Chapter 22

Phil was washing lettuce in the sink when Hailey emerged from the bedroom and closed the door behind her. Tiffany’s suggestion had merit, she decided. She walked up beside him and turned off the water. Then she took him by the arm and turned him to face her. He leaned forward to give her a kiss but her face was gone by the time he got there.

Instead he opened his eyes and found Hailey kneeling in front of him working on his zipper.

“Hailey!” he whispered urgently. “What if Tiffany walks out?”

“I told her to give me a few minutes,” Hailey explained as she pulled his dick out and licked it. “It was her idea. She said you’d be insatiable after the view she gave you. I decided it was best if I attended to matters as soon as possible.”

“I’m fine,” Phil said.

Hailey had already sucked the head into her mouth and felt Phil’s cock harden with her efforts.

“I know, but I wanted to do this anyway,” she said, pulling off and using her hand to stroke it harder. “I missed giving you head before you went to class.”

Hailey’s talented mouth descended again, taking as much in as she could. She swirled her tongue around the head and fondled his balls with her hand. Phil let out a groan at the sensation. He decided he would have to catch Tiffany almost naked again if this was going to be the reward. He only wished he could reach some portion of Hailey’s body besides her face. As it was, he stroked her cheeks as she looked up while her mouth worked his erection.

It was the look in Hailey’s eyes that caused Phil to erupt. There was such a look of tenderness in the blue orbs as she peered up at him. She was doing this because she wanted to and because she wanted to do it with him.

“I’m there,” he warned. She nodded slightly and started to hum in the back of her throat as her hand moved faster over the stalk of his erection. Phil came with a groan and fell backward against the cabinets. Hailey followed him forward and milked every last drop into her mouth before swallowing noisily.

“That was amazing!” Phil said when she stood. “Thank you.”

“Thank you,” Hailey replied, kissing his cheek. “I missed my protein this morning. I’m going to go brush my teeth.”

“I’m going to go tell Tiffany to head the hell home,” Phil said. “Then I’m going to drag you to the bedroom for the rest of the day!”

“I’ll make sure we have a little time before my night class,” Hailey promised as she walked away. “If we don’t, there is always tomorrow morning. I like going to class relaxed and satisfied.”

Hailey stopped at the door to the extra bedroom and pondered before shaking her head and turning into the bathroom to brush her teeth. She had considered walking in and giving Tiffany a sloppy kiss but her better judgment prevailed. That would open up a can of worms that none of them needed right then. The two friends met as Hailey exited the bathroom. She gave Tiffany a lurid wink and a minty kiss near her mouth.

“You did!” Tiffany remarked, her mouth agape.

“I had to,” Hailey whispered. “It was either attend to the beast right then or I’m not sure he wouldn’t have come down to your room and had his wicked way with you. I only did it to preserve your virtue. I hope you know that.”

“You only did it because you’re horny and you love him,” Tiffany countered with a laugh. “I’m glad for you, Hailey. I’m glad you found someone to love and who loves you back.”

“I already had that in you,” Hailey replied, putting her arm around Tiffany’s waist as they walked down the hall. “Wait for a second until I make sure Phil’s pecker isn’t hanging out. I think I blew the poor guy’s mind.”

“It wasn’t his mind you blew!” Tiffany joked – but she dutifully stopped out of view until Hailey gave her the OK.

Hailey went off to her Thursday morning exam feeling relaxed and refreshed. Phil had sent her to bed early – and joined her quickly – then awakened her the next morning with soft kisses on her skin and tender caresses of her body. By the time she’d left for class she felt glorious and ready to take on the world.

It was the only part of her day that worked out like she hoped. On the way to her 11 o’clock class, she felt dampness in her panties that had nothing to do with arousal. Instead she realized that her period had started. She ducked into the ladies room and confirmed her fears when she saw blood dotting the lining of her panties.

She almost broke into tears when she inserted the tampon. It was not what she hoped to be putting into her body next. That was reserved for Phil’s cock as soon as she could get him alone. Now it would be at least four days and perhaps five before she would feel comfortable enough to make love to him.

She was already unhappy when she returned to her dorm room in order to refresh her supply of feminine products. She had brought clothing and toiletries to the apartment but she wasn’t ready to store a box of tampons beneath the vanity there just yet. She was pulling out her “period underwear” when her phone buzzed. She figured it was Phil wondering where she was so she answered it without looking at the number.

