Page 8 of Say You Will

Dante shifts back, sprawling in his seat. “You’re not going to be satisfied if you acquire your wife as a business merger.”

“I won’t care how I acquired her once I have her.” I keep my voice deliberately bland. If I say it enough, I’ll convince myself it’s true. The only way I can have Franki Lennox as my wife is by offering her a practical arrangement, so that’s what I’ll do.

From her place near my bloody feet, the kid rocks in place. “Monster. Monster. Monster.”

two

Franki

Mind Over Matter | Young the Giant

Do other people get a jolt of dread every time they get a phone call?Because phones are now the bane of my existence.

Hair still dripping and towel wrapped around my chest, I eye mine like it’s a snake. The phone, in its pretty black and silver star-covered case, vibrates on the tiny desk in my hotel room. I turned the ringer off three days ago, but it still buzzes, and that’s enough to make me jump with a jolt of adrenaline.

Oliver, my little brown dachshund, lifts his head from where he’s been napping in the corner, then dismisses my mother’s call the way I wish I could.

It’s time to deal with her, get today’s meltdown under control, and move on with my life. This is better, really. I’ll get it over with before I meet up with the other bridesmaids for the wedding, rather than having it hanging over my head.

I answer the call and leave it on speakerphone as I move to my suitcase. “Hey, Mom. How are you?”

“I thought you were dead. You didn’t answer your phone.”

Her last call came less than twenty minutes ago.“Dead”is a pretty radical leap of logic. I drag on my clothing as we speak. “I was in the shower.”

“I need you back in California. My schedule is falling apart without you. The personal assistant you hired for me is a joke.”

“Give your PA time. He’s still learning your habits,” I soothe.

“A PA isn’t mychild. A PA doesn’t care about me. I don’t trust him the way I trust you.”

I squeeze my temples with one hand. “You made it without me all those years when I was a kid. You can do it. This is just a transition.” I keep my tone upbeat and encouraging. All “Atta girl”with none of the frustration I feel bleeding through.

“My life was hell without you. I made sacrifices for your sake; the least you owe me is some gratitude and appreciation now.” She’s ramping up to anger. Zero to sixty in the space of six sentences.

“I am grateful. I know it was hard for you to be away from me when I was a child. I’m sorry you went through that.” The words are rote. Something she’s expected me to say my entire life.

“You’re still trying to punish me for something that isn’t my fault.”

This is an old conversation, recycled and rehashed. I’m tired of it. I have things to do today, and catering to my mother’s fragileego isn’t on my list. “I’m not punishing you. I’m doing what normal people do when they grow up. I’m trying to build my own life.”

“You’re not normal. You can’t expect to do what other people do.”

I clutch the air in a silent expression of fury, then speak calmly. If I escalate her, it only gets worse. “I’m not abnormal.”

“Don’t put words in my mouth and act like I’m attacking you when I’m trying to help you.”

I need to steer this conversation back on course. “Why don’t you ask David for help? You don’t have to be alone. You have support. He loves you.” She’s been in a quiet relationship with David Vance for years.

“I can’t do that, and you know it. I don’t get to be sentimental about these things. It’s about public perception. The people like to imagine I’m in love with my co-star, not banging a stunt actor they’ve never heard of.”

Ugh. Gross.

“Just come back, Franki. You only have so long before the money you stole runs out,” she says.

I roll my eyes. “I didn’t steal anything. I saved the money you insisted on giving me because you didn’t want me to get a job while I was a student. I’ll find one now.”

I tried to find employment before I left and applied for all sorts of positions in New York. None of them responded…until one did with a kindly worded email telling me best of luck since I’d withdrawn my application. When I wrote back, they’d already filled the position.

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