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Laughingstock

Author: Ali Parker
last update Last Updated: 2024-06-11 02:50:42

Xander

It was like deja vu waking up with Evie in my arms. It reminded me of the hotel room in Oregon. I remembered how I felt in that moment. It was good. Holding her in my arms was damn near as good as making love to her. I knew I wanted it again and again. When we were in bed together, I could forget about everything else.

I wanted the moment to last forever. Why did it have to end? I told myself we could pull the blankets up to our chins and cocoon ourselves for days. I sighed, knowing she would never agree to that. There was no putting a social butterfly back in a cocoon. She loved her job and her people. I would be selfish to take her away from the world.

Just then, I didn’t give a fuck about the world. I wanted her all to myself.

“You are awake before me again,” she said in a sleepy voice.

“I am an early riser,” I said and wrapped her tighter in my arms. “I think I’m cursed. My father cursed us. If I sleep past eight, I feel as if I have broken the law.”

She groaned and snuggle
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  • Let Me In   What Does He Want?

    EvieI pulled up the images from a sweet-sixteen party I had planned about six months ago before I turned my laptop for the new client to see.“Oh wow, that is stunning!” the mother exclaimed.“I don’t want pink,” the spoiled princess pouted.I smiled, remaining calm. “You don’t have to have pink. You can choose any color you want.”“No,” the mother quickly interjected. “We are not having black.”The girl scowled. “I wasn’t going to say black.”I kept my smile in place. The affluent family had reached out to me last week. Initially, I didn’t want to do it. I was in no mood to deal with a spoiled teenager.“What colors were you thinking about?” I asked.“Purple,” she answered. “I want several shades of purple.”“Oh, that’s very regal,” her mother said with a relieved smile. “I like it.”“I was at a party you planned for my friend like a year ago,” the young girl said. “She said you were really good. My party has to be better than her party.”Ah, teenage envy. “We will do our best.”“We

  • Let Me In   Go Fix It

    Xander“No, I don’t suppose it was. You did it for yourself. You made something of yourself. I’ve kept my head in the sand, trying to ignore what you’ve been doing. I did a little research. You have changed the world, just like you said you were going to. You really did something remarkable. Your mother used to show me newspaper clippings with your name. I know I didn’t say it, but I’m proud of you. I’ve always been proud of you.”I put the bottle of beer down. I could not continue to drink it if he was going to send me into coughing fits every time he dropped one of his little bombshells. “You are?”“I am. I should have told you before. You are my son. I’ve said some pretty shitty things. I don’t know how to make them go away but I was hoping we could try and start over.”I felt like I was being pranked. Maybe I was dreaming. In thirty-two years, my father had never believed I was worthy of his last name. “You want to start over? I’m sorry, Dad. This is all coming out of left field.

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