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He chuckles. “Oh, milaya, when will you learn. Bratty girls get punished, and I have the perfect punishment for you.”
Oh shit.Maxim kisses the crown of my head, lets me go, heads to his car, and drives away. Leaving me turned on and confused. Yet again.
* * *
I didn't have to wait long before my mom and Jenny walked in.
“Hi, baby,” my mom says, sliding into the booth in front of me.
“Hey, sis,” Jenny says while sliding in next to her. I can practically stir the tension between her and me with a spatula. We haven’t spoken since I snapped at her the other day. We’re both hard-headed, and Mom is usually the one to stop our fighting. When we were younger, she would force us to apologize at the same time. That way, no one felt like one said it before the other.
“I ordered us a pitcher of sangria and the sampler platter you like, Mom,” I tell her.
“Thank you, baby,” she says while patting my hand.
"I’m surprised you got here before us. Since when do you get to places early?” Jenny says, laughing. I’m always late. My family often jokes about how I’m going to be late for my funeral.
“I was at the clinic and needed to finish some things.”
“You work too hard, Sophia. You need to relax more.”
“Mami, please don’t start.”
“That reminds me, how was the date the other day, Sophia,” Jenny says. This bitch. She asked in front of our mom on purpose. Mom gives Jenny the death stare, but she doesn’t notice. She’s giving me her full attention. Of course, as she would do this here. Where I can’t hang up and ignore her.
“Things weren't going to work out with us, Jenny. The guy had his head so far up his ass that he could see the insides of his colon. I have no idea where you find these men,” I snap at her.
She's so angry that she switches to a Spanish dialect without thinking.
“Oh wow, what a surprise. Have you ever thought that maybe they're not the problem, Sophia? You are. You always have a made-up excuse as to why they aren't good enough. Get your head out of the clouds. There is no such thing as perfect. You are twenty-nine years old, and your last relationship was with Luca three years ago.”
I squeeze my fist so hard my nails dig into my flesh. She did not start this now. I’m done putting up with this shit, so I get closer to her face.
I snap back to her in English.
“Maybe if you put more effort into your marriage and stopped worrying so much about my dating life, Felipe wouldn’t have cheated on you.” She gasps.
My heart sinks at the realization of the words that have left my mouth. I can’t believe I said them, but I don’t feel bad. The fact that I stooped to her level has my heart sinking. I’m tired of her shoving her beliefs down my throat when her marriage is a mess. Felipe and Jenny are high school sweethearts. Then Jenny got pregnant with my favorite person when she was sixteen. She and Felipe were forced to get married at eighteen.
They were in love, and Felipe worshiped the ground she walked on, but he cheated on her a year ago. They’re going to therapy to fix it, but they’re still in a bad place. I’m sure not getting to experience their young adult years like the rest of their friends has taken a toll on their relationship.
“How many times have I told you I refuse to settle? That the person doesn't have to be perfect. But they at least have to sweep me off my feet or catch my attention. You may have settled because of your situation but stop pushing men on me when I’ve told you to stop. Live your life, and stop trying to live vicariously through mine. If I end up alone, that’s my problem, not yours.”
Seeing someone heading to our table through my peripheral vision, I shut my mouth. I don’t want the waiter to overhear our conversation. Jenny, thinking it was her cue to start her rebuttal, opens her mouth, but someone coughs to get her attention before she gets the chance.
When I look up, my mouth flies open. No, please God, no. Let him be a stress illusion; he can’t be here. I look at my family, who are both gawking up at Maxim, standing in all his glory at the edge of the table. He changed what he was wearing from earlier and is now wearing his three-piece suit.
Ground, please open up, and swallow me whole—nosuch luck, though. I’m still sitting here, unable to move. What is he doing here? He is going to be my destruction. What do I do? Run? Will that be too insane to do? Mom looks at me with a knowing look. Fuck, fuck, fuck, I’m screwed.
Jenny breaks the awkward silence and snaps at Maxim, “Who are you?” Oh, boy. This is not going to end well.
Maxim slides in next to me and kisses my forehead. Sneaking a peek at Mom and Jenny, I want to laugh. Jenny opens and closes her mouth like a fish out of water.
“Hello, krasavitsa. Sorry, I’m late. I was stuck in traffic.”
“Wait, wait, wait a minute. Who the hell are you?” Jenny asks him.
Say something, Sophia. Talk. Say he is a psycho patient who has been stalking you and has a delusion that he’s your boyfriend. Nothing comes out; I’m speechless for the first time.
