The Cunningham's and the Montgomery's have since long been feuding with one another. Dating decades back, the two families separate advertising companies in New York City have been competing to win over the most clients and become the most acclaimed...
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"YOU need to help her realize, Douglas. You can't just keep encouraging her to be with the Montgomery boy when things are far more complicated."
I woke up later than usual, around 10 in the morning, and I was already fantasizing about that morning bagel. I threw on a sweatshirt, quickly washed my face, and left my room. But the closer I got to the kitchen, the easier it got to hear my parents bickering. Not exactly fighting, no. But I could hear my mother being intolerable while my dad kind of just... let her.
Suffice to say, I stopped at the end of the hallway to listen.
"Honey, there's nothing wrong with her being with Theo. There's just–"
"There's just other issues, hm? Such as the fact that she's friends with bad people. Theodore Montgomery goes out and parties and is probably influencing Juliet all the same."
"Ava is in a sorority, Michelle. We did plenty of partying in our days," my dad said, and I could practically hear his smile, trying to dissolve the entire argument by being lighthearted.
My mother continued on as if she didn't hear him, "And Matteo. He seemed nice, but look at him now! Drugs and an illegal relationship with William?"
Dad sighed. "The drugs aren't great. Neither things are. But we don't know the full story, and–"
"Douglas, you cannot be defending these children right now," my mother snapped. "The more Juliet hangs with the wrong crowd, the more she's going to get foolish things in her mind."
"What kinds of things?" dad asked.
Yeah, what kinds of things? I thought. If I was in the mood to yell at my mother right upon waking up, I would have totally just walked into the kitchen. But I didn't really want to scream before I got to eat my damn bagel.
"First of all, she's going to have the false belief that she'll get to be with the Montgomery boy forever," mother said.
"She might. We don't know that she won't," dad argued. "We started dating in college, too, Michelle. And look at us."
"It's just not realistic, Douglas," she snapped again. "Secondly, she's going to start getting it in her head that she's going to own the business someday."
I scoffed under my breath. Still on about that, huh?
"It gives her the false pretense that she will just be handed over the business like Nicolas Montgomery was handed over Montgomery Squared as of this morning. All of the articles are praising him, but we both know that it's a hot mess," my mother said. "Are you just going to stand there, or are you going to do something, Douglas?"
"I... I'm going to do something about it," dad said, and I shook my head at his easy compliance. He always gave in too quickly. He gave up too easily.
