Chapter 28
Riley
Dear Riley,
While your letter of resignation was an untimely one for our company (peak season), it did not come as a surprise.
It has been evident to me for some time that your priorities are not aligned with that of our company or our vision.
That said, I would like to relieve you of any present or future responsibilities, effective immediately. Good luck in your ambitious ventures.
Katherine.
The email is just another slap in the face on this gloomy Monday.
And it isn’t just gloomy because of all the shit happening in my life right now, though that is a good chunk of it.
The weather is actually gloomy– gray and drizzly– which is just perfect considering I am running a booth at a festival downtown.
I used to love festivals. And it is very much festival season.
In a city this big, it seems like there’s at least three a week starting around Halloween clear through New Years.
Early December is when it really amps up, which is why Brianna is running a booth with me.
She’s going to be selling cookies and I’m going to be selling my soul. Not really…
I’m actually testing my marketing skills. The second to last line of Katherine’s email made it crystal clear that I am jobless which means I better get my shit in order, starting with passing out gingerbread cookies strapped with business cards.
It should be exciting. It’s the beginning of a new era. But no matter how hard I try to muster up some of the optimism Amber riled up in me the day I shot off my letter to Katherine, I can’t seem to see that silver lining. Only clouds. Big, dark clouds.
Because of my less than fiery mood, I take a screen shot of the email and text it to Amber. She responds while I’m making pancakes for Noah.
Amber- Listen to me. She can take a hike. It’s not like you were going to keep taking jobs from her anyways.
Riley- Did I make a mistake? Because right now it feels like a mistake.
Amber- Absolutely not. This is actually a good thing.
Riley- How do you figure?
Amber- Because if the bridge is burned, you can only move forward.
Riley- Yeah well…that’s not the only bridge that’s caught on fire lately…
Amber- ??? What do you mean?
Riley- I may or may not have demanded a paternity test from Cameron.
Amber- WHAT? Why would you do that?
Riley- Because I’m pretty sure he’s Santa…
My phone rings and I answer.
“Hold the fucking phone,” she cries out.
“I am.”
“Are you actually telling me that you think Cameron, the same Cameron you are arranged to marry is also the Santa from the rooftop?!”
Noah is currently in the bathtub so I’m not too worried about him overhearing, but I still keep my voice low just in case.
“Are you sure?” she asks.
“I think so. I mean I never really saw his face. Not well anyways. But so much about him lines up. Including a tattoo. The problem is, he’s denying it.”
“Jesus. Okay. So you confronted him about your sexy romp on the rooftop and he’s claiming it wasn’t him. And by default also claiming that Noah, whose father is very much Rooftop Santa, is not his son.”
“Correct,” I answer. “Though his main argument is that he can’t have biological children so even if he was Rooftop Santa, which he is, he’s saying that he can’t possibly be Noah’s father, which is wrong. Good lord I sound crazy.”
“A little bit. But honestly, it tracks.”
“Between that, Noah not feeling great probably because of the weather and my job being terminated on the spot, I’m not having the greatest day,” I say as I lick syrup off my fingers and slide a couple pancakes on our plates.
“God, I can only imagine. Of all the pickles you’ve gotten used to, this is by far the pickliest.”
“Thanks for the support,” I mumble.
“That wasn’t support. But I can offer you some by way of stopping by your booth today. If you give me a handful of those business cards too I’ll pass them out.”
“You’re the best,” I tell her with a sigh.
“I try.”
After our pancake breakfast, I do my best to put on a happy face, which is actually a little easier than I would have thought. Between Brianna’s usual positive energy and the boys soliciting me left and right with cookies tied up with my business cards, things aren’t as bad as I thought they’d be.
“I think this is going great,” Brianna says with a cheerful smile as the boys turn on their five year old charm for every passerby.
“I think so too. I have to admit I wasn’t in the mood to do this today. Ever since I decided to branch off on my own, I’ve been feeling a bit untethered. But you always know how to make my crazy life spin a little less crazily,” I say and she smiles as she always does.
“What are neighbors for?” Brianna asks, tying a few more ribbons around gingerbread men.
“You’re not just my neighbor, Brianna. You’re my friend. One of my closest friends,” I tell her.
“That’s sweet of you,” she says. “I love you and Noah and I just want to help in any way I can.”
