Chapter 61: Classes and Meetings

-Molly's POV-

Catching the sight of her bright golden hair bobbing along with the crowd, I couldn't help but shout in excitement.
I raced up after her and called her name. "Becca!"
She turned, and her kind face lit up with joy as she accepted my hug with matching enthusiasm. Her wholesome aura was like touching the sun and was exactly what I needed at the moment.
"Hey, Molly!" she greeted me. "I'm so glad to see that a handsome, rich Frenchman didn't cart you off."
I felt my smile drop off a bit as her words brought to mind the one Frenchman that I had been excessively grateful to get away from. The last thing I wanted to talk to Becca about was Jean-Pierre. Especially after getting to see her again after all this time.
We had talked and emailed, of course. But that did not replace how amazing it was to be able to hang out with Becca.
Instead of bringing up Paris, I forced a giggle and pulled away.
"A few tried. But I resisted. Always play hard to get!" I told her with a wink.
Becca laughed as her face blushed prettily. I knew exactly how innocent Becca was, and despite my prodding her into trying to act on her crushes, she had refused to. I had only managed to get her to kiss a boy ONCE, and that had been after my pointing out to her that the last thing she wanted to do was graduate high school without her first kiss.
It had only been a light peck, and it was done. Becca's parents were forcing her into this weird isolation that was two steps short of a convent. Becca was such a sweet, submissive girl that if her parents wanted something, she would work to ensure it happened.
A thought occurred to me as we made our way to our first class. Was it possible that Becca was submissive as well? It was an intriguing thought, and I couldn't wait to share it with Scott.

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-Scott's POV-

I had sat out in front of Molly’s school for a few minutes, trying to figure out what had happened to cause Molly to get so cold. During the car ride, Molly had barely spoken a single word. Of course, she hadn’t acted angry or even seething. But she hadn’t stuck around to say goodbye when we had pulled up.
Something was obviously wrong.
The only thing I could think of was that she was still angry about the way my father had been treating her. Well, I could do something about that as soon as I got home. I wasn't about to let my father continue to insult Molly. I didn't know what was happening to him, but he really needed an attitude adjustment.
I rushed to the office and quickly found the papers I was looking for and hurried home, hoping to catch my father before the meetings we were supposed to have that day.
Unfortunately, my five minutes of pondering in front of Molly's school had taken away all the free time they would have had.
"I need to talk to you after these meetings," I told my father as we walked into his office.
My father must have heard the serious tone in my voice because he gave me an odd look before nodding. Throughout all four of the meetings, I quietly sat going over what I wanted to say to my father. I wanted it to be perfect and almost non-confrontational. However, if my father refused to curb his attitude, I wasn't above telling him off.
My father had called my name a few times, asking my opinion, and I had been forced to agree almost unconditionally, since I hadn't actually been paying attention.
"What is going on?" my father confronted me after our last meeting.
I stumbled for a moment, trying to figure out what to say since I had been the one that was going to say that to him.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"You were barely paying attention and even agreed with Arnold's idea to knock down the garden at the east tower complex and put in a parking lot. Do you know how much business we would lose? It was basically a freaking FLOWER shop that he wanted to take out! What the hell is going on, Scott?" Paul demanded.
I took a deep breath and centered myself before speaking again. "I was going to ask you the same question, Dad."
It was Paul's turn to look taken aback. He looked at me for a heartbeat before returning to the paperwork in front of him.
"I don't know what you're talking about, Scott. We need to get back to work... our next meeting is in an hour," he brushed me off.
I refused to back down. "I will be late. I need to go pick up Molly from her classes."
Paul scowled at my words.
"See!" I pointed out. "That is what I mean! It seems like any more, whenever I bring up Molly, you look like you just ate a lemon! What is up with that?"
"Don't be stupid, Scott. Nothing is going on! We just need to get back to work. What do you think about--"
"Don't try to change the subject. I have never seen you as rude to anyone as you have been to Molly lately. You basically called her a slut this morning! How fucked up is that? She's a 19-year-old girl, and her MOTHER'S HUSBAND called her a slut! That's pretty fucked up, Dad!" I stated angrily.
My father's head snapped up unexpectedly, and the power of his glare startled me. I had seen that look before when someone had betrayed him or screwed up a big project. But I had never seen it pointed in my direction.
"What I said was fucked up?" he snarled. "Don't you think it's a little FUCKED up how much you enjoy spending time with your grown-up STEP-sister? Or how she can't seem to do anything right without your help? It's almost... as if she's chasing you. Did you ever think of that?"
Anger welled up in me, and I returned my father's glare with one of my own, one I had learned from him.
"Dad, I'm going to give you a little advice: stay out of other people's business. Even IF Molly is chasing me, it is up to ME to tell her no. But even THEN, no matter what you think, it does not give you the right to be such a huge ASS to her. Don't EVER insinuate she's a slut again in my presence. Do you understand?"
My father glared at me, and I could see his jaw clench as he ground his teeth. There were words in his eyes, harsh, painful words that would have broken our relationship into kindling. But he kept them inside as if he knew that and didn't want that to happen.
"Alright, son. I will give her the benefit of the doubt," Paul relented with a bow of his head.
I stared at him for a while, trying to decide if I really should believe him. I didn't want to ruin our relationship as well, but I also couldn't stand having to listen to him insult his girlfr-- sub.
"Thank you, Dad."
"Now that that's out of the way... let's get some work done. IF you can manage that," my father requested as if what had happened had been nothing.
"Alright," I agreed, more than willing to let it go and move on.
As long as my father didn't say another word about Molly, there seemed to be no reason to continue the fight.