90 Chapter 90: Coal Digger (Part 1)

( I Still hate the WN app new update.)

[Edward POV]

"(sigh)...I'm too late." I muttered to myself. "Oh well."

After hearing what Luke said, Gloria was appalled and her smile disappeared. With a solemn face, she said, "What?"

Manny felt that he needed to explain to his mother the matter – like he always does. Although, it was also because he was confused by Luke's proclamation before. Scrunching his eyebrows, he said puzzledly, "He said you were a coal digger."

Phil was horrified and tried to stop Manny, "Okay, I think we can move on!-"

" Who said I was a coal digger?" Gloria asked sternly while looking at Luke.

Feeling that he had done something wrong, Luke tried to justify himself, " That's what my mom told me."

"What's a …coal digger?" Alex asked in confusion.

Phil whispered to Alex, but his voice was clear enough to be heard among everyone at the table, " He heard it wrong. It's "gold digger"."

I facepalmed at Phil's situational awareness. Claire tried to defend herself while her face turned pale white from the accusation. "I really do not think that I remember ever saying that."

"Well, you said it in the car, you said it at Christmas, you said it in the Mexican restaurant-" Haley who was sitting next to Luke closed his mouth immediately as she sensed the hostility in the air.

"Okay, Mr-Leaves-his-sweatshirts-at-school-every-day suddenly remembers everything. Thank you." Claire said in disbelief as she tried to diffuse the situation using humor. She turned to the victim and said, "Gloria- I-"

"I always felt that Manny and I weren't welcomed in this family. But, we were becoming friends, so I thought I was just mistaken. I guess I should trust myself more." Gloria said before throwing her napkin on her plate and stood up from the chair and excused herself from the dinner.

Jay sighed and said, "Well… I guess dinner's over."

…

As the group dispersed, I went to talk to Taylor and Selena. They were standing awkwardly by the pool, and managed to swipe some wine to drink during the chaos. Therefore, I joined them in drinking a bit while trying to ease their barely comfortable time in the rich man's house.

"You promised me an exciting time…It surely is an interesting dinner scene." Taylor said while scratching her left cheek, not knowing how to react in this entire situation.

Selena added with concern in her voice, "Won't anyone go talk to Gloria? I feel bad for her."

"Latina chicks stick together huh. I think so too, but if there's anyone who needs to go and fix the problem, it should be the perpetrator." I said calmly as I knew how the episode went, however I had an edging feeling at the back of my mind that asked me to go and do something.

"Claire?" Selena asked curiously. Her eyes lit up in intrigue as she saw my still calm demeanor while everyone else was treading on eggshells around each other.

"No. Phil." I corrected her while trying to figure out what went wrong in this episode.

…

[Claire's commentary]

With a regretful face, Claire said, " If I say something everybody's thinking, does that make me a mean person? Or does it make me a brave person?" She got her bravery back, "One who is courageous enough to stand up and say something…" Then, her moral high ground got deflated again, "Behind someone's back… to a 10-year old?"

[Commentary ends]

[3rd Person POV]

-Kitchen-

"Did you really have to call her that? A gold digger…" Jay asked, his tone was full of disappointment after he met Claire who was drinking white wine directly from the bottle at the moment.

"Ugh." Claire wiped the excess wine on her chin. Her eyes were teary but she still kept a stoic face so as to not seem weak in front of other people, "You know what, dad? It was a year ago. And it was a natural question to ask.She's a beautiful, hot woman, and you're not exactly… You know."

Jay was confused and shocked at the same time. "Not exactly what?"

At that time, Mitchell tiptoed into the kitchen to grab a wine glass. Claire noticed him and tried to drag him into the fire, "Mitchell, a little help?"

" No, you are doing great." Mitchell faux complimented Claire before tip-toeing to the other side.

Claire knew that she had done something wrong. But she couldn't get enough bravery to go up to Gloria's room and apologize. That's why she was drinking heavily in order to gather enough courage to stand up to her mistakes.

Inside the living room, Ted was having a conversation with Cam – who got a 'restraining order' issued by common accord from the majority of people inside the house that prevented him from going close to Taylor.

