Welcome to Cairns

Chapter 7: Deep South Glass

"What the fuck did you tell him about me?" Roseanne exclaimed, fists on her hips as she stared down Lisa while Jaemin walked away. Before Lisa responded however, Kai interjected himself into the conversation.

"It's not her fault," he explained. "We were thrown off by the fact that he called you Roseanne Kim, so he asked who Roseanne Park was. We just told him who you were."

"Yeah" she asked, fists still on her hips. "And who exactly was I?"

"Someone who cared about a cat not suffering. Someone who felt your friends' pain. Honest," Lisa spoke up. "And a loyal friend."

Roseanne's arms dropped to her side as she watched her ex-wife turn and walk away, leaving her to her own thoughts.

Kai drove Roseanne in her car back to her house where her mom was waiting. He let Roseanne rant at him, briefly mentioning the fact that Roseanne wouldn't have to worry about Lisa anymore, as she was moving. Roseanne didn't register the words though.

Roseanne had texted her to tell her what had happened and as soon as she opened the door, her arms were around Roseanne. She hugged her and rubbed her back. She gave her the kind of comfort Roseanne had needed many times over the years, but never received.

"Why does this keep happening?" she cried as Claire held her, leading her to the couch where they sat, Claire continuing to rub Roseanne's back.

"Jaemin isn't Lisa," Claire tried to reassure her daughter.

Claire's words caused Roseanne to pull away and look up at her mom. "No, Lisa never walked away from me. I walked away from her. And Jaemin walked away from me. If anything, it's karma."

"You just caught him off guard is all," Claire sighed. "He'll be back. He loves you."

"He loves Roseanne Kim," Roseanne rubbed at her eyes. "He loves the fashion designer who grew up with a rich plantation family. Not Roseanne Park."

"It doesn't matter where you come from Roseanne," Claire explained. "It's about where you go. It's about what you do with your life. And look at you, look at all you've done. You've left this town. You've made something of yourself. That's all I ever wanted for you, to have the best you could have."

"All you ever did was push me away and put down my decisions until I finally left this place."

"That's because you deserved better Roseanne! Sure, when you first started dating Lisa I was put off by the fact that she was a girl, but that's not why I didn't want you two together. I knew you could do better than her. You're better than this town and I didn't want you anchored down to this place when I knew you could fly away. I didn't want this life for you," Claire gestured around to their small home.

The pieces finally clicked into place in Roseanne's mind. She finally understood why her mom had pushed her into pageants, had insisted that she stay away from Lisa, had cheered for her when she'd moved to New York.

"You didn't want me to turn out like you, that's it, isn't it?" the blonde asked. Claire nodded. "Momma, there's nothing wrong with your life. There's nothing wrong with this town. There's nothing wrong with being you."

Roseanne wiped away the last of her tears just in time for the front door to open. Mason walked in first, followed closely by Jaemin, carrying a bouquet of flowers.

"I found him walking down the highway, tryna find his way back here," Mason spoke, gesturing to Jaemin.

"I'm sorry," Jaemin spoke, hurrying over to Roseanne, handing her the bouquet. "I overreacted. I showed up here unannounced. You have a past, I get that. I understand. I'm sorry I didn't let you explain."