LABYRINTH II | Scarlett Johansson x Daughter

1 | like mother, like daughter.

A cool breeze sweeps through the dining room window as I stand in a complete silence, watching Scarlett and Matthew's discussion quickly become heated. She's trying to explain herself but over his booming voice, isn't able to get more than two words in. It frustrates me beyond belief.
He's speaking of me as if I'm not directly beside him.

With every passing second, Scarlett's patience evidently wears thinner and so does mine. Regardless of being the topic of this argument, I've somehow found myself without a voice.

"If you'd stop interrupting me for a moment I might be able to tell you!" Scarlett snaps, slamming her hand down onto the table causing the forks to rattle in our empty bowls. I squeeze my eyes shut, her action startling me. Matthew finally falls quiet, giving her the opportunity to speak. "You have no idea what this kid has been through. I was planning on telling you, both of you," she glances in my direction, "I was just waiting for the right time."

"It's been three months, Scarlett! You've been lying to me for three months! When was the right time going to be?" He shouts. Something about his energy is reminding me of my adoptive father and it's extremely unsettling. "You've withheld me from having contact with my own child, I could take you to court over something like that!"

Fury runs through my veins at his comment and for the first time I speak up. "Oh my god, stop being so dramatic," I tell him with a roll of my eyes as I cross my arms over my chest.

"Excuse me?"

"If anyone has the right to be mad, it's me. You've obviously been out of prison long enough to have had the opportunity to reach out to Mom, so you could have just as easily reached out to me, but you chose not to," I say, cautiously meeting his gaze, "You don't get to blame her for keeping me from you. Right now I'd be more concerned about whether not I actually want to spend any time with you after tonight. You're not exactly making a great first impression."

The room falls silent. I look to Scarlett for a moment and take note of the small, proud smile resting on her lips before I focus back on Matthew.
Releasing his crossed arms, he lets out a heavy sigh. "You're right, I'm sorry."
"Thank you."

The tension between the three of us lessens for a moment. Scarlett takes advantage of the pause in conversation and decides to speak up. "There's something else I need to deal with, Matthew, so it's probably best you go. I'll call you tomorrow and we can talk about this in full."

"I don't want to talk about this tomorrow, I want to now." Once again, the tension grows thicker.
"Well, you're going to have to wait one more night."
"Why? What could possibly be more important than this?"

At least I now understand where I get more own short-temperedness from.

"That's not any of your business," she says.

"Really? More secrets?"

"Fine, you want to know?"

"I'd love to know!" He bellows.

"My sixteen year old daughter just told me she's pregnant and I'd—"

"Mom!" I interrupt her sentence by raising my voice.
Despite Matthew being my biological father, he's still a complete stranger to me and it royally pisses me off that she's just told him something so huge without so much as saying a word about the subject to me first.

As I send her a harsh glare, the lump in my throat starts to form. I didn't think I'd ever find myself in a place where I was feeling completely and utterly betrayed by Scarlett, but somehow I've ended up there. Not just once, but twice in one night.

Letting out a deep breath, she presses her thumb and index finger against the bridge of her nose. "Kenz, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to," she admits.

Due to the overwhelming events of tonight and the ridiculous amount of hormones running through my body, my vision becomes blurry with tears. So, deciding I've felt enough vulnerability for one night, I storm out of the room and head upstairs.