Chapter 16
Aurora - One Week Later
I walkeddown the university’s steps and out into the fresh summer air. I took a seat on the stairs and waited for Lorelai, who was inside speaking with another student. It was our last day; we were finally free, having just written our last exam.
I pulled my phone from my pocket to see a message from Dylan congratulating us on our last day. I was about to reply when the doors opened, and I heard Lorelai behind me.
“Thank god!”
I couldn’t help but laugh as she sat down beside me, looking lighter than I’d seen her in the past few years. She also looked completely exhausted.
“Oh, I forgot to tell you I heard from the condo board. We can go by tonight if you want and see the place in Vancouver,” Lorelai said, opening the email she’d received and sharing it with me.
I had mentioned nothing to Lorelai yet, but Dylan had already asked me to move in with him now that we were out of school. Since I wasn’t sure of the answer myself, I knew if I moved in with him, I’d have to tell Lorelai before she signed the agreement. She wouldn’t be able to afford the place on her own, especially if we didn’t get the job with the Dominators, which we were still waiting to hear from.
“Sure, I guess we can go check it out.”
“Is something wrong?” she questioned. “Did you want to look for something else? This one is higher priced.”
I shook my head. “No, the place is fine. Guess I’m just tired. I was up late getting some study time in.” I half smiled, knowing the truth was I was on the phone with Dylan for half the night when I should have been studying.
“Well, why don’t we blow this place? We’ve spent enough time here.”
“Funny you say that. I think I’m going to miss it, in some messed-up way.” I giggled.
“Me too, and in some I won’t.”
We both laughed and then headed to the car.
* * *
I carefully placedthe salmon onto the baking sheet and seasoned it perfectly, then slid it into the oven while Lorelai made the salad. The doorbell rang, and I ran to answer it only to find a box sitting on the porch wrapped with a red ribbon.
“Who is it?” I heard Lorelai ask.
“A box,” I muttered, locking the door back up and heading into the kitchen with it.
“Sorry, who was it?” she asked again, tossing the salad.
“What?” I questioned.
“I asked you who was at the door.”
“It’s a box.” I shrugged, pulling at the red ribbon and lifting the lid to see a bottle of wine and a card.
Lorelai made her way over and pulled the wine from the box. “Oh, it’s an expensive one. Candace and Phil are having this at their wedding. Who’s it from?” she questioned, reading the label.
I opened the card to see ‘Congratulations’ written on the front of it, and on the back, ‘Hope you enjoy. Sorry I can’t be there. Love Dylan.’
“It’s from Dylan,” I answered, placing the card on the table, which Lorelai picked up right away.
“Ahhh, how sweet! He can’t be here, but he’s still thinking of you.” She swooned, gesturing to the cupboard for two glasses.
Dylan had plans with the guys from the team tonight, but he’d promised he’d be here in spirit.
I handed her the corkscrew and grabbed the two glasses, placing them on the table while I quickly checked the fish. Lorelai had just poured the wine and passed me one glass when the phone rang.
“Ugh, don’t drink just yet. We need to cheers each other,” she said, reaching for the phone.
I watched as she listened to whatever was being said. She nodded, mumbled a few things, and then agreed we’d see whoever it was on Monday. I frowned as she hung up, wondering who it was. When she said nothing, I placed my wineglass down and placed my hands on my hips.
“Well, you going to tell me what that was about?” I questioned.
She looked at me and nodded.
“Okay then, tell me, what are we doing on Monday?”
Lorelai giggled and then jumped up and down. “That was the head of the sports therapy department with the Dominators. We are both to report to our place of employment Monday morning to go over our schedules.”
“What?” I questioned, not sure I totally believed her. “Are you serious?”
“Completely.”
“Oh, my god!” I screamed, joining her in her celebratory jumping as we both laughed and hugged.
“Okay, let’s cheers!” I screamed.
We both grabbed our glasses and congratulated each other and then we both took a sip. I closed my eyes as I took a drink. It had to be the best wine I’d ever tasted.
“Dylan has good taste,” Lorelai said, winking at me.
“Of course he does.” I giggled. “He’s dating me.”
We both laughed and took another drink.
“Are things getting serious between the two of you?”
I’d just put my fork down when my cell phone vibrated on the table. I glanced at the screen and frowned when I saw my mother’s name there with a message to call her.
“What is it?” Lorelai asked.
I got up without answering her and grabbed my phone, dialing quickly.
“Aurora, what is it?” Lorelai asked again, panic setting on her face.
“It’s my mom,” I whispered, just as she picked up the phone. “Mom, I was going to call you right after dinner,” I said into the phone. “I’ve got great news.”
My mother said nothing. Instead, I heard her sniffle. Was she crying?
“Mom? What’s wrong?” I questioned.
The line was silent for a long while before I heard her sniffle again. “Aurora, can I come and stay with you and Lorelai for a bit?”
I frowned, glancing around our small two-bedroom apartment that we’d be leaving in a couple of weeks if all went well. “What is going on?” I asked.
“God, Aurora, I feel like such a fool. Joe, he isn’t the man I thought he was.”
“What? Mom, what are you talking about?”
“Please, Aurora, I have nowhere to go. I’m at the ferry terminal in Victoria. I need you to come get me.”
* * *
Momand I sat on the couch in the living room while Lorelai made some tea.
