“Weston was the next best thing. You should have packed up and gone with him to Japan. You haven’t exactly been picking winners since.”
I exhale through my nose.
“All these frauds,” my mother continues under her breath. “But you, with those hearts in your eyes, keep slapping a filter on these men and calling it love.”
And there it was. The irritation my mother knew how to spew into the severed wounds etched in my heart. I had done a good job stitching myself up after my latest heartbreak with a man named Trey. We’d broken up twice, the second timehurting worse than the first. The old, tainted memories of our relationship spun in my mind like a vinyl record skipping on the same bitter note.
“That’s not something I want to relive or even think about right now. Everything you’re talking about is from men in my past. I’ve learned my lesson.”
No more falling for charming men.
The great pretenders.
“I sure hope so.”
Aha. My AirPods. I almost forgot.
I snatch them off the desk in my office, along with the charging case. The mess in my room makes me cringe. I pop my AirPods in my ears, my mother’s voice still going as I text Lo.
MARLEY: I’ll pay you to clean my room.
LO: What the hell happened?
MARLEY: Packing happened. Do you still have the key I gave you?
LO: Yep.
MARLEY: Thanks, boo! I’d hate to come back to this mess.
LO: I got you.
MARLEY: I owe you.
“Did you hear what I said?” my mom screeches through the speakers.
“Oh, sorry! What did you say?”
“I asked if you’re still going alone.”
“Yes. Solo vacation. Just me,” I answer as I finally get behind the wheel.
“Good. You can mingle more. Men find it harder to approach a woman when she’s in a group.”
I roll my eyes and slam the car door shut. “Mom, seriously, where do you get this stuff?”
“Heatmagazine.”
I laugh. “You have to stop readingHeat.”
“Absolutely not. It just so happens to be very resourceful. And you should take a few pointers from your own magazine. Let your hair down. Have some fun. Can’t remember which issue that was, but Brandy was on the cover.”
I smile. She’s actually readingMod. That alone almost makes this call worth it.
“Despite everything, I am proud of you, Marley. I love you.”
“I love you too, Mom.”
“Find yourself a husband in Maui. Or at least a sperm donor,” she adds as I start the car. “Do something wild for once.”
