"His name is Mick, Mom," Marie replied.
"I don't care what his name is. I don't want you to see him."
"But -"
"No buts," Jess interrupted. "Don't you have homework to do?"
"Ohh!" Marie huffed angrily, and stormed off.
"Are you sure that's necessary?" Austin asked tentatively.
"I'm not going to let her be hurt, Austin."
"What makes you think Mick will hurt her? You haven't even spoken to the boy - only his father - and even then only for a few minutes."
"That's beside the point."
Marie groaned softly to herself. And so began another of the many arguments they had been having the past few months. She logged into her e-mail. There was a message from Sarah:
Hey M! We're in London (again). I'm sending you a post card from here. Tour's great - the crowds here are the best yet! Ok, I say that about everywhere! LOL!
Zoe's being her usual attention-seeker self. Y'know, she actually had the gall to pull up some male fan onto the stage! (heh, it later turned out he was one of my fans, how's that for a kick in the pants? LOL!).
How'd the dance go?
Like to write more but we're about to do a TV show and Zac's just yelled for me to get off :(
Bye!
S
**********
"Hi Zac, what's up?" Austin said, answering the phone a night or so later.
"Not much, is Jess there?"
"She's gone to bed already."
"Oh. So will you be joining her soon? Or are you taking the couch?"
Austin was silent for a moment.
"How?"
"Marie told Sarah, and Sarah told me."
"When did Marie talk to Sarah?"
"E-mail."
"You sound tired."
"Industry party. Been up half the night," Zac replied with a tired laugh.