I stood silently next to my mother as yet another unidentified relative came up, faux tears dripping into a dry hanky, insincere platitudes wreathing my mother. I couldn't understand how she was able to withstand it. More than one woman in this room had probably slept with my father during their 35-year marriage and everyone knew it. They all wanted to see how my mother would handle herself.
It was an open secret my parents hadn't shared a bed nearly as long as I've been alive. The reason behind the separate bedrooms was probably the only thing the gossips in this town didn't know. There were plenty of theories, but none were ever proven.
The tension vibrating through my mother transmitted itself to me and I put a hand to her shoulder. I felt the immediate withdrawal, though her body didn't move an inch. It had always been this way. Mother, never Mom or Mama, could never bring herself to embrace me as I'd seen other women do for their children. She wasn't the type to kiss booboos or bake cookies to make me feel better.
No, instead, it'd been my father I'd run to for everything. He'd been the one to buy my first tampon, the one who held me after my first broken heart, and the one who'd told me I could do anything. Of course, as I grew older and began making noises about wanting to be something other than a lawyer, the teeth behind the previously sheepish wolf smile came out.
By the time I was 18, I was persona non grata in my own home. Neither parent was willing to love me unconditionally, so I decided to make my own way. My grades were tip top and so I got into the university of my choice with a full ride, with no need to ask for anything from them.
I believe it was my need for a loving person in my life that led me to Barry. Oh, god, Barry. His name probably conjures up images of a nervous balding suited man who works for the IRS. In reality, he'd been a fun-loving rogue with an impish smile and dangerous fingers. He swept me off my big feet and into his impossibly large bed.
We'd met through my boss; by that time I'd graduated with a Masters in Linguistic (my way of sticking it to my father) and discovered no one needed an overly educated English major with no real desire to enter that particular world.
I'd answered an ad in the paper for an executive assistant and was with the ad company for nearly three years when Barry became our client.
You've probably heard the ad line "Diapers that only babies could love." It was cheesy, but Furbur Baby's Diapers loved it and so my boss Mr. Browning became their adman. Barry was the go to guy and man, did I go to him.