"When you married your wife before, did this kind of issue come out?" Cam asked curiously.

Drinking a glass of coffee, Ted shook his head and said, "No. My family accepted her the moment they laid eyes on her. Of course, her being so much richer than me made the family have no misunderstanding whatsoever on the fact of whether she wanted to use me or not."

"Wait. Your ex-wife is rich?" Cam asked, leaning closer to Ted.

"Yeah. Her father used to be the Prime Minister-" Ted stopped abruptly and looked at Cam with a concerned expression, "I shouldn't talk about that."

-Gloria's bedroom door-

"Gloria. Come on. Talk to me." Phil tried to make Gloria unlock the door after knocking for a few times.

"No. Go away!" Gloria chased him away, but her usual calm voice hinted at a sobbing mess despite how hard she tried to hide it. The only people she could lie to believing she was okay was only a naive person who took everything at face value.

"Gloria. Since you need space, I'll give you a moment." Phil said before he walked away.

Before long, Manny came knocking at the door. However, her mother asked him to go play with Luke. Next, the second closest person to Gloria in this family approached the locked bedroom door and said, "Gloria. It's Alex."

Gloria stifled her sobs and said, "Alex. I'm fine-"

"I know you're not. But…I don't think I can make you feel any better. I'm too immature for that." Alex said in a calm voice as she hid her disappointment to herself. Suddenly, her eyes lit up and she said, "However. I think…I know someone who can!"

"What? Who?" Gloria couldn't help but reply as Alex managed to catch her intrigue.

"Be right back!" Alex said before she went running down the stairs. She almost bumped to Haley who exclaimed, "Hey! Watch where you are going!"

"That damn brat." Haley cursed as she saw Alex ignored her before she walked toward her group of friends. They were watching a football re-run, and Jacob was hooked on the TV because he couldn't watch the live match before.

"Jacob. Is that really your dad?" Desiree asked in disbelief as she saw the Viking looking rough-man who was the team's coach. She leaned toward Jacob unconsciously as she felt something uncomfortable under her bottom and had her hand down there to find the cause of it.

"Yes." Jacob replied while swallowing his saliva. With Desiree's low-cut top and her constant moving on the couch, her jiggling breast was the only thing that could make him lose focus on the match.

'I'll treat this as a trial for me not to lose my focus during a match.' Jacob said inwardly as he put his utmost focus on the match to practice self-control. Before long, his mind was filled with the figure of Elsa having the same figure as Desiree as she jumped up and down. Up and down. Up and down.

"Why are you having such a stupid look on your face?" Haley was baffled by Ed's 'best friend' expression as she passed by him to get to Abby.

"Got it!" Desiree suddenly exclaimed and brought out a half cut cucumber from her ass. Jacob looked at her as she held the cucumber with both hands, and couldn't help but fainted on the couch as blood rushed to his head…and to his pants because of the milf.

"Why is he suddenly sleeping?" Desiree asked innocently as she waved her hand in front of Jacob's face.

Haley rolled her eyes as she saw the situation. "Your mom still lacks awareness that she's an extremely hot woman."

"What are you talking about? Anyway, will Edward really stay at your house tonight? You're really lucky…" Abby said while pouting.

Haley was in disbelief and asked, "Is that why you were so silent from before? I was just joking!"

Abby ignored Haley and said, "Maybe. Can we do a sleepover?"

"We're not 13." Haley replied as she felt a headache coming in.

"Hmm… I guess. Even though… while I was 13, no girls would want to invite me to a sleepover… And never come to my house to play with me." Abby said with a faux sad tone.

Haley rolled her eyes and said, "Are you trying to guilt trip me? FINE! YOU WIN! You can sleep over at my house tonight!"

"Thanks Haley. I love you!" Abby hugged Haley tightly, making her friend more annoyed. But then, Haley's face flashed a sincere excitement at the prospect of a sleepover. However, she hid it quickly as it wasn't in line with her popular girl character.

…

[Edward POV]

"So. You want me to talk to her?" I said, baffled by Alex's sudden request.

