52. Chapter 52 Margot
Chapter fifty-two
“Agreed. These renderings are much better. If they can fabricate the displays within the next two weeks, we should be able to salvage the opening date.” I sigh, finally heading to my office for the lunch meeting with Mom I’ve been excited for all week.
After basically floating around in my own little happy sex haze for so long, my last encounter with my masked man has left me ruffled.
We’ve texted, and I feel settled and reassured about what happened.
It’s just not something that I’m used to.
Pretty sure the last time I didn’t get my way was literally two years ago when…
nope, not going there. We’re in a truce, and we’re friendly acquaintances.
I’m not forgiving him, but we’re being adults.
LJ will be here soon, and he’ll need an aunt and uncle who are a united front.
Luckily for me, the company contracted to provide some displays for the store completely mangled them and delivered a truckload of hot garbage to my doorstep two days ago.
I wouldn’t display dog food on them, no offense to dogs, let alone my custom lingerie pieces.
We’ve gotten another bid to have them all remade, and it’s taken every bit of my energy to solve this issue.
I haven’t been able to sulk once. I also haven’t gone to Pilates, or enjoyed a soak in my tub, or read a single page of a book.
My meals have all been takeout, and not even the healthy kind.
I’m not feeling very girl boss. My spinning plates are starting to wobble.
“Darling, if you insist on being introspective, at least unfurrow your brow. You’ll get wrinkles!
” My mother breezes into my office, carrying our lunch with her and closing the door behind her with her hip.
Kissing my cheeks, she unpacks and sets up our salads and fries, lining up all five of our favorite dipping sauces from this particular burger joint.
“It’s disturbing to know that you can tell when I’m being introspective.”
She rolls her eyes and launches into a spiel about how disturbed I would be if I knew the things she knows, and how it’s her job to know everything about all four of us.
“Even Jack?” I ask, although I already know her answer.
“Of course, darling. You know I consider him just as much my child as the three of you. I’ll have you know my will is split evenly four ways, although I might have to amend that now that I have grandbabies on the way.”
I choke on a fry, then cough it up, sending it flying across my desk toward my mother, who is sitting undisturbed, with one eyebrow arched.
“GrandbabieS?” I rasp out before sipping water. “Is someone else pregnant? Did Jack get someone pregnant?”
“First of all, are you really surprised I consider him one of my own? I had rather hoped it was clear based on how I treated him all these years. Second, no, to my knowledge, only LJ is technically cooking right now. But! I have quite the intuition, you know, and I just feel that this is going to truly open the floodgates. I think Christmas in a few years will be quite different from this past one,” Mom finishes her explanation of her inconceivable choice of plural noun, and daintily goes back to eating her fries.
“Well, I mean, I know you love Jack like a son. I guess I just never saw him as a brother, so it’s hard to think of him as your son,” I say, unsure why I brought this up or why I even care.
“No, I never did think that he was really a brother to you, although he was always so sweet the way he looked after you,” she says, and I roll my eyes.
“Well, he was, Margot. I don’t know what to tell you.
I’m not surprised you didn’t see him that way, though.
He was always such a handsome little guy, and now, well.
He’s quite the catch these days. I’m not sure he’s done much over the past couple of years but work and work out. ”
“Yeah, he mentioned that’s just about all he’s had time for since he came to New York, but I didn’t really believe him,” I mumble, moving on to eat Mom’s fries since mine are long gone.
“You’ve been talking more?” I swear my mom’s eyes are sparkling right now. I’m surprised she’s not rubbing her hands together like a cartoon villain based on the look on her face.
“Uh, yeah. We’ve been catching up a bit.
Went to see Phantom last week with Marco and Mark.
Going to see Sleeping Beauty next week. It’s been nice,” I say.
I’m a little bit flummoxed as to why exactly she’s so invested.
It’s not even like she would’ve known much about my falling out with Jack, and me being an ocean away was really lucky.
If I had been Stateside, there’s no way in hell I could’ve kept our mortal enemies status a secret.
“You went to see Phantom and didn’t invite me!” she pouts, and I’m more convinced than ever that I’ve inherited all my dramatics from her.
“Well, you had a pickleball tournament. You weren’t even in town! And besides, it was a very last-minute thing. Marco had never been, and Jack mentioned tickets, so we went. It was nice! That’s all.” I sigh.
Mom studies me thoughtfully, and usually nothing good ever comes from these looks.
“Whatever you’re thinking, you might as well go ahead and say it now, Mother.”
“I was just thinking about how happy I am to see you wearing this lovely cream sweater dress, darling. It was a couple of years of all sleek Parisian black and chignons. Your hair looks wonderful down in your curls again,” she says primly, then continues in a soft voice.
