Chapter 5
5
ZARA
“E xcuse me?” my mother says, her voice tight and unsure, which is a rarity for her.
“I’m so sorry, Mom,” I say softly. “I just can’t do it.” I close my eyes and look up at the ceiling. “It’s just trying on the wedding dress and the fact that it’s going to be forever. I had second thoughts,” I lie to her, hoping like fuck she doesn’t call me out on my bullshit.
“Where are you right now?” I hear her bustling around on her side of the phone. When I look over at Sofia, she has her eyes bulging out of her head and her lips pressed together. “This very minute, where the fuck are you?”
“I’m at Zoey’s place,” I reply, and the phone hangs up. I look down at it and see that it’s the screen saver of me and my cousins on vacation this past summer. “What the fuck happened?” I look over at Sofia, and it’s like the both of us immediately get it right away.
I jump down from my chair. “Oh my God, my parents are coming over here!” I shriek, and Sofia jumps off her chair. The two of us act like we just threw a bender in our parents’ house, and they are coming home early from vacation.
“Oh my God.” I run down the hallway, going to the guest bedroom first and opening the door. Flipping on the lights, I hear the groan from both women in the king-size bed. “Get up,” I call out urgently, “get up, get up, get up!”
“What?” Gabriella groans, looking over the top of the white duvet cover. I really have to talk to Zoey about staging her house and getting rid of all these white things and maybe throwing in a pop of color. “Why?”
“I called my mother,” I share, and Gabriella is like a fucking worm under that cover, speeding to get out of bed.
“You what?” she shrieks, and Ryleigh looks at the two of us. “Why would you do that?” She looks over at Sofia, who is trying to grab all her clothes in her hands and go to get dressed.
“I figured I had to tell them at least that the wedding is off,” I almost shout.
“I don’t get it,” Ryleigh says.
“They are on their way over here,” Sofia fills her in, and now she’s kicking the cover off her.
“I can’t be here,” she says, bending to pick up the bra she tossed to the side after she got into bed. “I can’t be here,” she repeats. “I married into this family. Do you know how bad that would be?” She rushes to her pile of clothes. “Then I’m going to have to tell Stone I knew and didn’t tell him.”
“Oh my God,” Sofia says. “Matty.” She shakes her head. “He literally asked me what I was doing, and I said watching TV.”
“You didn’t lie,” I point out to her. “We did watch TV.”
“What is all this noise?” Zoey asks, walking into the room wearing one of Nash’s T-shirts, one of her eyes still closed.
“She called her mother!” Sofia and Ryleigh shout at the same time as the both of them run around to get dressed.
“What?” Zoey shrieks. “Nash, get up. My aunt is coming over, and she might have reinforcements.”
“What?” he literally yells from their bedroom. “They just barely forgave me for taking you away like King Kong and eloping with you.”
“It’s going to be okay,” I tell the room. “I’m just going to tell them I changed my mind. Under no circumstances am I going to mention Daniel and his extracurricular activities.”
“Unless,” Ryleigh ponders, “it’s a trap, and he already went to them, and they were waiting.” We all stare at her like she lost her mind. “What? I was working in the DA department; you don’t think I know shady shit?”
“Okay, first of all,” Gabriella says, “if that happened, the door would have been busted down like the SWAT team was coming in hot, like if we hoarded a million pounds of cocaine. Trust me, he did not go to them. There is nothing on the news about a killing spree, nor did we get a phone call to help bail anyone out.”
“I think everyone just needs to take a minute and,” Sofia is saying calmly, as she puts on the shirt she wore yesterday, “get dressed so we can get the fuck out of here before they get here.” She points over her shoulder. “Except you two.” She comes back to point at Zoey and me. “You two have to face the slaughterhouse.” I’m about to say something when there is a knock on the door, and by knock, I mean pounding.
“They sound like they’re in a great mood,” Ryleigh surmises. “I live here now.” She sits on the bed. “I am never leaving this room. Tell Stone I love him and I’ll miss his dick.”
“Gross,” we all mumble.
“I’ll go get the door, and you guys all stay here,” I tell the room. “Unless you hear bloodcurdling screams, don’t come out.”
“I grew up in the South,” Sofia says. “Every sound was bloodcurdling.” I turn on my feet and walk to the door, the pounding coming again.
“How high is this floor? Maybe we could jump out?” Ryleigh asks, looking out the window.
“I’m coming, I’m coming,” I say and feel movement behind me to see Zoey has followed me.
“I can’t pretend I’m not here. This is my house,” she whisper-hisses at me, throwing in a glare for good measure.
I unlock the door and open it to see my mother and my Aunt Zara both standing there, looking like they literally left the house in their pj’s. “Did you go out like that?” Zoey asks, trying to lighten the mood from both their scowling faces.
“You, zip it.” My Aunt Zara points at Zoey.
“I didn’t even do anything wrong!” she shrieks. “Literally nothing wrong.”
“You didn’t?” they ask mockingly, and we both know it’s a trap.
“So she didn’t come here last night and you didn’t call us?” my mother asks, walking into the apartment.
“Okay, I did that,” she admits, “but nothing else.” She looks over at me. “Cry,” she whispers out of the side of her mouth.
Both of them rip off their jackets and walk into the house. “Who else is here?”
“No one,” we both say at the same time. My mother looks over at Zara, who walks down the hall.
