Page 30 of Storm in a D Cup

‘You remind me of myself when I was youn— a teenager,’ Genie Stacie purred, reaching out to touch one of Maddy’s curls. My daughter sat up in her chair and her eyes almost popped out of her head with pride.

‘Really, Genie Stacie?’ she breathed, incredulous at the divine grace bestowed upon her.

‘Absolutely, sweetie. Only I started straightening my hair when I was fourteen.’

‘What on earth for?’ I cut in, seeing where this was going. Julian gave me a sidelong glance and took a bite of his bread roll.

‘Because straight hair is so much morechic. Look how much better Nicole Kidman looks with sleek hair.’

‘Iknow,’ Maddy agreed, then turned to me for the first time that morning. ‘Mom, can you drive me to Alessia’s salon this afternoon? I want to get my hair permanently straightened.’

‘Ooh, no can do, sorry. We’ve got guests arriving later.’

‘I’ll take her,’ volunteered Genie Stacie, who hadn’t budged from the property – or Julian’s side, for that matter, since she had darkened our doorstep. Of course she either missed or ignored my eyebrows shooting up and down in a warning signal that only parents can understand, the kind they use in the presence of their offspring when they don’t want a particular subject to be mentioned, or when they want the subject to be changed. Instead, Genie Stacie crossed her arms and beamed at me defiantly. So she wanted war? War it was.

I can tell you Julian saw the whole exchange, glanced at me, wiped his mouth and turned to our daughter. ‘Sweetie, your hair is so beautiful, why ruin perfection?’ he said. He knew how I felt about naturally curly hair and Maddy’s obsessions about looking like a Barbie doll.

I beamed at him and Maddy sighed. Genie Stacie had the decency to sit this one out. Or so I thought.

‘Dad, you don’t understand. I’d look really good with straight hair.’

‘You call JulianDad…?’ Genie whispered.

I put down my fork and shot her my hairy eyeball this time, but she didn’t notice it because she was murmuring something and before I knew it she ran out of the kitchen.

‘Uh, what the hell was that?’ I asked, jerking my thumb toward the door.

Julian sighed. ‘Maddy, would you mind leaving us for a minute?’

‘And miss out on a scoop? Are you, like, kidding me?’

‘No he’s not,’ I snapped, and Maddy rolled her eyes and took her glass of milk (soya milk, all of a sudden) into the living room.

Julian got to his feet and took our plates to the sink. I couldn’t wait to hear it.

‘Genie Stacie never met her father, but she had a picture of him. I saw it. We look very similar.’

‘Oh, for Christ’s sake, now she wants you to be her daddy, or better, her sugar daddy? Again?’

Julian sighed and ran his hands through his hair. If he kept this up he’d be bald by the time she left. Because she would be leaving soon, I prayed fervently. This whole Genie Stacie thing was affecting him (and me) more than I thought necessary. But then again, what did I know about their past relationship? Nothing, except for the selected excerpts he provided. Nothing at all, really. And then it hit me.

‘Did she lose yourbabyor something?’

I swear his eyes popped out of his head. ‘What? Of course not.’

‘Then what the hell is this all about, Julian? She comes here, starts directing my daughter, bats her baby blues at my twenty-year-old son—’

‘That’s not true, Erica. She just likes the kids.’

‘Oh, let me guess, she never had a brother or sister either, right?’

Julian frowned. ‘That’s right, but there’s no reason for you to be snarky. Yes, Genie Stacie is—’

I groaned, cutting him off. ‘Do you mind getting back on track here, please? I’ve got a busy day and I really don’t want to spend it talking about Genie Stacie or worrying about what she’s trying to do to my kids and husband.’

‘She’s not trying to do anything. She’s just a very lonely girl and as for the daddy comment, she always saw me as a kind of father figure and now I guess she’s jealous.’

‘Father figure?’ I giggled despite myself. Oh, the cheesiness of it all. ‘Is that what she would do to her father if she saw him, flirt with him in the hope of getting him in the sack again?’

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