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“I’ll just go see who it is,” my mom says.
My dad makes a point not to make eye contact with me as we bring out the last bits and pieces for the meal. When we enter the dining room, I see why.
Standing with my mom is a guy I recognize from their church, smiling awkwardly at me.
“Jada, you remember Robert, don’t you?” my mom says, grinning at me with what can only be described as manic enthusiasm. “He just happened to stop by, and I thought it would only be polite to invite him in for dinner.”
She grins at me again, and I do my best not to roll my eyes right in the poor guy’s face. It’s all very clear what’s happening here, though we all have to pretend it isn’t. I greet Robert as politely as I can, even if what I’d really like to do is tell everyone in the room why I have zero interest in getting to know this guy.
My parents, well-meaning as they are, seem to be hell-bent – or heaven-bent, in this case – on getting me to marry a nice Christian boy from their church. Then I can spend the rest of my days cooking and cleaning for him while he works some well-paying corporate job. A real ‘happily ever after.’
Well, I tried that already. It didn’t work.
“Please, everyone, sit,” my dad says warmly, and of course, Robert and I end up sitting opposite each other, just as my parents planned.
I try to make polite conversation, but every moment of this surprise blind date feels like torture. Not that there’s anything wrong with Robert – I’m sure he’s fine – but the last thing I want is to get into another relationship. My ex scared me off those for good, despite being the nice Christian boy my parents always dreamed of. At least, on the surface.
Behind closed doors, he was controlling and petty, and I hate to say it took me way too long to realize that. I pretty much only got out of that relationship because I finally realized how suffocating it was. If I hadn’t, it could have easily ended in the marriage my parents so desperately wanted for me. I would have ended up in a miserable relationship just for the sake of keeping up appearances.
“So what do you do for work, Jada?” Robert asks me.
I try my best to be polite and make my job at Clearwater Ocean Resort sound interesting. Not that it’s boring, but as far as date questions go, this one’s pretty pedestrian. Then again, it doesn’t really seem like Robert’s that eager to be here either.
I wonder how much they had to bug him to even get him to come over, I think as I give a reluctant rundown of my life as a bartender.Do I seem so desperate that they have to set up elaborate tricks like this to get me to meet a guy?
I don’t know how to make it clear to my parents that I’m just not interested but then, I realize, I don’t know if I’d have the heart to – even if I did figure out some magical, kind way to tell them. It’s clear they just want me to be happy, and this is their way of trying to help me find what they think I need.
Only, this is definitely not the way to do it, and I wouldn’t mind at all if they decided to give it up entirely. I almost gave up my life for a guy once. I’m not about to do that again, and this Robert guy isn’t much of a temptation to try.
“Oh, could you pass the mayonnaise?” he asks, and I hold back the urge to sigh as I hand over the condiment.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see my mom stealing glances at me, no doubt trying to see if there are any sparks flying here. I hope it’s as obvious to her as it is to me that nothing is going to happen with Robert. Or anyone else for that matter.
I don’t want to marry a nice guy from their church. I don’t want to spend the rest of my days as a housewife. And Idefinitelydon’t want any more clumsy attempts from my parents to set me up with someone who clearly doesn’t want to be there, and whose most interesting addition to the conversation is asking for the mayonnaise.
I want more for myself than what they want for me, and I’m not about to throw away my independence for the sake of a relationship again. I just wish they could understand that without me having to spell it out for them.
My thoughts are interrupted again by Robert, and this time he seems a little annoyed. I get the distinct feeling he was talking to me and I missed his question.
“Sorry, what?” I ask, shaking myself out of my reverie.
“I said, could you pass the salt?”
This time, I do sigh.
3
CARTER
Icatch a last-second glimpse of myself in the mirror and run a hand through my hair just before heading out to the Clearwater Ocean Resort. The rock of dread that usually finds its way into my belly right about now is blissfully absent, thanks to Heidi. Tonight’s blind date is her doing.
The pure abject boredom of my last date meant I wasn’t exactly eager to call my mom to find out which random grocery store or sidewalk or library stranger she’d set me up with next.
But the news that my sister had taken care of this one was a load off.
“Heidi said she has someone in mind for you,” was my mom’s answer and even if she didn’t see it herself, I knew it was a ruse from Heidi to give me a little breathing room.
I’ll have to find a way to thank her, I think as I jump into my car and drive to the beachside resort. When I get there, I find Heidi working behind the beachside bar at On The Rocks, as usual.
