Public Purchase - Part Seven

My gaze slowly drifts as well, slowly falling to a small wine rack resting atop the counter at the far edge. With a giddy grin I point at that, a knowing smirk soon forming on my lips.

"Can we start with that?" I ask, Meredith whipping around to look at what I'm pointing at. Her hands quickly fly to her hips before she twists back around, her gaze narrowing behind her glasses to a glare.

"Aurelia Marigold-Prim..." she begins to snap, her shouting of my extended name coming to a stop as she bites her lip and her eyes drift up in thought. "I suppose... You do have a fully formed... well at least the part that counts for present purposes..." she mutters, walking over and pulling a bottle of red from the top of the rack.

"Okay, we can share" she states, pulling two glasses from one of the open cabinets. "But one, I need to hear more about my new daughter, and two..." she states, placing the glasses down before uncapping the wine and pouring the glasses. "We still need to go over the ground rules, before Sammie gets home at least."

 

I practically skip over to the sofa, dropping myself down onto it as I finally have a chance to relax. One of my legs hang over the side, pulling at the dress as I quickly smooth it out to avoid flashing the woman I was meant to be calling 'Mom' from here on out. Meredith soon paces over with the glass of wine, her's sitting far higher in the glass than my own. My lips begin to shift into a pout before the older woman stops me with a tut and click of her tongue.

"You can have a taste" she explains, passing me the glass as she narrows her eyes. "Lord knows we don't normally let Aurelia have this, and it is an acquired..." she explains, pausing as I take a sip of the deep red liquid.

I'm forced to fight back a gag as the vintage hits my tongue, the herbal tannic liquid leaving my wanting to spit it out or vomit more than anything else. I have to fight to swallow it, a soft sigh soon following as I watch the smirking older woman sip at her glass with glee.

"Not the best on a novice tongue, but I dare say this is wonderful for a thirteen year old..." she chuckles, taunting me a little as the pout finally comes through.

"Thirteen!?" I begin to blurt out, looking t the bottle far in the distance on the counter as I struggle to read its blurred text. Meredith's chuckle evolves into a veritable chortle, passing me her larger glass as she takes the smaller one from me. She turns to leave, returning to the kitchen as she begins to slice some rustic looking loaf of bread.

"Had you for a moment there didn't I?" she asks jovially, still struggling and failing to fight back a laugh. "This was meant to be cooking wine. I'm not wasting one of the better vintages on someone who hasn't had much more than a cheeky box of wine at a party, or a sip of Sammie's..."

"Sammie?" I ask, sipping pathetically at the glass as I try to adapt to the foul flavor and odor assaulting my youthful form. My empty stomach churns at the taste, my mind racing as I try to identify any of the flavor notes I would have expected from even a cheap bottle.

"My wife" Meredith states, searching the fridge for various leafy greens and some cold cuts of meat. "Your birth mother now" She continues, slowly making a rather healthy looking sandwich before plating it up.

She quickly strides back over to the small living room, snatching the bottle from the counter as she moves past it. I reach out with one dainty hand, taking the plate from the older dark-haired woman as I quickly begin to shovel the food into my mouth. I barely even make much noise as I choke down the sourdough bread and the meat within, only a sift sigh escaping my lips as I cram the last of it down my desperate maw.

"Okay..." Meredith mutters, dropping herself into one of the chairs as she begins to sip disapprovingly at the poor quality wine. "So, ground rule number one! Sammie... Samantha... Your Mother, can never know of what Aurelia did" she states, taking a few more sips in each pause as it to help her get the words out.

"Huh?" I blurt back, wiping the crumbs away from my mouth with my arm as I return to the wine. "It's public Meredith, it's in the name" I chuckle, speaking to the woman as a fellow adult rather than her reckless and impulsive daughter. Catching the change in tone her eyes narrow at me once more, my body reacting on instinct as my blood begins to run cold. "I mean... Mommy?" I croak, tilting my head with a weak smile.

Meredith sips at her terrible wine, wincing once more before adjusting her glasses.

"Mom is fine dear" she states, smirking as she enjoys the idea of actually being called by that title for once. "And... well this is where it gets complicated" she states, running a finger along the rim of the glass before pouring herself a little bit more. "You're right, it's meant to be. However, Aurelia was a bit... she was..." Meredith grumbles, pursing her lips in frustration as she looks for a flattering way to explain things. "She was a coward who couldn't explain to her mother's she wanted to be a nearly thirty-year-old man rather than live with her family" she states, completely failing at finding the flattering words.

