Life in the Fat Lane by Cherie Bennett Read Free Book Online Page A

could be a big client for us, all the agencies are after him.”
    “Can’t you leave in the morning?” Mom asked.
    “I’m playing golf with their CEO in the morning, Carol,” he said. “I can’t be on a plane and on the golf course at the same time, now, can I?”
    “No, of course not,” she agreed.
    Dad got up and kissed me on the forehead; then he kissed Mom. “I’m going over to the club to play a few sets. Why don’t you meet me there for lunch? Say, twelve?”
    “I’d love—” Mom began.
    But Dad was looking at me. “I hardly ever see you, princess. Between school, piano, your friends, and Jett, you’re one busy girl.”
    Mom’s face reddened with embarrassment, but Dad’s back was to her so he didn’t see.
    “You’re always working, Dad,” I said. “You and Mom should have lunch together.”
    Dad picked up an apple from the fruit bowl and bit into it. “How about it, Carol? Can’t have both my girls shoot me down!”
    “Lunch is fine,” Mom said.
    “Great.” Dad took another bite of his apple andwinked at me. Then he strode out of the kitchen, picked up his tennis bag, and went out the front door.
    As soon as she heard the front door close, Mom pulled out a cigarette and lit it. She inhaled hungrily.
    “Is he mad at you or something?”
    “Of course not, honey,” she said, her voice as bright as overexposed film. “He’s just preoccupied with work.” She paused. “If you didn’t know me, Lara, how old would you say I was?”
    My stomach rumbled. Maybe I would eat just half a grapefruit. I eyed the other half of Mom’s, sitting wetly on the kitchen counter.
    “I don’t know. Thirty.”
    “Thirty,” Mom repeated with satisfaction.
    She inhaled from her cigarette and blew the smoke out slowly. Then her eyes focused on me. “Which of my features do you like best?”
    “I don’t know.”
    Half a grapefruit couldn’t be that bad.
    “Come on, which?”
    “Your eyes, I guess.”
    Mom nodded. “Your eyes are nice, too.”
    I really wanted that grapefruit.
    Suddenly my arms started to itch. And I had already taken my prednisone.
    “Your nose is a little short and upturned, a little too cute,” Mom mused, studying me. “Mine is more classic.” She pulled on her cigarette. “You know, if you have a small, upturned nose and you gain weight in your face, it can look kind of piggish.”
    “I’m on a diet,” I said lamely.
    “I know you are, sweetie.” She patted my hand, got up, and kissed me on the top of my head. “And I havethe most wonderful, perfect daughter in the whole world.”
    “Thanks, Mom.”
    I went upstairs and tried to ignore my grumbling stomach. Willpower was the key.
    “Hey, did he leave?” Scott asked, sticking his head out the door of his room.
    “He went to the club.”
    “Great, I can breathe again,” my brother said. “Man, he’s so suffocating that he, like, sucks all the air out of the room.” He sucked air through pursed lips. “The Amazing Vacuum Man!”
    I followed Scott into his totally trashed room.
    “What is it about Dad that bugs you so much?” I asked Scott, leaning against his wall.
    He plopped down on his unmade bed and reached for a Hacky Sack that lay on his pillow. He threw it in the air and caught it, over and over. “He’s a pain in the ass.”
    “No, he isn’t.”
    “Sure, you don’t think so,
princess
,” Scott jeered.
    “So what if he calls me princess? I think it’s sweet.”
    “Did Vacuum Man send you in here?” Scott asked warily.
    “Of course not! I just can’t stand to see the two of you fight.”
    “Yeah, it’s bad enough that
they
fight all the time.”
    “They do not!”
    “They do so. He hates her. He treats her like cold crap.” Scott tossed the Hacky Sack into the air again. I leaned over and caught it before he could.
    “Scott, come on …”
    “ ‘The Ardeche men are really proud of our beauty queen,’ ” Scott said, imitating Dad, his voice deep andmocking. Then he switched to a