Running just a little bit slow this morning. But the coffee is brewing and I feel reasonably awake even with out it. So let’s take this energy and get started on the day. Ready? Good. Then let’s go.
I think with a little bit of work this could be an interesting story. Perhaps a take on the Cinderella story. Might be fun to play with.
Tuesday, June 28th: He felt the embarrassment keenly.
He felt the embarrassment keenly. He could feel the weight of their stares. Some seemed curious, others looked at him with pity.
“There is nothing whatsoever to be ashamed of,” Jane, his step-mother said. “It’s perfectly natural to see a therapist when you are having trouble coping,” she said.
Paul nodded knowing no other response would be acceptable. If he voiced a comment no matter how short or in agreement with her, she would find something in his tone to be problematic. He caught sight of his face in the hall mirror. His cheeks were flamed red while the rest of his face was white, as though his cheeks pulled all the blood from the rest of his face. He caught flashes of sympathetic looks as Jane launched into the merits of Dr. Frasier for the assembled group.
She sailed off and he tried to distance himself in the crowd. He found his way to the back of the room and people soon looked away. He was sure some were still listening to Jane, others seemed to resume whatever conversations they were having before he was brought to their attention. If anyone was talking about him they were doing so out of his earshot for which he was grateful.
He found he was standing near the food and drinks table and he ladled himself a cup of punch from the punch bowl. He used one of the paper cups rather than one of the fancier cut crystal the adults around him were using.
The punch was overly sweet and fizzy but it cooled him down and he felt his blood redistribute and his cheeks cool. He had only two more weeks to endure. He could do that. He had been saving his pay from his afterschool job for as long a he could remember, putting it into an account at the First National bank that his grandfather set up for him. He knew those in his family thought that he made a little pocket money which didn’t amount to much, if they ever thought of his working at all. Mostly they seemed relieved that he was out of the house, especially after his father married Jane and she and her three sons came to live in the house. The house that always seemed too big was now not big enough. He found himself escaping when he could. Most of the time he picked up extra shifts.
His savings, combined with what inheritance he was left added up to a substantial fund. He talked to his friend Tim who graduated the year before and was working in the city. The company he worked for was hiring. He offered to put his application in for him and to his delight Paul had a job waiting. Tim said he could stay with him while he looked for a place and got settled too.
‘Just two more weeks,’ Paul thought. Then this place would be a memory. He would no longer have to endure Jane’s attempts to point out how much less he was than her boys. ‘And no more Dr. Frasier,’ he thought. As he sipped his punch, Paul wondered if anyone else knew that Dr. Frazier was sleeping with jane. He suspected he was the only one who knew.
‘Of course I have pictures,’ he thought. ‘And video.’
He left a book in the office and went back for it, catching them. He never let on that he caught but held the pictures and video in case they became useful later.
Ten til Midnight 