Chapter 7
Derek and I crowded into a small booth in the corner of the café, where it was secluded and I could make this call to my mother. I had to wonder what she would say. Without a doubt, she'd be angry, and she'd want to see me immediately. Would Derek, could he even, allow that? Would meeting him expose what was going on? Would I not be able to keep it from her, would I ruin the secret? I had to hope for the best as with shaking hands I dialed the number from memory. Taking in one last deep breath, I pressed send and put the phone to my ear. It rang three times, and just as I was beginning to relax, her frantic, yet kept together, voice answered. "Aaden? Aaden is that you?" "Yes, Mom, it's me." "Aaden, where the HELL have you been?! Do you even know what I've done in trying to find you? You've never done something so irresponsible in your LIFE!" I gave Derek a tired look as she continued to rant in my near bleeding ear. He gave me a small side grin and nodded, as if to tell me, "Go on."
"Mom…." "And if you even THINK that I'm going to waste my time looking for you when you probably found some guy-" "Mom?" "And why wouldn't you just tell me-" "MOM!" She paused, and I grew self-conscious upon remembering that I was in a café, where people were probably now staring. A glance at Derek told me I was correct, because he was glaring at someone over my head. I felt the eyes leave, and quickly. "Okay, first off, I didn't run away with a guy, well, at least not by choice- LET ME EXPLAIN," I interrupted her before she went on a tirade of being kidnapped, "I made friends out of these people who took off with me. No, it's not Stockholm Syndrome." Derek's eyes flew up questioningly. I rolled my eyes at him, giving him a "wait-a-second" gesture. "Aaden, you're not making any sense." I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. "Mom, come see me." I cast a sideways look at Derek, who didn't seem bothered by the suggestion at all. Obviously he didn't mind if she saw me. "Where are you?" "The little Café on Old Ridge Road, remember? Where Dad used to like to come." Speaking of my father was a dangerous thing to do, but I knew it would make her remember if I did. "…Yes, I remember. I'll be there pronto. I love you, Aaden." She said the last part like she thought she'd never get to say it to me again. I felt horrible, but I'd had no way of contacting her before. Who knows what she would have done if Derek had waited just another day, another week? "I love you too, Mom." I hung up, sighing and placing my head on the table. "So, she's coming to see you?" Derek's question was rather guarded. It confused me why he might feel that way, but I nodded. "Yeah, I promise I won't say anything." "I believe you. If you slip up though Aaden…she may have to be a part of this too. I don't think you'd want that." "No, never. She's all I have, if I lost her, it'd be my fault." Derek's eyes lightly glowed for a split second before returning gray. I rose an eyebrow. "Derek? Can I ask you something? And please try not to pull my larynx out." Without humor, his eyes met mine in all seriousness. "Where is your family?" "I don't talk about that." He said fiercely, glaring angrily out the window. "Sorry," I said quickly. He sighed, his stiffened shoulders relaxing. "Think nothing of it."
I didn't get to reply before I saw her run down Mercury pull into the parking lot. She all but jumped out to run in. I stood, bracing for impact. "Aaden!" she said, tears filling her eyes. "Hi Mom," I said, letting her pull me into her arms. She never cried, not even when Dad left us, so knowing I had done this to her tore me in half. I felt her stiffen after holding me for a bit though, and I knew she was contemplating jumping across the table and splitting Derek's skull in half. At her angriest, I wouldn't put it past her to be able to, but I still didn't want her to try. "Mom, this is Derek." I gestured to him, and he met her eyes and nodded, offering a low, "Ma'am." "Derek," she said, testing the name on her tongue. "Derek, this is my mother, Rose Carrow." I sat her beside the window, closing her in so she wouldn't be tempted to do anything irrational. "Pleased to make your acquaintance," he said quietly, rather nervously cleaning out from under his nails. "Is this who you were referring to kidnapping you?" She came right out and asked in front of him. Ugh, this was going to be a disaster. "Sort of. Mom, it's complicated, and I can't explain anything as to why this has happened, but I want you to know that I'm safe. Derek is a friend, as well as many others." "Aaden, I don't think you understand this fragile situation. You are all I have, and friends or not, this is unacceptable, even if he is decent eye candy." Oh, please let me die. She did NOT just say that!
I risked a glance at Derek from under my lashes. Instead of looking enraged like I expected, he actually looked amused. "Mom," I groaned, "it's not like that! I can't explain to you what's going on, can you please just trust me on this?" She looked at me seriously. She didn't say anything for a few minutes and then she took a deep breath. "Aaden, I guess I just cannot understand this mess. Please see my side of it. You're my daughter, and this whole situation smells fishy. You've been gone for a little over a month now, with this strange young man, and probably several others…Oh, Aaden." she looked at me completely horrified, "You're not a porn star are you?" From the corner of my eye, I saw Derek's head snap up, more shocked than I'd ever thought he could be. "Oh for fuck's sake mother, you did not just ask me that." I buried my burning face in my hands. "Aaden Christine Carrow, I've never been more serious in my life! You had better not be-" "Mother!" She stopped suddenly with a humored gleam in her eyes. "I'm a virgin, and I intend to stay that way for a long, LONG time, forever even. Why the hell would I run away from home just to be a porn star?!" "Because you would have known that if I ever found out, I'd strangle you." "I am kind of wishing you would right now to put me out my misery. No, I am not a porn star, nor will I ever be a porn star. The place I'm staying has a lot of women there too y'know."
It took half of forever, but I finally convinced her to trust me. When I hugged her goodbye, I told her I'd make sure to call her my next available date and she reluctantly left, never quite taking the evil eye off of Derek. "I'm so sorry about all of that." I said to Derek, refusing to make eye contact. He chuckled, actually giving a real smile. "It's all right Aaden, I've had worse. At least she said I was eye candy." "Oh please don't remind me!" With a somewhat evil sounding laugh, he put the car into drive and we headed back to the mansion. I don't know why, but for some reason, this interlude made me feel closer to him, and that was one thing I was not prepared for.