An arranged marriage. An illicit affair. An unforgettable passion. A forbidden love...
A spoiled socialite clashes with a streetwise mechanic who challenges the order of her privileged life while an arranged marriage threatens even more.
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My mother wanted to go out for lunch, just the two of us girls. It had been a while since we'd gotten any alone time. The betrayal and engagement were a fresh wound, leaving us distant. But Tuesday afternoon when she called me up and asked to take me out, I found myself indulging her.
This strife between my parents and me was hard to navigate. I loved my parents. Being on the outs with them felt foreign, especially given my father's health. As I sat across from my mother at our favorite brunch spot, the one on Townsend Boulevard where all the best shopping was located, I felt my heart throb at what was. They had never disappointed me as much as they had now with this marriage arrangement.
I thought if Cain wasn't so horrible, instead a well-meaning, awkward heir, then perhaps I could've seen the harmlessness in their insisting I marry the man. But no. Cain wasn't any of those things. Confident. Poised. Quiet. Enigmatic. Cain could only be summed up so succinctly.
My mother didn't share the same diet as I did, but for brunch at The Cabana Lounge, we shared a vegetarian cobb salad. She limited herself to one mimosa since she was driving instead of having one of her and my father's drivers drive for us.
Mimosas were okay, but I opted for the Cabana's house fresh juice. A fruity blend of guava, pineapple, mango, and orange. It was delicious.
"Ugh." My mother suddenly breathed out as we continued to eat from our large salad. "I'm so glad we did this, you know? I needed this, Kenn."
I lifted my attention from poking at an avocado. My mother was opening up to me, peeling back a layer of her perfection to reveal her true state: exhausted, nervous—scared.
"It's been a long, lonnng, year," she went on, bobbing her head as she looked off absentmindedly. "And your father..." She shook her head, her brows furrowing at the thought of my father. "He's a trooper, I'll give him that. I just wish he wouldn't fight me. I only want to help."
That sounded like my father. He was a man's man, from an era where men didn't show weakness and were taught to be resilient and strong. Allowing himself to be taken care of by health officials was hard enough, letting my mother see him wince and moan was another thing. I just wished he knew that we loved him and didn't think less of him in his condition. That we admired him for his strength and fight.
Strangely, just then, Keith came to mind. Something about him, reminded me of my father. He was a man's man, too, and I could imagine he wouldn't let me see him "weak" either.
I thought of the way he admitted he was sensitive and managed to smile. That took courage.
"It's good to get away," I said as I came back to my mother. "I think we've all been pretty consumed with Daddy's diagnosis and hoping for a miracle, that it's nice to step outside and just breathe."
My mother was quick to agree. "I just feel like we're finally adjusted, you know? We've got a good team looking after him, he still can run his businesses with Phil, and Irene is just great. I gotta get back on the ball. I'm so behind on the charity events around here. I've never been out of the loop on that. Never."
