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“Just came over to see you,” I said, leaning down and giving her a hug. “What’s going on?”
“I’m working on my social media,” she said with a smile. “Take a look!”
I’d been down this road before with her. She would get all pumped up and sometimes sink money into marketing schemes and then lose momentum and get distracted a month later. In the beginning I’d tried to help her, but she didn’t want my help anymore, so the only thing I could do was hope she came to her senses before she lost too much money. I just wish she could find something to do with her time that wasn’t a terrible waste.
“Looks great, Mom,” I said, my eyes aching after looking at the terrible stock images run through a disgusting filter that littered her page, along with inspirational quotes.
“Hey, I saw there was a flyer for a new mystery book club at the library. You love true crime. You should join it.” There was one thing my mom loved as much as joining one network marketing company after another, and that was true crime. I’d grown up with her watching movies with me that I was probably much too young to see and giving me nightmares about scary dudes coming in my window to snatch me away for nefarious purposes.
“Maybe,” she said in a disinterested tone. Hey, at least I tried.
“Linley is seeing someone new.” That got her attention.
“Tell me everything,” she said.
I told her the details of the date, omitting the sexier stuff, of course. There were just some lines I didn’t want to cross with my mom, thank you.
“He doesn’t have any friends or brothers?” she asked when I was done. Of course.
“I don’t know, I’ll find out,” I said, in a deadpan voice.
“Just think how perfect it would be,” she said, grabbing my hands. “You could have a double wedding.”
Wow. My mom was just as bad as Linley’s. It was weird they weren’t better friends, but they stayed mostly cordial with each other and always had been. My mom burned so many friendship bridges, and to be honest, she was a lot.
“I think that’s a little premature, but I’ll see how Linley feels about it,” I said, but I wasn’t serious.
Mom made me some tea and nagged me some more and by the time I got home I was drained, but then I had a cup of coffee and revived myself with a quick chicken Caesar salad and a fresh mango I ate over the sink.
I hated working Sundays, but it was a sacrifice for a good cause. I also needed to remember to clean my house. Yes, my house was cleanish now, but it wasn’t company clean.
I also needed to plan an outfit and have snacks on hand. This seduction business was a lot of work. I was already tired. Dating hadn’t been this much work, or at least not the way I’d been doing it. Wyatt hadn’t expected charcuterie and sparkling conversation. He usually just wanted to eat pizza off my tits after we fucked or something. He also hadn’t really noticed when I’d gotten spruced up for him, so I’d stopped trying. For someone who was so conscious about image, he hadn’t seemed worried about mine, which was confusing.
I had to impress Esme. I had to get her to like me. To want to keep spending time with me. And I didn’t think she was going to be so easily swayed by nudity. I guess I’d figure that out on Tuesday.
Potato jumped on my lap and tried to push the laptop onto the floor, but I moved it out of the way so he didn’t wreak havoc on my work.
“Do you need attention?” I asked him, and he started kneading the blanket that I placed between myself and my laptop so my body didn’t overheat.
“Okay then.” I put my laptop on the coffee table and gave him snuggles for a while.
“Are you going to be mean to Esme? You’d better not bite her,” I said to him.
He just blinked at me, stretched his front paws out, and fell asleep.
* * *
Monday wasa whirlwind of emails back and forth and back and forth and trying to get myself caught up. I powered through and worked past my normal time so that I had breathing room for my afternoon with Esme. When I finally closed my laptop for the day, I ran around shoving things in cabinets and wiping down my counters and dusting my knickknacks. The house wasn’t that bad in the first place, but I wanted it to look good. I wanted her to like it. This was the first place I’d really gotten to make my own and I’d splattered my personality in every nook and cranny.
After a quick shower, I fell into bed and was already dreading my alarm, but I was ready. I’d even given Potato an extra-long brushing session so his coat was looking fluffy and fabulous.
* * *
Tuesday I wokeup to my alarm with a start, as if I’d forgotten something. When my brain finally cleared, I realized that today was my afternoon with Esme. Shit. I got up and made myself breakfast and wiped down the kitchen again before starting work. It seemed like a waste of time to go to the café just for a short time, so I set myself up on the couch with my headphones.
Between the distractions of being in my home, and worrying about Esme coming over, I got just about nothing done. I couldn’t stop checking the time on my phone.
You still cool to hang out?I sent while I ate leftover salad in the kitchen. I hadn’t heard from Esme to confirm a time yet, and I didn’t want to be weirdo, but I also needed to mentally prepare myself.
