Remember Ivy from End Game? Well, she's back with her own story. But don't worry if you haven't read End Game, this can be read as a standalone.
We follow Ivy as she returns to London having been offered a job at Risk, the Kink Club owned by Za...
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~ ~ Ivy ~ ~
My guts churned and protested. The food I'd just eaten sat there like a heavy bag of rocks.
My mum was already half-way down the garden path as I shut the front door behind me. I was mortified leaving Alex and Josh sitting there, mouths hanging open as my shame whipped up more emotions than a Mr Whippy ice-cream.
I was livid and upset—but more with myself than my mom.
Because I knew my mom and this shouldn't have been a surprise.
It had been like watching a car-crash in slow motion. You knew it was coming. You could see it right in front of you, but you did nothing to stop it.
I wouldn't blame them if they told me to fuck off when I went back inside.
Following my mom up the path, I flicked my eyes upward asking the man upstairs; You gonna help me out here?
I couldn't remember the last time he and I had talked this much—but apparently he wasn't listening anyway, as my earlier request got ignored.
My mom was digging inside her bag, mumbling to herself as I parked next to her, hoping the Uber wouldn't take long.
I was, however, shocked she wasn't raining hell on me about calling her out back there.
"Here it is." Pulling out her trusty hand-sanitiser, squeezing a generous amount into her left palm and then offered it out to me.
Shaking my head. "No. I'm good. Thanks."
Dropping the bottle into her bag, she rubbed her hands together vigorously. "You can't be serious, Ivy."
I guess we hadn't done talking about it.
"This isn't you!" she insisted.
And she also hadn't listened to a word I'd said in there. Shocker!
"Mom," I drew out the word, letting the sigh behind it speak for itself.
This was hard explaining to someone who had fixed beliefs on the right way and wrong way a person should live their life.
"It is me, Mom" I reached for her hand, which was still a little sticky from the cool gel. "We should have had this conversation a long time ago, but I'm still me. Just Ivy." And just in case she needed a reminder. "The same daughter you and dad raised."
She pulled her hand free from mine and brought both of hers up to cup my cheeks. "Is this what you really want, Ivy? To live this way with two men?" Her reproachful glare pinned me in place.
I loved my mom but I'd hidden who I was for far too long and now Alex and Josh had borne the brunt of my cowardice.
"Yeah. I do."
Those brown eyes we shared studied me. They were awash with disappointment. "You say this now, but you're forever changing your mind. I don't understand you sometimes." she clucked her tongue. "What should I expect next? You running off to join some commune and telling me you now eat nothing but fruit?"
