Free From Humble Beginnings (Joe Steel) by Ian Harwood Page B

got side-tracked.”
    “Why?”
    “Cass came to see me today.”
    I watch as the softness about Juliet’s features turns into stone. Any gentle emotion of hope, passion, need, or love disappears at the sound of the other woman’s name.
    “Whatever she said, don’t believe it. She’s a slut; she slept with my father to get where she is today. What kind of woman does that? A trustworthy one?”
    “What is it about her that turns you into a real bitch, Juliet? It doesn’t suit you.”
    “Who are you to judge what does or doesn’t suit me? And how can you even ask why? My father is having an affair with her; not only is that entirely wrong…”
    I interrupt, “Who says it’s wrong? They’re two consenting adults, Juliet. It’s not illegal. Bernard is leaving himself wide open for a sexual harassment case, if and when he pisses Cass off, but that’s his prerogative.
    “You’re obviously not ready to hear the truth. You’re too busy reverting to type, being the little girl that your daddy has always cosseted. It’s blinding you to the facts.”
    Juliet’s mouth turns stubborn, her soft lips firming and turning white with pressure. “If you’re going to be like that, then I don’t want to have lunch with you.”
    “Little girls run away. Big girls don’t hide from the truth,” I chide. “And I’m not being anything. She told me something that came from your dad. And you know how that goes. From Bernard’s mouth to your ears; he’s like God! He wanted you to know, but he doesn’t know how to tell you. So he’s left it up to me.”
    Juliet swallows. “What did he tell you?”
    “You’re not denying then that you make it difficult for him to share things with you?”
    “He’s my father; it upsets me that he has to go through intermediaries to share personal inf ormation with me.” She takes in a deep breath. “It’s a gut reaction, Joe. As soon as I think about him with anyone but my mother, even in a non-sexual way, it just gets my back up. They think I don’t know about my mother. They must think I’m stupid.
    “I know she died, because she was hammered and crashed into a bloody tree. They must think I can’t read the papers. What hurts is that things could have been different. It didn’t have to be that way, but dad, and his business, was all important. Nothing else mattered, not even my mother. The time he gave to that whore, he could have doted upon his wife. It isn’t fair. I lost her, before I even had a real chance to know her.”
    It was difficult being careful in this situation, especially when I feel as though I’m in possession of butterfingers. She’s looking at me, pleading with me to agree or to disagree, I’m not sure which. She needs my help, I know that. I just wish I knew how to give her it.
    “We all make mistakes, Jules. That’s life. I’m sure your father regrets the mistakes he made in the past, especially those in regard to your mum. But you can’t punish him for the rest of his life.”
    “I’m not punishing him. I just have nothing to say to him. Especially when he wants to make choices in my life, when he has no right to do so. He funds my existence and I appreciate that, but I’d be just as happy studying for my degree and working. A friend’s father offered me some part-time work in one of his accounts departments. Dad wouldn’t even let me get the words out.” She shakes her head. “I don’t want to talk about this. Just tell me what that bitch said.”
    I study her, see the bitterness on her face, the sadness in her eyes at the state of her relationship with her father and sigh. “No.”
    “No? Now what?”
    “No, I won’t tell you what Cass said.”
    “I thought that was the whole idea behind this lunch.”
    I shrug. “Maybe it was, but now it isn’t. There are two sides to every story, Juliet. Maybe you need to think about that before you’re ready to hear the truth. Now, in a couple of days’ time, I’m going to Milan. Your