Page 24 of Dear Glory

“I… want to t-talk to my mom,” I blink, tears rolling down my face and he nods.

“Of course, Princess,” he picks me up and carries me to the bed where there’s a rotary phone. To my surprise, he spin dials the number even though I don’t tell him. Of course, I want to question it, but the phone is already ringing in my ear and all I can do it pray my dad doesn’t pick up.

“Hello, Mrs. Cross speaking,” I relax hearing her cool and classy voice come through. I burst out in tears and again Sir shocks me by leaving the room after placing a kiss on my head, giving me some privacy.

“Goodness! Glorinda is that you?! What’s the matter?!” she panics and I just cry, feeling so ashamed. She told me to go out and have fun, but this wasn’t what she meant… this couldn’t have been what she meant.

“Mom, I… I messed up! I made a mistake… a big one,” I sob, heart breaking for some reason.

“Are you sick? Did you contact something? Do you need to go to the hospital? Did you kill someone? Do I need to bring a shovel?” she fires off questions and I shake my head even though she cannot see me.

“N-no, I… I don’t think so,” I laugh through my tears.

“Well then good for you, hunny! Mistakes are healthy and are meant to be made by young ones like you who can correct them.”

“But Mom… you don’t even know wh-what I did… I’m sure if you know you’d ha?—”

“No matter how you messed up, I’ll still love you. No matter what you did, you’re still my daughter, Glorinda,” she voices matter-of-factly and without question, which makes me close my eyes and sob quietly.

“Thank you, Mom… thank you,” I repeat, needing to hear those words. As a woman who’s grown up to have it all, I still sometimes feel like a failure. With my dad constantly pushing his way into my life and meddling, I can’t help but feel like that. But with a mother like Gladis Cross, there’s no way I can sit in that feeling of failure for too long.

“No problem baby, you call me if you need me. And don’t forget to go out and make some more mistakes,” she gently voices into the phone and I nod.

“I will. I promise,” I tell her and we hang up. I lay there in the bed, staring up at the beautifully painted ceilings, head blank and twitching.I want to sew…

When neither Sir, Wolf, or Bunny come back after a while, I reluctantly slide from the bed and open the door to a well-lit and long hall that has stairs on either side, maybe it’s because I’m so out of it, but I can’t appreciate it’s beauty. I just want to get out of here and back to my hotel where I can sew something and think.

As I make my way through the hall, I pause at a door, where I hear voices and see Wolf pacing, biting her nail.

“When you said you were coming, I didn’t expect you to bring a woman! Let alone a woman who’s never played and doesn’t know anything about the lifestyle! We must really look like a pack of madmen to her!” Wolf groans, grabbing her two braids, pulling them in a panic.Playing? Lifestyle … it’s like I’m around aliens that are speaking a different language. I feel so out of place.

“Right?! Shame on you for putting that innocent one in front of starved beasts,” Bunny shakes his head at Sir.

“I was only expectin’ tu watch, though I admit I got carried away,” he grumbles, seeming stricken himself.

“Watch my ass! You have no interest in voyeurism unless it involves your partner. You can’t even watch porn because itmakes your dick shrink!” Wolf admonishes.Eh?! What in the world is this conversation I’m listening in on?!

“Two thin’s can be right at the same time. I was’na goin’ to watch fer meself. I just wanted me Princess tu see what I was intu, an’ I was’na meanin’ tu participate. I really did want tu ease her intu this… I just got carried away,” his voice cracks nervously. “Feck… wat if she does’na recover from this drop?” he clutches his chest.

“Then it’ll be your fault. You should have been upfront and told her you’re into exhibitionism and have sadistic tendencies. It would have been better thanthat,” Bunny raises a brow and Sir rounds on him, sneering.

“She would’ve ran so far up the feckin’s hills! Besides, two things can be righ’ at the same time,” Sir growls.

“Excuses. It’s certainly not harder than telling one’s wife after five years you want your ass played with, I’ll tell you that,” Bunny snorts.

“EDOUARD!” Astrid smacks his chest, and he shrugs indifferently.

“What, mo amour?(My Love)It’s true, isn’t it? It was the same for you.” He lifts her chin, kissing her sweetly, and she melts entirely.

“As Axil said, two things can be right at the same time. It’s not like things worked out for either of us when we expressed our sexual inclinations to our previous partners. We both ended up dumped and divorced,” she huffs and shakes her head, sighing.

“True, but look at us now! We are exactly where we need to be and happily married. I do not regret expressing my desires to you, because you make it safe for me to do so,” he tells her as he taps her nose and she looks like she disappears into his big arms.

“I know Edouard, but you must be sensitive to Axil’s plight. He was probably nervous.” She looks over to Sir and Edouard rolls his eyes, clicking his tongue.

“Have you forgotten who you’re talking about? Nervous?Him?” Edouard cocks his head over to the side and Astrid purses her lips with realization.What’s that about?

“You have a point, but still…” she pauses, unsure.

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