Grey clouds are gathering.
Enjoy this chapter.
Chapter XXII
Clara Parker eyed her daughter over the rim of her coffee mug. It had been a few weeks since Lynn's last visit, so she was happy to see her again. Nonetheless, she wasn't exactly contented with the news her daughter had just broken to her.
"So you are in a relationship with Xander now?", she asked again, just to make sure that she hadn't misheard her.
"Yes.", Lynn answered with a content smile.
Clara grimaced. She watched her daughter furrow her brows at her reaction.
The older woman sighed.
"It's just that it's only been half a year since Matt's death. You moved in with Xander because he was able to console you. I don't want to accuse you of cherishing an illusion, but don't you think that you might have fallen in love with him because of that?"
Her daughter shook her head in disbelief.
"I can't believe it! Are you honestly implying that I'm suffering from something akin to Stockholm syndrome?", she snarled.
Clara held up her hands in a pacifying gesture.
"I wasn't implying anything, darling.", she said softly. "I just wanted to make sure whether you made a decision based on true feelings or rather one based on wishful thinking."
Lynn narrowed her eyes.
"My feelings for him are honest, mom!"
"Hn..."
"What? Still not convinced or could it be that you don't like him? That this is what it's all about?"
Clara pursed her lips, ignoring the uncomfortable feeling of having been caught redhanded.
"I like Xander. He's a nice and a very educated young man, but he won't be able to make you happy, darling. Look, his brother's gone, but during your last phone call you said yourself that he isn't leaving his place because his brother's followers are outside. He'll stay hidden, which means that he cannot do things other men could do. You won't be able to indulge in any free time activities that would require him to go outside. So no cinema with him, no shopping trips, no nights spent at a club, no meetings with your friends. I could continue the list, but I think I've made myself clear: That's not how a relationship works, darling."
Her daughter stared at her as her eyes shone with unshed tears, and her lips began to tremble.
"How can you say that, mom? Imagine he was severely handicapped: He wouldn't be able to do any of these things, too. Would you make me leave him? Leave someone that loves you with all his heart and isn't responsible for his current condition? How can you be so cruel? I don't care that he can't do these things, mom. I don't care!"
Lynn got up, sniffling and wiping her eyes.
Clara tried to calm her daughter down, but it was to no avail. She was hell-bent on leaving. And so the woman could only watch as Lynn practically fled from her parents' kitchen, sobbing miserably on her way out. Clara lowered her head dejectedly. That hadn't gone according to plan...
*
"Who's Harriet?", Jeremiah didn't look up from his blueprints as he addressed her.
"A friend of mine. We wanted to go shopping."
"No."
Lynn's eyes widened in disbelief.
"I beg your pardon?",
YOU ARE READING
Tainted Innocence
Fanfiction-For as long as she lived she would always remember that particular Christmas when she first met Xander Wilde. If she had known that the shy boy would one day become her worst enemy she would have left on the spot and never returned.- Lynn Parker b...
