MOTHER FIGURE

Cassie never knew her real mother who left the family when she was very young. Then her father began seeing Julia. Cassie wasn't happy about her Dad seeing someone new, especially when Julia moved in with them. At first, Cassie did everything she could to make her feel very unwelcome. But then, with Julia's patience and understanding, Cassie eventually warmed up to Julia. Even though Julia never married her father, in time Cassie began to looked upon her as a sort of mother figure. Then Julia and her father split up and Cassie was devastated. Cassie's relationship with Julia was strained for a time, but then they eventually patched things up. Julia invited Cassie to come stay with her and work as her intern at her business after she graduated from high school. Cassie jumped at the chance to be with Julia again. However, after catching Julia in bed with another woman, Cassie begins to question not only her own sexuality but her true feelings towards Julia and whether or not she looks upon her as more than a mere mother figure.

Here is the first chapter of Mother Figure:

 Chapter One

Julia was not my actual mother. She was never even my stepmother since she never married my Dad, but she was the closest thing to a mom I ever had. My own mom left me and my dad when I was only three. When I was older, I asked Dad why mom left. He would only tell me she just up and left for no apparent reason. I asked him if he could elaborate but he only got agitated so I stopped asking him. Not that anything he would have told me would have justified her leaving the way she did.

Then came Julia.

Dad started dating Julia when I was five. The first thing that struck me about Julia, even at that young age, was how young she was. She was twenty when she started dating Dad. She looked like she was barely out of high school. But it didn't matter how young or old she was. I was sore as hell that he started dating her. I still hadn't gotten over my mother leaving and now he was bringing this strange woman into our home without my permission. And it probably goes without saying things didn't improve when she moved her ass into our house; again, without my permission. Dad tried to smooth things over with me just before she moved in, but I was having none of it. To say I was hostile towards Julia when she first moved in would be an understatement. I hardly ever missed an opportunity to make her feel unwelcome. When Dad wasn't around and it was just me and her I would kick and punch and scream at her. Looking back on my shameful behavior now, I was surprised she did in fact stay with Dad. But Julia, God bless her, had the patience of a saint. Dad would scold me about my behavior towards Julia and warn me to straighten up or else, but even that didn't stop me from trying to force Julia out of our house and out of our lives for good.

Then Julia sat me down one day and had a heart-to-heart talk with me. She told me she knew where I was coming from, that her own mother had left when she was younger. She went on to tell me how she was raised by her aunt since her own father was an alcoholic and was in and out of either rehab or jail and was therefore unable to properly raise her. All of a sudden I felt bad about being such a little brat to her. I mean, at least I had my own Dad around to raise me. Julia told me how she left her aunt's place the day she turned eighteen. She was a waitress at the local diner when she met Dad. Julia didn't tell me then, but she told me later that what attracted her to my dad was his kindness. She said she didn't go out with him the first time he asked because of their age difference. But then she relented the more he persisted. And she didn't even hesitate when he asked her to move in with him, she also told me, mainly because she was crashing on a friend's couch and she really needed a decent place to stay even if he did have a kid.

Anyway, after our little heart-to-heart, I did soften towards her at least a little bit. I still threw my little fits and temper-tantrums at her, but there weren't nearly as loud or as frequent as they had been. I didn't fully stop until I realized I wasn't really lashing out at Julia but rather my own absentee mom. Plus I saw that Julia wasn't going anywhere and Dad seemed really happy when he was around her. So, because she made Dad so happy, I decided to give her a chance. Though it did take a little time, I came to feel happy when I was around Julia. She just had this presence about her that made everyone around her really, really like her. As the years went by, I came to look upon Julia as my friend, my best friend even. And, yes, I looked at her as a type of mother figure as she was the closest thing to an actual mom I ever had. And then, just when I thought Julia would be in our lives forever, the proverbial rug was yanked out from under me.

