All my As, studying, and successful internships, and I didn’t know the sky could look like this. Maybe the sun has always put on this show in the city, and it’s the high-rises and office lights that dim its blazing hues. Or maybe I’ve always spent my early mornings taking in the bluish glow of my laptop screen.
Or maybe I’ve just never had the bandwidth to pause, breathe, and look up.
At this hour, the marina is at its prettiest. The gentle morning glow softens all the chips and stains and ugly lines, while water gently laps against hulls. It’s serene.
Until my phone buzzes on the seat beside the cabin.
Water pools on the deck as I wrap myself in a towel, toss my new swim buoy aside, and retrieve my phone.Motherstares back at me.
I consider leaving it, because my morning has been going well. My swim was strong, Michelangelo just painted the sky, and I get to tag along with Grayson today. But my mom will just call every hour until I pick up. It’s more efficient to handle her now.
I sit down and put it on speaker.
“Eliza.” From the way she says it, you’d think I just entered a boardroom for a meeting.
“Hi, Mom.”
“How are you?”
I recognize the question for the formality it is. “Great.”
“That’s good.”
There’s no gladness behind her reaction, and I’m not expecting any. She doesn’t blame me for my lay-off, but she’s made it clear how much she disapproves of my decision to leave the city. In her mind, I should be chasing down every door with the slightest crack in it, or at least attending networking events. It doesn’t matter that Kyle upended my personal life.
For all her frigidity, she’s asked enough questions over the last year to figure out Kyle and I were no longer in love. To her, him cheating was almost a favor to me. Not a betrayal, an embarrassment, or a giant elephant in what was supposed to be my close friend group.
“How is the job?” she asks.
“Fantastic,” I recite, though the jury’s still out on that statement’s accuracy. “I’m certain I’ll receive strong references from the CEO when the contract is over, and I’m glad to add some diversity to my resume.”
“I trust Suzanne has been sourcing opportunities for you?”
“Yes. We’ve submitted several applications.”
I don’t know why she’s asking. Suzanne updates her regularly, as if I’m not an independent twenty-six-year-old, but some prodigal child.
“You’ll be back at it in no time, then.”
I don’t know if she’s trying to comfort herself, or me.
Finally, she gets to the point of her call. “Your brother’s commencement ceremony is in two weeks. I know you’ll be there, but I need to know if you’re joining us on Friday night. I’m making reservations.”
I’d almost forgotten about the event. Or maybe that was me trying to preserve my sanity. James, the family prodigy, my parents’ most prized child, is graduating from law school. He already took his final exams and landed at the top of his class.
“I’ll be there Saturday.”
“Why not Friday night?”
“I’m attending a virtual conference,” I lie. The last thing I want is to have my face rubbed in my brother’s success while my parents have unfettered access to me—their current disappointment—for two nights in a row.
“Well, we look forward to seeing you on the Saturday. We’ll circle back that week to determine your arrival time.”
I watch water drop from my hair onto the phone screen, distorting the letters of her name. “Sounds good.”
“Talk soon.”
She hangs up before I can tap the red button. Slouching back with a sigh, I gaze at the water that’s still calm enough to reflect the cloud-speckled sky like glass. As Grayson said on Saturday—and seemed to genuinely appreciate—my early metrics are looking promising. In two weeks, I might be able to report major milestones to my parents, when they inevitably ask for specifics over dinner.
