We all moved to the sitting room, my dad sat on one of the double couch while Jess and I sat on another, Emma sat along side my step mum. The Tv was turned on however it was muted.
My Dad scrolled through his phone for a while and when he noticed we were all settled down he placed it down, removing his glasses before speaking up.
“So Nora, what is this I’m hearing about you ?” He said looking me straight in the eyes. I was silent, not knowing what to say or how to defend myself, cause anything I say I’ll still end up guilty.
“This is something I’ll never have expected from you, from Emma well maybe, she’s the more carefree type, but you ??”
“Dadddd, how could you say such a thing about me,” Emma cried out.
“Be quiet Emma I wasn’t talking to you,” my Dad said, she scoffed folding her hands in anger.
“Well, Nora, go on, say something, anything.” My Dad urged me.
“I’m sorry Dad, I’m really sorry, there’s no justification for my actions,” I said bringing my head down in embarrassment.
“Weren’t you dating McLaren’s son ? How did you end up with MCLaren himself instead, make me understand please, I don’t want to believe my daughter is sleeping around.”
“You’re right Dad, I was indeed dating Jake his son, however I caught him cheating on me with Emma.” I said staring at Emma.
“That’s not true Dad, she’s lying..”
“Shut up Emma, I’ll get to you. Let Nora speak,” my dad shut her up immediately.
“When was this?” my dad asked me.
“Two weeks ago, on Jake’s birthday,” I replied, feeling a lump form in my throat.
My dad’s eyes narrowed, “So you decided to get back at him by dating his father? McLaren himself?”
“No, no Dad.. I wasn’t aware he was Jake’s father, he looked so young that it never would have crossed my mind he was related to Jake. I only got to find out later that they were related..” I said defending myself.
“Hmm, hmm, that makes sense. So when you found out you should have cut things off. Why didn’t you ?”
I took another deep breath, “I did, Dad. But then Emma went online and slandered me, releasing those pictures and videos. She worked with Jake to ruin my reputation.”
Emma jumped up, “That’s not true, Dad! She’s lying!”
My dad turned to her, “Sit down, Emma. I’ll get to you. Let Nora finish.”
I continued, “Jessica knows the truth, Dad. She was with me when I found out about Jake and Emma.”
My dad turned to Jess, “Is this true, Jessica?”
Jess nodded, “Yes, Mr. Grey. Nora’s telling the truth.”
“I didn’t do that Dad, she’s only making excuses..” Emma replied..
“I totally believe Emma, she has no reason to do such a thing,” my step mum spoke up, however my Dad ignored her.
“Are you aware of all of these Jessica ?” My Dad asked Jessica who was seated next to me.
“Yes Mr Grey, and as far as I know, Nora is telling the truth.” Jess replied.
“Jessica is her friend, of course she’ll support Nora,” Emma barked back.
“Do not speak unless you’re being spoken to Emma,” my Dad said raising his voice for the first time since we started this conversation.
“Please tell me what you know Jessica ?”
“Well, I do know Nora and Jake have been dating for months now, she even urged me to assist her to do some shopping for his birthday, she left that day and called me some minutes past nine crying, I was so worried that I quickly went down to where she was, when I asked her what happened she told me Jake was seeing Emma, and that Emma knew she was there and planned for her to see for herself that she was now with Jake, Jake on the other hand wasn’t aware Nora was in the house since she planned for it to be a surprise. She decided to let it go since there was nothing she could do, few days later we went to uhm, a club in town where she met Mr McLaren for the first time, only for her to find out later he was Jake’s Dad.” Jessica explained everything in details while my Dad payed attention carefully, I on the other hand just sat down quietly.
“What do you have to say about all of these Emma ?” My Dad said turning to her finally.
Emma smirked, “Well, Jake and I are in love. He didn’t want to hurt Nora, so he couldn’t bring himself to tell her. I had to do it myself.”
My dad’s expression turned disappointed, “Emma, Emma… You’re better than this.”
I felt a mix of emotions: anger, sadness, and pain that my sister will actually go this far for some guy.
“So you actually went as far as releasing those videos and pictures to tarnish the image of your sister, did you even think about what this could cause us ?” My Dad said, his voice laced with anger and sadness.
“I didn’t do it Dad.., those are just excuses on Nora’s part,” she went on saying.
“Just shut up, shut up, Emma, do you know the number of people that has called me in regards to this ? Asking me if my daughter’s were having a dispute, cause of the stupid video you made online.” He said angrily.
“And you Nora, did you choose to leave alone so you could go around sleeping with strangers, just look at the sort of video that was released of you online, your claim of not knowing who he was doesn’t justify what you’ve done.” He said angrily, turning to face me.
“Who is going to get married to you after this ? Huh ? You met a total stranger and the next thing you’re on his bed, do you know the number of STDs out there? This is so irresponsible of you.”
“I’m sorry Dad,” I said tears already dropping down my eyes.
“This isn’t about you be sorry, this is about you dragging the name of the Grey’s family through the mud. Let’s assume this wasn’t Emma’s doing, but someone else, maybe an enemy of our company. What would you have done ? Huh ? Have always told you girls to be careful and responsible, but yet you went ahead to do this…” He shouted
“I’m…” I didn’t even know what to say, I wanted to apologize or something, but I just couldn’t say anything.
“Honey please calm down,” my step mom said, going to sit next to him.
“How do you intend on fixing this ?”My dad asked.
“I.. I..” I stammered
“I what! Speak up!” He demanded.
I swallowed hard trying to form a sentence this time,” firstly,” I said taking a breath,”Mr McLaren has taken down all the photos and videos on the internet, and he has assured me he would have his son tell everyone it was just a misunderstanding, and clear my name in the process.”
“And you believe him ?” My Dad asked.
“Yes I do.” My Dad stared intently at me for God knows how long, and what exactly is going on through his head.
“He’s got the money and influence, he might really be able to do something. That doesn’t mean you’re both forgiven.”
I nodded, he was right after all, clearing my name and wiping it from online changes nothing, isn’t like we can wipe people’s memory, my Dad was about getting up to leave when Jessica shouted drawing everyone’s attention.
“Look!! McLaren is live, the heading says he’s about to address the issue.”
My Dad who was about leaving sat down back, “put up the volume so we could hear what he has to say.” He said.