Part II - A Surprise Visit
The knock on the door caught Cindy off guard. She hadn't been expecting anyone, let alone the person she saw when she opened the door.
"Mom?"
"Hi honey," Madison smiled.
Cindy squealed with joy and stepped into the hall to give her mother a big hug. She got her second surprise when she saw who her mother had brought along.
"Holly? Laurie?"
"Hey," Cindy's sisters replied in unison.
The four women laughed and shouted with glee as they wrapped each other up in a group hug. After a few moments, Cindy broke the hug to shepherd her visitors into her room.
"A friend of mine had this room when we were freshmen," Laurie smiled. She'd graduated two years ago. Holly, Cindy's younger sister by two years, would in all likelihood be going to this same school in two years herself.
"Yeah, I love it. I have a great view and it's close to the bathroom," Cindy said. "So what are you guys doing here?"
"Well," Madison explained, "none of us had plans for the weekend, so we thought we'd drive up and surprise you."
"I'm definitely surprised. Let me show you around, not that there's a lot to see," Cindy said. It was a single room, so there most definitely wasn't a lot to see. Cindy pointed out all of her roommates things. She went out of her way to show her Mom all of her books and all the work those books were generating. Cindy's parents were paying 100% of her college costs and she wanted to make them feel like they were getting their money's worth.
"Cindy, we brought some food up for you. It's back in the car. Why don't you help me bring it up?" Madison suggested.
"Sure. No problem," Cindy turned to her sisters. "Make yourselves comfortable. I think I have some Diet Cokes in the fridge."
Madison and Cindy took the stairs down to the ground floor. The car was near the front door, and the two divided up the grocery bags. Cindy was ready to head back up, but her Mom stopped her.
"There's another reason we came up this weekend," Madison said quietly.
Cindy recognized that tone. Something was wrong, "What's up?"
"Do you remember Miriam Johnson?"
She had to think about that, "She's your friend from work, right?"
"Right. Did you know she has a niece that goes to this school?"
Cindy shrugged, "I had no idea."
"Well, she does," Madison said seriously. "Miriam was up here a couple weeks ago and took her niece to dinner."
Cindy nodded.
"She said she saw you at the restaurant."
"Did she? She didn't say anything."
"That's because," Madison spoke softly, but firmly, "she says you were at your table making out with another girl."
Cindy gulped. She knew exactly what her Mother was talking about.
"Cindy, I'm not a bigot. What people do with their lives is their business. But we raised you better than that. You know your father and I disapprove of that sort of thing."
"Mom, that is so not what happened ..."
"So it was you?"
"Yes, it was. I was there with my friend Gracie. It was her birthday. I gave her a gift and she gave me a thank you kiss. We weren't making out," Cindy replied and everything she'd said was true. Up to a point. It had been a single kiss. But they'd both lost control and that kiss had turned into something long, deep and wet. But still, it had only been that one kiss, and that's obviously when Miriam Johnson had seen them. Just bad luck, really.
"That isn't what Miram said."
"I don't care what Miram said, I told you what happened." Madison looked anything but convinced. "Look, I'll tell you what. I was going over to Gracie's tonight for dinner anyway. Why don't you and Holly and Laurie come along, and you can see for yourselves that you don't have anything to worry about."
Madison thought it over, "Okay, we'll do that. But I'm warning you right now ... if I don't like what I see over there, the next conversation you and I have will be about your going to school somewhere a little closer to home."
With that, Madison picked up her bags and walked away. Cindy was stewing. Even if her parents were paying her way through college, they had no right to tell her how to live her life. And she wasn't hurting anyone. She beat back her anger. Making decisions while angry was a good way to make bad decisions. She took two deep breaths, and let them out slowly. The she pulled out her cell phone and called Gracie.
"Hey baby, you still coming over?" Gracie cooed when she realized who was on the line.
"Yeah, but we got a problem," Cindy answered. "My Mom and sisters are here. They know about us, and they aren't happy."
"Uh-oh. What are you going to do?"