She knew her mother hadn't been saying it in a complimentary way, but who cared at this point? She had the distinct impression this encounter was about to go down in flames. “Thank you. When I went shopping, this just jumped out at me,” she admitted, hoping her mother would be somewhat mollified by the fact she was wearing a dark color. “I loved the crystals on the back.”
“You don't exactly have the body for it. Maybe with some sort of shape wear but clearly you didn't wear any. Did you look at that link I emailed you last week? The diet?”
Less than five minutes and she was starting in already. Caroline let out a sigh. The arena didn't matter, nor did the company. Her mother, as always, seemed to be on some sort of mission to embarrass her.
Magnus spoke, breaking into her thoughts. “I won't allow you to do this. Not today. Your daughter is a beautiful woman and yet you insist upon saying things that make her feel like crap about herself. She doesn't need a diet, or shape wear, whatever the hell that is. She needs a mother that isn't a bloody shrew. Caroline might let you get away with being unkind but I won't.”
“Excuse me, young man? How dare you talk to me like that,” her mother cried, voice raised.
“Lower your voice, Joan,” her father hissed. “I told you we shouldn't have come here.” Turning to Caroline, he said, “Leave it to you to make a scene at your own party.”
“That's enough,” Caroline said quietly. “Mother, there's no apology coming. If that's the only reason you came, then feel free to go. You were mean. And hurtful. There were a million times before that I would have been justified in walking out. My only shame is in the fact that I didn't. And you,” she continued, turning toward her father. “You're either too blind to see what a bitch she is or too spineless to do anything about it. In any case, I don't want you here, either. Can you please just both leave? This is a celebration and I don't want to waste any more of it than I already have.”
“You're going to choose your bloodsucker boyfriend over your family?” her mother asked, her angry voice now back to a whisper.
Caroline flinched at the slur coming from her mother's mouth. Her voice was icy when she said, “Yes. I am. And it's no contest because, once again, you missed my entire point. We're done here. You need to leave or I'm going to have you physically removed.”
“Caroline,” her father said in hushed tones. He held a hand out as if trying to placate her.
“I'm not kidding,” Caroline said, through gritted teeth. “Don't make me call security.”
A little pale, her father wordlessly took her mother's arm and steered them toward the door without another word. Caroline watched until they left, then let out a sigh of relief.
Turning to Magnus, she said, “Jesus Christ. I am so sorry about that. I knew they'd been given an invite, but I didn't think they'd actually show. My mother...”
“Are you okay?” he asked, interrupting her. “Because, I'm fine. Their behavior has no reflection on you.”
With that one sentence he'd managed to settle the largest part of her nerves. She let out a sigh of relief. “There are things to talk about, but, not here. I'll—”
“Not here,” he agreed. “It can wait. We should be celebrating my magnificent food.”
“And my drinks, too,” she reminded him dryly. “But let's celebrate the food first. I skipped lunch.”
Fueled by several cocktails and a lot of fake smiles, Caroline managed to make it through the remainder of the party. She'd gotten enough sympathetic looks to know that at least part of her argument had been overheard. She'd been embarrassed at first but that had quickly turned to anger. Her parents had a lot to answer for. They had, in less than five minutes, managed to fuck up a night that was supposed to be exciting. Magnus was the only bright spot.
By the time they made it upstairs the happy glow, however fake, had worn off. She was exhausted. Even though she knew Magnus would want to talk, she didn't want to. She just wanted to sleep until she didn't feel like crap anymore.
When she kicked off her shoes, he tugged her toward the bathroom. She leaned against him, too tired to argue when he began to pull the pins from her hair. When it tumbled down, he picked one hair sprayed strand and said, “A shower might be in order.”
She turned and looked in the mirror, then blanched. Her hair was a strange combination of curly and crispy straight. Completely disheveled. “Good call,” she agreed.
“So how do I get you out of this fantastic dress?”
Caroline smiled and said, “Carefully.” She reached under the arm to unzip, slid the dress up over her head.
He eyed her lingerie approvingly. “Under the circumstances, I'm calling a rain check because, wow.”
“Rain check absolutely noted,” she said, relief filling her. He was so sweet.
Magnus started the shower and quickly shucked out of his dress clothes as she stripped away the remnants of the evening. When the water warmed, he stepped under the spray, bringing her with him. “Are you okay?”
Like a dam broke, she shook her head no and leaned against his chest as she sobbed. They weren't tears of sorrow or loss. It was all anger. She didn't even realize how much she'd buried. It felt like she cried for days.
Magnus just held her, stroking a hand down her back until finally, she calmed down. “I'm sorry, love,” he murmured against her hair.
Wiping her face, which was silly because she stood under the spray, she looked up at him and said, “I'm sorry. That was... embarrassing. I can't believe my mother called you that.”
“Shh. That's not your apology to make.”