SECOND WOMAN

As Marie and Mr. Jones were having a friendly talk, Mr. Jones was left confused on what would be the most appropriate way to answer the question that his daughter asked him. Even though Marie was not that grown-up, her father was confiding in her and seeking her support in something not very right that he was doing. Instead of giving a proper explanation to her, he rolled his eyes as he mentioned, “Don’t you know your mother?! Especially the things she says?!”

“That I understand, but had you not told them yesterday that you were expecting a guest, it would have been easier for me to take them away by planning to go to watch a movie in the movie theatre with them. And you could have given us some excuse,” Marie replied.

“Whoa! My daughter has grown up to be so smart!” Mr. Jones complimented.

In the meantime, Marie asked, “Who is this lady, dad?”

Wanting to make things clearer between them, she also stated, “I am very happy to be treated as your friend, and I hope this bond strengthens with time.”

“I will be delighted to be of any help to you, but why are you doing this?” Marie questioned him in order to get more clarity because from what she knew, her father chose to marry her step-mom, and nothing was forced or such. Someone new coming into the picture was raising her curiosity to know who that lady was and the connection her father had with this lady.

“Now you are a big girl, and I suppose I can open up to you, yes?”

“Of course, daddy. Is everything fine?”

“Yes, my dear. Everything is fine with me, but you know things have not been very well at home lately. It is just about that,” Mr. Jones mentioned.

“Dad, fights happen at home with mom and Rebecca only because I haven’t been accepted by them yet. Even after so much time, there are certain incidents that make me retaliate. Rest, it is all fine,” Marie explained, thinking about things not being ‘very well’ had her involved.

“Don’t worry, child. It is not about you,” Mr. Jones clarified and continued, “Today it is about me. You are growing up, and I want to open out to you. Is that okay with you?”

“Yes, yes, daddy! Please, tell me,” Marie responded.

That is when Mr. Jones started talking to her about the fights which had been happening at home. Since a couple of months, it all became quite open, whereas those issues had been prevalent even before. He told her about quite a few of the fights, misunderstandings, and differences that were there between Delilah, Marie’s step-mother and him which at some point had become too many to let him be happily married to her.

Even though he continued to stay married to her, he was not very happy and mentally at peace to be around her. He started keeping extra busy at work and staying outside the house for as long as he could and for as much time as possible. He continued talking for very long without taking a break, even for a few seconds. That made it pretty much obvious about how pissed he was, and all his feelings were bottled up in him.

Marie was just a young girl, and after he was done explaining so much to her and taking out every little thing which he had kept in him for so long that included every detail of how he expected Marie to be taken care of by Delilah, there was only one question that Marie had in mind. She waited for him to say everything that he wanted, and then she asked, “Then why did you marry her?”

It was a question which was put in the most innocent tone, and Mr. Jones did not know where to begin in order to answer it. After taking a deep breath, he said, “I married her to give you a mother. A girl as young as you were needed a mother in her life so that all your doubts and questions could get a proper explanation.”

“But that did not happen, dad,” Marie replied and explained, “You were there for me at every turn in life. Mom did not support me at all for anything, no matter how little or how big something was. In fact, you remember when you explained about girl issues to me when my skirt was stained a few years ago?”

“You have been the best father any girl could ever have,” Marie stated, which led to Mr. Jones placing his hand on her head just the way he always did, and he said, “Love you, my darling daughter.”

“So, daddy, who is this lady who is coming home today? How did you meet her? And more importantly, why do you want all of us to go before she comes home? Tell me all of it; I am too excited to know more,” Marie said with sparkling eyes.

“Her name is Angela. She works with me.”

“And?” Marie asked Mr. Jones as if she was expecting to hear more about this lady who was not only her father’s acquaintance but was also coming home within some time from then.

"The rest of everything else, I shall tell you soon, but you have to promise me to be good to her."

"Obviously, dad. That is a given. I just hope she is not like mom."

"Why do you say that?"

"I do not want to be put in the position to make her like me, and despite all the efforts I take, everything goes in vain."

"Don't worry, my child," Mr. Jones consoled and continued, "Angela is a good person. You will have fun with her when you meet her, but today I want you to do whatever I have asked you to do. I promise, very soon you will get to meet Angela. Okay?"

"Yes, daddy. Rebecca anyway wanted new video games, so I will try my best to take her and mom to the market in a while from now," Marie promised.