Chapter 6

All through breakfast, Kyle smiled at me, his eyes bright with happiness.  The kid was going to break me.  If he kept smiling at me like that, a way that he wouldn’t with Dorothy, they would all know that something was wrong, and who would they go to when they had questions? Me.

“Dorothy,” Lisa started, a tight smile on her face, “do you still plan to attend the gala tonight, or should I call the Morgenstern’s and tell them you will be unable to attend.”

Staring at her, I sent her a condescending look, as if she should already know the answer to the question.  To be honest, I didn’t know what Dorothy would do.  Would the woman jump at a chance to attend, at a chance to show herself off?  Would she think that something like a gala was below her?  I had no idea, which was just another clue that I was in over my head.

“Of course she will attend, dear,” Roger replied, saving me from making a bigger fool out of myself. 

Lisa nodded, strain clearly in her eyes.  “I will let Cole know.  Dorothy, may I speak to you after breakfast?  There are some things in which I wish to discuss.”

“Yes,” I answered, a small nod in her direction before picking at my breakfast.  It included grapes.  That was it, just grapes.  Who ate like this?  The first time I was able to leave on my own, I was stopping somewhere and getting a real meal, one that didn’t include grapes, unless it was made into a wine. 

Kyle still smiled at me as he sipped his milk.  The boy chuckled a little, and I knew he was thinking of the first time I ‘got sick’ from drinking his drink.  If I could force myself to be mean to the boy, now would be the perfect time to put him in his place.  I couldn’t.  I looked at him and saw myself, saw so many other children, and I couldn’t hurt him any more than others had already hurt him.  The kid deserved some happiness in his life.  If that included having to visit the kid even after I left this place, I would.

Roger let out a sigh, pushing his plate back on the table.  “That was delicious.  Nothing like pancakes to get your morning started,” he said in a cheery voice. 

I glared at the empty plate.  He would know how well the pancakes tasted.  Me, I could honestly say that the grapes were grapey.  Setting my fork down, I pushed my chair back.  “I am not quite hungry.  I had a late super last night.”

As I rose from my seat, Lisa jumped from hers.  If the woman wasn’t finished with her meal, she didn’t say a word as she followed me from the room.  Glancing over my shoulder, I stared at her blankly.  “Where would you like to speak?”

“Anywhere is fine with me,” Lisa said, her eyes staying in contact with mine.  I was impressed.

The first place I thought of was the living area on my floor.  The stairs did not take long to climb, and before I knew it, I was sitting on the black, soft leather of the couch with her across from me in a matching chair.  My hand ran over the cushions, loving the way the material glided beneath my fingers.  

“Dorothy,” Lisa began, leaning forward and clasping her hands together in her lap, “I wished to ask a favor of you.”

“And what would that be?”

Lisa glanced away before turning back to me, her back straightening in the process.  “For tonight, just tonight, will you be civil towards your brother.”

“He is not my brother,” I snapped, knowing that Dorothy would have done the same.

Just as I thought, Lisa sighed with a nod as if she had expected the words.  “Cole, for tonight will you be civil towards Cole?  He had promised to do the same.  Please, for your father, do not ruin this night.”

“For father?”

Lisa nodded, her eyes turning wide in worry.  “The Morgenstern’s are very powerful people.  One bad word from them and your father will be finished.  Please, for tonight, be civil.”

“You really love him, don’t you?” I whispered.  The woman was amazing.  How wonderful would it have been to have a mother like this, someone who cared so much for another?

Her eyes filled with tears.  “More and more every day.  There is only thing in my life that I regret, you.”  The thoughts I had earlier disappeared as the woman whispered the words.  I opened my mouth, ready to say something bitchy back to her, but she continued.  “I wish you were mine.  Maybe if you were my blood, you would not hate me so much.  Maybe if you never knew your birth mother, you wouldn’t think that I was trying to take her place.  I just wish that you had been mine, Dorothy.  Then, you would understand how much I love my daughter.”

I turned away from her, not able to deal with the emotions in the woman’s eyes.  How could anyone be mean to her?  How could anyone not want her as a mom?  Sounds of her standing to her feet reached my ears, but I kept my eyes averted.  As she passed by, she placed her hand on my shoulder.  “Thank you, Dorothy.  I love you.”

“I’m doing it for father.  What you feel means nothing to me.”

It was a lie.  A straight lie, but she did not know that.  She walked out of the door without another word, not knowing that I would have given anything to make her my mother when I was younger.  I would have jumped through hoops to impress her.  Standing to my feet, I stumbled slightly.  Walking towards my room, I could hear my phone buzzing in my bag.

I reached down blindly, grabbing the thing and flipping it open without looking at the name.  “Yes.”

“Is this Dorothy Herring?”

“Speaking,” I said, sitting down on the bed.

The voice on the other side cleared.  “Yes, Miss Herring.  This is Right Banking calling about a possible fraud on your debit card.”

“Really?” I drawled.  If they were calling for Miss Herring about her card, how had they gotten my number?  My phone beeped, signaling that I had just gotten a message.  Ignoring the person talking on the line, I pulled the phone away from my ear.

 Changed your number.  Now Dorothy’s old one.  –Mitch.

I snapped the phone closed, not caring that the person on the other end would find me rude.  I was Miss Herring, and Dorothy was everything, including a rude, spoiled, woman.  Scrolling through the contacts, my finger stopped over a name, Hodge.  Hitting the send button, I waited for the man to answer.

“Hello?” His voice floated over the line, a smile in it.

I smiled back, even if it was at the phone and not the actual man.  “It seems I have a gala tonight.  Take me shopping?”

“It’ll be my pleasure.”

The click on the line let me know that the man had hung up.  Rising to my feet, I took a deep breath before letting it out.  I had a party to get ready for, and I already knew that the hardest part was going to be hiding my gun in a gown that Dorothy would wear.  Somehow though, I would manage, just as I always did.