AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Is your grandmother okay?”
“Oh, yeah. She’s fine. Great.”
Great,Maggie repeats silently, her tongue gravitating toward the tooth at the back of her mouth. The filling definitely feels loose.
“So, what brought this on?” Erin asks, fingers motioning toward Maggie’s head.
“I’m not sure,” Maggie says, still trying to make sense of it herself. “I went into this hairdressing salon to inquire about a job for you….”
“You asked about a job forme?”
“Yes, but—”
“I’m not working in some stupid hair salon!”
“No, you’re not,” Maggie confirms, exhaling a long, deep breath. “Iam.”
“What?”
“The owner of the salon offered me the job and…I think I took it.”
“What?” Erin says again.
Maggie isn’t sure what else to say. She’s been asking herself the same thing for the past three hours. “I know it sounds bizarre.”
“No shit!”
“Erin…”
“What about Leo? Who’s going to drive him to and from camp? Does this mean I get a car?”
“No, it does not. I can still drive him. The hours are pretty flexible.”
“I don’t understand. You’re ateacher,” Erin says.
“Iwasa teacher.”
“And now…what? You’re ahairdresser?”
“I’m a receptionist. For the time being. You were right—I can’t just sit around all day, doing nothing. It isn’t doing anyone any favors…” Maggie says, borrowing Nadine’s words.
“Wait,” Erin interrupts. “You’re saying I was right about something? Who are you, and what have you done with my mother?”
Maggie smiles. She doesn’t have an answer for that one either. “It’s almost one o’clock,” she says instead, checking her watch. “You need to get dressed. You shouldn’t be outside in your pajamas.”
Erin rolls her eyes. “And she’s back.”
Maggie turns toward her house. “Nice seeing you again, Mark.”
“You, too,” he says. “And you reallydolook great.”
“Thank you.” Maggie begins walking to her front door. “Erin?” she says, stopping when her daughter fails to accompany her.
“I’ll be in soon.”
“Now,”Maggie says.
“Does your grandmother have room for one more?” Erin mutters, just loud enough for Maggie to hear.
Mark laughs. “Catch you later.”
“Really, Mom?” Erin demands as they step inside the house. “Do you have to be such a dick?”
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me.”
The next thing Maggie hears is the familiar sound of her daughter’s bedroom door slamming shut.
