Tied - Part One
Authors: Ellen Callahan
Ellen Callahan
This is part 1 of 4-part series. The rest are on their way!
Copyright 2015, All Rights Reserved
This book is a work of fiction; any names, places, and/or situations portrayed within are products of the author’s imagination; any similarity to real persons, living or dead, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
This book contains mature content that is suitable for adults only.
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Prologue
February
I couldn’t stop thinking about that man’s kiss.
It had dominated my thoughts and my dreams for the past two months. It had happened the evening of my sister’s post-Christmas dinner party. She’d disappeared into her boyfriend’s room to make out, I assumed, and left me alone with his roommate.
Rob Lockett. The man was masculinity and sensuality personified - a dangerous combination. I’d never met anyone like him. Not in person, not in real life.
Every word that slid from his lips was laced with suggestion. Every movement made the ink that stained his arms ripple with his strength. Just being in his presence made me lose my voice. It was disconcerting.
He’d flirted with me after dinner, but honestly he’d flirted with everyone and I tried not to take it too seriously. I tried not to meet those mesmerizing hazel eyes. Tried not to imagine what promises they held. I was no one - I was an intruder amongst this group of friends. He flirted because he was a flirt, it was simply what he did.
But later, when we were alone, he’d kissed me. My brain had been off track ever since.
I pushed the memory away and focused on my computer screen. My cover letter still looked pathetic. Desperate, even. I wanted it to sound confident but I didn’t have enough experience to back that confidence up.
Scanning it for spelling errors once more, I bit my lip. Sad as it sounded, it was in perfect shape. What good would another re-read do? It would just make me depressed. I closed my eyes and hit “send.”
That application was going to New York City. I made a little wish as I imagined it traveling from cable to cable until it reached its destination - a school district in Queens.
Teaching jobs were few and far between, it seemed, and I’d all but given up on finding something permanent in or around my hometown.
I could keep trying
, I told myself. I didn’t have big city dreams, I wasn’t drawn to New York like my sister was.
I was drawn to something in New York, though. Or rather, some
one
.
But would I even take the job if I got it? I heard my mother rummaging in the refrigerator downstairs. Suddenly I wished I could take back that application and all my silly dreams with it. I was going nowhere. I was stuck here.
The doorbell rang. I automatically sprang to my feet, but my mother called up the stairs, “I’ve got it!”
That was out of the ordinary. The woman rarely left her seat if she could help it. I stood at the top of the stairs and listened.
I couldn’t make out what was being said but it was definitely at male voice out there. Their conversation was short - then she called up to me, “I’m going out!”
“You’re going out?!” I couldn’t keep the shock out of my voice. “Where?”
“You just mind your business,” she called back. The door slammed.
What the hell?
My mother didn’t go out. She made people come to her. And who could that have been? It wasn’t my father - he would have said hello. It wasn’t her brother, he would have said something, too.
Just what the heck was she up to?
○●○●○●○●○
I found out all too soon. She arrived home late that night. I was cleaning up in the kitchen when the front door opened and two sets of feet walked in.
“Katherine!” she barked from the dining room. I jogged down, trying to seem nonchalant, but my curiosity was killing me.
My mother was not a small woman. She was tall, and round, to put it politely. But this man dwarfed her both in height and in girth. She was wearing a blazer and a long skirt, which for her was very dressed up. He was in a polo and saggy khakis.
Damn, was this a date?
“Hello,” I said, looking between them and extending my hand. “I’m Bev’s daughter, Katherine.”
“Name’s Big Mike,” he said in a voice that had been abused by years of cigarettes. He wrapped his calloused hand around mine and shook vigorously. The motion revealed an ugly, paled black tattoo on his shoulder beneath his sleeve.
“Nice to meet you Big Mike,” I said, still waiting for some sort of explanation.
“We met online,” Mom finally said. “Big Mike’s moving in.”
I thought my jaw might hit the floor. “Moving in?”
“That’s what your mom just said, ain’t it?” he said, clearing his throat. “Beer in the fridge?”
