Cutting Loose (8 page)

She enjoyed shopping with her girls
Larissa and Cassandra, but she enjoyed shopping alone, mostly in part because
she could go crazy and buy up the whole store.

She was too busy worrying about other
things she didn’t even realize her mother had left a message on the answering
machine until she checked it, only to find that she wanted her to come over for
dinner because she missed her and was in the mood to cook a big meal with the
whole family in one room.

“Rina, honey, please come to dinner
tonight. I made your favorite: curry chicken and yellow rice—and I want you to
try this new bread pudding recipe I found. Please call me back when you get
this message. ‘Bye.”

A part of her wanted to say to hell with
her mother’s dinner, but another part of her felt bad, seeing as she hadn’t
seen her mother in a while and she probably would have gotten worried if she
didn’t show up and start thinking of the worse things that could have happened
to her “favorite” daughter.

She loved her mother to death, but most
of the time she was always trying to get Sabrina to open up about her love life
and put in her two cents about every single thing. And her little get together
dinners were only a front to dig her nose into Sabrina’s personal things.

Surprisingly enough Sabrina still hadn’t
told her mother about what happened between herself and Carl just for the
simple fact that she didn’t want to hear her mouth about little things that
would later on piss Sabrina off, leading her to say something she would later grow
to regret thanks to her mother’s manipulative ways that only Camille could
stand up to and sometimes even Sean had to get to escape from it all.

“Hi, Mom,” Sabrina said after she called
her mother back some minutes later after listening to the message. “I might be
able to make it to dinner tonight.”

“Praise the Lord!” shouted Sabrina’s
mother in excitement. “I am so glad you decided to come. I haven’t seen you in
ages, honey. Well, the food is already done so just come on over around
seven-thirty.”

“Okay. That sounds good. See you later
then. Bye.”

Sabrina should have known what she was
getting herself into once she made the commitment to her mother to come for
dinner but since she was a woman of her word, she was not about to back down.

After dressing in a crème-colored
blouse, a brown skirt and matching heels she checked herself out in the mirror,
threw her purse on her shoulder and headed out the door.

It was a good thing her mother only
lived about twenty minutes away in Boca Raton and Sabrina was in a good mood to
drive, otherwise it would have been a long, boring drive. Once she passed the
security gate and passed the many rows of Tudor-style houses, she pulled into
the driveway of the estate-like house where her mother and stepfather Sean
called home and parked her car. She could see Camille’s red Infiniti parked
near the garage next to Sean’s black Acura M45 and her mother’s crimson Lexus
convertible.

It was hard to believe that her mother
was a multi-millionaire because the way she chose to live in a nice
neighborhood instead of moving to Star Island on South Beach like most of the
rich people did. But that was one of the things Sabrina admired about her
mother—she wasn’t like everybody else.

Before Sabrina could even get out of the
car, her mother Dorothy came running outside dressed in a flowing royal blue
top over a pair of loose fitting khaki pants and blue heels.

Sabrina could tell she was pulling out
all the stops tonight, just for the fact that she was wearing high-heels, which
she swore she hated because they made her feet swell up like an elephant trunk.

Before Sabrina could get even get out of
the car her mother was all up in the car yapping her mouth off. “Hi, baby! I
missed you so much. How have you been?”

“Mom, can I get out of the car, please?”

Dorothy backed up and said, “Oh yeah, of
course. Sorry.”

Sabrina took her slow, sweet time
getting out of the car and hugged her mother. Once out of her tight
bear-hug-like embrace, Sabrina’s mother led her inside her huge living area
that was rarely ever used and lavishly decorated in posh, luxury furniture that
was just for show.

She then led her to the enormous family
room with burgundy walls and matching sofas, a large coffee table and a
mahogany entertainment system for the big flat screen TV sitting in the middle
of it all. The walls were a host of family portraits from over the years, which
was her mother’s pride and joy.

 Before Sabrina had a chance to even
think about sitting down, Sean came from the kitchen and announced, “There’s my
girl.” He wrapped his big, muscular arms around her and asked, “How have you
been?”

“Didn’t you just seem me what, two hours
ago?”

Sean chuckled. “Yeah, I sure did. It
doesn’t seem that long ago though.”

She could smell Camille before she even
appeared.

“To me it does,” Camille said as she
pranced her way into the room dressed in a hideous outfit she thought she was
looking good in but was mistaken big time. She stood next to Sean and said to
Sabrina, “I love your blouse.” She paused and asked, “But didn’t that go out of
style last season?”

“Yeah,” said Sabrina coolly. “Just like
that knockoff Gucci purse along with those fake boots? I know what the real
ones look like because they went out of style what, last year?”

Camille rolled her eyes and responded,
“I don’t wear fake stuff. So whatever.”

Sabrina’s mother stepped in and said,
“Oh, girls stop it. Don’t you two argue enough?”

“Apparently not,” added in Sean. He
looked at Camille and said, “Don’t I pay you well enough to be able to afford
real designer clothes?”

“Yes, Daddy, you do. But why are we so
focused on me? Sabrina is the one who got dumped by her black Prince Charming.”

“Say what?” Dorothy turned to Sabrina
and her eyes grew big like an owl. “Don’t tell me it’s over with Carl.”

Sabrina wished she could have slapped
the hell out of Camille for opening her big mouth. Now she had to hear her
mother complain about how she was never going to bless her with any grandchildren
anytime soon because she lost the best thing she ever had and then tell her how
much she loved Carl like he was a part of the family already. And then she was
going to have to listen to Camille brag about how good-looking Carl was and how
she would never find anybody like him.

