Gilded Apples

Chapter 5

Mom lounges on the sofa, reading off her tablet. A half-drunk glass of wine sits on the coffee table next to her. I glance around. No sign of Dad or any of the boys. Casually, I cross over to the sofa.

"Hey Mom," I say as I lean over the sofa.

Mom looks up smiling. "Hi, amore. How was the mall? Buy anything?"

I shake my head. "It was fun though."

"Good. Don't forget to get some homework done." She's turning back to the tablet.

"Could I go out with Nadia and Celine Saturday?" I ask as innocently as I can. There really wasn't any harm in going. As they had pointed out, there was no guarantee of an offer and I didn't even have to say yes if they did make an offer. Not like Mom or Dad would ever let me work for Fairest, especially as a model.

"Amore," Mom lightly chides, "We're having dinner guests."

Right. I had forgotten about that, but, "It'll just be in the morning a little of the afternoon. I'll be back in time for dinner."

Mom bobs her head lightly in consideration. A sigh of resignation. I can't believe this had worked. "Fine, as long as you get your homework done."

I lean further over so I can give her a hug. "Thanks, Mom. Love you."

She hugs me back. "Love you, too, amore."

I haven't even reached the doorway of the living room when Mom speaks again. "Where are you girls planning on going?" I don't miss the slight change in her tone.

I turn back toward her, offering a light shrug. "The mall." That much was mostly true. The event was going to be held in the commons outside the mall. Mom's lips slowly purse and I realize my mistake. She knew about the event. Of course, she did. "We're going to catch a movie."

Her lips remain pursed. She hasn't decided if she believes me or not. "Which movie?"

A dangerous question. I didn't know what was playing when. She could easily check and see if I was lying. Unless, "We haven't decided yet."

An eyebrow arches up into the air. "Really?"

So many holes in this lie. No easy way out. "Celine wasn't too sold on any of the options, so we might not actually go out at all. Or we'll end up doing something else. I suggested we go mini-golfing, but Nadia really wants to go to the movies and Celine isn't too keen on that idea either. I just didn't want to be asking last minute if we do decide to do something."

Mom studies me for a moment. I'm sure her finger is tapping at the tablet. She can't decide if this is a setup or not. "And if I told you no?"

I shrug, doing my best to play it off. "Not like I could sneak out," I point out. Celine obviously couldn't sneak out of the dorms or off campus at night and Nadia may be able to get away with better to beg forgiveness than ask permission, but that wasn't an option for me. That would require being able to actually get past my brothers, father, and the security systems mom had set in place. I may have figured out how to get past security, but there was no getting past Dad or my brothers.

Bingo.

Mom nods, looking back at her tablet. "Alright. Just keep me updated on what you plan to do."

"Yes, ma'am," I call as I make my exit.

xXxXx

I stare the business card, aimlessly spinning it between my fingers. Now that I had the green light for Saturday, I was even more sure about going. Why shouldn't I have a small taste of the life I could be living? What was the harm in it? A small voice whispers if there wasn't any harm, I wouldn't have lied to Mom.