Like Mother, Like Daughter (Season 3)

Chapter Twelve: All These Years

My distrust of cops in general came at the beginning, from the moment my mother first got too up close and personal with Tommy. Knowing what I know now, she was just gleaning as much information she could, before she took the plunge and allowed herself to be in a relationship with a dangerous man. Tommy never sat right with me from day one, and even though he didn't start raping me until after he became engaged to my mother, I knew something was off when he began to grab at me, which directly caused bruising, which caused me to have to wear long sleeves during the summer, and then came the elaborate excuses as to what I'd done to myself this time, while, all the while, Tommy would be staring at me, conducting me with his facial expressions, letting me know if I'd passed or failed various interrogation sessions.

As I stood there, at the reception, wondering where the hell I was supposed to go from here, I felt as if life couldn't get any worse. As always, I was wrong; dead wrong. It was like a punch to the gut when the police cars pulled into the little garden area that Franny and Clark had booked for the party, and I immediately straightened up. None of this could be good; I knew it, and as I stood there, part of me wondered if they were coming to take me away for yet another crime I didn't commit.

As they walked through the crowd, however, I felt a momentary spark of relief when they all of them walked right past me. However, my heart pounded in my chest then as I turned my head around, and my mouth dropped open. They identified themselves, plus made sure they had the right guy, whereupon they took him by the arms and hauled him out of there. The scream was just at the back of my throat then as I rushed forward, demanding to know where they were taking him, but he was very nearly at the car, and the cops were ignoring me.

"You'll post bail!" I said, more for myself than for him. "You'll post bail, and whatever it is, I'll pay it!"

He merely nodded to me then, his face ashen as they shoved him like a common criminal into the back of the police cruiser, and drove away, out of sight.

. . .

My trip to New York was only due to last five days, which was perfect, because, as Maid of Honor, I had plenty of duties back home to take care of. I only had one day to rest between coming home and Franny's bachelorette party, followed by the wedding the day after. I was thankful that, even though Franny had decided that the wedding would be a formal occasion, it would not be an over-the-top one. The ceremony was due to begin between one and two in the afternoon, giving the bridal party plenty of time for beauty sleep.

My final day in New York was crucial, as I had the make-it-or-break-it meeting with a handful of potential investors for Nell's Rags. In all the former COO's years with the company, she had been unable to persuade them to work with the company. Now that I'd filled her shoes, however, they were willing to hear out the company's proposal, and it all rested on my shoulders. I did lots of breathing exercises in preparation for the evening ahead, and decided not to drink a drop of alcohol, and remain professional throughout the night.

After I put on Penny's latest style of dress for the evening ahead, I'd just finished doing my hair and makeup when I heard a knock on my hotel room door. Perplexed, as I hadn't been expecting anyone, I left my bathroom and walked through my bedroom and out into the living room area of my suite, before I opened the door. My jaw hit the floor as I saw who was stationed in the hallway just outside of it, however.

"Someone order a wingman to get these crotchety old men to sign on the dotted line?"

I let out a sigh of relief and threw my arms around Liam in a hug.

"Hey, what's this?" he asked, hugging me back, his body language purely platonic, although I could sense that we both knew what lurked just beneath the surface. "You okay? Have they not been behaving themselves these last few days?"