Nobody's Damsel (Someone Else's Fairytale #2)

The Victim

"What is it, Mom? Typical tabloid stuff?" I'd reached the end of the road, and the three cars with photographers were still there, waiting. It hit me then that they knew Jason was here. They'd tailed me home to see if there would be fireworks of some kind, and now they saw me leaving again, something I was sure they could use to fit whatever narrative they had about Jason and I on the verge of a breakup.

"I've read over twenty articles that say Jason's back together with Vicki Hanson."

I could just picture my mother on the couch of her run down little apartment in Fargo, North Dakota, with some tabloid or other in her lap. She was probably in her bathrobe with little foam dividers between her freshly manicured toes, her blond hair piled on top of her head in its usual French twist. "What do you mean back?" I said.

"That's who he was dating when he met you."

To my knowledge, Jason hadn't been dating anyone when we met. That was why he'd pursued me. Vicki had been his costar on his hit Disney show back when he was a teenager, so they were probably good friends, but I'd never met her, which just went to show how much I still didn't know about my husband. She was also his costar in this upcoming film shoot.

"I just saw Jason, Mom. He's not with anyone else."

"Saw on Skype?"

"No. He's here for the evening. Back at Jen's house."

"Where are you, then?"

"I've got a crime scene to investigate."

"And he's okay with that? He flies out to see you-"

"Mom, he's the one who insisted I go. He's very supportive of my career."

"That's a warning sign."

"What, being supportive?"

"Wanting you at work, out of the way, busy with other concerns. That gives him more breathing room to do what he wants."

"Then why would he fly all the way back to Albuquerque for the night?"

"To keep up appearances with his family."

"Exactly how much thought have you given this, Mom?"

"I can't help it. I don't want to see you get hurt."

"Yeah, well telling me my marriage is falling apart-"

"Would you prefer not to know?"

"Mom... You sure you don't just have issues because my father was married to someone else when I happened?" Mom had been a teenage intern in my father's dental office when I'd happened, and they'd carried on with their relationship until my half brother tried to kill me in a misguided attempt to repair his parents' marriage. Said brother wasn't the brightest bulb.

"Of course I have issues. Who wouldn't after what I've been through? But listen to me, you won't ever be in the situation I was in."

"I'm not going to get involved with-"

"I will never cut you off."

I shut my mouth so fast that my teeth came together with an audible click. I didn't know Mom's parents because they'd never, ever had anything to do with us. Intellectually I understood that was why my mother stayed involved with my father as his mistress for over a decade. She had no help and was pregnant and a high school dropout at seventeen. My father had employed her at his dental office and given her money on the side. Emotionally, I'd never really grasped the significance of this.

Now was the first time in my life when I felt like I had something to lose. I knew Mom would always stand by me, but Mom and I had a tough relationship at best. If I lost Jason, though, that'd feel like having my heart ripped out of my chest.