“You do more than help,” I tell her. “You’re my number one go too for Noah. You’re always there when we need you and Bailey. You’re amazing and I just want you to know that.”
“You’re going to make me cry!” she says, swatting the air between us. I laugh, feeling a little bit teary as well. I’m sure it’s just a mix of everything. I guess leaving the security of a job you hate while having unexpected man trouble will do that to you.
God. Listen to me. Man trouble? I need to get it together.
Suddenly Amber appears out of the crowd. “Sorry I’m late. Hockey boy was getting a little clingy and I had to give him the boot. He wanted to go to brunch. Brunch! What kind of self respecting, grown ass man wants to go to brunch?”
“The kind of man that wants to date you and not just…you know…” I mumble the last part because we currently have two five year old boys underfoot and Brianna giggles.
“Yeah, well, I was looking for less of the brunch part and more of the you know part which by the way was the best part. Too bad I have to break it off. Leave it to a man to not know a good thing when he has it.”
Both Brianna and I laugh. It must be nice being able to have that kind of whimsy in life. “Well, at least you don’t have to sit through any more hockey games,” I tell her.
“You got that right. God. Talk about a boring sport.”
“Boring?” Brianna chimes in. “I always kind of enjoyed it myself.”
“You? Hockey?” I ask.
“You do know it’s the sport where all the guys fight with sticks, right?” Amber says.
“Yep,” she smiles, buzzing around the booth. “They crash into each other, slamming around the rink, sometimes getting into brawls. It’s enough testosterone to melt the ice.”
“But not enough for me to go brunching with Mr. Clingy. Who, by the way, doesn’t play it. He just watches it. While downing at least a pitcher of cheap beer. He probably thinks brunch is going to include Toaster Strudels.”
We laugh again as she looks at one of my business cards. “Well, look at you. These are really great. Even if your fake fiancé is acting flaky recently.”
“Fake fiancé?” Brianna asks, stepping up next to Amber and I and my heart sinks in my chest a little. Amber, however, is oblivious and unfiltered and keeps talking.
“You mean Riley hasn’t told you?”
“I guess she hasn’t,” Brianna says with a smile that I know isn’t genuine.
Amber lowers her voice as the boys weave in and out of the booth. “Riley and Cameron are getting married.”
Brianna looks at me. “I guess I don’t understand what the catch is. You seem like a lovely couple. Although you never mentioned it being that serious…”
The knife turns in my chest. “That’s because…it isn’t.”
“Okay…” Brianna says.
“Cameron’s father, Arthur Reinhart, left him with a rather large sum of money.
But he doesn't have any access to it…unless he’s married.
It’s enough money to keep the clinic open at the hospital as well as the other benefits Reinhart has always been known for.
Benefits that Noah desperately needs. So…
he proposed that we get married so that he’d have access to the money. Kind of a win-win you know?”
“You’re…marrying a man for his money?” she asks.
“Not all of it. God. I guess it sounds crazy, doesn’t it?” I half laugh.
“It does,” Brianna says with no trace of a smile at all as she organizes the rest of the cookies and sets them in front of me.
“But what's even crazier about it is that I had no idea. Here I was thinking that you just really liked your kid’s doctor. I didn’t know you were getting married.
And I definitely didn’t know you were getting fake married. ”
“Brianna,” I start but she cuts me off again. It’s a tone I’ve never known her to have.
“No. It’s okay. I guess it just means that all the things we just talked about are just a cover up, that’s all.”
“A cover up for what?” I ask. Meanwhile, Amber starts helping clean up.
“Well. Obviously you don’t tell me what’s really going on in your life. Most of the time we only talk when you need help,” she says curtly.
“That’s not true,” I argue and Brianna looks at me. The hurt in her expression gives the knife in my chest another quarter turn.
“It is though. I am your go to every time Noah needs to be picked up and you can’t make it.
Or needs an overnight when you need a break.
I’m a single mom too, you know. And I know my kid isn’t sick.
But I am tired too. I never stop. Not for him or Noah or anyone else.
You know how much I love him but I thought we were friends. Maybe I was wrong,”
“Brianna. You’re not wrong. We are friends. Brianna…”
But before I can argue anymore or apologize, Brianna grabs Bailey and disappears into the crowd. And just like that, the rest of my life crumbles around me.