"So how did she..." I begin to ask, only to be cut off by a terse Meredith.

"Letters" she snaps, taking a drink of the wine before simply draining the whole glass. "It would have killed Sammie" she explains, pouring more wine before drinking it in a single chug once more. I soon follow suit, spluttering and gagging as I drain away the massively overfilled glass of foul liquid as I feel my cheeks begin to grow flushed.

"But..." I whimper meekly, holding the glass of wine in front of my face as if to protect myself from the answer.

"But I..." Meredith announces, holding her glass towards me before pulling it back. "I saved the love of my life from that... that..." she states, once more pausing to think of the right way to explain things. "I took the letters, both those addressed to her and to her business. As much as I despise Aurelia's cowardice on all this, she was very exact in the details about you" she states with a slowly forming grin, jostling her wine glass in my direction.

"I... Uh..." I begin to mutter, quickly chugging down the last of my wine as I feel my stomach begin to churn.

"Academic, book lover, nerdy and easy going..." she states, reaching out to pour me some more wine. "I would have raised hell if it had been someone more..." she states, watching as I hold out my glass for a poorly planned refill. "Okay... Ground rule number two, I expect any daughter of mine to actually graduate high school and get into college even if Sammie isn't as..."

"That's not much of a rule" I giggle, coughing as the effeminate laugh slips out from my lips. "Graduating isn't that..."

"You have already been held back once" Meredith states in a matter of fact tone. "But with the better driver behind the wheel... well I'm confident you can work it out." The older woman adjusts her glasses once more, the sweat that had built around her larger nose in moving the tree causing the frames to constantly slide down. "Speaking of working..." she states, raising her hands to show quotation marks despite grappling with glass and bottle in hand. "Ground rule number three, you actually need to help out at the cafe rather then just using it to skip school."

"Cafe?" I ask, touching my cheeks as I feel them growing more and more flushed as I softly sip at the wine. "I have a..."

"Job?" Meredith asks, cutting more off. "Did she seriously not tell you about..." she continues, pausing as she takes a deep breath. "Sammie owns the Hideaway, and you are meant to be helping her there when you get the time. Aurelia hasn't been... well she hasn't done much in the way of work since she started three years ago. I expect you to actually serve a customer or two."

"These are..." I stammer, sipping at the last of my wine as I fight back the urge to puke. "These are a lot of rules for not very much in..."

"I was getting to that" Meredith states, smirking as she holds up the bottle to check just how much is left. Pouring out the wine she give the rest to me, standing up herself to go fetch another bottle for herself. "If you follow the rules I can help to cover for you around the house and your mother" she states, opening a second bottle before filling her own glass to the brim. "I can also help to get you into college despite your... less than stellar performance these past few year. I mean, assuming you'd like to get back into the humanities, my department is always very accommodating to those who are eager. I also promise to be a little less strict with you than I was with Aurelia, you are an adult after all."

As Meredith shuffles back over I slowly drink the glass of remaining wine. She pauses before taking a seat, using the difference in height to its maximum effect. "So... do we have a deal?" she asks, nodding her head towards the new and actually aged bottle of wine.

I open and close my mouth, unsure how to answer. "But... what about school and... and everyone else around..." I begin to stammer, pausing as I watch the older woman pour me a little bit of the far finer wine.

"The school hasn't made a peep" she explains, rolling her eyes. "I would put money on the fact that they just shredded the random letter from a student rather than read it. As for everyone else... I think your little bestie might know, but I haven't had anyone else bring it up" Meredith states, my heart beginning to race as I realize that this Public Purchase was seemingly becoming less public by the minute. "So... do we have a deal?" she reiterates, holding out her glass for a cheers.

Swallowing hard I reach out with my own glass, the crystal clicking with a bright chime before we both sip at the nicer seeming wine. I gag once again, the cheap wine now being replaced with something that tasted moldy and musty while the refined older woman relishes the flavor.

"Deal..." I choke out, my eyes watering as I catch Meredith poorly holding back a laugh.

