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“Thank you so much for havin’ me this weekend. The past few weeks have been so much work for everyone. A nice place to relax and unwind for a few days will be great.”
We talk for a little while. Mom and Dad ask Friday questions about Georgia. They ask about our preparations for the exhibition. They avoid bringing up my MS or asking me any intrusive questions that would likely piss me off. I can tell they want to ask, though. I’ll probably snag them at some point, so they ask whatever they want.
I didn’t tell them about getting sick earlier this week, and I’m not planning on doing so. I do think it was just a one-off thing. I’ve been pushing myself too hard without giving myself enough rest. The company doctor checked me the day after and said he couldn’t find anything wrong. So, he went with exhaustion as the reason. This weekend is literally me following the doctor’s orders, taking it easy and relaxing.
Eventually Dad leaves to go play a round of golf with his friends. Mom says she’s going to go work in her garden, a hobby she brought back from Ireland. I wouldn’t know because she literally dropped me off at boarding school and disappeared for four years to her family’s estate. Just thinking about it brings a swell of resentment rising within me.
“Have you thought about when you’re going to tell Mistress Cherise about leaving the company?” Friday asks from her flamingo pool float.
“I’ll probably tell her before the last performance. I don’t want to risk saying anything before and losing my spot.”
“That’d be a pretty shitty thing for them to do to you.”
“Exactly,” I give her some side eye, “why they would. You know as well as I do that the world of dance is cutthroat.”
“True,” she cups some water in her hands to splash over herself. “My parents want me to come home after the holidays. They said it’s time for me to quit living a fool’s life and fulfill my familial duties.”
“What are those?” She never really talks about her family, aside from a story here or there, usually about her grandfather who she was really close to.
“Marrying Topper Christiansen IV. Having his spawn. Going to society functions and acting like a proper southern lady while he cheats on me with every available pussy.” She scoffs. “They would really die if they knew that I’m bisexual.”
“Topper Christiansen IV? That is the most pretentious name I’ve ever heard.”
“He is the worst. I’ve known him since I was three. We’ve been promised to each other since we were sixteen.”
“Wait. Are you engaged?” This information is blowing my mind.
“No. I don’t have a ring or anything, but our dads made a business deal years ago, predicated on the eventual merging of our families. Topper is graduating from Auburn with an MBA in the spring. Our parents have started planning a summer wedding.”
“Why am I just now learning this information?” I slide my sunglasses onto my head, so she feels the full force of my disapproving glare. “Seems kind of pertinent to share with your best friend.”
“Pot meet kettle. Honestly, I didn’t want to think about it. I just wanted to live my life in a normal way up here, without acknowledging how backward the family I come from is. I don’t know if I would have shared at all, but I feel like you need the distraction from thinking about Griff.”
“I don’t think about him,” I say as I slide my sunglasses back down. I’m not in the mood to talk about this.
“I think we should. You have been pushing yourself so hard the past couple of weeks. You don’t even give yourself a minute to rest because you know as soon as you do, you’re going to be thinking about him.”
I stay silent.
“Your brother doesn’t seem that mad about it. What’s the problem with letting someone in to help you deal with life? Having a real partner would only help you in the long run.”
I swim to the side of the pool and push myself out of the water. “I have to use the bathroom, I’ll be back.” I grab my towel and dry off while she mutters about me under her breath.
I’m not fooling anyone with my hasty exit from that conversation. She’s right, I haven’t given myself a single minute in which I could second guess my decision to end things. It’s a pointless road to go down. In the end, he’ll look back and be thankful that I let him go. He was never going to be mine.
I decide to use one of the bathrooms in the main house instead of the pool house because it’ll give me more time to cool off and her more time to move on to a different subject. Right as I reach for the door, I hear my mom call my name. I look over and see her kneeling in a flower bed. I hesitantly walk over to see what she wants.
“Do you have a minute, sweetie?” She wipes some sweat off her brow, smudging dirt on her face.
“I do as long as you never call me sweetie again.”
“Fair enough.” She points to a bench. “Have a seat.”
I fight back my knee jerk reaction to be obstinate. It has been nice to know I have her to talk to about everything going on. I sit down on the marble bench and wait for what she wants to talk to me about.
“How are you feeling?” she asks while keeping herself busy pulling weeds.
“Good, I haven’t had any flares if that’s what you’re asking.”