It all happened shortly after I turned fifteen. I came home from school one afternoon and Dad and Julia were sitting in the living room waiting for me. I immediately got this uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach when I saw the serious looks on their faces. At first, I thought one of them had gotten a serious medical diagnosis, but then Dad told me what was really going on: that he and Julia were splitting up. I went numb. First it was my mom and now this. They tried to explain to me why they decided to go their separate ways, but I was just too upset at that point to listen. To be honest, I didn't really care what the reasons for Julia leaving were. All I knew was that she was leaving. It turned out she wasn't going far as she was moving to the next city just a few hours away. But she could have been moving across the street as far as I cared. She was still leaving Dad, and, most of all, she was leaving me. I felt as if my whole world was crashing down around me.

Julia tried to smooth things over with me, but I was having none of it. I was sore as hell with Julia and I stayed that way with her for a while. I didn't even bother saying goodbye to her when she left. For the next few weeks, I felt devastated and alone. I spent a good chunk of my time laying in my bed and crying. Dad tried to console me as best I could, but, to be honest, I also kind of blamed him for Julia leaving. I even asked him at one point why he let her leave. He just shrugged and told me he didn't feel it was right to try to force her to stay.

Somehow that didn't help much.

Julia, patient as always, e-mailed me a bunch of times, but I never read them. As a matter of fact, I deleted them all as soon as I saw them. Then she sent me an e-mail with the subject line “Please Read This”. Reluctantly, I opened the e-mail and started to read it. She started off by saying how she hoped I was doing well in spite of everything that happened. Then she proceeded to apologize to me if her leaving had hurt me, adding how that was never her intention. She stressed once again that her leaving had absolutely nothing at all to do with me. She told me in her e-mail how, wherever she is in this world, she will always love me and care about me and how that will never change. She concluded by saying that, although I wasn't her biological daughter, she did look upon me as if I were her very own. I teared up while I was reading her heartfelt message. It reminded me of when she sat me down when I was a little girl when I was being such a little bitch to her and she told me in her own gentile way how she understood why I was so angry with her and how she wasn't trying to replace my mom. I think Julia would have made an excellent diplomat.

After reading Julia's e-mail, I quickly replied by apologizing for not responding to her sooner. I admitted I was angry with her for leaving, as she already knew. I added how I knew deep down she didn't leave because of me but it still hurt. I told her I looked upon her as if she were my real mother and how I, too, would always love and care about her no matter what. After we made up, Julia and I corresponded through e-mail on a regular basis and occasionally chatted over the phone. Julia told me in her e-mails how she had gotten jobs as both a waitress and a bartender. She was taking business courses online in her spare time with the hope of starting her own business.

I, too, was making changes to my life. I had gotten my driver's license, for one, and I wanted to get my own car. Dad made pretty decent money as a plumber, but he wanted me to save up money to buy my own car. That was one of the things I both loved and hated about my Dad. Anyway, I ended up getting a part-time job as a waitress at this little restaurant called Miller's Diner. It was owned by a nice older couple named Martin and Debbie Miller. Me, Dad and Julia ate there a few times. The food wasn't bad. In any case, I was happy to have the job so I could save up to buy a car. As it was, I either had to rely on Dad to drive me around or, when he was unable to, I had to resort to taking public transportation. I'm not necessarily knocking public transportation, mind you, but, every time I got on the bus, I kept thinking in the back of my mind how totally sweet it was going to be to get my own wheels so I can drive myself around.

It took me a while, but I saved up enough to buy me an older model cherry-red Nissan from an ad I found on Craigslist. (Cherry-red was my absolute favorite color!) Dad went with me to look at the car in case the seller turned out to be some type of weirdo. The seller was in fact this kind-hearted elderly gentleman who wanted to sell this old car he had bought for his grandson years ago. After a test drive and a little haggling, we struck a deal, I paid him the cash and the car was mine! The car was dinged up in a few places and the engine sometimes didn't purr like a kitten, but it got me from point A to point B. And, most of all, I didn't have to rely on my dad to drive me around or public transportation. I was so proud of my first car I even sent a picture of it to Julia who e-mailed me back: “Nice!”

I soaked in Julia's praise like I did when I was younger and I brought home a good grade or something and Julia would put it up on the refrigerator after telling me how proud she was of me. I realized then I still looked upon Julia預nd loved her預s a mother figure.

Here is the Amazon link for Mother Figure: 

https://www.amazon.com/Mother-Figure-Angel-Ray-ebook/dp/B0777LM8KV