“You know what, Camille? I don’t
appreciate you telling my business to everybody. So what if I broke up with
Carl two months ago and he is getting married. I could care less.”

Stunned, Dorothy placed her hand on her
chest and gasped, “Wait—two months ago? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because I didn’t want you to know. I
knew how you were going to react.”

“My goodness, Rina.” She placed her
hands on Sabrina’s shoulder and asked, “Well, are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine.”

Sean chuckled and said, “I’m glad to
hear you finally got rid of that loser. You deserve so much more.”

Dorothy nudged Sean playfully and said,
“Sean, please. I adored Carl. He seemed so nice.”

“Yeah, in the beginning he was until he
started showing his true colors and started cheating on me behind my back. But hey,
I’m so over him.”

 “Are your sure about that?” Sean
quizzed. “Last time you said that was when you caught him trying to make a move
on one of your friends and you broke it off, only to get right back with him.”

“Yes, I am one hundred percent sure this
time.”

“So what happened this time?” Dorothy asked
with anticipation in her face, which was wrinkle-free.

“Ugh.” Sabrina sighed as she plopped
onto the sofa. “Do I really need to get into this right now?”

“Yes,” interjected Camille.

“No, you don’t,” Sean intercepted. “Some
things are private.”

“Gosh, you are such a big baby,” said
Camille snidely. “When are you ever going to grow up?”

“You know what, Camille?” Sabrina
started to say as she stood up and moved close to Camille.

Sean intervened and said, “I could use
some fresh air.”

“Daddy, when are you going to stop
taking her side all the time? You never do that for me.”

“Aw, is that a tear drop I see forming
in the corner of your eye?” teased Sabrina.

“Okay, girls, I think that’s enough,”
Dorothy said as stepped between them. “Can you go check on the bread pudding
for me? Thank you dear.”

“Sure,” Camille said, with a fake smile.
Rolling her eyes, she stalked off toward the enormous kitchen.

Once Camille was out of sight, Dorothy
asked, “So, how’s my baby doing?”

Sabrina already knew that she was referring
to the fashion magazine she started and recently retired from; the same company
that Sabrina had managed to get an amazing position that was the envy of the
dozens of jobless college grads she still kept in contact with. “It’s pretty
good, considering the fiasco from last issue. Sales are still strong, and I saw
another magazine trying to steal our ideas for a future cover but I guess it
happens when everybody wants to be like
Fabulous
.”

Dorothy laughed. “That’s true. You know
we have the set the standard. I was thinking about updating our brother
magazine because everyone is comparing it to
Esquire
. What do you think,
Sean?”

“I think it’s a great idea just as long
as we have the right people on board. I could use some fresh air right now.
Sabrina, do you want to sit on the deck with your old man?”

“Sure.” She couldn’t stand another
minute talking about work, and since getting a glass of wine was definitely out
of the question, fresh air was the next best thing.

Sean gently took Sabrina by the arm and
led her outside to the patio overlooking a huge swimming pool, Jacuzzi and a
large yard full of manicured green grass.

They sat down and enjoyed the starlit
sky with the cool breeze flowing past them.

After a moment or so of silence, Sabrina
broke the silence and said, “This is nice. Too bad it can’t always be like
this.”

“I know exactly what you mean.” He
paused and said, “That Camille is something else. I think she’s still upset
about what happened last week.”

“Oh, gosh,” sighed Sabrina heavily. “I
am so way passed that. But I think it’s deeper than that.”

“Really? How so?”

“She’s feeling threatened, as if I might
take her job from her. After all, I do most of the work nowadays and all she
does is bitch and complain when she something doesn’t go the way she wants it
to.”

“I’ve noticed that too. But you can’t
blame her for being threatened by you. Hell, if I were her, you’d threaten me
too. Between me and you, if she doesn’t straighten up her act, she might find
herself looking for another profession.”

Sabrina turned to look at Sean. “You
would do that? Not that I’m feeling sorry for her or anything. I just figured
that since she’s your daughter and all. Well, you know.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean. But think
about it, she never wanted to work for
Fabulous
and the only reason she
does is because of your mother.”

“Yeah, but my mother isn’t the chairmen
anymore and doesn’t control anything; you do.”

“Yeah you’re right about that,” said
Sean. “I just don’t want to see her out doing something ridiculous.”

“Sean,” Sabrina said, looking Sean
directly in the eyes, “Camille is a grown woman with a college degree—I’m sure
she’ll be fine on her own.”

He waited a beat and said, “Sabrina,
sometimes you are too smart for your own good.” He chuckled and added, “I was
planning on waiting a little while later on down the road to promote you to
editor-in-chief and move Camille to another department.”

Sabrina could just imagine the look on
Camille’s face if and when she found out that Sabrina had been promoted to her
spot when she least expected it.

“That will be a sight to see.”

They both exploded with laughter.

Sean waited a beat and said, “Sabrina,
you know you don’t have to call me Sean, even though you have been doing it for
the longest.”

“I know, I know. It’s just weird, you know?
I’m just so used to calling you Sean. Don’t get me wrong, because technically
you are my dad, but since I never got to know my biological father, it just
doesn’t sound right.” She placed her hand over his and said “But you are the
best dad ever.”

He laughed and said, “Thanks. I try.”

For a moment or so, Sabrina thought
about asking Sean if he ever heard Sabrina’s mother mention anything about her
biological father at all, since she never once told Sabrina who he was or what
the real was behind him leaving her or if that was even what really happened.

Before she could act on her thoughts,
Dorothy came outside and announced, “Rina, honey, can you come inside for a
moment?”