The Sinclair Series Book #1: Tragedy Of Love

Chapter two: The Almost Bestie

My mother is fond of having a thick frown and pouty lips whenever she is brooding probably from me being a disappointment. She says I'll be the cause of her death. 'Death by Vivi!' is what she is fond of saying.

I quietly approached her as she stirred her tea continuously. The woman doesn't take sugar. What is she stirring really? 

"Mother, are you still upset with me?" I asked her.

"Upset?" She asked. "Upset doesn't even cover it child. I'm disappointed in you. In a shamed on your behalf."

I hate it when she is disappointed in me.

"Because I didn't immediately take to Michael Harrington as you had hoped?" I asked the obvious question so that we wouldn't beat around the bush.

"Because I'm trying to help you and you're too stubborn to see things my way!"

"Is it wrong that I want to fall in love with a man before I have to change my name and surrender my identity?"

"Fall in love?" She asked with a sarcastic laughter that hurt me. "Love is a lie! It doesn't exist! It's a ploy conjured by the weak to help them cope with harsh reality that life is a game of chess. It's an arrangement. It's win it lose Vivienne!"

"Did father scar you that badly?"

"I thought I made it clear that the blasted man will not be mentioned in this house!" She lost her composure standing up and hitting the tea cup hard enough to send it across the room. He hurt her for her to be this angry nineteen years later.

When my mother ie furious, it ie never wise to provoke her any further but I don't have the sense to let it go.

"What's your problem?" I persisted.

"You! You Vivienne are my biggest problem. I'm trying to secure a good future for you. All you are offering in return is being as obstinate as a mule! Walking around in lingerie in front of Harrington was shameful! Asking him to grab your bottom is... You threw your underwear at him! What were you thinking?"

It was meant to annoy her. It did more than that. I can't help it. I'm a bad girl. I can't be good. It's as impossible as defying gravity.

"Obstinate? As much as I'd like to argue with you about my resemblance to a mule, I personally believe in love." I argued my point. "Just because it didn't happen for you doesn't mean it's impossible."

"So who do you hope will fall in love with you? Sinclair's son? I saw you two at the party!" Mommy's eyes are like those of an eagle. What doesn't she see? "Vivienne, I hate to break it to you but you will never marry into that family. I would rather die than allow you to get mixed up the Sinclairs!"

There is apparently something mother wants more than her daughter marrying up. She wants me to stay away from Sinclair. The thing about telling me no, is that it intrigues me.

"Wow mother! What did the Sinclairs do to you? I thought the only thing on your check list is money. They reek of it. You should be nudging me in that direction. Isn't that all you want mommy? Money? Marry up? Rich bachelor?" She slapped me hard enough to shut me up. Vivienne Byrne never knows when to quit unless it involves physical force from her mother. Fessing up I straightened my form. "Well mother, be careful. You wouldn't want to scar your golden goose."

Pouting my mouth at an equal magnitude, I took my leave.

That maid Michael brought follows me around. She won't let me breathe. I went out through the kitchen window as opposed to the front door.  I want to be alone. I went into town walking in the hot sun. I didn't bother to bring a brolly or have ant servant escort me. I am going to seek a friend out. She is staying at a hotel with her parents for the weekend. She was conspicuously missing from the party.