Cheryl and Toni sat in stiff fear as they studied Mike Topaz's facial expressions, waiting for an explosion at any moment. Cheryl was silently praying for a giant hole in the ground to suddenly open up and swallow her and Toni, and take them anywhere, as long as it was away from their current grim circumstances.
Mike finally opened his mouth to speak, "Living room, everyone. Now." His words were firm, and he stood up from his chair, glaring down at Cheryl before exiting the dining room.
Clara stood up drearily, without a glance towards her daughter or anyone else.
Veronica sat frozen and awkward, clearing her throat for a moment. "Uhm, I should really get going, I actually have to meet my own girlfriend for our date. Thank you for having me." She smiled fleetingly before throwing a sympathetic look to Toni and Cheryl and quickly exiting the Topaz residence.
Cheryl and Toni remained numbly planted to their chairs. Toni stared straight ahead without blinking, feeling incapable of movement as her mother walked out of the dining room.
"Living room, now!" Mike's booming roar quickly startled Toni out of staring into space, as she jumped to attention.
She sprung up from her chair, looking like a frightened kitten, and quickly rushed out of the room, not even bothering to see if Cheryl was following behind her. Cheryl stood up and quickly followed, and even Fangs and Taylor walked towards the living room, deciding that tonight, it was best just to do what was asked of them, and try to blend into the background as much as possible.
Mike was standing in the middle of the living room, while Clara sat, perched on the end of an antique armchair, her ankles neatly crossed, and her hands folded delicately at her knees. Mike's choice of placement was directly across from an empty Victorian style sofa, and Toni immediately rushed to it. Cheryl sat down beside her, and Toni crossed her legs absentmindedly, forgetting she was in her mother's presence.
"Uncross your legs Toni. You'll have blue veins running up your thighs by the time you're twenty-five." Clara instructed.
Toni rolled her eyes, but did as she was told, silently musing to herself how like her mother it was to ignore the main problem at hand for a minute issue that nobody but herself was concerned about anyways. Cheryl tilted her head to the side, trying to discreetly get a look at Toni's thighs, to see if there was any truth to what Clara said. As far as she could tell, there wasn't, as she didn't see any veins showing in Toni's legs, but then again, she was only seventeen, eight years away from twenty-five.
"Are you trying to see up my daughter's skirt?"
Cheryl jumped at Mike's words, and shook her head vehemently.
Toni glared over at Cheryl and shot her a look that clearly read, 'What the hell is wrong with you?'
"No. I-I wasn't. I was trying to see the... veins." Cheryl looked down at the starch white carpet, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment.
Mike let it slide, moving on to the more obtrusive issue, "So, you've gotten my daughter pregnant, have you?"
"Yes sir." Cheryl squeaked back. She glanced over at Toni. She sat with her hands folded in her lap, looking up at her father with fearful and innocent eyes. She must have been correct about her outfit choice, because looking at her now, Cheryl did find it very hard to believe she was the same girl she'd had sex with a countless number of times over the previous month.
"Well then, what are your plans to support her, now that you've laid waste to her future, and left her without any options?" Mike glowered at Cheryl.
Cheryl couldn't help but feel like her treatment was a little unfair. Of course, she'd expected this reaction out of Toni's father, but if she were in a less compromising position she would have to point out that it took two to tango. Cheryl certainly hadn't beaten Toni over the head and had sex with her against her will.