“I was also thinking about how much you loved Sleeping Beauty when you were younger. You were so fixated on Jack being your prince. He really handled that well for your entire childhood, you know. Such a good friend and protector for you. Henry was of course always busy, and Ledger was going through so much with your father, but it felt like Jack was just for you and me. A darling child, never causing me any trouble. And I could count on him to play with you and never complain.”
I give her a soft smile and indulge her in her reminiscence. “He told me that he and Ledger still gorge themselves on cheesecake every year. I can’t believe you still go!”
At this, she throws her head back and lets out a hearty laugh. “We all still go, darling. You’ll have to join us now that you’re back.”
Clearing my throat, I deflect a bit. “Yes, well. Back for now. If this shop does well, I’m not sure how long I’ll stay. I had built quite a happy little life for myself in Paris, you know.”
“You also had quite a life here when you left,” Mom says.
I had nothing here when I left, I want to scream at her . Less than nothing, actually. Not zero but an unfathomably huge number in the negative, a hole the likes of which I didn’t expect I would ever meet the bottom of. That’s what I had here when I left.
“I’m just ready for the baby to be here. I can’t imagine how Sloane and Ledger feel,” I say, not even pretending that I’m doing anything other than shifting the conversation to safer waters.
Mom takes my bait, at least momentarily.
“I think they’re going crazy with excitement at the moment.
Both of them just feed into each other’s energy.
It’s like having two individual balls of chaos merge into one supernova.
Sloane is nesting and made an offhand comment about how she felt like nothing was clean enough.
Ledger offered to burn down the house and build a new one, to which Sloane said the smoke particles would be even worse for the baby.
After that, your brother had a state-of-the-art air filtration system put in the entire house.
It’s actually clean enough and with fresh enough air that you could make sterile products! He had it tested!”
We both laugh and dig into the chocolate cake Mom brought for dessert.
“Are you happy, darling? I know you mentioned one suitor in particular quite a few times in the last months before you moved back. I’ll admit I’ve been worried that perhaps you’ve been missing him since you’ve been home.
Michel, was it? He was rather handsome in the photo you sent of the two of you at the opera. ”
Aaanndddd there it is, folks. I knew she hadn’t been reminiscing and making grandbabies plural for no reason. I’m not sure what she knows or suspects, and I’m not giving her an inch. I’m definitely not broaching the subject of my favorite friend with benefits with her right now.
“What even is happiness, Mom? I’m creatively fulfilled, I have my health and a wonderful family. I’m making more friends in the city, and I listen to podcasts. What am I supposed to do to check the box that is happiness?”
This earns me a wan smile, like she was expecting exactly that answer. I swear, if she just knows what she wants us all to do, she should just come right out and tell us instead of her meddling machinations. Although her interference did work out well for Sloane and Ledger…
“I think it depends on what you want, sweetheart. Let me just say this, and then I’ll leave.
My happiness came from having all of you kids while still helping your father run the company.
I couldn’t have reached my full realization as a human without both.
As much as I hated to miss a single game or recital, my time away from you all when I was working made me happier and a better mother when I came back.
And now, as an older woman with children who have flown the coop, I’m lucky to still have those friends I made and contacts in the industry to dabble in projects now and again.
It was a very privileged thing to be able to do. ”
She’s gathering her things now, and I have no clue where she’s going with this.
“Ledger has now basically devoted himself to a domestic life with Sloane, and he’s happy. They work out, try new recipes, read, putter about in their garden, and he’s perfectly content. That’s a perfectly wonderful existence to aspire to as well.
“I want you to know that I’m proud of what you’ve built, Margot.
It’s been amazing to watch you do it all on your own without using the family name once.
And if it brings you utter fulfillment and joy, by all means, continue at the pace you’re going!
Open all the stores! Do all the collabs. I’ll be right there with you.
“But if you feel like this was something you needed to do for yourself at a certain point in your life, and now you’re no longer in that place, maybe you have other things you aspire to.
I think being here in the States and being around your family and the most important people from your past and present might help you feel out what happiness means for you right now. ”
Why are there tears in my eyes? Jesus, is it period week again?
“Shoot, I’m late for my flight. Pickleball tournament!” After kissing my cheeks and giving me a big hug, Mom pauses on her way out the door. “Just think about it, Margot! Aggressively pursue happiness!”
And with that, my own personal psychic breezes out of my office.
I swear, I think sometimes she just projects her daily horoscope email in the direction of whichever kid will listen.
In any case, she’s given me a migraine and an excuse to get out of this damn construction zone.
Pulling up my phone, I see new texts from both of the men who have been dominating my messages this week.
Rolling my neck, I ignore them both. Instead, I place a grocery order for some fresh produce for tonight and call for the car, planning a long soak alone with my thoughts. And maybe my vibe.