“Yes, go on,” Mom said. He smacked her ass as he passed, and she giggled.
I wanted to gag. “When did you meet him?” I hissed once he was out of earshot.
“We’ve been talking online for months,” she said with a light shrug.
“Online?”
She sighed heavily. “Don’t get your panties is such a twist, Katherine. You’re worse than a mother hen, sometimes. He’s moving in, and you’re moving out, and that’s that.”
“I’m moving
out?!
” I shouted. I was trying to keep it together but now I was freaking out on the inside. “You’re kicking me out?!”
“You’re twenty-five years old, I think it’s past time,” she said haughtily.
“You’re the one who cries every time I talk about leaving!”
“You’re exaggerating,” she huffed, “Besides, now I’ll have Big Mike to take care of me.”
I spluttered. I was out of words. I didn’t know if I was angry or in a panic, but either way I needed to get away from her. “How can you do this to me?”
“Don’t be so dramatic,” she said with a wave of her hand, “We need to keep the guest room free and we need your room for Mike’s things. Need I remind you that this is my house?”
It was. I hadn’t even been paying rent. I didn’t make very much for one thing, and for another, I took care of all the other bills.
Not paying rent meant that I had no legal recourse. Not that I would have gone that route anyway.
Shit. I’m getting kicked out.
I walked back up to my room in a daze. Mom called something after me, something about the next couple weeks, but I could barely hear her over the blood rushing in my ears.
I didn’t make enough to get my own place. Work was too unsteady as a substitute teacher and the rate was low. I didn’t have any friends that would take me in.
I don’t have any friends at all
, I thought bitterly.
Just my sponsor
. And he didn’t count. Not really.
I flopped across my bed, my mind an incomprehensible jumble.
My own mother is kicking me out
. I could almost laugh, it was so absurd. This thing with Big Mike wouldn’t last - not if she was as needy with him as she’d been with me all these years. And bossy. And demanding. And downright bitchy.
Slowly, ever so slowly, a weight began to lift.
Freedom
. I didn’t need to deal with the fallout of leaving her alone. This was all her idea.
My mother is kicking me out
.
I laughed until my sides hurt. And then I made a list of people I had to call. It was a short list. But it was my first step toward freedom.
○●○●○●○●○
“Katherine!”
“Oh, Alexa, thank God you picked up.” I hated to have to call my younger sister for help, but she was my best bet at the moment. If she didn’t have any ideas then I’d have to go to Dad - an even more onerous thought.
“Is everything okay?” she asked. I heard her boyfriend Mallet in the background asking how I was. She shushed him.
“Mom’s got a boyfriend and she’s kicking me out of the house.”
“Whoa. Hold on, I need to sit down.” I chuckled; I still felt a little light-headed myself.
I filled her in on Big Mike and the big move. “You’ve got to be kidding.”
“Nope. Just met the guy. He’s real.”
“Do you think this is the first time they’ve met in person?”
“It’s definitely possible.”
“Shit. Hang on a second.” I couldn’t hear anything for a minute - she must have covered the mouthpiece or put me on hold.
Alexa seemed to have a lot of friends from what I could tell - I hoped that maybe she’d know someone that was looking for a roommate. Then I wouldn’t have to resort to finding a stranger online.
And maybe I’ll like the city
. Maybe a lifestyle change would be good.
I’ll have to sell my car, of course, and-
“Katherine? We want you to move in with us.”
I choked. “You and Mallet?”
“Yeah,” she said, “He’s still got some legal bills he’s dealing with, and we’re all a little broke to be honest, though we wouldn’t ask you to split the rent until you had some time to find a gig-”
“Alexa, I wasn’t going to ask for this, I was-”
“Don’t worry about it! We have the third bedroom. I spend all my time in Mal’s room anyway.” I heard him shout something in the background and she giggled. “So the room’s free.”
It was appealing. I would pay rent right away, I wasn’t going to be her charity case, but still - it would be more affordable than splitting a two-bedroom with one other stranger.
