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“No,” I lied. She sighed harshly and told me the name of the restaurant. Jess hung up on me and I got up as fast as I could and hurried to V’s bedroom for my overnight bag. I took a minute-long shower, changed into the skinny jeans and blouse I’d packed, and quickly pulled my hair into a ponytail.
“Wait, are we not going to breakfast anymore?” V asked, shuffling into the room.
“I forgot that it was my mom’s birthday and we’re having brunch. I’m an hour late,” I said.
“Oh, shit, can you drive?” V asked.
“Yeah, I’m not drunk anymore,” I said, lying. Even though it wasn’t a good idea, I was sober enough to drive.
“Okay…” V said. “I’ll be here, recovering,” she muttered. I gave her a kiss on the cheek, goodbye, and hurried downstairs to the garage. I sped to the restaurant, thankfully it wasn’t too far from V’s apartment building.
The restaurant was painted white outside and was definitely a brunch place. I stepped in and walked to the host’s podium to give my sister’s name. She told me to check out on the patio. The décor of the dining room was a tasteful Boho chic; it had a huge patio out back with a view of the ocean. As soon as I stepped outside, I heard a whistle to the right. Casey waved at me, he sat next to my mom, flanked by my dad of course. Jess sat beside Dad. I noticed that they had already ordered without me.
Their plates were almost empty and everyone gave me their version of a fake polite smile. Something like intense annoyance warmed my stomach as I sat in the only empty seat beside Jess. Her purse, along with my mom’s were on the other side of Casey—so I couldn’t sit there even if I wanted to.
“Hi, sorry I’m late. Happy Birthday, Mom,” I said while fitting into the booth beside Jess.
“Thank you honey. I’m glad you remembered,” she said in a saccharine tone but her words were patronizing. I realized that it was her birthday but she didn’t have to be so snide. My patience was thinning by the second and I couldn’t help it.
“Yeah, I forgot your card at home, I’ll have to bring it to you at family dinner,” I said.
Casey scoffed, “Right, if an excuse doesn’t come up before then.”
“So, Mom how do you feel? Another year older,” I said, needing to ignore Casey or explode on him.
“I feel oddly lighter,” she said vaguely. I nodded and glanced at Jess, she was busy trying to call the waiter. Then it occurred to me, if Jess saw that I was going to be late, why didn’t she call me earlier?
“So, what did you do last night, Nao? You look hungover,” Casey said.
“I went out with V,” I said.
“Like a true college girl,” he said. I glowered at him and debated throwing a spoon at his head.
“Lay off, it was a mistake,” I said.
“But it’s your mother’s birthday, Naomi. Come on,” Dad said. I turned my head to see the waiter coming to the table, thankfully.
“Oh, I didn’t know we would have someone else joining,” he said.
“Really?” I glanced at Jess, who sighed and addressed the waiter, asking for a menu. “If you guys didn’t want me to come anyway, why call?” I asked after the waiter left.
“Look, Nao, it’s mom’s birthday. We all thought you’d show up late. We were talking, thinking about other things. Then when it became apparent that you weren’t getting here anytime soon, we called,” Jess said.
“You shouldn’t have called her Jess. I didn’t think she’d come at all, you know how Nao loves to pretend she has no family,” Casey said.
“Shut the fuck up, Casey,” I said.
“Hey, we don’t need all of this right now,” Dad said in a hard tone.
“Of course, Dad, go to Casey’s rescue since he’s your golden child.” I said. “I shouldn’t have come. When I’m here all you guys do is talk about yourselves anyway. I’ve always been invisible in this family, or dumped on,” I said.
“Naomi,” Mom said, her tone disapproving.
“I should’ve just given a raincheck rather than come over here,” I said and got up. “Happy birthday Mom,” I added before I walked quickly away from the table. I called V once I got back to my car.
“Hello?” she croaked.
“Still want to go to breakfast?” I asked.
