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“Hey... are you okay?” Ellie bit her lip and looked at me sideways, apprehensive as a parent who’d been asked to explain the birds and bees. “You seem kinda... down.”
“I’m just tired.” I put my phone away. “I’m sure I’ll sleep on the plane.”
“Oh yeah, bring an eye mask and some noise-cancelling headphones, and you’ll have the best sleep of your life!”
“Yeah.” I doubted that would be as true for me flying coach as it was for Ellie in first class, but I was exhausted enough that I could probably sleep standing up on the subway.
Ellie drummed her fingers on the steering wheel. “But you’re sure it’s not anything to do with... you know... the situation?”
I stared back in surprise that Ellie was uncharacteristically bringing up a difficult subject. “With Adam or my mom?”
“Both?”
“They probably aren’t helping,” I admitted. “My mom still thinks Adam is coming with me to the wedding, and I’m trying to figure out the best time to break the news so she can’t invite another guy.”
“Ugh, she sounds like Gigi, always trying to get me to date ‘eligible men’ like I’m some debutante from the olden times.” Ellie rolled her eyes. “Can you get your dad to smooth things over with your mom, so she’ll leave you alone?”
I thought about my middle-aged father—whose idea of being sensitive was not complaining too loudly when my mom served quinoa for dinner—attempting to arbitrate a deeply emotional conflict between his wife and oldest daughter. “Probably not.”
“Just tell her to leave you alone, then. You were so hardcore back there with Tanner. I believe in you!”
“It’s not that easy,” I protested. “She’ll get her feelings hurt, and I’ll never hear the end of it.”
“I’ve been a disappointment to Gigi for years,” Ellie confided, “so take it from me. You just have to do it; just rip off the bandage, and then refuse to say anything else about it until everything blows over. The wedding is actually a perfect opportunity, now that I think of it! All those guests around to literally provide a shield between you and your mom. Any time you see her coming, just run out on the dance floor and bust a move. She can’t start lecturing you in front of everyone!”
It wasn’t lectures I’d have to worry about, but tears. Disappointment. Lengthy conversations about how she’d never intended to hurt me. The emotional equivalent of an ultramarathon that was pre-exhausting just to think about. I smiled sadly. “I wish you were coming with me.” Ellie would spur me to talk to my mom and then draw attention to herself while I took cover.
“I still can. Should I tell Daddy not to come next weekend?” Ellie reached her hand for her phone.
“No, no,” I said quickly. “You don’t get to see him that much. I’ll be fine.”
“If you’re sure...” She drew her hand back.
“I got this. But thanks. I really appreciate the offer.”
Ellie gently squeezed my shoulder. “Any time.”
She was right. I could just tell Mom Adam couldn’t make it and refuse to say anything else about the matter, no matter how upset she was.
But not until it was too late for her to get a portable toilet villain, a teenager, or a middle-aged man to come to the wedding as my date.
Thursday night after work, I sat slumped on my couch, the memory of my disastrous encounter with Jenna at the hospital echoing relentlessly in my mind. Sprawled on the landing, she’d cringed away from me like I was a blood-borne pathogen. When we said our goodbyes at the airport, Jenna didn’t seem to hate me; she just appeared uninterested in pursuing a romantic relationship. Could her recollections of our time together really be so unbearable that she was repulsed by my mere presence?
Maybe I should have ignored her as I had the other two times we’d come face to face since the cruise, but I hadn’t had time to calculate the right decision. I’d heard someone fall, recognized it was Jenna, and moved into action.
After Jenna left, Cassidy had been surprised, tentatively probing me for more information about my relationship with the injured woman. “Was that... a friend?”
“Kind of,” I’d hedged, not ready to share the full extent of the relationship.
Cassidy had nodded. “I hope she’s not injured, so she can make it to... Asheville, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah, her sister’s getting married Saturday.”
Apparently, that had been a shocking disclosure, because Cassidy stared at me with wide eyes. “You know... I could present alone at the conference if you had somewhere to be.”
How had she inferred my desire to be with Jenna after a two-minute interaction? “Thanks, but that won’t be necessary,” I’d said, my tone decisive.
Cassie had responded with a measured nod, her eyes conveying an understanding that surpassed my explanation.
