Enid Sawyer Gets Her Ass Handed To Her, 18,368 Words Deep

My story is taking shape, lord help us. Expect much more from Seth, Will Hawthorne, Tim O'Sullivan, and Tab Sawyer. Among others. Here is an excerpt of an exchange between Reggie and Enid. As I stated in my last excerpt, Enid has picked the wrong place, the wrong time, the wrong day to pick a fight with Regina Grubauer.

"Enid approaches Patricia first. She kisses both cheeks in a pretentious mimicry of European custom. Enid was all about such pretentions. Patricia accepts this passively, neither encouraging nor discouraging the exchange. Enid pats Patricia’s back sympathetically, then turns her attention toward Reggie. Reggie experiences the usual shiver down her spine as Enid focuses her icy gaze, her eyes narrowing like a cat zeroing in on its prey.
“Reggie, you poor dear! You must be devastated, you poor thing,” she says, clucking her tongue. Reggie recognizes the tone, and knows that Enid must be about to deliver a real zinger. No matter, Reggie no longer needs to worry about Enid. She is grateful for this, if little else on this godforsaken day. Tab looks tensely between the two. He never was any good at refereeing these matches between his mother and Reggie. “Your father must have been so proud of you, having followed in his footsteps like that? But of course, you were so much braver! Working with children must be so hard; I don’t know how you do it!” She finishes, twisting the knife in Reggie’s heart. Enid knows damn well that Reggie is no longer working with children. Bad move, Enid, bad move. Tab catches the look on Reggie’s face and looks as though he wants to crawl into a hole and die, it’s a look Reggie recognizes.
“Actually, Enid, I’m sure that you’ll recall that I dropped out of the clinical programme and switched to education. I’m quite certain you’re aware of that,” Reggie says through clenched teeth. Is that a twitch of a smile on Patricia’s face? Reggie think so. Enid feigns dismay.
“Oh yes, how embarrassing! You’re right, dear, of course I knew that, I simply forgot,” she says, smiling like a cat that has just eaten the canary. “What was it you did after that? Oh, yes, now you’re at the community college...” she says, a look of disgust on her face. Perhaps a chipmunk has just farted in her face, perhaps not. Her implication, in either case, is clear. Community college is nowhere near as relevant, as prestigious, as clinical work, or better yet, research at the university. Reggie doesn’t give a good goddamn what Enid thinks about her work, but she would like to wipe that self-satisfied smirk off her goddamn face. This is her father’s funeral. She is here with her mother, for God’s sake. She may have behaved badly years ago, but she does not deserve to be made a fool of in front of God, her father’s colleagues, and the relatives that she is not certain she can claim as her own, but by God they are someone’s, and Reggie will be damned if she will let this harpy get the better of her in front of these random acquaintances. Outrage flushes her cheeks and brightens her eye. Enid quite wrongly perceives that Reggie is blushing with shame, and smiles triumphantly, proudly. Pride, as they say, cometh before the fall."