you everything you could want – definitely more than most. Now it’s your turn to make a move that could affect your future and ours, too, of course.’ He spoke as if he were giving her a choice, whereas Kim knew better. ‘And, honey, you know like your mom pointed out, you’re really not getting any younger. That pretty face won’t last forever.’
Kim was floored, not to mention wounded to the core. In all her life she’d never been made to feel like nothing more than a piece of ass. And by her own father!
Whenever she did take his business prospects out on the town to show them a good time, she never just left it at that. Instead she talked to them about their hopes and intentions, teased out their strategies, and subtly influenced them to choose Weston Inc.
She’d thought her father knew this and quietly appreciated it. But he hadn’t even noticed.
‘You actually expect me to do this? You actually expect me to coldly pursue a guy I barely know? With marriage as the endgame? I’ve never even been in a proper relationship with someone I like, so why would I want to be involved with someone I don’t?’
She was trying her best to contain her anger and dismay. This was like something from a horror movie, playing out before her eyes. People didn’t do this in real life. They didn’t just pimp out their daughters as part of a freakin’ … business move!
But Kim realised, it was basically what her folks had always done. Except this time they wanted her to go a step further and actually try to land this English guy as a potential husband, taking her off their hands in the process.
‘Dad,’ she pleaded softly. ‘Please, don’t ask me to do this.’
‘Kim, don’t act like a child,’ Gloria tsked. ‘Do you think the life this family has comes free of cost? There’s a price and we all have to pay it. Your father paid it. I paid it. Now it’s your turn. You can’t expect us to bankroll you forever. It’s high time you had a plan for the rest of your life and we think this is the perfect start.’
Why had she thought her father would help her? He never had before. Whatever her mother wanted she got. It was clear that what Gloria wanted now was a familial connection with some kind of gentry and her father the backing of this English bigwig’s multi-billion company.
Capitalism at its finest. A merger of the purest kind and all it would cost was Kim’s sanity.
Her heart sank. They were asking her to offer herself up for their futures. It wasn’t about her. It was about them. It was always about them. She gritted her teeth.
‘I’m not doing it,’ she told them, her chin lifting. It was pointless, she knew, but she wasn’t going to just go along with something this crazy without a fight. ‘And you have no right to ask—’
‘It’s not a request, Kimberley.’ Gloria’s tone brooked no nonsense. ‘Everything’s already arranged.’
‘Well, you can just go and rearrange it then, because I’m not doing it. I’m not throwing away my life – my entire future – for one of your business deals. And it’s disgusting that you’d even consider—’
‘Maybe you might like to suggest an alternative career plan then?’ her mother interjected, her voice dripping with sarcasm. ‘Because lazing around in bed till midday doesn’t seem like much of a go-getter strategy to me.’
‘You seem to have forgotten that I was working late last night – with Dad’s clients. Seriously, is that all I am to you two? Some built-in entertainment manager for Weston Inc.? I’m your daughter, for chrissakes! What about some consideration for my needs?’
Gloria harrumphed. ‘Your father and I have always ensured that your needs are more than catered for – with your expense accounts, generous salary and pretty much everything you could ever want.’
‘Except love …’ Kim replied in a small voice. ‘And respect for what I might want or need.’
‘Honey, think about it,’ her father began, his tone softening, and she was hopeful that her words had finally got through and appealed to his better nature. ‘This is a solid plan. You’re always saying you’re bored of New York, so it’s an ideal opportunity, to get out and explore new horizons. London is a great city – a summer there could well be exactly what you need.’
‘A summer there sounds fine, Dad; it’s what I’m expected to do while there that makes me sick.’ She stood up. ‘You know what? I’m not doing this anymore. I’ve had enough of being a pawn in this family. I’ll move out, get my own place, find a job where someone appreciates my actual talent and skills …’
‘Find your own place – here in Manhattan? How on earth will you afford that?’ Gloria gave a mirthless laugh. ‘I think you seriously overestimate those skills and talents if you expect to just randomly waltz into a job that pays the same kind of salary your father does.’
The realisation stopped Kim in her tracks. Her mother was right. She was damned if she did and damned if she didn’t. She couldn’t make it on her own. She didn’t even know where to start. She was just a puppet and her folks held the strings; they always had.
Check. Mate.
As always, Kim was outplayed.
‘When did you want me to leave for England?’ she asked, defeated.
‘Two weeks, when your father and I head to the Hamptons. I told you she’d make the right decision in the end,’ her mother commented snidely as she turned to her father. ‘Our daughter will always choose the easy life.’
Peter didn’t answer. Instead, he got to his feet.
‘I need a coffee,’ he commented absently as he left the room. That was it. Kim’s dad had basically just whored out his only daughter, and all he could say was he needed coffee.
Tears filled her eyes as she stood up and headed for the door.
‘I’ll let the Andrews know to expect you,’ her mother said to her back as Kim left. ‘You’ve made a very wise choice this time, Kimberley. Very wise indeed.’
That night, as Kim and her friend Natasha made their way from club to club in Manhattan, she drank herself into oblivion, trying to put the disgusting sordidness of her parents’ request – no, demand – out of her mind.
Part of her hoped that she’d just wander out on the street and have a cab driver end her misery for her. She was too cowardly to do it herself.
Had she really acquiesced to this? Agreed to barter herself for her family in order to secure a future for herself?
‘Hey, slow down – we’re not eighteen anymore,’ Natasha encouraged, but Kim was hearing none of it.
‘I’m fine,’ she slurred as she pushed her way again towards the bar.
‘I think you’ve had enough, actually,’ her friend interjected as she attempted to get in her way. But Kim could be persistent and with the level of alcohol that now coursed through her veins, she felt unstoppable.
‘Bartender!’
