Page 53 of Deja Who
TWENTY-SEVEN
She was watching Archer staggering away from her car and realized she was panting, just a little, when her phone twitched again in her pocket, bleating, “No wire hangers, ever!” The noise was muffled due to placement, but no less unpleasant. Her lust instantly damped down and disappeared, ice water tossed on flames.
She fished the phone out and glared at it. Even Nellie couldn’t be this dense. Not after the Fuck You medley phone chat. Something wrong? Trouble at the old mill? Something she needed Leah, and just Leah, to handle? Was it possible? Did she have the nerve?
But I need you to pick me up at the clinic after the procedure. And while you’re there... I don’t mean to be insensitive, darling, but neither of us is getting younger. Now don’t worry, I already talked to Dr. Weinman and he’ll be happy to discuss a few simple procedures with you. He’s got your complete medical history and everything, sodon’t eat anything the night before you pick me up... of course you don’t have to have anything done but if you come to your senses, you’ll be all set. Okay? Darling?
and
But the reporter won’t talk to me unless you’re there;Peoplemagazine is doing a “Where Are They Now” feature about celebrity moms. You can take the SATs next year... yes, it’s wonderful that most fifteen-year-olds don’t get invited to take it but that proves my point... there’s always next year, and also the year after.
and
But they loved you, they just loved you, and all you’ll need to do is diet down enough so you can play a young girl dying of anorexia and, yes, I know the part calls for a twelve-year-old and you’re fourteen, but once you skip enough meals you can pull it off. And darling, really, the dieting alone will bring us—you—more opportunities to work.
Did she have the nerve? Why was Leah even asking herself such an obvious question? OfcourseIt had the nerve! It was made up of fifty percent ambition and fifty percent nerve (and zero percent maternal instinct.) A month ago she never would have asked herself the question. Gah, interaction with Archer was making her soft.
Even as she was wondering why she was doing such a thing, Leah held the phone to her ear. “What.” She held her breath, waiting for that lovely shimmering voice, the sound of pain.
And... nothing. Nellie was either marshaling new arguments
It’s not that I don’t love you, darling, it’s that you’re not especially lovable.
or had misdialed
Sorry, darling, thought you were the colonic clinic. But while I’vegot you, when was the last time you had a good cleansing? From the look of your complexion, I would guess it has been a while.
or was sucking in breath for a patented scolding. Most popular:You Don’t Know What I’ve Sacrificed for You.Runner-up:I Can’t Believe You Would Deny Your Own Mother Although People Often Mistake Us for Sisters.
Nothing on the other end but careful, slow breathing. Was she nervous? Working up the nerve to ask for something else Leah could never give her? What could be worse thanMother Daughter Fuck Fest? So many, many things. The thought was staggering.
“No,” Leah said firmly. “Whatever it is, no.”
She shut off her phone for the night, which is why the police couldn’t immediately reach her with the news.
