Trouble at Home by Pascal Francine

Author:Pascal, Francine
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2016-01-26T16:00:00+00:00

Seven

"Look, Mom!" Jessica exclaimed at breakfast the next morning, passing the newspaper across the table. "You're famous!"

Mrs. Wakefield blushed. "Did they put something in the paper about our firm?" she asked, leaning over for a better look. Sure enough, in the second section of the paper, there was a short piece about the design project. "The new wing will be planned by a team headed by Alice Wakefield," the article announced.

"What's that?" Mr. Wakefield asked, coming into the kitchen and pouring himself some coffee.

"Oh, nothing," Mrs. Wakefield said quickly, closing the newspaper and getting to her feet. "Can I get you some coffee or a muffin?" she asked solicitously.

Mr. Wakefield shook his head. "I'm running late as it is. I should get to the office." He cleared his throat. "Well, you have a good day, Alice. Enjoy the fruits of success, as they say. You worked hard, you deserve to ride the crest for a few days."

"It won't be any different," Mrs. Wakefield said dismissively.

Mr. Wakefield shrugged. "Fine. Anyway, I'll see you this evening." And with that he took his briefcase and left.

"Mom," Jessica protested, "you didn't even show Daddy the article in the paper!"

Mrs. Wakefield cocked her head to make sure her husband was out of earshot. "Your father is really down about the trial, sweetheart. I don't think it's going to make him feel great if I keep going on and on about winning the design project. In fact, I think it would be a good idea if we all tried our hardest to downplay it."

Jessica looked disappointed. "You're famous, Mom. Why should we downplay anything?"

"Jessica, please. I'm not famous. And you never know how these things go. If the owners of the mall don't like our plans, they can still reject them."

Elizabeth helped herself to some cereal. "Maybe it would make Dad feel better if he knew more about the design project, not less," she said slowly.

Mrs. Wakefield frowned. "I don't think so, Liz. Your father needs attention right now, attention focused on him, not on me. As I said, I'd really prefer not to talk about this too much."

Elizabeth was confused. Was this really the best way to approach the situation? It seemed to her that a lot of the problem came from the fact that her parents hadn't been sharing much in each other's lives.

Still, it wasn't up to her to give her mother advice. Elizabeth sighed heavily and took a small bite of cereal. She just hoped her mother knew what she was doing.

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