“Mom,” Zoey shouts, “Nash is in there naked!” I open my mouth at her and hold one hand up, shaking my head. “It was the only thing I could think of.”
“Why would he be naked if I’m in the house?” I gasp.
“He has needs.” Zoey throws up her hands.
“I’m not naked!” Nash yells from the bedroom. “I’m also not coming out there, and there have been no needs met this entire weekend.”
“Well, that’s a lie,” Zoey mumbles.
“Okay, let’s calm down,” I soothe her. I can’t believe I’m saying this since I’m the one whose life is in tatters. “Come to the living room, and I’ll explain everything.”
My aunt stops in her tracks and returns, going to the living room as my mother follows her. At the same time, the phone rings in her hand. “It’s your father,” she says, answering it. “Hey.” She looks at the phone. “I’m here with her.”
“Zara,” my father says from the phone. My mother turns it around to face me, and I see he’s sitting in the kitchen, and my uncles are all there behind him.
“Okay,” I snap, “I am going to talk, and no one is going to say anything until I finish because I’m going through a lot right now, and I need my family’s support.”
“Oh, good call.” Zoey cheers from beside me.
“What the fuck happened?” my Uncle Evan asks.
“I don’t know,” I lie. “It was all, like, too much. I felt suffocated, and then I went home, and I looked around, and I was like, is this it? Do I love him enough for it to be forever?” My mother now sits down. “I don’t know, it was like a snowball effect, trying on the dress and then it’s like forever.”
“What did you tell him?” my father asks me.
“I told him that I didn’t think I could marry him and?—”
“Wait a second,” my Uncle Matthew says, holding up his hand. “You told him you didn’t think you could marry him and he let you leave?” He shakes his head. “What a tool.”
“Of course, he let me leave,” I gasp, not surprised by this question.
“If you were the one for him, he would never have let you walk out the door,” my father explains, looking at Matthew. “He would have begged and pleaded with you to stay. He would have calmed you down and brushed away all your fears.”
“Yeah, that.” Matthew points at my father. “Did he show up at Zoey’s?”
“No.” I shake my head. “He said he would give me time and space.”
“Yeah, fuck his time and space.” Matthew pffts out. “I’ll give him time and space.”
“Okay, you guys, that’s enough,” my mother jumps in. “I’m going to let you go now and talk to your daughter.”
“Our daughter,” my father reminds her. “I’ll call you later, Zara,” he says and hangs up.
“Okay, what kind of shit are you serving us?” my aunt asks me.
“It’s not shit.” I sit on the couch. “Honestly, it’s the truth.”
“I mean, if you felt like that, maybe it’s a good thing that you are taking space,” my mother states.
“Better now than at the altar,” Zoey adds, sitting down.
“What is going to happen now?” my mother asks, and I look at her.
“I’m going to go and get a couple of things today.” At least this is the truth. “Then I think I’m going to go away for a bit.” Both of them are shocked by this. “I need to regroup and, I don’t know, find myself.”
“That ‘eat, pray, love’ shit,” my aunt says. “Listen, you are your own eat, pray, love.” She points at me, and there is a knock on the door.
Nash comes out of the hallway wearing shorts and a T-shirt. “That’s for me,” he says, opening the door and grabbing two brown bags, setting them on the table by the door before grabbing two coffee trays. “Thank you,” he tells the deliveryman before shutting the door. “I got you all some coffee,” he says, coming in and putting one tray down. “Something for my favorite mother-in-law.” He hands her a coffee before turning. “And your matcha is there.” He looks at Zoey, who leans her head back and waits for him to kiss her. “I’ll just go.” He walks to the hallway with the other tray of coffee.
“Where are you going with that tray?” my aunt asks, and he looks over his shoulder.
“It’s for me,” he lies. “I am doing that taste-testing thing.”
“Tell them to come out,” my mother says, taking a sip of her coffee.
“Okay, I will say,” Gabriella starts, walking into the room and grabbing a coffee, “I told her to call you yesterday.” Zoey and Zara both gasp. “Hi, Auntie.” She walks over to my mother first and kisses her cheek, and then to my aunt and kisses her cheeks. “You went out looking like that?” She points at their hair being on the top of their heads all sideways and the fact they are in pj’s.
“Who else is there?” My aunt avoids her question.
“We don’t count,” Sofia says. “We were with Gabriella when she got the call, so we are here.”
“Collateral damage.” Ryleigh laughs, coming into the room. “You’re my favorite mother-in-law in the world.” She looks at my aunt, who rolls her eyes.
“You can’t be mad at us,” Sofia says. “It was up to Zoey to call you.”
“Wait a second.” Zoey puts up her hand. “Nash is the one who told her to come over here.”
She points at Nash, who just shakes his head. “Wow.”
“I love you,” Zoey tells him when he walks out of the room, “with all my heart.”
“Are you sure you’re okay?” my aunt asks, and I look at her.
“Nope,” I answer her honestly. “I think I’m still a little numb and probably in shock.”
“Well, you can always change your mind,” my mother states hopefully. “Why don’t you take the time away to think about it?”
There is not enough time in the world for me to change my mind, but I don’t say that to her. “Maybe.” I shrug my shoulder and reach for a coffee, taking a sip.
“Where are you doing this soul-searching?” my mother asks me.
I look over at Sofia, who just smiles and nods at me. “I’m going to go and stay at Sofia’s house.”