Chapter 7

Maeve’s POV

It was the weekend and Mom was so excited for the spa weekend that we were both supposed to spend together. Mom had been dying to spend some alone time with me and she had told me about this masseuse Martha who had magical touch.

“All your pain and aches and stress will go away, my darling. She has made me addicted to her massages,” she told as she packed our bags jointly.

I looked at her as she continued,” You know we won’t need much clothes this weekend but just for the sake of propriety all you need are robes and bikinis.”

No sooner that she had said that my stomach gurgled with a loud sound and I looked at Mom in horror.

“What happened?” she asked, tensed but before I could say anything I rushed to the bathroom and stuck my head in the toilet and hurled my guts out.

Almost after an hour, when I had puked about thrice, Brian came in and said that he had called the doctor and he would be arriving soon.

“Did she eat something bad?” he asked as I remained on the bed, all pale and clammy and sweating.

“She has been eating all home cooked meals only. She hasn’t even gone out. How would she get food poisoning?” asked Mom as she sat beside me. She kept feeding me electrolytes so that I would not be dehydrated but anything reaching my stomach was making me feel queasy.

“Are you sure you won’t be able to go to the spa weekend?” asked Mom as Brian stood there with a concerned look on his face.

“I think it’s better that she remains home, babe. If you guys wish you can go next week as well. I will take care of it,” Brian chimed in. I could see something in his eyes but I could not trust myself.

“I will cancel it,” Mom said as she pulled out her phone.

But I stopped her.

“Mom, you said this was non-refundable right? No point in wasting the money then! You should take one of your friends and enjoy the weekend. I think I will be better once I get everything out of my system,” I said weakly.

“How can I even leave you in a state like this, Maeve? You need constant care right now!” she said.

“I am here. I will take care of her. But Maeve is right. You can go with Astor, don’t you think? She has never been to some place like this, has she?”

“Well she is a single Mom working three jobs and two kids. So no, I guess not,” said Mom with a thoughtful expression on her face. Both of them started discussing the semantics and I dozed off. My throat was feeling hoarse and I could not keep my eyes open any longer.

The next time I was woken up, a man was sitting by my side pulling down my covers.

The moment I looked at him and the man smiled I screamed.

The man was so alarmed by this that he almost slipped off the bed and Brian came running.

“Maeve? What is it? What happened?” he asked as I pointed at the man and he sighed.

“Oh that is Dr. Robbins. He is here to check on you. No worries, he is a doctor, sweetheart.”

I rose up from the bed weakly and sat there as I nodded at the stranger.

“Our Maeve is a med student. We are so proud of her,” Brian said with a smile and I wanted to roll my eyes at him but I didn’t have the energy to do that.

Dr. Robbins proceeded to check my stomach with his stethoscope and also checked my pulse and my eyes and my tongue and then said,” I am giving her a shot. This is a case of food poisoning. She will be soon alright in a few hours. Keep her hydrated.”

Brian nodded as they both went out. I was still feeling drained and sick as I rubbed the spot where he had given me the shot gingerly. I was a med student and I was supposed to be strong and know better but how the fuck would you take care of yourself in this state?

Brian came in after a few minutes with a bowl of something which smelled really good.

“It is light chicken soup. Dr. Robbins told that you need nutrition if you are to get better,” he said as he sat beside me on the bed and handed me the bowl.

I took a sip from the bowl and sighed in satisfaction.

“How are you feeling now?” he asked.

I nodded and said,” A bit better.”

“Have you been avoiding me?”

Damn he had noticed, how could I ignore this topic, I was hoping that after days he would have forgotten, I just looked and shook my head.

“Did you like what we did the other day?”

He had obviously noticed me doing it longer than I thought I had been, I became very uncomfortable with how this conversation was going, his hand touching my outer leg, lightly stroking it. I froze not quite understanding what was happening here.

“I have noticed you for a long time Maeve,” Brian said.

“I'm going to stop you there, you're my stepfather, we are not having this conversation.”

“You were masturbating thinking about me, weren’t you?”

“What are you talking about?” I asked him, in shock.

I tried to put down some authority and make out this was wrong, make him realise it and walk away, it did not have the outcome I intended, in fact he smiled and looked at me

“But I'm not you father.”

“That might be true, but you are married to my mother. And I don’t wish to be the cause of her unhappiness.”

“Keeping your mother happy is my responsibility. But so is your happiness, baby girl.”

Something with the way he said it made it very apparent it excited him, his hand now caressing up my leg, my body was heavy, I couldn't move to run away, as he came closer to me his hand slid between my thighs cupping my wet nether region, I could see his faint smile. Something inside me clenched.

“Can you keep a secret Maeve?”

His soft voice made my body tingle, very aware of what he meant. I didn’t know how I was going to stop this from happening as he kept the bowl of soup away on the bedside table and stared at me.

I was in deep shit, and I knew that I was helpless to do anything about it.