Annie was fifteen when her mother remarried. Her mother, nearly forty, surprised everyone with her new husbandāa 28-year-old handsome professional that she had met one night at the gym. Their engagement was short, only a few months, before a quick ceremony in Vegas. Shortly after, Chad, whom Annie had never met until that day, moved into their two-story Seattle home with them. She was immediately smitten with him, in that way that all fifteen-year-old girls can be when an older, attractive man is around.
He wasnāt that old, Annie had surmised then. She counted it up. He was only thirteen years older. Soon, though, it was painfully obvious that he wasnāt just good-looking and young, but he was also her step-father and a figure of authority in her life. His first attempts at discipline were thwarted and quickly a rift grew between the two. They never spoke much and avoided each other as much as possible. Annieās friends would always notice an air of tension in the house when they came to visit.
Months passed and became years. Soon, Annie was eighteen and had spent most of her time in the past few months drawing plans to move out with a few girlfriends after graduation. Her mother had extended the invitation to stay on while she took courses at the local university, however, her mother, a busy advertising executive, was rarely home, and the thought of spending that much time in the house with Chad didnāt exactly sound appeasing.
It was another lonely Friday night for Annie. She came home shortly after school, pausing only to gossip with her girlfriends at the coffee shop on the way home. She had recently broken up with her boyfriend of one year and didnāt want to spend much time in public. She preferred to bury herself in end-of-the-year schoolwork and her plans for moving out.
She dropped her backpack by the coatrack, kicked off her shoes, and hung up her leather jacket. Walking across the hardwood floors of the hallway into the kitchen, she noticed that the house was eerily quiet, even more than usual. Typically, even if her mother were away on business, she could at least hear the tell-tale clickings of Chadās keyboard as he worked away at another reportā¦or whatever. Annie never really cared. Chad was just her motherās husband and of no concern to her.
Shrugging, she padded into the kitchen and opened the fridge, pondering for a moment, then grabbing a bottle of fruit juice. As she closed the refrigerator door and turned around, she was startled by Chad, standing behind her. She gasped inwardly, frightened for a moment, then smiled.
"Hi, Chad," she said.
"Afternoon, Annie," he replied. "Your mom wanted me to let you know that an important business meeting in Toronto came up and she had to fly out today. Sheāll back sometime Tuesday."
"Surprise, surprise," Annie said sarcastically, opening the top of her fruit juice.
Chad shrugged. "Sheās a busy woman, I guess. Iāll be in the office if you need me." With that, he walked past her and towards the staircase that led to his office.
Annie couldnāt help herself by sneaking a peek of Chadās backside as he walked away. His clean and pressed Dockers always made for a nice sight. She had to admit that she had never gotten over her teenage crush on him, even if he was a pain in the ass. That didnāt deny his good looks. Annie smiled, took a sip of her juice, then retrieved her backpack from the foyer and retreated to her own room.
Once in her bedroom, she dropped her backpack onto the floor and flopped onto her bed. She had all intentions of working on an essay due Monday, but she couldnāt bring herself to it. It had been a busy week and she was tired of work. She lay there for a few moments, staring at the stars she had painted on the ceiling, before drifting off into a light sleep.
She awoke a few hours later to a quiet knock at her door. Rubbing her eyes, she sat up. "Come in," she said, wondering what it could be that Chad would want.
Chad stepped into the room. "You got a phone call a little bit ago. Margie, I think? She wanted to know if you were going bowling with them tonight."
Annie grimaced visibly, even in the now-darkened room. It was Margieās idea to get her over Allen, her ex-boyfriend. Bowling was not Annieās idea of a dating pool.
"No, Iām not," she replied. "What did you tell her?"
"Just that you were sleeping," Chad said. "I said Iād let you know she called." Chad looked at her closely and Annie was suddenly embarrassed. Her uniform pleated skirt had ridden high up her thighs during her brief nap, showing off a peek of her panties. She tried inconspicuously to pull the skirt down.
"Are you okay?" Chad asked.
"Iām fine," Annie replied. "Just sleepy."
"No, I mean, with everything else," he said. "Your mother told me that you and Allen broke up. How are things?"
Annie sighed. Leave it to her gossipy mother to pass that information onto him. "Iām okay," she said. "Iāll get over it."
Chad frowned. "Maybe you should go out with your friends," he said. "It might be good for you."
Annie shook her head. "Iām tiredāitās been a long week. Iād really rather just be by myself."
"Okay," Chad replied, his eyes flitting to the still hiked-up skirt. "You sure youāll be okay?" He sat down on the edge of her bed. "Do you want to talk about it? I mean, I know weāre hardly close, but it wasnāt that long ago that I was your age."
