Chapter Five
“H appy Birthday, darling.” Vickie’s dad beamed at her as the waiter set two slices of cake on the table. The decadent chocolate cake with creamy chocolate icing looked delicious.
“Thanks.” Vickie smiled at him then glanced at her mother. “Are you sure you don’t want some? You’re welcome to a bite of mine.”
Vickie’s mom shook her head, a disdainful expression on her face. “You know, dear, now that you’re thirty your metabolism isn’t as fast as it used to be.” She smoothed her perfectly coifed blonde updo and eyed Vickie’s heaping forkful of cake. “With your petite frame, you’re going to have to be very careful with your figure from here on out.”
Vickie sighed. “I know, Mom. You’ve been warning me of that for years.”
“Marilyn, she’s no bigger than a minute. Never has been. Let her enjoy her cake.” Dad chided.
Mom shrugged her shoulders. “Walter, I simply want to make sure she realizes that it won’t always come so easy. And since she’s still single, she needs to make sure to keep her figure trim, otherwise finding a man will only get harder.”
Vickie wished the floor could swallow her whole and put her out of her misery. Body positivity was obviously not in her mom’s wheelhouse. “Mom. I’m fine.” She met her mother’s icy blue eyes. “I actually had a date last week. So don’t worry.”
“Did he ask you out for a second date?”
She should’ve known better than to share that information. But she at least wanted her mother to know that she wasn’t totally hopeless. “No. He has my number though. I’m sure I’ll hear from him soon.” As if she’d accept a second date with the hairiest guy she’d ever seen. But there was no need to tell her mother that.
“Oh, Victory. Don’t you know that if a man is interested, he’s going to book the second date right then and there?”
“Please don’t call me that. My name is Vickie.” Mom was the only person in the universe who called her Victory, but then she had been the one who’d chosen the name. She’d been furious when Vickie hadn’t had it put on her college diploma. Having it on her Social Security card and birth certificate was bad enough.
“Fine.” Marilyn’s face clouded over. “I’ll indulge you. But you spent eighteen years going by your given name and I still think you’ve made a mistake by letting people call you by a nickname instead.”
“How about you open your gift?” Walter had spent a lifetime trying to keep the peace between his wife and daughter. He handed Vickie a tiny blue box.
“Thanks, Daddy.” Vickie took the tiny blue box and untied the ribbon. She lifted the lid and pulled out a three stone diamond necklace. “Oh, it’s beautiful.” And it was. The one thing she and her mother shared was taste in jewelry and clothes. Simple, tasteful and elegant. Those were the key ingredients to their style.
“I thought you’d like it.” Marilyn gave her first real smile of the night. “Your dad gave me diamonds for my thirtieth birthday. So I thought you should have some too.”
“Thank you both. And thanks for flying in to see me. It means a lot.” And it did. Despite the differences she and her mother had, Vickie still loved her parents very much. Her thoughts went back to Kristy. It was nice to see her parents together and still happy after so many years. And even though she didn’t want to emulate their specific relationship, they still gave her hope that she could find her own happiness someday.
“Now.” Marilyn said, once coffee had been poured. “Tell us how work is going.”
Vickie smiled. “Fantastic. I’m to the point where I can comfortably talk to visitors about any of the monuments along the National Mall, although the Washington Monument is still my favorite. But I’m trying to branch out some.”
“That’s wonderful. I’m sure you’re very good at it.” Dad had been Vickie’s biggest supporter when she’d decided to pursue a full-time career with the National Park Service. Mom, not so much.
“So I guess I can give up the hope that you’ll move back to Brentwood and get a respectable job?” Marilyn asked.
“Mom. We’ve had this discussion before. Being a park ranger is a perfectly respectable job.” Some things never changed.
Marilyn heaved a great sigh. “You wear polyester pants every day. And a hat. Darling, that was okay when you were in your twenties. It was kind of like playing dress-up. But now you’re a grown woman. It’s time to get a real career.”
Vickie felt the heat of anger rush over her face. “What, like the one you had? If I remember correctly, you were a part-time waitress at the Chili Bowl before you met Dad. So maybe you aren’t exactly the right person to be giving out career advice.” She knew it was a low blow. Her mother never spoke of the years she’d spent growing up in the mountains of east Tennessee. Instead, she had always said her life didn’t even start until the day Walter stopped by the restaurant. He’d been on his way to Knoxville on business but had been so enchanted by her that he’d proposed to her on the spot. Marilyn hadn’t even gone home to get her things. They’d driven to Gatlinburg and by the time she called her parents to tell them where she was, she was a married woman. She’d spent her life accompanying him on business trips, decorating and re-decorating their home and entertaining friends. Only Vickie knew she’d always been self-conscious over not having a college degree. Marilyn had made the confession when Vickie was filling out college applications.
Ever the peacemaker, Walter put his hand on Vickie’s arm. “Now, now. Let’s not say things we’ll regret.”
“Fine.” Vickie took a sip of water to calm her down. “I’m sorry, Mom. But I happen to enjoy my career very much. And I don’t plan on leaving it anytime soon.”
“Suit yourself. I’m only trying to help. I’ll have you know that several of your high school classmates live in the same neighborhood in Brentwood. Their husbands golf together, and their kids take swim lessons at the same club. And I know they all enjoy being Junior Leaguers.” She sighed. “That was the life I’d always imagined for you.”
Did her mother honestly not know her at all? “I know it is. But that isn’t the life I want for me. I really love what I do. And I love living in DC. I wish you could just be happy for me.”
