Page 40 of My Girlfriend is Not the Father

After debating which meal sounded the best and placing their order, Jade sat back in the chair and scanned the room. ‘This place reminds me so much of one of my favourite spots back home – a ma-and-pa Italian place right outside downtown. I had the best manicotti of my life there.’

The server set down a wooden platter with a small loaf of crusty bread and pointed at the four dollops of butter in front of them. ‘Honey, fig, garlic, and plain.’

‘We made a pact, right? I’m starting with garlic.’ Lucy tore a chunk of warm bread and spread a hefty pat of butter on the pillowy interior. ‘Would you ever move back to Chicago?’

‘Hmmm. I don’t think so. I loved the city. So much. It has everything one could ever want, but there’s nothing there for me anymore.’ Jade picked up the knife to cut herself a slice.

Lucy sank her teeth into the perfect combo of crunchy exterior and soft interior. ‘Don’t you have family there?’

‘Yeah, my parents.’

Lucy raised her eyebrows.

Jade slathered a combo of honey and fig butter on half and garlic on the bottom half. ‘Let’s just say I have a very complicated relationship with my folks.’

‘Oh yeah? How so?’

‘My parents are pretty successful. My mom’s a VP at a telecommunications company and my dad’s a lawyer. And they always expected that I would do something … great, I guess. My older sister’s a doctor. My younger sister is at Harvard earning her PhD in history. And, well …’ She gave Lucy a lopsided grin. ‘Here I am.’

‘And here you are … what? A successful business owner?’

‘Thank you.’ Jade chewed slowly and swallowed. ‘I thought I’d go to school for graphic design, maybe go work at some big firm. But I hated it so much that I dropped out my sophomore year.’ She added another dollop of butter to her slice of bread. ‘When I told my parents I was going to cosmetology school, they freaked out. They couldn’t fathom why I would go to “beauty school”. They said they wanted me to be as successful as possible, and cutting hair was not sustainable. Of course, the whole spiel was for my own good – and then they said they were cutting me off.’

‘What?’

‘Yeah. I was on my own, and they wouldn’t help pay for a single thing. They even kicked me off the family cell phone plan. So dumb.’

Ouch. Lucy loved her dad, and she might not always get the emotional support she needed, but she was always her dad’s number one. She couldn’t imagine a world where she didn’t feel one hundred per cent supported. ‘I’m sorry. That sounds really, really hard.’

Jade shrugged. ‘I don’t know. I mean, so many people have it worse, you know? Who am I to grumble that my rich parents didn’t give me enough? I’m a walking billboard of privilege. I hate even complaining about it.’

‘Someone will always have it harder. Doesn’t diminish your reality, or your struggle, you know? You had to fight for what you wanted. That’s real.’ Lucy added an extra helping of fig butter onto the bread. ‘Also, how do I not know this stuff about you already? I mean, I’ve seen your boobs for God’s sake.’

‘I knew it!’ Jade laughed.

‘I’m totally kidding. I swear I didn’t!’ Lucy was still pretty bummed she hadn’t gotten a sneak peek.

Jade fiddled with the straw in her sparkling water. ‘What about you? Do you have family in the area?’

The server set down the plates, the steam rising from the pasta. Lucy twirled the noodles on her spoon and felt a sliver of honesty edging its way upwards. ‘My mom died when I was ten. Bike accident.’

‘Oh, wow.’ Jade’s words were soft.

Lucy wanted to suck back this conversation. She didn’t talk about her mom, ever. And yet, just saying that piece was stirring something.

‘My dad is around, and we spend a lot of time together. I sometimes wonder if my dad and I would be as close if my mom were still here. Oh gosh, that probably sounds awful. Obviously, it’s not like I’m glad my mom died, but I lucked out in the dad department. You’d like him. He’s a grumpy old man.’

‘I love that you guys are there for each other.’ Jade scooped up tomato sauce with a chunk of bread. ‘Can I ask you a question?’

‘Sure.’

‘What made you decide to be a surrogate for your friend?’

The question was hefty, although not unexpected, and Lucy wanted to give Jade a longer answer than she could probably formulate coherently on the spot. ‘You’re not going to ask me how much they’re paying me?’

‘That’s none of my damn business.’

Something about Jade’s response warmed Lucy. ‘Very few people in my life know I’m doing this, but I’ve gotten the same two questions from all of them: How much are they paying you and how’s it going to happen?’ She bit into a spicy sausage and swallowed. ‘I think they assume Drew and I are going to bang it out in the bedroom with blindfolds on.’ She shuddered. ‘Gross. Dudes.’