Page 31 of The Expiration Date

“I remember more than you think.”

There we are, lost in our own little world. We lock eyes for what seems like forever. He is searching mine, trying to decipher if it was okay that he said those things. On the one hand, it is okay. He didn’t tell them any lies about the facts of our first meeting. On the other, my gut is yelling at me, almost like a warning signal–things are about to get even more complicated.

17

Iwake up the next morning with my arm draped over what I think is a pillow. Turns out, it is definitely not a pillow.

Aidan is fast asleep. One hand is laying on his chest, and the other is slightly resting on my own hand. I completely forgot that he fell asleep next to me. We stayed up late talking about the welcome dinner, my friendship with Anna, my childhood, and how writing my screenplay was going. I finally opened up to Aidan about the struggle I was having writing with the happily ever after for my characters. That was the block that was holding me back from submitting. Aidan nodded and said he understood and then he told me that the block will disappear eventually. I just had to keep writing. I was so grateful that he didn’t press me for more details about my relationship with Robert. The last thing I remember before passing out was reading my novel that I’ve been trying to get through for the past month, while Aidan sat beside me reading through a script for a possible role. It was a romantic comedy, a genre of movie that he wants to do more of.

I don’t want to wake Aidan. He literally looks perfect. Of course he does. My stomach is growling and making gurgling noises so loud that I’m sure it will wake him. I slide my arm from underneath Aidan’s warm hand; luckily, he doesn’t stir. Poor guy is probably exhausted from all the people he met yesterday and from keeping up pretenses. I successfully tiptoe out of bed, throw on some slippers and quietly open the door. I sneak out and gently close the door to the bedroom.

I find my mom in the kitchen, with a mug in hand as she scrambles eggs in a pan. There is a platter of cut-up fruit on the island.

“Morning, Mom. Did you sleep well?” I plop a strawberry in my mouth and head over to the cabinets, opening them blindly, trying to find the mugs.

“Morning, Haley Girl. Mugs are on the other side of me. Cabinet closest to the fridge. And yes, I slept great. It was nice having the window open and hearing the ocean throughout the night.”

I find a mug of sufficient size–basically a soup bowl–and set it on the counter. I open the fridge and look for creamer. “On the door,” my mom chimes in. I find it immediately. As I pour the creamer in my mug, she pours in coffee, causing it to mix perfectly.

“Thanks, Mom.” I walk over the island and sit on one of the bar stools.

“How did you sleep?” she asks, leaning against the counter and sipping her coffee. A small grin on her face, the mug barely masking it.

“Really good. Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Like what?”

“Like you are thinking something you desperately want to say, but don’t have the courage to say out loud. As memory recalls, you always had that look right before you were about to say something that would embarrass me.”

“I was just wondering how you slept, that’s all.”

“You mean how did I sleep with an international movie star next to me? I slept fine, Mom.” I suddenly get nervous about the fact that people are imagining us in bed together, but that’s normal for people who are actually couples. The world doesn’t know that we aren’t a couple. More importantly, my mom doesn’t know. Play the part, Haley. “Mom, we’ve been sleeping with each other for a while.”

She raises her eyebrows and her smile broadens.

“I mean sleeping next to each other. Not that we don’t sleep with each other….you know what? Please wipe everything that just came out of my mouth from your head, Mom. That was too much information.”

“Haley, you are a grown woman. You don’t have to pretend that you don’t have sex with your boyfriend.”

“Mom!”

“What?”

“Don’t say that!”

“What? Sex? Really, Haley. I am not naive to think that you have never had sex with anyone in your life.”

Is my mother really saying those words? Even though I am a grown woman, talking about my sexual encounters is not on the list of things I ever want to do with my mother.

“Okay, changing the subject please.” I need to get food in my system immediately. Scooting past my mom, I turn off the burner, grab the spatula and scoop some eggs onto my plate, along with sliced avocado. When I return to my seat, I realize that I need to make sure my mother doesn’t talk about me and Aidan’s relationship to many people, especially about the part…

I clear my throat. “Oh, I was going to say. Can you not say anything about Aidan formerly being my boss? I don’t know, I don’t want anyone to judge or ask too many questions.”

“People are going to find out, Haley Girl. You chose to be with someone who is always in the spotlight and people are going to have their opinions about it.”

“And what’s your opinion about it?”

“I have to admit, yesterday when you told me that he was your boss, I got a little scared.”

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