The waiter chose that moment to bring the credit card receipt. Vickie and her mother eyed each other as her dad signed the paper. Once he was done, they made their way to the front of the restaurant to wait for the valet to bring the rental car around.
“I am happy for you, Victory. But I don’t want your life to pass you by while you’re leading tours for vacationing families. I want you to be a part of a family. And now, turning thirty.” She clucked her tongue. “ Tick tock , dear. Tick tock . Let’s hope your date from last week calls you again. I don’t want to see you wind up all alone.”
Vickie closed her eyes. Her mother had been ticking down her biological clock since she was twenty-three. That had been how old Marilyn had been when Vickie was born. “Thanks, Mother, for that reminder.”
“I’m just saying. You are in your prime baby years right now. Much older and you’ll be considered an advanced age for pregnancy.” Mom reached over and smoothed Vickie’s hair. “You’re a beautiful girl and so smart. I only want you to be happy.” Her kind words took the sting out of her previous comments. Vickie knew that deep down, her mother did love her. Even if she had trouble showing it.
“Have you talked to Gram lately?” There was one topic guaranteed to make her mother uncomfortable. And after the night she’d just experienced, Vickie felt perfectly justified.
“No. I guess I should check in on her soon.” Marilyn’s eyes clouded over. “Have you? Talked to her, I mean.” Since she left home all those years ago, Marilyn had barely given her family the time of day. She’d lavished impractical gifts on them during the holidays but had spent most of her adult life separating herself from her humble roots.
“I talk to her a few times a week.” Vickie leveled her gaze with her mother’s. “She’s not well. Ever since Grandpa died, her health has gotten worse.” Vickie sighed. “It wouldn’t kill you to go for a visit. I know she’d like it.”
“Maybe I will.” Marilyn said. “There’s the valet with the car.”
Vickie shook her head. Sometimes she felt like the adult where her mother’s relationship with Gram was concerned. Why was Mom so stubborn?
Twenty minutes later, Vickie trudged up the stairs to her apartment. Each time she saw her mother, it was like she’d gone through a battle. And she felt like she had the scars to prove it. Somehow, Marilyn always came out unscathed.
As she unlocked the door, the phone in her purse began to ring. She dumped her bag on the couch, banging her shin on the coffee table in the process. “Hello.”
“Happy Birthday,” Kristy said. “I would’ve called earlier, but I figured you were out celebrating.”
“Some celebration.” Vickie quickly filled her in on the evening.
“Ugh. Sorry. I can’t believe she stooped to biological clock shaming. That’s low.” Kristy voice was filled with sympathy. “It sounds like you’d have had a better time on your couch, watching TV with Jake and Lloyd.”
Vickie looked down at the cats sitting on either side of her. “You realize that it’s their fault I’m single.”
“Your cats? How is it their fault?”
Vickie laughed. “No. The fault lies with their namesakes. Jake Ryan and Lloyd Dobler. If I could find guys like that in real life, I’d probably be happily married by now.”
“Fictional heroes from 80’s movies?” Kristy laughed. Vickie had always had an affinity for old movies. “I’ve always wondered who it was you were waiting for.”
“It’s my birthday. Indulge me here. Remember how in Sixteen Candles Jake made her that birthday cake and was there to pick her up after her sister’s wedding? Totally rescued her. And in Say Anything , I love, love, love the part where he holds up the boom box outside of her window. So classic. But I loved it even more when he guided her around that glass on the sidewalk. He just cared about her so much.”
“Okay. I know turning thirty has been difficult for you. And I know dealing with your mother makes it worse. But can I point out that if you met a real-life Jake or Lloyd, you’d find flaws in them that would make them undatable. Like Jake isn’t smart enough or Lloyd doesn’t have enough ambition. Something like that.”
Vickie thought about it for a moment. “Maybe I’m turning over a new leaf now that I’m thirty.”
“Oh yeah? How so?”
“I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately. And I’ve decided that everyone might be right. Maybe it’s time for me to get out of my comfort zone. Go out with guys I’d normally turn down. That kind of thing.”
“If I say I’ll believe it when I see it, will you be mad?” Kristy teased.
“How can I convince you that I’m serious?”
Kristy was silent for a moment. “I’ve got it. You have to ask out the next available man you meet. No matter what.”
“Um. I’ve never asked out a guy before. I didn’t even participate in Sadie Hawkins in college because I hated the thought of asking someone out.”
“Exactly. What better way to get you out of your comfort zone than to do something totally out of character?”
Vickie thought for a minute. She wasn’t sure she could actually ask out someone she didn’t know. Although she wasn’t sure she could ask out someone she knew either. “Okay. . .maybe I could do it?”
“Not maybe. You can. This will be like your birthday present to yourself. You, taking charge of your dating life.” The excitement was evident in Kristy’s voice. “Promise?”
Vickie scratched Jake behind the ears. Maybe it was time for her to take charge. She was tired of just letting things happen to her. “Promise.” They said their goodbyes and hung up.
Vickie laid her head back on the couch. Thirty. It wasn’t a bad age. Even if her mother could still relegate her to feeling as if she were fresh out of college, Vickie knew better. She’d been on her own for a long time. Made her own money. Made her own decisions. She was proud of her independence. But it was time to admit she was also a little lonely. Despite her apprehension about taking charge of her dating life, it also made her feel a little bit empowered. And that was a good feeling.