Mr. Possessive Guardian: Please let Me Go!

12 Doris Pitches A fit

Susie had already prepared dinner, and when she saw Wesley enter the door that evening, she hurried to put out slippers for him. "Mr. Gates," she said, "supper is ready, but miss Doris hasn't come back yet. Would you like to have supper first or wait for her?"

"I'll wait for her," Wesley said. "Susie, you can go home now."

Susie's daughter-in-law was pregnant and needed to be cared for, so Susie had to go home every night. After Susie left, Wesley took a shower and went straight to the study, where he waited until nine o'clock, which was what time it was when Doris arrived home.

Wesley heard a noise at the door, and then the study door was pushed open. Doris staggered through the door. Her cheeks were glowing, her eyes were dim, and there was a murderous look in her eyes. When Westley saw her, he frowned and asked her if she was drunk. Rather than answer the question, though, Doris pointed her finger and him and shouted, "You! You! You! You…"

"What about me?" Wesley asked innocently. And when she didn't reply, he asked her how much she'd had to drink.

"What about YOU?!?!?!" Doris hissed. "You're question is hilarious!" And then she grabbed an ashtray and threw it at Westley's head. Westley dodged the porcelain projectile, and it smashed through the French windows behind him. "What gives you the right?!?!!?!?"

"Doris?" Westley cried as she began to pick up other things to throw at him: a cell phone, a book, a pack of cigarettes; anything that was within reach, and not attached to something, seemed to be fair game. "What's gotten into you?"

As Westley took shelter behind his desk, a deck of cards hit him in the forehead, and he cursed. A potted plant hit the bookcase that was beside the window, and a rain of shrapnel came down upon his head and shoulders.

"You bastard!" Doris bellowed. "It is all because of you. You got me kicked out of school and stole everything from me. Why are you doing this to me? Why? What did I ever do to you to deserve this treatment?"

Eventually, Doris ran out of steam. She began to weep, and she collapsed on the floor in a fit of despair. "What do you want from me?" she cried. "Why can't you just move out? I don't want anything other than this house. This is the only home I have. I grew up here, and all of my memories are here! Why don't you move out? I don't want you to be my guardian. I'm almost eighteen! Why do I even need a guardian? We don't even know each other!"

Now that it seemed safe to come out, Westley crawled over to where Doris was sitting with her knees drawn to her girlish-flat chest, bawling like an infant. Wesley grabbed Doris by the arms and forced her to look him in the eyes. Her tiny face, he saw, was wet with tears, and only then did he realize how much she hated him. "Do you want me to move out?" he asked hoarsely. "Truly?"

Doris flashed her innocent eyes and nodded without hesitation.

Westley: "Do you want me to have the Guardianship Order overturned?"

Doris nodded again.

Westley: "Okay. I will. I promise."

"Wait a minute," she said. "I'd like to record that." Doris found her phone. It was on the floor, near Westley's desk. She'd thrown it at him, but it still worked. She found her camera App, quickly, pointed it at Westley, and said, "Could you please say that again?"

Westley scowled. "Don't you believe me?" he asked. "You don't need the camera. Look me in the eyes and see if I'm lying."

Doris looked Westley in the eyes, and when she didn't see any lies in them, she put her phone away and said, "Professor Gates, I hope that you keep your word."

Wesley smiled and said, "I always keep my word."

Doris: "You swear that you will give up custody of me and move out."

Westley: "I swear it! You impossible girl!"

Doris sighed and thanked Westley. Maybe this will all finally be over – she told herself. But she was afraid to count her chickens before they hatched. That being said, for the first time since her mother had died, she was hopeful. All of a sudden, Doris felt claustrophobic – I can't breathe. I need to get out of this room! She stood up quickly, then, and without saying another word to Westley, she ran to her room.

Once Doris was in her room, with her door closed and locked behind her, she called up Lydia to tell her the good news. Dorris had been plotting to get rid of Westley for a long time, and his concession was like a dream come true, and she felt silly for drinking the two beer earlier and getting drunk when all she'd needed to do was ask him to leave with conviction so that he knew she was serious.

When Doris told her friend about the fit she'd had, and how she destroyed his office and hit him in the head with a deck of cards, she was stunned. "And after all that, he's giving you what you want?" Lydia couldn't believe it. "And he's just going to give up custody and move out?" she asked incredulously. "Just like that? It sounds too good to be true. Do you think he's tricking you?"

"It's crossed my mind," Doris admitted. "I looked him in the eye, though, and I didn't see any lies there. Anyway, whose side are you on? You are being a real bummer…"

Lydia apologized and said, "Of course, I'm on your side. I was just playing the Devil's Advocate. I am your friend, and I don't want you to get your hopes up, just to be let down…"

"Don't worry," Doris sighed. "I am just trying to stay positive: hope for the best and expect the worst, you know?"

There was a moment of silence, and then Lydia said, "Let's change the subject. Did the thing I ordered for you online arrive?"

Doris looked at the package on the dresser. "Yes, I got it this morning. What's in it?"

Lydia: "Just open it and see."

Doris: "Well, I'll open it later. I'm going to take a shower now. Talk to you later. Bye."

Lydia: "Bye-bye."

After turning off her phone, Doris took off her T-shirt and jeans and stood in front of her long mirror, naked except for her pink cotton Hello Kitty underwear. She raised her hand and rolled up her hair, clamped it in place with her other hand, and turned to look at the package lying quietly on her dresser.

What's in it? – she wondered. She was curious. It felt like too much effort to tear off the packaging to see what was inside of it, but her curiosity finally got the better of her.

Doris brought the package to her bed. She sat down and made herself comfortable, cross-legged on her comforter, with her back against her headboard. She placed the package between her legs, and then she began to pull at the tape.