"Yeah. You have a way with words that could help people let go of their grudges. So in a way, you're the perfect person to go and talk to Gloria." Alex said anxiously, fearing my rejection.

Taylor looked on amusingly while Selena's eyes lit up again. Both of them were trying to make me involve myself in the matter, which earned them the subsequent title of 'daughters of chaos' inside my mind.

I sighed and said, "Fine. I'll try."

A part of me wanted the episode to move on as usual and not to involve myself in an extremely delicate manner, but my curiosity finally won over and pushed me to step lightly as I walked to Gloria's room, trying to find what went wrong in this whole situation.

*Knock Knock*

"Hey. Gloria. It's Ed. Can I come in?" I said in a calm tone.

Alex was hiding below the stairs and widened her eyes as she saw Gloria open her door to let me in. I mouthed my disbelief at her but Alex anxiously gestured for me to go in quickly.

I walked into the bedroom and closed the door, but I let it remain unlocked this time.

"Ed. I'm sorry I ruined your party." Gloria said with a sad tone as she sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Nah. It's alright. The party was getting boring anyway." I joked, making Gloria display a slight smile before she went heartbroken again. "How are you feeling?" I asked as I sat next to her.

"I don't know how to feel!" Gloria said whiningly as she dapped her eyes with a tissue– not wanting her tears to destroy her mascara.

I sighed before I acted like an innocent boy as I asked, "Don't you remember the first time we met? You make that joke about how rich Jay was?."

"Yeah. But I didn't call myself a 'coal digger'." Gloria replied after thinking for a while. Her mood was a bit complicated right now after she remembered the meeting.

"True. It hurts right. Not getting the trust from the people who are becoming your family."

Gloria nodded and looked at my face, feeling a bit relieved as someone understood her.

"From the beginning, I felt that Manny and I were not welcomed in this family. Wherever the family gathers, we will just talk by ourselves most of the time."

"But it did become better right?" I added.

She nodded again and said, "Alex was the first to reach out to me. Then, she slowly included me when the others were talking."

"Yeah. Alex is usually an outsider herself, so she knows how you feel. You'd been married to Jay for only 8 months right?"

"Jess (Yess)"

"I think…you're not that hurt because you were called a gold digger, but rather by the fact that it came from Claire, right?"

Gloria scowled and said, "Whenever I meet with Claire…in the beginning..She will make this kind of face." Gloria imitated Claire by pursing her lips a little and tilted her head at a 45 degrees angle– showing a condescending look to everyone who could see it.

"Oh my god. That's so Claire." I said while laughing a bit.

Gloria couldn't help but chuckle and said, "Yes. She makes this face a lot doesn't she?" Her eyes twinkled in realization, but she still couldn't bring herself to forgive Claire yet.

"She does." I said while nodding. "In fact, for the first few meetings where I was getting to know her daughters, she acted like I was going to steal them away and gave me that exact same look as well."

Gloria laughed and said, "YOU SHOULD steal them all away!" But she paused a bit and whispered, "Not Luke."

I was baffled by how the conversation got to this direction, so I grabbed the steering wheel and brought it back to the main topic. I saw a shadow standing in front of the door and knew that it's time for me to let the main character take the lead back.

"Look. I could try to defend Claire. But it'll work better if you hear it from someone who has been living with her for decades now. And apparently, he has a lot to say to you too."

"Who?" Gloria asked in confusion.

"Come in Phil. The door is unlocked." I said in a loud voice. Phil knocked on the door before he opened it and asked, "Gloria. Can I come in?"

[Phil's commentary]

" Claire likes to say, you can be part of the problem or part of the solution. Well, I happen to believe that you can be both." Phil said with a cocky smile.

[commentary ends]

"Listen, Claire feels terrible. She's downing white wine straight from the bottle. Why don't you talk to her?" Phil said, trying to placate Gloria to ease her anger.

Gloria couldn't help but get defensive. She stood up and said, " Why? I know what she thinks - A gold digger."

" I know she said that, but that was a long time ago, before she even knew you." Phil said as he sat next to me.

"I should go." I said.

