Page 118 of Just One Fake Date

Fifteen

Kyle leanedagainst the wall of the F5F office as his mom scolded him yet again. It was Friday night and he had a party to heat up at the dance club. He wanted to talk to the DJ about the mix before the club opened.

Instead, he’d been caught by his mother, whose calls he’d been ducking on his cell phone. She knew him well enough to know where to find him on Friday night.

And Cassie was merciless. She hadn’t covered for him at all.

This was what friends were for.

“Your brother is five years younger than you, but he’s married with a son and another baby on the way,” his mom said for the hundredth time that month. “My younger sisters have three grandchildren each. Kyle, I want to have grandchildren while I can enjoy them.”

“Enjoy Dave’s kids.”

“I do! But it’s not just about me. It’s about you, honey. You need to have someone in your life...”

“Mom, I’ll let you know when I meet the right woman.”

“I know, honey, but I’m not at all sure that you’re doing anything about meeting women. Every time I talk to you, you’re at work...”

“It’s a gym, Mom. It’sfullof women.” Kyle admired a woman walking past him on her way to yoga class. She cast him a flirtatious smile and he smiled back at her, enjoying the view until she was out of sight.

“But maybe the right kind of women aren’t interested in a fitness instructor. Maybe you need a better job, honey. I mean, this was all fine when you were younger, but women might not find it enticing. I don’t want to insult you, Kyle, but women have to be practical. If they’re going to have children and stay home with them, they need a man who can provide for them...”

“Mom, there are so many assumptions tied up in that sentence, that I don’t even know where to start.”

“Assumptions?”

Kyle winced at his mom’s tone.

Now he’d done it.

“How is it anassumptionthat the woman you love and marry will want to have children, or that you’ll have lots of children, or that she would naturally want to spend their formative years with them?”

“Well, there’s three assumptions right there, Mom.”

“If you mean that fertility might become an issue when a woman is over thirty, then you’re right, honey, and that’s all the more reason to get serious about finding a wife and partner...”

“Mom, I’ve got to go and teach a class.”

“Liar,” Cassie mouthed as she passed him.

Kyle made a face at her and she grinned.

“Well, think about it, Kyle. I picked up some brochures at the local college about skills improvement that I think might be interesting to you...”

“I make enough money, Mom.”

“Enough money for you is not the same as enough money to support a family, Kyle. Trust me. I know!”

His mother had no idea how much money Kyle made and he wasn’t going to tell her. California wasn’t nearly so far away that she couldn’t inflict herself on him with short notice and meddle in his social life.

“Work, Mom. Gotta go.”

“And that’s another thing. You really need to start thinking about your own health, honey. All this exercise seems excessive at your age...”

“Bye, Mom!”

Kyle ended the call, feeling just as annoyed as he had after every single phone call he’d had with his mother in the past ten years. He exhaled steadily and slowly, using some of the breathing exercises he taught to calm himself down.

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