Children of the Boss

Chapter 24: Eve

September 26th 

I was sitting in the den after everyone had left. Cassidy went out with friends and Gloria had homework to do. I was drinking some raspberry tea, reading the news on my laptop, wearing my silk pajama shorts and camisole, along with a black robe. The doorbell echoed in the foyer. I slipped on my slippers and closed my robe. I had no idea who it could be, and when I opened the door I was stunned to see Melody Kirby, my biological mother.

"Hi," she said nervously.

"Hi," I replied, looking at her. 

She stood awkwardly, and then stuttered out, "I'm sorry for...hanging up on you. It was a few weeks ago but I just...wasn't entirely sure how to process the fact you were calling me."

"You weren't ready for that door to be opened," I said.

"Yes. And I'm sorry it took so long to reach out to you."

"You didn't have to."

"I wanted to. So I'm here."

I looked at her up and down, not judgmentally but just wanting to take her in. She was wearing somewhat modest shorts, a white shirt with an army green cardigan and sneakers. Her hair was clean and in a ponytail, a few fly aways around her face. She wasn't wearing makeup. "You can come in."

I let her pass me. She had a few inches on me. She didn't look old, but I knew she could pull off looking a lot younger if she tried. 

"This is a really nice house," she said, walking slowly forward. 

"It's been my father's townhouse for over twenty years," I said. "This way." I led her to the den and we sat down. "Do you want anything to drink?"

"No, I'm fine Eve."

I was caught off guard when she called me by my name. "Did you choose my name?" I asked.

"Yeah. I chose Eve. Your fathers chose your middle name," she said. After I didn't say anything she continued, "So why did you call me a few weeks ago?"

"I just wanted to meet you," I said.

She shrugged. "Here I am. Not much going on in my life."

"Tell me about your life."

"I am a sales manager for the handbags department at Macy's on Herald Square. I've worked there for about fifteen years now, since I was twenty-three."

I sipped my raspberry tea. "How old were you when you had me?"

"I was twenty-two."

"Tell me about it all."

She took a deep breath. I know I was putting her on the spot, but I was curious. "Well," she said. "I had just turned twenty-two, and not soon after I got dumped by my boyfriend of two years. He had been my first boyfriend and my first love and I didn't see the break up coming at all, so I was really heartbroken. I turned twenty-two in May, he dumped me in June, and in July I conceived you. August, I started my fifth and last year of college." She shrugged. 

"Who is my father?" I asked.

"I don't know. I had never had sex with anyone before my first boyfriend, but I was so heartbroken after that I decided to just have fun and try to stop caring that summer. I slept with only a few guys, and my ex, and I'm not sure which one is your father. I found out I was pregnant right as I was starting classes. I didn't want to abort, but I didn't have the means to raise a child, at all, and I didn't want a child." She looked at me sadly. "So I gave you up for adoption."

"What were you studying?"

"I decided to study psychology and I wanted to be a clinical psychologist. I attended Fordham University." She shook her head. "I was already very in debt my fifth year and I couldn't find a job at all. I had an internship the summer after I graduated but it didn't last or do anything. So I started working at Macy's, hardly able to pay rent. I was so proud to graduate and I thought I was going to get back with my ex and that my internship would get me a job. By October I wanted to kill myself, but I didn't. I kept thinking it would get better."