it was easier going behind his back. Plus he didn't really even notice me…I could have made out with someone in front of him and he wouldn't even have looked twice. Joanne…she notices everything."

"You still broke his heart." Mrs. Jefferson said.

"Trust me…he wasn't that sad." Maureen said a look of disappointment in her eyes.

"So the butterflies in your stomach, the shaking clammy hands, the shortness of breath…have you felt that feeling before?" Mrs. Jefferson asked.

"With Joanne." Maureen smirked. "I still get tingles when she kisses me."

Mrs. Jefferson couldn't help but actually smile at Maureen's sincere words. Maureen stayed silent for a moment, before bring her gaze back to Mrs. Jefferson. "So…why the sudden question?"

Mrs. Jefferson's look fell to the ground, tears stinging her eyes. "Promise you won't tell Joanne…it would kill her."

Maureen sat up, the sadness in the older woman's voice not going unnoticed. "Tell her what?"

"I walked in on my husband with another woman." Mrs. Jefferson said. "In our own bed."

"Oh…" Maureen said in a whisper.

"This is why I hate you so much." Mrs. Jefferson continued. "If you cheated on your ex-boyfriend, it shouldn't be that hard for you to cheat on Joanne. And the pain of heart break isn't that easy to mend. I want to protect my daughter from that…so I wanted to get rid of you so she doesn't have to go through what I'm going through."

"She will never go through that." Maureen assured her. "Trust me. The thought of even being in bed with someone other than Joanne kills me." She sat forward on the couch. "I'm sorry this had to happen to you."

"No you're not." Mrs. Jefferson said. "You're laughing on the inside. You hate me remember. And now that I heard your reason for cheating on that Mark guy, I know my husband doesn't love me."

Maureen rolled her eyes and moved to sit on the couch next to the now crying woman. "Listen…just because you caught him once, doesn't me he doesn't love you. Have you even talked to him about it?"

"No." She sniffled and shook her head. "But what other reason would he have done it, unless he didn't love me?"

"Maybe he doesn't think you love him anymore." Maureen said. "Go talk to him. You guys can still work this out…that's if you still love him."

"I don't know anymore." Mrs. Jefferson sobbed. "I'm just so confused; I don't even want to look at him."

"Talk to him." Maureen suggested. "That's another reason why Mark and I split up. He knew about my cheating way before I met Joanne…he brought it up once with me and that was it…which showed me he didn't care enough to put a stop to it. If he cared, he would have yelled at me, or banned me from going out at night with out him…he would have tried anything, but he did nothing."

"I don't want to." Mrs. Jefferson said her face buried in her hands. "God why am I even talking to you about this?" She stood up and headed for her room. "I want to be alone."

"Whatever you want." Maureen said and moved back to the other couch.

Mrs. Jefferson wiped her eyes and stormed for her bedroom, but before she entered, she stopped and played with her fingers nervously. "I just have one more question."

"What's that?" Maureen asked.

"If you love Joanne as much as you say you do, then why do you flirt with other people in front of her?"

Maureen smiled, "Because if she gets pissed off at me and acts jealous, then I know she is still paying attention to me and still loves me."

Mrs. Jefferson simply nodded and headed into her room, only to pop her head out one more time.

"Maureen…can you not tell Joanne about this. I don't want her to know about what her father did…it would upset her too much."

Maureen nodded. "As long as you don't tell her about all that cheesy stuff I just told you."

"Okay deal…for real this time."

"You know you're going to have to tell her sooner or later though right?" Maureen asked. "She's going to know something is up."

"I know." Mrs. Jefferson said. "And you know you're going to have to tell Joanne you love her…I think she doubts it sometimes."

Maureen's face fell a little, but she cleared it up with a smile, and watched as Mrs. Jefferson walked into her room.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Yuck! I hate this chapter...Maureen seems so OOC.