Page 57 of Just the Tipsy
The nail techs mask up and start on our nails.
“How was the family reunion?” Jada asks me.
I almost give the knee-jerk reaction of “fine”, but what’s the point of lying? “It was…interesting.”
Jada snorts. “I bet. The Stryker family is huge so I suspect there’s a bunch of weirdness in there.”
“Yeah. I met a whole bunch of them.” I shrug. “But they seem like they love each other, even if they’re wrestling each other.”
“Oh, Brett and Darren?” Jada asks. I nod. “Yeah, they just do that. They were a year or two behind us in school. It’s all dumb brother shit.”
“Waylon did win a bet, though,” I say. “That they’d end up wrestling before and after dinner.”
“One of Wes’s little bets? Yeah, those are impossible to not buy into. It’s never stuff that’s too serious so it’s fun.”
A little tinge of jealousy pops up — I almost wish I’d known people that long or had those kinds of connections. But then again, everyone I’ve met (aside from Waylon’s shitty aunt Nadine) has embraced me.
Maybe a little too hard.
“Can I ask something about Waylon’s mom?” I ask, my voice low. “Is she always kind of extra?”
“Assuming this conversation stays in this room, god, yes.” Jada heaves a sigh. “She’s so extra. Sometimes it’s kind of fun. Like in high school she was involved in all the stuff where the parents helped us plan and things were always over the top. But she also puts a ton of that energy into pushing Waylon to succeed.”
“I definitely noticed that.” Even though he’s had enough accomplishments for a lifetime already.
“Yeah. Back in high school, I kind of got it — he was able to get into a bunch of good colleges because he was doing everything, all the time with her guidance. But now she wants him to be involved in all these things around town.”
“Which he doesn’t really want to do,” I say. Jada makes a sound of acknowledgment. “But it seems like she wantsmeto do those things now.”
“Ah, shit.” Jada shakes her head. “Once she has you in her crosshairs, I doubt she’ll let up.”
“Awesome.” I watch Daisy start shaping my nails.
“Not to be a bummer,” Jada says. She pauses, nibbling her bottom lip. “She was really like this with Catherine, but Catherine was more than happy to jump through all the hoops in the world to stay on Delia’s good side. Probably because she knew she was trash.”
I chuckle. “I’m not unique in that way?”
“Nope. But I don’t think Delia notices how much all that pressure really affects someone.” She pauses. “I think she just wants everything to look picture perfect. And so far, Waylon is the best chance for her to get that since he’s always been a natural overachiever.”
I swallow. “That must wear on him. Always feeling like he could be doing more. And what if you fail? Everyone fails.”
“Yeah.” Jada puts one hand into the curing light. “Waylon and failure aren’t friends.”
The seriousness of her tone, such a contrast from her usual light one, gives me pause. I try to imagine him even failing at all and can’t. He gives off an aura of competence, which is pretty hot, but I never thought about the flip side. Dealing with failure when you aren’t used to it.
My heart sinks a little. If I don’t live up to his mom’s expectations, will he feel like this whole fake relationship is failure? I just thought this would be me going on a few dates with him and me being done with it.
“We tried to get him to not think of the whole situation with his ex as a failure,” Jada says, her tone somber again. “But I think he’s kind of internalized it like that. I’m not a psychologist or whatever, but I think that’s why it’s taken him a bit to get back out there. But then he met you, so I’m assuming he’s getting over it.”
I bite the inside of my lip, just nodding. He’ssonot over it. And getting rid of the pain from a breakup on top of internalizedfeelings of failure, one of his biggest fears? That’s not something people can just shake off.
EIGHTEEN
BIANCA
I rubmy eyes and lean back in my seat. I’ve been staring at my screen all morning, trying to force information on business operations into my head. Kaitlyn and I plan to bring someone else on to manage operations for the spa, but what’s the point in me being involved if I don’t know everything in and out? Or at the very least, the basics of business so I don’t make an ass out of myself?
The problem is actually learning all of this. I was a mediocre student in high school, so this is the most studying I’ve done since graduating. I assumed getting back into learning, especially learning something actually important, would come easily to me, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.