I watch as the older woman takes a drink before topping off her glass, a cringe spreading across her face as a bell chimes from within her pocket.

"Shit" Meredith grumbles, rolling her eyes as she looks towards the closed door closest to the front of the cottage. "I need to mark those papers before..." she mutters to herself, her eyes darting back to me. "Why don't you head to your room? I'll keep an ear out for when Sammie gets back home and will get you for the... introduction." she continues, raising her eyebrows as she makes not of the first time I would be meeting my new birth mother.

"Sure..." I mumble, stagger to my tired and sweaty feet with a stagger as I find myself immediately hit with a head rush. "Um... where is my..." I mutter, pointing towards the close door further back in the cottage only for Meredith to shake her head.

"No no no" she states, looking out the window, to a small building outside. "We converted the old storage shed outside to a spare room so our Little Lia could have her own space" she explains, poorly snapping her fingers as she remembers something. "Right! Ground Rule Number Four, no strange boys around the house! Believe it or not I remember how it is to be a young and hormonal, but I just can't..."

"I... uh..." I blurt out, smiling at the older woman with a wavering pleasant grin. "I'm into... I mean to say..."

"Aurelia has only had boyfriends" Meredith states dryly, raising her eyebrows as she looks over me. "Very amorous boyfriends whom she fawned over like they were the center of her world, but sure... I'm sure you'll work something out... So long as it's in your room... Outside of the house." She chuckles, pointing to the door in the corner as if to banish me from the cottage.

Taken aback by this information I stagger back, draining down the last of my wine before placing the glass down by the window.

"No talking about this to Sammie, graduate, work, and no boys..." I blurt out in rapid succession, my legs wobbling slightly as I find the wine hitting me harder than normal. "Sure, of course Mom" I state, barely noticing the stern woman nearly tear up at the casual use of the word mom.

I practically stagger into the back room, finding myself staring at a tiny space with a small sink and a pile of shoes along with another door leading to a bathroom. Turning to the left I open the back door, soon finding my inebriated self standing under the oppressive sun in an all too familiar setting.

I stand in the threshold leading towards a staggered and tiered garden. Vegetables and flowers line the curved levels of soil held in place by wooden planks and stone slabs, the tiered space following the slope of the hill leading up from the back of the house. Compared to the photo Aurelia had originally sent the place seemed a little more matured, bushes now flowering and grasses having grown in.

Towards the left I spot the shed that Meredith had gestured towards, the wooden building standing at the base of the first raised garden bed. I shuffle my way over, my overheated and tipsy turned drunken form staggering home under the mid-afternoon sun.

I stumble into the shed before tumbling to the hardwood floor, splaying out across the ground as I slowly roll over to take off my boots. The newly rendered walls are covered in a poorly painted white finish, the uneven job leading me to believe someone in the family must have done the job themselves. A single bed sits in the corner, the end pointing towards the long side of the shed while a window above it aims at the higher tiers of the garden.

A large bookshelf sits just beyond the end of the bed, the books all facing the bed as the scuff antique shelf faces the bed in kind. Next to the shelf sits an oddly modern pure white desk and cheap black plastic chair, a desktop computer sitting beneath it with cables reaching up towards the screen and peripherals atop the desk itself. Next to the keyboard sits a large pile of paperwork, much of which is stapled and crumpled after experiencing a day or five inside a backpack.

Next to the door sits a wardrobe, the massive seeming piece of furniture sitting open as dozens of items of clothing litter the ground around it. Next to the bed sits a small bedside table, a large and plain set of glasses sitting atop it, while a cozy pale blue reading chair sits nestled between it and the door.

Groaning I pull the sweaty boots off with a huff, wriggling my delicate toes as I grumble under my breath at Aurelia's distaste for socks and underwear. Clambering over to the computer I heave my lithe frame up onto the seat, slumping over slightly as I feel my heavy chest hang forward with me.

My eyes shift to the papers, my gaze locking to homework that seemed to be weeks and weeks old at this point.

"Has she not done anything since we..." I grumble, my eyes narrowing as I wonder whether she even looked at this homework since we agreed to the swap. reaching over I snatch the top item from the pile, a series of questions relating to Romeo and Juliet as my eyes begin to dart between my questions.

Despite my poor vision I slowly begin to read the work I would be expected to complete. As I sit down to try and tackle the overdue homework...