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“Name one person other than you that Spencer likes.” I fold my arms and wait.
“His cleaning lady, he likes her.” I frown and look at her to try again. “And he likes you.” I burst out laughing.
“Your brother does not like me, Audrey. He tolerates me because you love me.” She has to know that, surely. “He has no choice with me. I go where you go. But he doesn’t like me. It’s okay. I think he’s a giant turd most of the time so I can handle the rejection.”
Audrey stops walking down the aisle and turns to face me. “He likes you.”
“Keep telling yourself that.” I joke and push her overflowing cart to where she is standing. “Let’s pay for this, take it home and order some food. I am starving, and there is nothing left in the store. You have it all.” Looking at her haul, I think she believes she’s pregnant with quadruplets, not one tiny human.
“Food sounds amazing right now.” She agrees, and we get the sales consultant to come to help us. “Do you deliver?” she asks looking at everything she has bought.
“Yes, we do. You can just fill in a delivery form and we will bring it over for you.” That’s great because there was no chance it was going to fit in her car. Audrey fills out the form and sends her brother a thank you text. He offered to pay for all the baby things, but I’m not sure he knew what he’d promised to do.
“Let’s go eat at Giada, I am craving her ravioli.” It’s Audrey’s favorite restaurant, and probably the last lunch she will get there before she is a mom and can’t just go anywhere anytime. “Spencer can pay.” She waves his card, and we both smile.
“That sounds like a fantastic idea. I know she has vegan options on the menu.” A pasta actually would be good. All I have had today is a coffee, and an oat bar early this morning. Audrey drives us to lunch, and on the way, she chatters about all the things we just bought for the baby.
“You will help me set it all up later, won’t you?” she asks me, pulling into a parking space at warp speed so no one can steal it. “I can’t wait to put everything into the nursery.” The baby’s room is as big as my apartment, decorated beautifully by a TV famous interior designer. I am just as excited as she is about it.
“Yes. I can stay this afternoon and help you. I don’t think you’ll be able to haul all that stuff upstairs anyway.” I know they have said she’s a few weeks away from her due date, but I have a feeling in my bones that this kid is as impatient as its mother.
“I am not dead, Luna, just pregnant, you know. I can still do things.” I just give her the side-eye as we wait to be seated for lunch. My stomach growls the moment I smell all the delicious aromas inside.
“I guess you better start telling me or showing me what it is I am going to be doing for Spencer,” I say once we place our order.
“You take my phone because everything is on there. Schedules, emails, shopping lists. All of it. Most importantly, always get in to his office before him, tidy his mess and make sure his appointments for the day are in the calendar. The rest is mostly making sure his real life isn’t a train wreck, food shopping, dry cleaning, and sort of managing the house. All his invites, appointments and meetings will come to you, and you make the schedule. Try to keep Fridays open. He likes to be quiet on a Friday, and nothing from seven-thirty to nine in the morning. That’s his gym time.”
“He goes to the gym?” I ask. I know the man is fit but a gym seems outside his comfort zone.
“He has a gym in the basement of the house, so he gym’s but not in a gym. Lord help us…imagine Spencer in a gym.” We both giggle.
“Sounds easy enough,” I say.
“I’m sure you’ll be fine. He likes routine. So, if you just keep things the same, he won’t die before I get back.” That still remains to be seen.
THREE
SPENCER
I don’t think Luna should work for me.
Where’s the blue file I had on the left corner of my desk?
Audrey, I need the papers in that file. Where did you put it?
Found it.
The Luna thing is worrying me. Could you pick up the damn phone, please?
Audrey! You didn’t return my credit card? WTF are you? You’re late. I have no milk.
Jesus, could you please for the love of God respond or answer my calls.
My sister is working on my last damn nerve this morning. She could have told me if she needed to go to the OB or was running late. I know she is probably just at a baby-doctor appointment, but I am going to look like a complete idiot if I don’t have that file for my next meeting.
I toss my office like I am the FBI looking for evidence in a murder case, but I can’t find it. Audrey has a system, one that I don’t understand, so when she is not here, I cannot find shit. This is why I am upset about her going on maternity leave. It’s not the baby or her moving out. It’s that I don’t know how to do things when she’s not here. I don’t even know all she does. Things just get done.
When Audrey finished college, she moved in and took over my life. She didn’t know what she wanted to do with her life, so she began managing mine. I just went with it. I needed help, and she was good at it. Now facing this time without her here all day, every day, and thinking about the fact she may not even want to come back at all scares the fuck out of me.
