Chapter 2 - DON'T TOUCH ME
The studio lights were too bright.
Emily sat beside the Host.
Dark blue dress.
Hands folded.
Breathing carefully.
Then Linda entered.
She did not walk.
She rushed.
“My darling! I’ve finally found you!”
Before Emily could stand, Linda wrapped both arms around her.
Emily froze.
“No—”
Linda squeezed tighter.
Emily smelled expensive perfume.
Her body reacted before her mind.
Anger.
“You threw me in the trash!”
The audience gasped.
Robert stepped forward.
Dark suit.
Controlled expression.
“That happened twenty years ago.”
Emily stared.
“Twenty-five.”
He shrugged.
Linda hugged her tighter.
“We’re still your parents, after all.”
Emily pulled backward.
The audience began murmuring.
One woman called:
“They’re your parents!”
A man shouted:
“You should be taking care of them!”
Emily looked toward the Host.
He did not stop it.
Another woman pointed.
“You’re successful now. Just forgive them!”
Robert immediately nodded.
“That’s right. You can provide for us.”
Emily’s face twisted.
There.
Money.
Linda grabbed Emily’s face with both hands.
Then pulled her into another embrace.
“Good children take care of their parents.”
Emily’s hands began trembling.
She could hear Susan Carter’s voice in memory:
You never owe anyone access to your body.
Then Linda squeezed harder.
Emily shoved her away.
Linda staggered.
Emily burst into tears.
“DON’T TOUCH ME!”
Silence.
The studio froze.
Linda stood with tears on her cheeks.
But Emily saw something strange.
The tears stopped almost instantly.
Linda looked toward the producer.
Not toward Emily.
And Megan Blake, standing behind a camera, gave Linda a tiny hand signal.
Keep going.
May you like
That was when Emily understood the reunion had not gone wrong.
It was going exactly the way someone planned.
