Twisted Proposal Read Free

then?”
    “Eve, my mother whose-”
    “I know she’s sick.”
    I shook my head. “Not sick anymore. She’s dead.”
    “Dead? Are you sure? I--”
    “Yes, I’m sure.” I was in the room.
    “Wow.” His face registered the disbelief I felt. Everything was going to change now.
    My eyes went to the grey light of the window. Part of me wished it wasn’t so gloomy outside. If the sun were shining maybe…no it would still suck . “So the only logical explanation is that she called you and pretended to be Elizabeth.” I said.
    His phone vibrated, and he answered, turning away from the table. I sipped my lukewarm coffee. When he finished, he sent a text message before returning the phone to its standing position.
    I made out Van Buren Law Firm, printed in black block letters moving across the face of his cell phone, like a screen saver. So he was a lawyer. Just fabulous. I didn’t need anyone else in my business.
    “I have a daughter your age, and I guess it’s possible that I could be your father. So I would understand if you were looking.” 
    Was this guy stupid or deaf, maybe both? “Don’t flatter yourself.” I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. “Besides, my mom obviously didn’t want me to know anything about you. Otherwise she wouldn’t have gone as far as taking me to a stranger’s grave and telling me you were dead.”
    “Eve did that?”
    “Yes. Truth be told, I don’t know why she bothered to call you. Maybe she was going crazy or something.  Just so you know, I had no reason to contact you, or anyone else for that matter. I can take care of myself.”
    “Yeah, I can see you’re doing a wonderful job of that.”
    “What’s that supposed to mean?” I held my hand up. “Don’t answer that. I don’t care. Why don’t we cut to the chase? I’ve had a shitty night and don’t have patience for you right now. So what do I have to do to determine you’re not my father?”
    He stared at me for a few seconds before speaking. “I’ve already given blood and so once you give blood, we can get the ball rolling. Let’s just hope it doesn’t take a week for the results. I do have a job.”
    “Paternity testing can be done in as little as 48 hours. You should know that, being that you’re a lawyer and all.” I pointed to his phone. He glanced down and nodded. I wasn’t finished. “Look, Stuart, I’m sorry you came all this way, but just so you know, I’m not interested in having a father. I’ve gotten this far on my own without any help.” 
    His face hardened.  “I just wante—“
    “It doesn’t matter what you want! This is about what I want.” I slammed my hands on the table, sloshing coffee onto the fake-wood table top. This day couldn’t have gotten any worse. I grabbed some paper towels from the metal dispenser hanging on the wall and cleaned up my mess.
    Our eyes met after I returned to my chair, and I felt guilt rising in my stomach like a coiled snake ready to strike. Get a grip. Shifting my eyes to the dirty ceramic floor, I tried to relax. This couldn’t be easy for him either. The possibility of having another mouth to feed, that must be hard. “Look, I’m sorry. The only person I ever cared about was my mom, and now she’s dead. So why don’t you save yourself the trouble and go back to wherever you came from? Trust me when I say I can fend for myself.”
    He rested his elbows on the table. “I’m not allowed to do that until I know for sure you’re not my daughter. Now I’m sure the test results will pan out just fine, young lady. But just for the record, from where I’m sitting, you aren’t handling yourself as well as you think.” He pointed to his eye.
    “This,” I said touching the bruises on my face with my middle finger, “was out of my control.” I held the finger there just a second longer so he would get the message. My black eye was the result of mom’s junkie boyfriend, but I wasn’t going to waste my time trying to explain that to