Everyone sat and listened to her talk, not quite knowing what else to do.
Her mother was listening intently now, and her eyes narrowed. “You what…you read that today? Really? That can’t be true.” She glanced at Nicole and her lips tightened. “Okay. Well…thanks for telling me. Yes. Yes, I know. I’ll call you tomorrow.” She got off the phone and put it away.
“That was a little rude, Mom,” Nicole told her.
“I had to take that call, it was Karen.”
“So?”
“I couldn’t ignore her.” Her mother started to pick at her plate of food. “I can’t help but ask…is it true you quit your job this past week?”
Nicole sat back in her chair. “I was going to tell you, I just didn’t want to get into a whole thing about it tonight.”
“When were you going to tell me?”
“I don’t know. I’ve had other stuff on my mind.”
“I’m sure you have. But instead I had to find out from Karen, because they’ve just written a new thing about you in the tabloids. This is how I find out about my daughter now.”
Nicole put a hand on her forehead. “Mom, can we please not do this right now?”
Red placed his hand on her leg and gave a comforting squeeze. “Barb, those tabloids are best ignored. Most of what they print are lies, and I’ve learned just to ignore them.”
“You’ve clearly grown accustomed to living your life under a microscope,” her mother said. “I don’t begrudge you that. But our family is different. We’re just regular, normal people.”
“Red is a normal person too, Mom.”
Her mother put up a hand. “I’m not trying to start a fight, Nicole. I was just shocked to hear you quit your job. Did something happen? Were you being treated unfairly?”
Nicole sighed. “No, it’s not that. But you know Red…he’s no longer with the company.”
Her mother eyed her. “You mean he was fired.”
She saw Red smirk a little.
“He was let go because of some really difficult circumstances in the global economy.”
“Well, I suppose it’s all too sophisticated for a bumpkin like me, but I recall reading that he was fired by his board of directors. Do I have that right?” her mother said, looking at Red.
“Yeah, that’s very much true,” Red agreed, sounding totally at ease with her questions.
Nicole’s mother looked at her. “And now you quit, to what purpose?”
“Red’s starting a new company and I want to work there with him.”
“You’ll be working together?”
“Yes.”
Her mother shook her head. “Nicole, really. I’m sorry, but how much of this am I supposed to just sit back and shut my mouth about? I want to be supportive—“
“Then be supportive. It’s easy.”
“Well I can’t support something I know is wrong. These tabloids are going to absolutely destroy you, honey. Can’t you see what’s happening? And now you’re going to become his secretary at a new company, living off his wealth, completely beholden to him in every way—“
“Mom, this is not a conversation I’m going to have right now.”
“Barb,” her father began.
“I don’t know how I’m supposed to simply shut up when it comes to my only daughter’s emotional well-being. Red, you must see what kind of position you’ve put our family in—“
Red tried to speak, but Nicole stood up.
“It’s not just your family anymore, Mom. Red and I have our own family to think about now.”
“Two immature people trying to get married and fight the world do not make a family make.”
“Three people. There’s going to be three of us,” Nicole said, holding up three fingers. “I’m pregnant, so you better figure out a way to get with the program, because Red is going to be around for a long, long time.”
In the stunned silence that followed Nicole’s outburst, there came the sound of keys rattling in the lock. And then into the apartment came Danielle and Kane Wright, laughing and talking. They turned and saw everyone sitting at the table.
“Sorry to intrude,” Kane said. He was dressed in his typical dapper suit, his hair perfectly coiffed.
“We thought you’d be done by now for sure,” Danielle said. “I mean, you told me you guys were eating between six-thirty and seven.”
Nicole just laughed. This night could not possibly get any worse, she decided. “It’s fine,” she said. “Please, come in, make yourselves at home.”
Red glared across the table at the man who’d stolen his company. He didn’t say a word.
Kane smiled affably back at him. “Anyway, it’s great to see you both again.”
***
“Thank god that’s over with,” Nicole said, as she stood at the window and watched her mother and father drive off. They’d insisted on staying at a Motel 6 all the way back on the highway, even though Red had offered to get them a room at a really nice Holiday Inn just a couple of miles down the road.
“It could have been worse,” Red told her, putting his hands on her hips and kissing the back of her neck as she continued staring outside.