The Mistress, Part Two by Lexie Ray

representation of a certain man that currently held her heart – though she didn’t know why.
                  Preston was a liar and a cheater, which was completely the opposite of this man. Maybe that’s why women seemed to lose themselves in these sorts of books. The romance was giving her some satisfaction, where there otherwise wasn’t any. This book was giving her chills – she ached for a romance like that. And though she knew it was unrealistic, it maybe was a good thing that some women’s standards were that high.
                  They deserve this kind of man. How was it women’s fault that men couldn’t live up to potential expectations? Now, Haley still believed that these books allowed for ill-perceived ideas about what a relationship was, but it didn’t mean that the men shouldn’t strive for this sort of character within themselves. The man she was reading about wasn’t at all on the spectrum of perfection, but he was loving, gentlemanly, honest, and his strength seemed to radiate off the page when he was around the woman he loved. She made him more powerful. She made him more of a man. So, no – don’t give her the unrealistic relationship – but why was the man unrealistic? Did women not deserve a man positive in character?
                  Just as she reached a particular steamy scene – not full of lust, but of pure, unadulterated love – Rachel walked in with Lucas. They had returned. The boy looked the same, only a little less scrunched over. He walked in proudly, and most peculiarly, with a smile on his face.
                  Rather than saunter over to his mother with his newfound pride, likely due to her increasing busyness, he and Rachel both made their way to Haley’s table. “Hey, honey! You look like you feel better!” she exclaimed, before standing and pulling him into an eager hug.
                  “Ow!” he called with a slight laugh. Obviously she hadn’t hurt him too critically. “I do feel better. They gave me a few pain relievers. I have a couple of cracked ribs, so I have a slinky brace thing around me.”
                  “They broke a couple of ribs?” she asked in horror. How could she have not known that? She was carting him all over the place, through hell and high water, and he had broken ribs!
                  “Fractured, but on the bright side, I took pics of myself in the office with the brace and sent it to a girl I like and she is really worried about me and says I look cute with my shirt off,” he responded, smiling like a goof.
                  “Too much information,” Haley scoffed in jest. She tried to feign her best disgusted voice, but in a way that he knew she was joking. She didn’t want to hurt his self-esteem. He smiled.
                  “So, who is this girl anyway?” she asked. She wanted to lighten the mood before telling him they were going to the school with the matter. She also wanted to know. She missed him. It had been days since she had been around him – that was the longest she had ever been without him. So she needed to feel connected in his life.
                  Rachel stood behind him for only a moment before sinking into the chair across from Haley, obviously ready to sit down. She had been working all day, and then placed in charge of auntie duties. Haley knew she had to have been exhausted.
                  “Her name is Katlynn – and she’s so great. She’s the prettiest girl in my grade, and what’s better is she’s also the nicest,” he said with a strong bout of enthusiasm. “There’s only one problem…”
                  “What’s that, sweetie?” Haley asked, taking a sip of her coffee. Oh, to be young. There were no problems with junior high romances; she loved the innocence he possessed. She wished it could stay forever. Although he had just been beaten by a pulp,