An Angel for Ms. Right by Lenise Lee Page B

Aggeliki.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

Chapter 2
     
     
    Two hours and two cups of black coffee later, Denise found a table in the middle of the study area on the second floor of the Eastern States University Law Library. She flopped down into the high back wooden chair with such force that she found herself suddenly moving in a backwards direction as the chair tipped back on two legs. She jumped up quickly and recovered both her balance and that of the chair before reseating herself, very slowly and carefully this time around.
    With her papers and several textbooks spread out before her on the large oak desk, she mentally prepared to set to work on getting some major studying done. Mid-terms were only a couple of weeks away and then spring break. She would have to find the strength to force her drained body to go back home and proceed to pretend how wonderful everything was in the Right Family for a week or so.
    “I can hardly wait,” she mumbled and then reached for her Torts and Contract Law textbook.
    At the same moment, the tiny black cell phone clipped to her left hip began to vibrate.
    This is unbelievable , Denise thought as she scanned the number on the screen before flipping the phone open.
    “Hello, Mother,” she forced a smile onto her face and hoped it would reflect in her voice.
    “Denise,” her mother began – no hello, no how are you – straight into a chiding session, “how many times do I have to remind you to call me Mom? For goodness sakes, we are related by blood, or have you forgotten about that along with bothering to call me at least once per week.”
    “Sorry, Mom ,” Denise purposefully over emphasized the last word, “I have been a little busy. You know, trying to get good grades and all.”
    “Oh, Denise, you really need to get a life. It is always study, study, and study with you. Why do you persist in ostracizing your own self from the social community?”
    “You mean, why won’t I go out with any of those guys with the over inflated egos you keep trying to set me up with? That’s what you really meant, right Mom?”
    The frustration in her mother’s voice became evident after she inhaled a large and overly dramatic breath.
    “Denise, why do you insist on giving me such grief? All I want to do is look out for your best interest and all you want to do is fight me all the way.”
    “Mother, your idea of ‘my best interest’ is marrying me off to some doctor or lawyer and then waiting until you can start counting grandkids!”
    A sudden look of anger from a dark-haired man seated at the table in front of her alerted Denise that she had raised her voice too high and needed to step into the stairwell to finish this conversation before it became even more heated. She threw him a quick smile and then rested the phone between her ear and shoulder. As she rose from her chair, she decided against grabbing her black leather handbag from the table since she would be sure to be right back. She scanned the area as she walked through the large room and looked over tables and around bookcases in search of the door to the stairwell. All the while, her mother continued to try to command the conversation, as usual.
    “Denise, you have no right to speak to me that way. If you father was here, I would tell him about this sudden attitude you have as of late.”
    “But he’s not there, is he, Mother?” Denise shot back after she heard the door to the stairwell click closed.
    The sudden silence confirmed that her point had been made. Her father, Dr. George Coolidge Right III was rarely home at this time of day or evening . In the last few years, even before Denise had went off to the university, Dr. Right had seemed to find an endless number of reasons to avoid spending anything but the briefest of moments with his family. Denise use to feel sorry for her Mother. Never much of a sleeper, even when she still lived at home on a regular basis, on her way to the large family study or