These Chronicles continue the adventures of Jack Grierson, following from the 10 Chapters of Her FiancΓ©'s Father.
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1."Judith!" My mother only used my formal name when she was angry. I sighed and wondered what I had done this time, as I went into her study. She swiveled around in her chair, unconsciously pushing her glasses up her nose and running her fingers through her blonde curls.
"Have you written the thank you note to Mr. Grierson for the piano he got you for your eighteenth birthday?"
I hung my head. She had been nagging me about that gift for weeks - it was not that I wasn't grateful, but I just didn't know what to say to him. It was just so awkward!
"I'll do it today, mom," I mumbled.
"You're always saying that! If you don't do it today, I will have them take the instrument back."
"I'll do it, mother," I said, dutifully.
"Come here," ordered Mom. I came up to her, not knowing what to expect. I was surprised when she ran her hand through my auburn, shoulder-length hair and patted my cheek. "I'm not mad at you, honey. You're my beautiful girl. Just do the right thing."
"Yes, mother," I said and bolted for my room.
"And put on some proper clothes!" she called after me. "Your top has so many holes that it doesn't even pretend to cover your bra. And I can see your panties through the rips in your jeans."
I had always been a bit leery of Mom's business associate, Jack Grierson. The very first time I met him was soon after my youngest brother, Evan, was born. It was at the airport, when my mom Trixie Ann was returning from a business trip. He seemed a little too familiar with her. When he put his arm around her, she was very uncomfortable and flustered - she even grew short of breath.
However, materially, he was very good for our family. He introduced my mom to so many new business contacts that she began getting big raises, bigger bonuses and huge sales commissions. She bought a new BMW 5-series for herself and an almost new Cadillac for my dad, Alan. I got the new piano AND my mom's old Volvo. Mom bought my brother Eddie a new top of the line game console.
Whereas before Mom had always been tight, now when she was in a good mood, she gave me lots of money to buy clothes and go to concerts. She was always buying presents for Dad and toys for Eddie and even for baby Evan. We ate out a lot at expensive restaurants. We took short weekend family vacations to exotic locales - Bermuda, Iceland.
The only thing that wasn't perfect was that my dad was still unemployed. Jack kept getting him interviews for excellent positions, and he even made it to the final round a few times. But in the end, nothing panned out. He was constantly worrying about money, but Mom ignored him.
"I'm saving lots," she assured him. "Jack has helped me make some really lucrative investments, we're doing really well."
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2.It was now almost six months since Evan was born. My dad thought that his arrival was such a pleasant surprise, as he said to all of us that he had always been very careful with using condoms. But Mom convinced him that no birth control method is perfect. Dad was worried that the expense of this third child would really hurt our finances, but fortunately that was just when Jack helped Mom's career take off. Evan was in the best daycare center in town.
Mom had always had an hourglass figure - Dad found her full breasts and rounded hips extremely sexy and was always telling her so. However, Evan's birth seemed to galvanize her. She joined a very expensive gym and became obsessed with working out every day after work and even more on weekends. She would do an hour of an advanced step aerobics class three days a week, weight training on the other two days and on weekends she went for long runs. Many of her exercise sessions were with Jack. I could always tell when she had been working out with Jack, for she always came back dreamy-eyed, lightheaded and talking about how sore she was. Workouts with Jack seemed to always get her very tired, but into a very good mood. I quickly learned that I could get her to agree to anything when she was in this state.
She became toned and strong and looked sexy in a very different way. She spent every non-working moment in a sports bra, tights and athletic shoes. Men had always looked at her, but now we could not even go to the grocery store without men (and even some women) turning and staring at her, some very blatantly.
At first, Dad thought that her newfound fitness regimen would improve their togetherness, but sadly it did not. Whenever Dad tried to cuddle to Mom, she always pushed him away saying she was tired from her most recent workout. Sometimes weeks went by when I did not see them embracing. Even when she allowed Dad to kiss her, she was passive and it was like watching Dad kiss a mannequin. I began to find Dad on his computer late at night more and more often. When he wasn't home I scrolled through his history and found almost all his visits were to porn sites. He was clueless about Internet security.
Jack had just gotten Dad another interview today. Like most of these interviews, it was early in the morning, at 6:30AM. Dad was very hopeful this time, because Jack told him that it was with one of the executives in his company, a woman by the name of Farah Hojjat. They were to meet at a Starbucks downtown. Dad had to leave the house by 5:30AM to make sure he made it there in time. I dimly heard him thumping down the stairs and I was sure that Mom was still sleeping.
* * * * * * *
3.I got up and brushed my teeth as usual. I looked at my phone - it was almost 7:00AM - I was going to be late for school. My brother Eddie should have been on his school bus by now. I poked my head in to his room to make sure. As usual, it was a disaster: piles of clothes on the floor, dirty dishes and glasses everywhere and even the posters on his wall askew. Such a slob - his mess was there, but he was gone.
I came out into the hall again and I thought I heard something. It was a low moan, it came from my parents' room and it sounded like Mom.
I was eighteen and not naΓ―ve, but I was still a virgin. Heavy kissing and petting with my boyfriend Manny Slink was the sum total of my sexual experience. The farthest I had been was when he slipped his hand under my sweater in the darkness of the movie theater and squeezed my breasts through my bra. When he whispered that I had perfect tits, I was so proud I could burst. But the next time we were necking in my car, I stopped him when he tried to unhook my bra.
But I want to feel your bare nipples, he whispered plaintively.