queen on her own color ♡ JFK

p.12 onyx

Back in New York, things were put into perspective. Christina had cooled off and was in the midst of a sobering moment. Her actions haunted her, more so when she found out what had been waiting for her at home.

Her mother launched an envelope onto Christina's desk. "You've been served."

The girl, who'd just finished unpacking, hadn't seen Diana until then. It was terribly unlike themselves to be so disconnected from each other.

"You know that's for lawsuits, right?"

"Might as well be one."

Christina took the envelope and tore it open.

Her dad's writing, which once used to be thoughtful and precise, was shaky this time around. The letters looked like they belonged in the title of a Halloween movie. Maybe the sea was rough when he wrote it.

Christina,

I sure don't know what it is you are thinking. You have exposed yourself in the most flagrant way.

Not quite... Considering he'd written this before the show at the White House. At the time Lowell had no idea Christina would expose herself much more flagrantly.

All this spectacle has gone to your head and made you forget absolutely everything I taught you.

I now understand why I kept waiting for a letter from you. Months without a word. Months. I have to find out these things through foreign newspapers that I can't even read!

If Captain Sinclair had a deadline for this enterprise, you'd be the first to know, believe me, but for the moment I am forced to keep at sea until we've done our part. Therefore, until then, you and I have a talk pending.

Dad

What hurt the most of all was how he'd started the letter. Christina. Not Pearl. It was like he couldn't bring himself to call her that any longer.

"He hasn't even heard about the fiasco yet." Diana's worried face was something Christina wasn't able to empathize with.

"What about what I'm dealing with? I'm here." She couldn't take it anymore. She shot up from the chair. The piece of paper from the letter crunched underneath her grasp. "Can you please stop standing by his side, acting like he's in the right and just acknowledge how much this sucks for me for once?" The tone, the widened eyelids, the gestures. Diana had to take a step back and come to realize her daughter's anger was justified. "I'm a grown woman now. Your guidelines don't apply anymore. What I do with my life is up to me!"

"A grown woman, are you? Tell me, what has happened to make you into a grown woman so quickly?" With crossed arms, Diana waited for an actual answer, but Christina simply shook her head.

"Mama please, are we gonna keep having the same discussion over and over? I feel like everyone's pulling each of my arms in the opposite direction and gonna break me in half!" A lot of people supported her, but even if her parents were just two people, the strength of their disapproval balanced the scales. People were playing a game of tug of war, and she was the rope. "I love singing, I love dancing. And I love the Cherry Pop and the way Pop treats me, strange as it may sound."

"I know it's been your dream since you sang your first note, and I know our situation has held it back—"

"It did! But not anymore. I mean, I'm already out there. There's no stopping it unless I want to, and I don't wanna." Christina calmed down and began using a gentler, hopeful tone as she walked over to Diana. "I want to be a star, mama. That one you always pointed to when I asked you where daddy was and you said it could help me figure it out."