Goneril Capp was in a hurry to get home. She wasn’t sure if her husband or her kids were home yet or not, but she was hoping for the latter. She didn’t want anyone to see her yet, at least not until she could hide what she had done with a proper amount of makeup.



Walking up to her house, she checked her watch. It was almost close the time that her husband would return from work, she knew she had to make this fast. Looking up at her house, she felt a swell of pride. It was a gift from her father, Consort Capp right after she had accepted her arranged marriage to, Albany Norman. He was the son of a very wealthy man, which had made him quite favorable in her parent’s eyes. Of course it also helped that he became CEO of a huge company himself after his father’s death. Her father’s affection for Albany only deepened when he gave her four beautiful children. It was all her father could ask for, almost an entirely new generation to carry on the Capp name and traditions.



As she quietly slipped in through her front doors, Goneril was taken by surprise when her eldest daughter, Miranda came out of their living room to greet her.

“Hello Ma, where were you?” Miranda asked her mother curiously.

“Um, no where honey, I was just out…I went to the market to get something.” Goneril lied, hoping her daughter would drop the subject.

“Well what did you buy…?” she trailed off as she studied her mother closely. Then suddenly Miranda let out a gasp and took a few steps back, “Ma, your lips! You’ve changed your lips!” She almost shouted.



“Shhh!” Goneril looked around as she tried to shush her. Hoping no one was listening, she turned back to Miranda to say, “and so what if I did? I think these look better on me.” She pursed her lips to show her daughter.

“Ma, grandpa’s going to be furious with you! You know he doesn’t approve of things like that.” She motioned towards her mother’s lips and said gravely, “I don’t think what you’ve done is going to sit very well with him.”

“Well then I guess we won’t have to tell him.” She smiled sweetly at her daughter, “now, are there any other problems you’d like to point out with my little makeover, or are you going to be happy that I’m finally happy about my new appearance? It’s such a boost of self confidence for me; really you should be happy you know.”

Miranda timidly raised her hand, “I, uh, have another problem I’d like to bring to your attention, Ma.”

Rolling her eyes in exasperation, she impatiently asked her daughter with a false smile, “What is it, dear?”

Miranda took a deep breath and said, “Grandpa’s coming over in an hour, he wants to talk to you about something.”



The smile fell from Goneril’s face and was replaced with a look of worry. “My father is coming in an hour, and you only tell me this now?” She whispered as she nervously tugged at the fingertips of her gloves. “Why wasn’t that the first thing you brought to my attention?” She suddenly shouted taking a menacing step towards Miranda.

“I’m sorry!” Miranda said scared. “I was just so shocked…and then I wasn’t thinking…I’m sorry Ma!”

“Well, are all the rooms clean? Are the kids picked up from school? Is your father here?” Goneril pressed her daughter for answers, desperate to make sure everything was in order before her father arrived.

Miranda nodded, “yes, Ma, Papa and the rest are all here, and everything in the house is clean. I made sure to have it all done right after I got the phone call from him.”



Goneril suddenly pulled her daughter in for a hug. “Oh, thank you Miranda. I’m sorry for yelling at you. You couldn’t be a more perfect daughter if you tried.” She smiled as she held her daughter close. “I love you so much, thank you.”

Miranda enjoyed her mother’s hug for it was scarcely that she ever received one from her. Goneril was the type of mother that enjoyed the finer things in life, especially when it came to her beauty. She was interested in becoming famous, how or why were not questions she cared to have answers for. All Miranda knew was that the latest stunt her mom was about to pull would not go over well with her grandpa…that is if he would even notice. Goneril wasn’t too high on his list of favorite daughters after all; Miranda knew this because he would talk with pride only about Regan and Cordelia. Her mom was too much of a wild child for him. He was only happy that she chose to go with the tradition of having an arranged marriage, and Miranda knew that Goneril had only done that to please her very wealthy father so that he would pass on some of his money to her.


~*~