This story is about a woman back from Freshman year at the university. Any sexual contact is of characters 18 years or older.
***
It had been a crappy start to my summer break. That summer was particularly weird, to say the least. I wished that I had stayed in my dorm and taken summer classes. During dinner my first night home, Mom and Dad explained they were divorcing. They had been living separate lives for a while and only stayed legally married for my brothers and me. Since I was the youngest and had gone off to the university, they no longer felt the need for pretense.
Mom hadn't even stayed for dessert. I sat stunned as she took her plates to the dishwasher. She kissed me on my cheek with promised to get together and walked out the door. I felt sick.
I looked at Dad and asked, "Where is she going?"
Dad answered, "She moved out a while ago. She is living with her partner, Kurt Bremer."
Kurt was her law partner. Dad worked at an investment firm and didn't technically have partners. He had worked his way up and had assistants, secretaries, and office aids, but no official partners.
I asked him, "So, is your new love arriving soon?"
He shook his head. "No, honey. This is my zone. No one in or out, but you and your brothers."
I said, "Thank you. That is so magnanimous of you." Then I asked, "But why no one?"
Dad said, "Oh, I have dated and I have had fun, but I don't want anything serious. We, your mother and I, parted on friendly terms and we both love you and your brothers. I just don't want any complications right now."
I asked, "So, were you and mom seeing people for a while? Mom didn't just up and move in with Kurt."
He was a little too still, but finally said, "We knew this was coming for a while. Your mother and I drew up papers so there was no confusion of where our lives were going. Your mom has been dating Kurt since you were a sophomore and I have dated other women off and on since that time."
It was almost too much to hear. "Do I know any of the women you have dated?"
He nodded, "I haven't dated anyone seriously, but I have dated your aunt Alice and Courtney's mother, Trish Culpepper."
Aunt Alice was mom's sister and it weirded me out to hear that Dad dated her. I assumed that meant that he banged her. Yuck.
Courtney was my best friend, she never told me her mom and my dad were dating. Her parents had been divorced since before she started school. Her mother had the reputation of being a partier. I couldn't see my conservative father, James McElroy, as dating a partier, but then I couldn't see Mom, Elizabeth Meyer-McElroy, doing the dirty with Kurt Bremer, either.
I swallowed hard and said, "Courtney never told me."
Dad said, "There was nothing to say. She never knew."
I tried to determine if Dad was lying, but I couldn't tell. I was horrible at reading people, especially lies. I planned my own surprise sweet sixteen-birthday party because mom lied to me.
Mom told me she had a case where the party planner messed up the sweet sixteen party for the daughter of the client. She wanted me to plan an elaborate, but fake affair. She told me not to worry about costs. She needed a baseline idea of what a girl my age would want for her special day to see how badly the planner had failed and how much in damages she planned to pursue for her client.
It was fun. I filled a three ring binder with party ideas. I suggested chocolate fountains, an informal buffet so the guests could pick their own foods, and I even included a magazine photo of the latest Prius Convertible in my favorite color, purple, as the perfect present.
The weekend of my birthday, we had reservations at the country club. The whole family went, including my two older brothers who made a point of coming back home for my birthday.
Prior to the party, they made such a big commotion about flying back. They said they had so many papers due for professors that I felt guilty for asking them to come to my birthday dinner. I even texted them to say they didn't have to come back because I didn't want them to stress over grades.
Both called me almost immediately apologizing and saying that they were just messing with me. I felt bad all the way up to my party because I thought they were lying to me about wanting to be there. I thought Mom and Dad made them come home. Turns out, they knew about the party, too.
Everyone got a kick out of the fact that I had planned my own party. I still hadn't realized that Mom and Dad used all my suggestions until they took me out to see the purple convertible with the giant red bow. My sweet sixteen didn't seem too happy now that I knew Mom and Dad had already been planning to separate or already had.
Kurt Bremer's large money gift made me think of a bribe not to hate him for banging my mom. Trish Culpepper stayed near our table more than she should have. Usually she was all over the wealthy men to the embarrassment of Courtney. Trish had been tame that night. Looking back, I believed it was because she was trying to be discreet for Dad while he was with the rest of his family.
I asked, "Do you care if I go out with Courtney tonight?" I hadn't made plans, but I wanted out of the house. It seemed depressing all of a sudden.
Dad shifted in his chair and said, "Courtney and her mom are away at a funeral. Trish wanted me to make sure you knew they would be back at the end of the week."
I couldn't help it when I said, "Ick, Dad. Are you still seeing her?"
Dad said, "Don't worry, Sweetie, it is nothing serious, just once a month or so. We date other people."
I gave him a serious look as I said, "So you want her around to bang when you can't find anyone else." It was crass, but Dad let me get away with a lot my whole life.
He nodded. "Yeah, that's about it."