2
Nicole
“Come down here for a moment, Nicole,” Papa says and gestures with two fingers for me to come closer.
I’m his pet, his prize he likes to tout around to suitors in the business. He brags about how proud he is of me, but he’s only proud of himself.
I hate my father but he’s family. Moving home wasn’t my idea, but I don’t have anywhere else to go without a job and after recently graduating from college.
I stroll down the staircase. My bare feet graze over the cold wood floor. “Yes, Papa?”
“Come, sit with me in my office.”
Dread flows straight to my stomach. Anytime my papa wants me to join him in his office means I’ve disappointed him in some way or another.
What have I done this time?
“As you know, I’ve held my tongue and let you chase a degree and graduate from that foolish school of yours,” Papa says.
My cheeks burn, and I press my lips tight together to keep from reacting emotionally.
“Now that you’re home and you’re twenty-two, you are going to settle down with a young man of my choosing.”
“Papa!” I feel like a child interrupting him.
And he treats me as such.
His hand slaps me hard across the face.
“Do not interrupt me,” he scolds.
I hang my head in shame. It’s what he wants, after all, control.
“I’ve thought long and hard about the business, Nicole. It’s in everyone’s best interest if you are wed to—”
“No!” I won’t hear it. I wait for him to slap me again across the face, but it doesn’t come. “I’m not marrying someone who you think I ought to marry. That’s such an archaic notion!” I shout in disgust as I hurry out of his office.
“Young lady, I’m not through speaking with you!”
I don’t care, and he gets the message as I hurry for the front door. I slip on a pair of shoes and bolt out the main entrance.
I didn’t think this through.
I have no car.
No money.
And no one to call or depend on.
I head for the main road, ignoring the guards as they question me on my way out, asking if I need a ride. As much as I want one, I also know that they will tell my papa everything, including where I’ve run off to.
* * *
I head for the bar in the nearest town. The walk doesn’t bother me. The weather is nice, sunny and pleasant, which is better than my mood.
I want to get plastered, but I forgot my wallet. I could flirt with the bartender or maybe a hottie at the bar. That assumes anyone in this freakishly small town is handsome and worth my time.
It doesn’t help that I have nowhere to go. Returning home weighs on me like a ton of bricks.