The Kings IV II

23

Josie

I grimaced at Mom and Dad. They were acting like friends.

I guess any normal child would've been happy that their separated parents were being civil.

But I was Josephine King. I wasn't a normal child.

I let out a sigh, watching as they laughed over some typo that Dad had somehow messed up in the process of writing out documents.

"And this is why we hire assistants," Mom laughed out, shaking her head.

Dad leaned back in his chair, folding his arms over his chest. He took his eyes off of Mom and placed them on me, tilting his head over.

"You've barely eaten."

"Lost my appetite," I said, my tone clipped as I pushed the box of sushi away from me.

"I've never seen you turn down sushi."

"Dad, there's just some things you don't say to a woman, and telling her that she's never turned down f-"

"Relax, cheer captain," he said, his eyes wide.

"Relax, cheer captain," I mimicked, looking down at my bare nails. I grimaced at the sight of my hand without acrylics.

Mom rubbed my arm. "You wanna stay the night with me tonight?"

I looked over at her, lifting an eyebrow.

She shrugged. "It gets lonely."

"Well, it wouldn't, if you wouldn't have moved out," I muttered, lowering my eyes to my hands again.

Mom sighed, resting her head on my shoulder. "Come on, kiddo."

I knew that, deep down, Dad even agreed with me. He was still hurt and frankly pissed off at the fact that Mom had left in the first place, but he was just playing it off differently than I was.

"Why don't you, Jo?" He asked, "have a girls night. I know you get tired of living in a house with only men."

"Disgusting, messy, annoying men," I said, "you forgot those adjectives."

"You know you love me," he said, standing up.

He pressed a kiss to my head. "Seriously. Spend the night with your mom."

"God, are you trying to get rid of her?" Mom asked, laughing up at Dad.

"Yep, I've got a hot date."

"Oh, really?" Mom asked.

"Yeah," he said, "so I'm gonna need you out. Pronto."

I looked up at him, narrowing my eyes into thin slits.

"I'm kidding, Jo," he chuckled, patting the top of my head.

"Yep, because you're still in love with Mom," I muttered to myself, resting my chin in my palm.

Why wasn't Mom even slightly bothered by the idea of Dad having a date? Sure, he said it was a joke, but even before that, she wasn't concerned.

I looked down at my phone when it vibrated, turning it right side up.

[From: Eros]
do u feel okay?

I clicked my phone off. I was annoyed with him, too, currently.

[From: Eros]
come over tn mom and dad are going out on a date

I lifted an eyebrow, getting ready to send him a message.

[To: Eros]
can't. spending the night w a friend