It wasn’t Phil. Instead it was one of the last people she wanted to talk to: her mother. As usual her mother was blunt.

“I need you to sign the title to your car over so I can sell it,” Hannah informed her daughter without as much as a hello first.

“Why?” Hailey replied.

“I, uh, we, need the money,” Hannah declared. “I haven’t had much luck in the job hunt and things are tight.”

“Uh-huh,” Hailey said, sitting down on her bed. “How much are you listing your car for?”

“My car?” Hannah asked. “I need my car to get back and forth to job interviews.”

“You need a $60,000 car for that?” Hailey asked rhetorically. “No matter. The answer is no. I also will need a vehicle this summer for my job. I planned to pick it up next week on my way to Spring Break. I’ve made arrangements to store it with some friends.”

“Do not be unreasonable!” Hannah said angrily.

“I’m not being unreasonable, mother,” Hailey replied in the same tone. “Right now I’m the only one with job prospects. I have a very prestigious internship in the city during the summer and I will need to be able to get to work each day. As soon as your car is on the market, I will ask some people I trust to sell mine for me. I will keep enough to acquire a reliable vehicle for my needs and send you 65 percent of anything left over.”

“I bought that car for you!” Hannah raged.

“Which brings me to my next point,” Hailey cut in. “I planned to talk to you about this next Friday but today is just as well. I have talked to an attorney because I could see this coming – well, no, actually I didn’t see it but some friends of mine did. Items purchased by a parent or grandparent as gifts for a child belong solely to the child upon their 18th birthday. That means my clothing, the jewelry, the bonds, my dolls, whatever belonged to me that is still in your domicile are solely mine to sell, destroy or give away. I have compiled a preliminary list from memory and submitted it to the police here. If those items should come up missing, mother, I will prosecute you for theft. I want you to understand that from the outset. If you’ve sold anything of mine you have until I arrive home Friday to reclaim it. Do you understand?”

“I am your mother!” Hannah roared.

“I’m glad you accept that,” Hailey countered in a calm voice. She wished Phil was nearby because she could use his strength. “It’s time you started to act like it. You are the parent; I am your child. It is not my responsibility to pull you out of the mess your stupidity has made. Now, once you have sold your belongings of value, I will start to sell mine. Again, I will send you a reasonable percentage of the proceeds, no less than 55 percent and no more than 75 percent. I know the house has no value. You’ll be lucky to sell it for what’s left on the mortgage. But your car is less than a year old and has a high resale value. You should net $45,000 easily. Everything you own is nicer than what I own. So it’s worth more.

“My car is almost three years old and won’t bring in nearly as much. I figured I’ll be lucky to get $20,000 out of it. Most of that will have to go to a used car for my use. The jewelry I have is worth about $10,000 if I can find a buyer. Most of my clothing will bring a decent sum when I sell it – but I can’t very well walk around nude so I’ll have to purchase replacements. I will leave the number of the person who is going to handle my liquidation of assets. Once you sell your belongings, you can submit a certified receipt and I will reciprocate. But mother, I mean it. I will not sell a thing of mine until you sell yours. I’m not the one who got you into this mess and I will not be the one who sacrifices to get you out. I’m willing to help you but only if you help yourself first.

“If that’s all you wish to discuss, I have plans this afternoon. I’ll see you next Friday to retrieve my belongings on my way to Spring Break.”

“Wait!” Hannah said, still seething. “It is not all I wish to discuss. There is no money for Spring Break so you’ll have to cancel whatever plans you’ve made. We’ll need that money to survive.”

“I have plenty of money to survive,” Hailey said. “The college fund grandpa started is mine exclusively. I’ve used some of it to pay off the monstrous credit card debt I’d accumulated but the rest of it still here.”

“You can’t waste it on frivolous trips if you want to go to college next year,” Hannah asserted. “And you’re not going to be able to go back to Heilman next year. You’ll have to look somewhere cheaper.”

“No, I won’t,” Hailey said through gritted teeth. “I have already made arrangements to secure my future. I have a scholarship now so I can use my college fund to offset expenses – my expenses, mother, not yours. I’ll be back at Heilman next year. You have no say in where I attend college. As for Spring Break, I’d already cancelled any plans that would require a large outlay of money. I’m staying with some friends – and it won’t cost me anything more than chipping in on gas to get there.”

“We need that time to assess how we’re going to survive!” Hannah insisted. “I want you to come home.”