"No Ed. Stay." Both people said at the same time. For Phil, he was glad I was there to be the buffer in the conversation. For Gloria, she wanted me there as I could understand what she was feeling. Therefore, I was stuck in an awkward situation there.

"Does Jay buy me nice things? Yes, of course! All beautiful things! Look at this." Gloria walked to her clothes drawer and started to throw away her underwear to Phil and mine's direction.

"Yellow, red, blue…All the colors…Do you think I can't live without these? Take them away, Phil." Gloria said while holding several underwear in her hand.

Phil sat there obediently even though he was buried with the underwear. I lost my sight as a yellow underpant was stuck on my head, but unlike Phil, I took it off almost immediately.

Phil lost his focus as he felt the soft sensation of the satin underwear in his hand., "Gloria. We all know you'd be fine without underwear. I mean, we know it's not about that."

"Creepy Phil." I retorted.

"It's about me not being accepted by my new family." Gloria interjected. "Ed knows what I mean."

Phil looked at me while I just nodded at him.

"But, that isn't the case now, right? After all, your family has already fully accepted you, am I right?" I interjected, causing both Phil and Gloria to be taken aback.

"Then, what is the problem?" Phil asked while scrunching his eyebrow.

"It's because. Claire is her friend." I exposed Gloria. "In fact, her best friend."

Gloria rolled her eyes and said, "Please. She's not my best friend."

"Really? When you have a hot new gossip that you couldn't talk to Jay about, who did you call? Did you call your sister back in Colombia?"

"Sonia doesn't even have a phone." Gloria said with a hint of derision.

"Then, is it Cam?"

Phil turned to Gloria who's fiddling with her fingers and realized, "She's your best- I mean Close friend isn't she?" He changed his words halfway as he was glared at by Gloria, but the fact remains.

"What should I do now?" Gloria asked honestly.

I thought for a while and said, "You could…use the advantages of having a morally superior position to emotionally blackmail her to expose one of her deepest, and darkest secrets to you. Then, you will continuously hold the leverage in every dinner appointment, family meeting, trip discussion-"

"Ed. That's dark." Phil said. Even Gloria nodded as she agreed with him, but was sincerely considering it in her heart.

I smiled and said, "Gloria. If I know something for sure about this family, is that they are very protective of each other."

Phil nodded and said, "That's true. I remember the first time Claire brought me home. Do you think Jay thought I was good enough for his little girl? No way. But, over time, he realized that I loved Claire as much as he did. And by then, Mitch had brought Cam home, so I was golden. Claire just needs a little time. And then, trust me, she'll be the most loyal friend you've ever had."

"It's natural for her to wonder about you and your dad. Most people would." I added. "You're a 10, and Jay's a 3."

Gloria chuckled a bit and said, "He's at least an 8."

"See. If you were not in love with him, I don't think you would give him something higher than a 5." I joked.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the bedroom door.

"Gloria. Come on, let's talk about this." Claire said from outside. Before Gloria and Phil could react, I said, "Claire. I'll help you enter the bedroom, if you act out the scene from Notting Hill."

Claire was baffled and she asked incredulously, "Are you serious?"

Phil wanted to say something, but I cupped my hand over his mouth and signaled Gloria with my eyes to let me handle it.

"Yes. Use your own words. Don't be afraid to use real emotion."

Claire tried to avoid it, "Ed Open the door-" She tried to open the door, but it was locked again.

"Come on. Do you want to come in or not?"

Claire was silent from outside the door. I heard a sigh and then she said, "Fine. I'll do it."

"Gloria…I'm not here…just as a member of a family…I'm also here as a friend…" Claire said with some embarrassment. However, it soon disappeared as she got into the role.

"I know…it'll be hard for you to trust me again… But, don't forget… I'm also just a girl…standing in front…of another girls' bedroom…asking her too.." She was too embarrassed to continue and said exasperatingly, "To JUST LET ME IN!"

I opened the door while smirking, and Claire rolled her eyes the minute she saw me.

She walked inside and saw Phil who was covered by Gloria's underwear and was speechless for a moment.