𝐀 L͟e͟s͟s͟o͟n͟ 𝐈𝐧 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞

Thirty Three

The silence that emanated from Tiana was overpowering as tension rode high between her and June. The past twenty minutes felt like the final moments of a convict who was seconds away from a guilty verdict. 

Tim and Tyra who were still on the high from their newfound love were the most contentious in the group of six. They ate with the delight of pleasured souls their La Bouillabaisse flavoured with cinnamon and spent their time lost in each other. 

Tiana on the other hand barely touched her Creme of mushroom soup, unlike her parents who with the opulence of the priviledgely well-fed ate their Salmon and tomato bruschetta with punctuated murmurs of appreciation.

Kessa on the other hand had most of her Roasted pumpkin and arugula salad but to say she tasted the savoury appetizer would be a lie. She was too aware of the emotions that were raging through Tiana who sat beside her with her legs shaking violently beneath the table. 

This was a time bomb-ticking situation for Tiana. She was seconds from exploding. Unlike the hours leading up to now where she had kept Tiana in a sex-infused coma of BDSM to appease her turmoil, they were here now far from their bedroom where she had no hold on her lover's emotions. 

Her mind drifted to the hours prior when she had allowed Tiana to take her in the most dominant of ways as she gave herself submissively to carter away her lover's pain. Who would have thought she was capable of letting go and giving willingly to the kinks that came with such lovemaking? 

Her body tingled with the memories and her nipples hardened beneath the bodice of her close-fitting cocktail dress. She knew now what a lil' redhead had felt as Tiana took what she wanted from her body without culpability. 

Kessa pulled her mind to the present and tried not to think of the pleasure that coursed through her body at the remembrance of the marks on her body that lay hidden beneath her bodycon blue, ruched mini dress and the sensation of knowing how they got there. 

However, pushing those thoughts away brought forth the matter at hand. Her mind now kept flooding with all the wrongs that were waiting to explode from Tiana. 

She felt the tempo of Tiana's leg brushing frantically against hers increase as her silk-covered legs shook violently under the table. Her hand crept down to rub Tiana's leg soothingly but to no avail did it appease the pain that unleashed in a bitter rush of words spoken through clenched teeth. 

"This is a fucking waste of time. I am supposed to sit here and pretend am having a wonderful meal with my loving family. The hypocrisy of it all sickens me?" 

Her father opened his mouth to speak but Tiana was already rising from the table her chair scraping harshly against the floor. 

"Tiana you sit down this instance," June said softly but her words bore no arguments and each person at the table watched as Tiana's defiance clashed with her mother's command. 

It seemed like hours before the chair was pulled to the table and Tiana took her place again. Her artistically made-up face was a mask of distaste beneath her black blunt-cut lace wig and her pursed lips a showcase of her will to keep compliant. 

"Tiana hon—"

June's hand reached to her husband's to silence his words as she looked on at her daughter. Tim and Tyra who were now less focused on each other sat upright and waited for what was to come. Kessa reached for her glass of water and took a sip just to have something to do. 

"Tonight I sit here because I am tired of this malice between us that I have created and that I want us to break and move on from in a decent and tolerable way.  I am asking for your forgiveness and hope that I will receive it. 

I am not here expecting us to be a loving mother-and-daughter duo because I destroyed that when I made you seem cheap and worthless because of your sexual orientation. At first, I was appalled to be the mother of a bisexual because my upbringing made me detest such things. I feared I would be degraded by my Jamaican homophobic lineage if I accepted it.

However, it became less of that and more of a selfish need not to have such a daughter because I did not want you to sabotage the life I worked so hard to create and the image I cloak myself in here in America. I did you wrong in ways I can never ask you to forget for my benefit."

Silence filled the table as June's softly spoken words drifted out towards them and her eyes shun with the pain of regret and self-berating. 

"I hurt your father too when I ripped your father-daughter love and mangled it to fit my desires. I cannot change what I did or erase the years I crippled us from being a family. But I can lessen the suffering by giving you your father back and an extremely selfless sibling, kind and determined just like her eldest sibling, and also by being a wonderful mother-in-law."

Her eyes shone with acceptance as she glanced at Kessa who gripped her water glasses and clenched her lips to resist the urge to cry as relief flooded her heart. 

"I could have lost everything but thanks to Ty…," June's eyes darted to the young woman and appreciation and love were evident in her tender smile before her gaze drifted back to Tiana. "… I was given a second chance to right my wrongs and I won't let my pride or my selfish pursuit of climbing the social ladder of the opulent throng of society keep me from appreciating the beautiful, hardworking and determined daughter that I am given." 

Tears were streaming down June's cheek as she timidly reached out to touch Tiana's hand. Her eyes glistened with hope as remorse laced her words. 

"I did a lousy job at nurturing but I hope you'll give me a chance to foster my desire to be your supporter and in time an anchor in dark days. I pray you find it in your heart to give me a chance knowing I am truly sorry for rejecting you."

Everyone sat in silence and this time when Tiana pushed her chair from the table it was to go to June and give her a hug of acceptance as happy tears flowed and lips parted in joyous smiles. 

Tim gave a verbose cheer dragging a few curious stares to their table. They basked in the relief that a bridge was mended to create a happy ending and make way for a new beginning. Their infectious joy caused various patrons to raise their glasses in salute to their celebration.  

It was a pleasure to see that the Lesson In Love was not a bitter and cruel one but one of humility and acceptance that will live on in this foundation of unity, devotion, acceptance and self-worth.