Chapter 24 #2
I sighed, taking a long drink, wishing the tea was from Long Island. “No, she will not be meeting us later. We are no longer together. She moved to New York.” Four forks crashed to the table as my mother and three sisters stared at me.
“What?! When?” Poppy asked.
“Why? What did you do?!” Sophie so lovingly chastised. She was always the bitchier one of us.
I rolled my eyes. “I didn’t do anything. We broke up two years ago. She got a promotion in New York, and I didn’t go. End of story.” That wasn’t the end of the story apparently, as my mother spoke next.
“Two years?! Why didn’t you tell us sooner? Didn’t you love her? You were together for a long time. Why didn’t you go with her? She was such a lovely girl. You could have made it work if you wanted to.”
I groaned. I really didn’t want to talk about it anymore. “I’m sorry, Mother. I’ve been busy with work, and it was complicated, okay? I cared for her, yes, but… I have a store to run, and I couldn’t just drop everything and leave. She understood that. She’s doing great and she met someone else.”
My mother frowned like I’d told her Michael Kors went out of business. “Oh, Drea, I’m sorry. You’ll find someone, too, don’t worry. You have a lot to offer a woman.”
Eliza snorted. “Like what, Mother?”
I scratched my nose with my middle finger at Eliza. “Eliza Jane, that’s enough!” my mother scolded.
I laughed when she bowed her head sheepishly. That’s what you get, bitch!
“I’m fine, really. I’ve moved on and I’m happy for her.”
I realized my first mistake of the day when my mother’s eyes shimmered with excitement. No, scratch that, mistake number two. My first mistake was picking them up from the airport in the first place.
“Oh, really? Do tell! Who is she? Where did you meet? How long have you been dating? When can we meet her? Is she coming to lunch?”
I groaned. “Please stop. I’ve moved on from our breakup, but I haven’t physically moved on. Well, I mean—”
“Do not finish that sentence!” Sophie scrunched up her nose. “We know exactly how physical you can be. You forget we used to share a room with you.”
I rolled my eyes. “You know what, I’m not talking about my sex life with you. Let’s just finish our lunch, please.”
“You’re lying!” Sophie called out when she must’ve noticed my red cheeks and how I wouldn’t look them in the eyes. “You’ve met someone, haven’t you?”
Mistake number three…
“Drea Elise, are you lying to your mother?”
I laughed nervously, still not looking directly at her. “What? No. You know me.”
“Then look me in the eyes, dear.”
I hesitated before slowly looking at my mother, who raised a perfectly polished eyebrow, and I sighed. She could get me to confess to something I had only thought about doing. “Okay, fine. I may have met someone, but it’s… complicated.”
Complicated was the only word to describe my life these days. Between the issues at the bookstore, my relationship with my friends and how little I let them in, and now adding Blair to it all… It was enough to make my head spin. Life would have been so much easier if I wasn’t so fucked up.
Sophie scowled at me. “Which is Drea’s way of saying she’s sleeping around with half of Seattle.”
“Piss off, Soph!” I wanted to be anywhere else but at this table, having this conversation.
“Drea! Sophie, must you be so crass?”
Sophie put up her hands in surrender. “I’m not the one doing it, Mother. I was just saying.”
“I know what you were saying. Drea, is this true? Are you sleeping around? You know I don’t want to judge you, but—”
“No, I’m not sleeping around, okay? I…”
I hadn’t slept with anyone else for months. Since I started sleeping with Blair, I hadn’t even thought about anyone else. Why would I need to? Oh, shit… What was happening to me?
“Drea? What’s going on?” my mother asked softly.
I think I’m falling in love and I’m scared!
Who was I kidding? I was so insanely in love with Blair it was sick.
When I was with her, nothing else mattered, and when I wasn’t with her, I wanted to give anything to be with her.
Now I knew how Mackenzie felt. I would have to remember to apologize later for giving her shit for being wrapped around Fallon’s finger.
I was kicking myself for agreeing to pick up my family from the airport, but I didn’t really have a choice. That morning, I was trying to convince Blair to stay in bed all day, and even though she was screaming yes, I knew she wasn’t talking about staying in bed.
“Fuck, baby. Yes!” she screamed as I sucked her clit into my mouth when she shattered underneath me.
“As much as I would love to do that all day, you already promised to go to the airport, and I really need to find a dress for the wedding.”
I groaned, bringing myself back to the present. Besides my failed attempt to convince her, she had a point. Poppy had called and practically guilt tripped me into picking them up, so I was having an interrogating lunch while Blair was trying on dresses, probably looking sexy as fuck without me.
I sighed when I realized my mother had asked me a question. I was so caught up in my thoughts that I forgot to answer her, and they were all staring at me as if I had completely lost my mind, which in a way, I supposed I had.
“Talk to me, honey. What’s going on?” There was no judgment in her tone.
“I have been kind of seeing someone. It’s still new and very complicated. I don’t know what we are, okay? So don’t ask. We haven’t really talked about it. I don’t want to talk about it anymore. Can we please just move on?” I was desperate to talk about literally anything else.
“That sounds like a splendid idea, dear.” My mother smiled. “But just know, I want you to be happy, however that looks for you. Just please make sure you are being safe.”
“Okay, Mother! Jesus.” I wanted to gag at the thought of my mother knowing anything about sex. I liked to think she’d had sex twice in her life, and the results were sitting at the same table, and she would never do it again.
Aside from the nauseating conversation about my sex life, I was happy to have this family time. It wasn’t often that I got to talk to my mother or sisters, and it was nice. Except for Sophie—she could’ve stayed in Portland.