16. Frankie
Frankie
T he next few weeks fell into a rhythm. Aurora and I continued our regular texting, but with her living right on top of me now, we were free to hang out more.
The day after she moved in I went with her to look for some items she needed for her new apartment. The two of us ended up dragging a wooden chest from an antique shop six blocks away in order to save the delivery fees, nearly killing ourselves getting it up to the third floor.
A few nights a week one of us would invite the other to come for dinner. We’d either cook together or order takeout and watch a movie or just talk. I’d never been much of a conversation person, and having to talk all day as a teacher made me want to talk even less outside of work. But with Aurora I could talk all night and still want to do it some more.
When Aurora joined a yoga studio in our neighborhood she dragged me along, insisting that now that we were approaching thirty it was more important than ever for us to stay flexible. I bit my lip to keep from suggesting that the right kind of sex could help with our flexibility too.
Then I reminded myself that I had a girlfriend, although I’d seen Barbie only three times since Aurora moved upstairs, all of them in public. Meanwhile I’d seen Aurora for at least a little while every day since she’d moved into my building.
“I really need to break up with Barbie,” I said one night as we sat on Aurora’s fire escape drinking a beer and staring the glimmer of the lake in the distance.
“You really do,” she agreed. “You don’t seem to like her very much, and it’s not like you spend a lot of time together.”
I bumped my shoulder against hers. “That’s because someone is always insisting that we order Chinese takeout.”
Aurora loved Chinese food. I swear she could eat it every single day.
“She could join us if you really wanted her to,” she said, although I could tell by her tone she was unenthused about that idea.
“Barbie doesn’t like carbs,” I said.
That was another thing I didn’t like about my girlfriend – her constant diet and food talk.
“She sounds like my mother,” Aurora said.
“What’s up with you and your mother?” I asked. “You never mention her. Is she still with your dad?”
“Yeah,” Aurora nodded. “They’re high school sweethearts. They’ve been together for like forty years now. My mom is… well, she was the head cheerleader in high school and the prom queen too.”
“You were a cheerleader,” I reminded her.
“Yeah, but I never really liked it that much. It was a way for me to connect with my mom, you know? She wanted this perfect daughter who always had perfect hair and perfect makeup and the perfect body and I did my best to make myself into what she wanted.”
“And?” I prodded.
“It wasn’t enough for her. There was always something for her to criticize. It drove me crazy.”
She sighed deeply and drained the rest of her beer.
“When I told her I was bisexual after college she acted like I was doing it just to hurt her. She told me it was ridiculous.”
Aurora pitched her voice higher to imitate her mother.
“ For God’s sake Aurora Marie, make up your mind. You either like men or you like women, it’s not natural to like both. Why are you always trying to embarrass me?”
“Wow, that’s kind of harsh.”
I’d only ever liked women, but I had enough bisexual and pansexual friends to know that their preferences were just as valid as mine were.
“Anyway, I never cut her off or anything, but now we mostly communicate through text. It’s safer that way.”
“And your dad?” I asked.
“Dad’s always been more interested in my brother than me. And now that he’s got three grandsons, he’s in hog heaven.”
I felt a stab of sadness. My mother was super annoying with all her meddling, but I knew she loved me. And my father was one of my best buddies. Neither of them had batted an eye when I came out to them. They’d always just accepted me exactly the way I was.
“Well now you’ve got your fabulous new city life,” I reminded her. “Things are looking up for you.”
She smiled. “They really are. I’ve got a great new job, an apartment I love, and a great new friend.”
“Really? Who is she?” I teased.
“You, silly.”
My phone beeped and I looked down to see another whiny text from Barbie.
“Is that Barbie?” Aurora asked.
“How did you know?”
“You looked annoyed.”
I sighed. “I really need to break up with her.”
“Why don’t you? You’ve been saying that ever since I moved here. What are you waiting for?”
I pulled my knees up to my chest and rested my chin on my knees.
“It’s going to be a whole scene with her,” I said. “I just know it. And I really hate drama.”
“Well if your plan is to just ignore her as much as possible and hope she breaks up with you, it’s not working.”
“You’re right,” I told her. “I need to stop fucking around and talk to her about how I’m feeling. It’s not fair to me to expect Barbie to read my mind. Although as soon as my mother knows I’m single, she’s going to be trying to fix me up again. I’ll be back to her dragging strange women with her every time I see her. And the nagging about me being single and how she wants to have grandchildren. So. Much. Nagging.”
“Why don’t you just introduce me to your parents and say I’m your girlfriend?” she asked.
I looked at her in surprise. “Are you suggesting that we start fake dating to avoid my mother’s matchmaking?”
Aurora shrugged. “Why not? It’ll take care of your Barbie situation and give you some breathing room with your mother until you meet someone you really want to date. Then we can stage a breakup.”
It was on the tip of my tongue to tell her that I already met someone I wanted to date, and she was sitting next to me on the fire escape. But I didn’t want to mess up our friendship. Aurora was too important to me.
“That might be your best crazy idea ever,” I said.
She reached out a hand. “Okay, fake girlfriends?” she asked.
I’d read enough romance books to know that this had a high likelihood of going very, very wrong, yet I couldn’t say no.
“Fake girlfriends,” I agreed, shaking her hand. “I’ll talk to Barbie tomorrow and hopefully I can let her down easy.”