“That is not your decision to make,” Hailey informed her. “And I know how I’m going to survive. It’s you you’re worried about, not me. That’s a decision you’re going to have to make on your own. If you want my input, I’ll give it: Move somewhere that no one knows what a mess you’ve made of your career and start over. When you start over, stop doing the stupid shit that got you into this mess in the first place. I doubt you’ll be a vice president again but at least you’ll have money coming in.”

“I plan to sue that bitch Elizabeth Barton!” Hannah said. “That’s what I need money for – an attorney. I promise I’ll buy a new car and better clothes once she settles.”

“You really are an idiot,” Hailey yelled. “Beth Warner doesn’t settle – she destroys people like you. Any lawyer who takes your case is just doing it to fleece you out of whatever money you have left. She will take you down and you’ll be stuck in a trailer park turning tricks in order to eat macaroni and cheese!”

“Don’t you dare talk to me that way!” Hannah yelled back.

“I’ll talk to you any way I want to,” Hailey replied. “You fucked up, mother. It’s not Beth Warner’s fault you’re out on your ass.”

“If you hadn’t treated her son like garbage I’d be running Eisler right now,” Hannah insisted.

“I treated him just like you taught me to treat him,” Hailey countered. “And it has nothing to do with it whatsoever. Just so you know, my internship this summer is with Barton. I spoke to Beth Tuesday and she is going to supervise it herself. Her dislike of you isn’t personal, mother. She dislikes you because of how you behaved when you were her employee.”

“You are willing to work for the woman who ruined our family!” Hannah screamed.

“No, mother,” Hailey said bitterly. “But I’m willing to stop by that woman’s house on Friday to pick up the rest of my things. No one ruined this family but you. I’ll call you when I get into Stony Ridge next week. Don’t contact me before then.

“Oh, and mother, I meant what I said. Everything of mine better be just where I left it or you’ll have a theft charge to explain away to any future employer.”

Hailey ended the call and the tears that had threatened to come earlier in the bathroom consumed her.

Hailey’s eyes were still puffy and red when she arrived at the apartment. As had become typical of the afternoons, the few people she considered her friends – or in Molly’s case a potential friend – were there.

Phil was the first to recognize that something was wrong. Of course he was the one who tended to look most closely at Hailey every time she was near.

“What’s wrong?” he asked urgently. That caused everyone in the room to stop what they were doing and turn to her.

She gave them a rundown of the conversation with her mother as they listened attentively.

“I’m sorry,” Katelyn said, handing over a napkin so Hailey could dry her eyes. “I can’t imagine having a fight with my Mom like that one.”

“It wasn’t a fight,” Tiffany cut it. “It was a severance. It’s the same sort of talk I’ll be having with my mother on Sunday.”

“It sounds like you have a handle on things for now,” Molly pointed out.

“It’s all a lie!” Hailey wailed. “Everything I told her was bullshit. I did some checking on the internet but I haven’t talked to a lawyer. I don’t have a list of my possessions. I haven’t made arrangements for shit! I just lied to her to keep her off balance. I don’t know if anything I told her will actually work.”

“Then I suppose our first order of business is to put things in place where they do,” Phil said, nodding. “I’m pretty sure you’re right about gifts to children. It came up in a business class last semester. A man put his stock portfolio in his children’s names when they were minors in order to shield himself from taxes. They refused to return them without compensation after their 18th birthday and the court ruled in their favor.”

“I remembered that from something I heard but I didn’t know if it was in this state,” Hailey admitted. “That’s where I pulled that tidbit out.”

“It was,” Phil assured her. “I’ll have to call Barton’s legal team to make sure it’s still good law. Judges overturn decisions all the time. Give me a minute.”

He placed a call to his mother first – to ensure he could pick the brains of the corporate attorneys without causing her grief. Of course Beth wanted to know what was going on but Phil told her it was a philosophical discussion that needed a resolution.

Beth chuckled. That had been her and David’s euphemism for the fights they had when he had just turned into a teen.

“I assume it involves Hailey and her situation,” she answered. “Or perhaps the other one you’ve taken under your wing there – the Grayling girl. Either way, if I can help all you have to do is ask.”

“I’ll let them know that you’re available for consultation,” Phil replied. He wasn’t going to fight this battle for Hailey – or for Tiffany when the time came.

“Probably better that way,” Beth agreed. “I’ll transfer your call down to legal. Let them know if they have any problems to call me.”

“Thanks, Mom,” Phil said. “Uh, I love you. You know that, don’t you?”