Sunday Snippet: Mocking with a Side of Sarcasm

Happy Mother's Dayto all the moms, mentors, and mother figures out there! Enjoy the day, and ifit's a hard day to celebrate, take care of you.

Another wildly busywork week but a lot of projects moved ahead and some were completed. Onecontrary work thing took an unexpected turn and I'll be trying to figure thatone out later today.

Had a decent weekof viewing despite the busy schedule. I made it through a full round of myshows, minus one—Dark Winds—because it's not on the streaming service Ihave anymore. I think it's on another one, but I've been too busy to track itdown.

Started the weekoff with Brokenwood Mysteries. This one ended up being a lot of fun witha couple of interesting secrets being revealed. Truly hope to see more of Trudyand Ray's mom.

Watched anotherepisode of Death in Paradise and enjoyed the mystery. Really not surewhat Neville's DI friend is doing on the island but have a feeling it's notgoing to mean anything good.

Loved the BeyondParadise holiday special for this past Christmas. I'm looking forward todiving into the rest of the season when it's available in the US.

Enjoyed anotherepisode of Elementary. Interesting to get some backstory of Sherlock'stime under the influence. Also intriguing that he stayed somewhat in thebackground. I like that kind of character progress.

Watched another episodeof Batman Beyond and didn't really have any recollection about this one.I did enjoy seeing Terry use his Batman moves while out of the costume.

Caught anotherepisode of Classic Rugrats and enjoyed both vignettes. I didn't remembereither of them so more new-to-me stuff.

That's pretty muchit for the life update this week. Tonight's post is from Mocking with a Sideof Sarcasm, a novella that explores what happens when long-held secrets cometo light.

Here's theminiblurb:

Bentley Briggs is snarky on a good day, but when shebecomes mocking and throws out a side of sarcasm, Vasek Barrett wants to knowwhy. He discovers a secret Bentley doesn't want him to know and she'll elevateher vitriol to an art form, but it won't keep Vasek from lending a hand.

And a preview snippet…

Bentley entered her parents'—no …her mom and Baron's—house and purposefully let the door slam shut.Took less than five seconds for hermother to come bustling in. "For goodness' sake. What is your problem,Bentley? You know I don't appreciate it when you shake the house to the rafterswhen you come in." Exasperation oozed from Mariana's pores.Bently cut right to the chase."Why didn't you fight for Teague?" She shrugged out of her jacket andtossed it on the back of the chair, something else her mother hated.Mariana blinked, opened her mouththen shut it again. She shook her head and turned back toward the study.Bentley called her mom out."You don't get to ignore me this time, Mom. Why didn't you fight for theman you loved?" A whole lot rode on her mom's answer.Mariana whirled around."Because I didn't love him!" She closed her eyes and exhaled slowly."More like I couldn't be sure of what I felt for him. And he left before Icould figure it out." Moving forward, her shoulder slumped in resignation,she took a seat on the edge of one of her slipper chairs.Bentley grunted. "Can youblame him?" Defending Teague didn't set completely well with her, but sheunderstood a lot more now than she did before.Mariana sighed. "It was aconfusing time and so long ago. I didn't know how I felt after I found out …well, after I discovered his latent ability. I was angry with him for nottelling me." She straightened her shoulders. "He left. At first togive me space. Then I met Baron, and I did fall in love with him. By the timeTeague returned, I was planning a wedding." Her face grew wistful.A fresh splash of rage washed overBentley. "And let Teague suffer in silence? Way to go, Mom." Shepaced back and forth. "You get him to sign his parental rights away, haveBaron adopt me, then keep everything, everything, from me when you knewall along what might happen." She stopped and flung her hand out. "Nowonder I'm so messed up. I can't turn around without smacking into anothersecret." Probably why she'd become so good at keeping them herself.Mariana tilted her head and pinnedBentley with a hard glare. "Kind of like you not telling Vasek how youreally feel about him?" Her lips curved in a knowing smirk.Dammit, Baron. I trusted you.

Bentley didn't like the twist."Gee, Mom, I don't know. Guess I got the worst of my parents instead ofthe best. Lucky me." The chasm grew even wider between her and her mother.Mariana clicked her tongue againsther teeth. "You know what? Stop it. You've had a very privilegedupbringing, and I didn't raise you to act like a spoiled child."Bentley snorted then went forblood. "You didn't raise me at all. Baron did. The man I thoughtwas my father." She started pacing again. "And it makes so much sensenow. You couldn't bear to be around me, because I reminded you of your worsttransgression … getting knocked up by someone you considered to be untrustworthy."She stopped mid-step. "Well, guess what, Mom? You won't have to sufferthrough that anymore. I'm going to fix it for you." She grabbed her coatand headed for the foyer.Mariana reached out and clasped Bentley'sshoulder. "And just how do you plan to do that?" Her fingers dug intoBentley's skin.Bentley shrugged away from hermother. "Easily. By walking out the door and not letting it hit me in theass on the way out. Your biggest problem—which has always been me—solved justlike that." She snapped her fingers, gave her mother a mocking salute thenpulled the door open and strode through, leaving her gaping mother behind.

I love writing Bentley'sconfrontations. She's a force to be reckoned with and her life is falling apart,but she'll get things back on track.

 

That's it for thisweek.

Cheers!

Skye