“What happened?” I questioned as I placed a cool cloth on the back of her neck to help her calm down. When I’d found her, she was in tears, and she cried the entire way to the house, not saying so much as one word to me.
“I’m leaving him. He’s a horrible man,” she said, crying once again.
I couldn’t remember my mother being this upset over a breakup before. She used to just pick up the pieces and head to the local pub, have a delightful party by herself or with someone else to get it out of her system, and then continue with life. I didn’t understand what the difference was this time.
“What happened?”
“Remember when he whispered something to me after Dylan stormed out of the house?”
I nodded, watching as Lorelai placed a tray on the coffee table along with a plate of peanut butter chocolate chip cookies.
“I didn’t want to tell you what it was he said, but you knew I was upset.”
“Upset? Mom, I’ve never seen you brought to tears so fast.”
“He told me that my whore of a daughter had better never set foot in the house again.”
My stomach sank. Had I caused their breakup?
“Why would he say that?”
“Because I was stupid, and I told him about you and Dylan.”
I glanced at Lorelai, who shrugged her shoulders.
“Mom, it’s fine. You did nothing wrong. Dylan knows he knows. He says he doesn’t care what his father says.”
“He should. He told me he would force Dylan to break things off with you. If he didn’t do as he wanted, then he would put an end to it. After you left, he told me to tell you not to bother coming back to the house until I made sure you understood you weren’t to have any more relations with Dylan.
She blew her nose into the tissues she was holding and looked at me with red, puffy eyes. I passed her the box to take a few more tissues so she could wipe the tears that had fallen again.
“Mom…” I said, patting her shoulder, trying to comfort her.
“It’s okay, Aurora. I’ll be fine,” she said, straightening her back and sitting up taller. “What I won’t have happen is someone to tear about two people who are clearly in love.”
“Mom, you don’t have to do that.”
My mom blew her nose again, wiped the tears, and then met my eyes. She took hold of my hand and softly smiled for the first time since I’d picked her up. “Aurora, I’ve never been that good of a mother to either you or Walker, but that doesn’t mean I can’t start now.”
“Mom, you have. We never went without.”
“That is true, but you went without me. I was absent most of your life. I mean, you’d rather call me Penelope than Mom. That is saying something.”
“I call you that because that is what you said you preferred.”
“Well, okay, fine, that is true. However, this is what I’d prefer. I’m going to sacrifice this relationship for you. I’m leaving Joe. You deserve to have the best, and I’ve never seen you so confused over someone before that you’d actually ask me for advice. So, if it’s okay, I’ll stay here for a few days until I can get my things from Joe’s and find a place of my own. I’ll get looking right away.”
I looked at Lorelai, not sure what to think. Like me, she looked just as confused, and she just shrugged again. I’d thought everything was fine between my mother and Joe, and I’d never have thought she’d give up something like that for me.
“Sure, Mom. I’ll grab some blankets, and we will pull out the hideaway bed.”
She picked up her tea and took a sip, then took a bite of a chocolate chip cookie and sat back on the couch.
* * *
“It’slike the twilight zone, Walker. Mom is a mess.”
My brother had called twenty minutes ago in a panic after receiving a call from Mom. She’d shut her phone off after I’d talked to her in case Joe was trying to call. When Walker couldn’t get through, he called me.
“I know. She sounded gutted on the phone. What happened?”
“Mom said she is leaving Joe,” I whispered into the mouthpiece, hoping that by now she was asleep. I didn’t want her to overhear my conversation and get all upset again.
“Why?”
“I guess she told Joe about Dylan and I. Joe got angry, said I was a whore and wasn’t welcome at the house any longer until we’d broken it off.”
“I see,” Walker replied.
“Mom said she feels bad that she was absent most of my life. That I’d rather call her Penelope than Mom, and I guess she wants to change that. She said she wants to make up for being absent most of our lives, and the way to do that is for her to sacrifice so that Dylan and I can be together. So, she is giving up her relationship with him for me.” I sighed, still feeling horrible that she’d felt it necessary to give up on a relationship that was good for her.
“Well, Aurora, you can’t stop her. I mean, maybe on the outside we think it was good for her, but perhaps there were things we didn’t see.”
Leave it to my brother to be the voice of reason when I’d rather mentally kick myself for causing her unhappiness.
“What do you mean?”
“Maybe Joe isn’t all that he’s cracked up to be. I mean, most of the time I was there, I felt like he was putting on a show. There was just something about him I didn’t like. He was almost too kind, too accommodating for my liking.”
I thought back to what he was saying and could see where he was coming from. It was true. He was too nice, too accommodating, especially with us and my mother. Well, he wasn’t so nice to Dylan the other night though. I’d heard him yelling from the office.
“Maybe you’re right. Maybe this is the reason Mom has been waiting for.”
“I think so. Don’t be too hard on yourself, but whatever you do, be careful with Dylan.”
“Why?”
“Just be careful. I don’t want to find you in a similar situation.”
I appreciated my brother’s concern for me, but Dylan was nothing like his father. In fact, he was the complete opposite. I didn’t want to dismiss his concerns, though.
“I will, I promise. You’d be the first to know if something wasn’t right. I promise you.”
“You better. Well, I have to go. My time is up. Tell Mom to call me once she is feeling up to it. Love you both.”
“Love you too.”