“We should really plan a trip down to Florida to visit them. It’s been forever since we were all down there other than for Christmas,” she said.
“I think the last time was when you moved out of that apartment with your shitty ex after the epic cheating scandal and stayed with them for a few weeks.”
Mattie threw a pillow at my head, hitting me square in the face.
“Hey!” I yelled, tossing it back at her. She caught it.
“I can’t believe you’d bring up the most humiliating time in my life.” She glared at me.
I held up my hands. “What? It was literally the last time we were there together aside from Christmas. That’s just a fact.”
“A depressing one. And all the more reason to visit them.”
“It’s already April, and it’s too hot in the summer,” I protested. “And who knows what the vacation time will look like when I get another job.”
Mattie didn’t bother hiding her look of disapproval. “Fine. Good to know where your priorities are at. Hypothetical new job, number one. Quality time with family, number two.”
I was about to protest, but my phone went off again. I held it up to my face without thinking. Mom again.
“You need to go put that in another room or something,” Mattie said, shaking her head.
“And miss an email?” I said it as if that were the most preposterous idea she could have come up with.
I’d done a few more phone screenings this week and was waiting to hear back to see if I’d moved on. Some of the jobs I was even remotely excited about, which was an improvement from my first interview.
“The email will still be there whether you see it immediately or in a few hours.”
“If I get another interview, I want to schedule it as soon as possible,” I said, pulling up my email app in case I’d somehow missed a notification.
She didn’t get it. She had her dream life with her dream guy. Her life was completely put together, not shattered like mine was. I was in limbo, and I was desperate to get out.
Mattie rolled her eyes. “Whatever. God forbid you relax.”
“Relax? We’re sitting around doing nothing. I’m crawling out of my skin.”
Mattie closed her book. “It’s called a day off, Frankie. I know that’s a new concept for you, but most people find them enjoyable.”
I sighed dramatically.
My phone dinged again, and I brought it to my face.
It wasn’t an email, it was Oliver. He’d sent me a video of someone snowboarding, going off a huge jump before tumbling and sliding down the mountain. Oliver had written,Basically you on the bunny hill.
A smile spread over my face.
“You get an email?” Mattie asked. When I glanced up, she was staring at me.
“Oliver sent me some dumb video.”
“Oh, Oliver, huh?” she asked in a knowing tone, which irritated me. Of course, I’d already debriefed her on the breakfast and the kiss we’d shared. Which I never should have done because now she was reading way too much into it.
Oliver wasn’t helping her assumptions. Since then, I’d only seen him twice in passing at the lodge. Both times, he had been extremely flirty, even going so far as to walk right up to me and plant a kiss on me in front of Bev and Mattie. I had blinked at him in shock, but he’d acted like it was the most natural thing in the world. I truly did not understand the guy. He was living life by his own rule book, not caring for a moment what the typical or normal thing to do was.
“You like him. I know you do.”
“He’s fun,” I said noncommittedly.
“I love him for you.”
