Page 142 of Three Not-So-Little Words
Might as well travel in style.
She smiles. “And where would you like to go?”
I look at her name tag. “Well, Jeanine, I’m not sure where we are traveling. How about you book us on the earliest flight you have?”
“Are you sure? You don’t want to pick a place?”
“Nope. We just want to get the hell out of here.”
fifty-six
You’re Veronica Fucking Lawson
Ronnie
“Here you go, boy,” I pull apart my croissant and give the bigger half to Arlo. He sits up long enough to eat it and then goes back to laying on the sidewalk next to my chair.
The next flight out of Oregon happened to be to Manhattan. That was completely fine with me. I love New York City. It makes me miss my apartment here–until I think about the price of rent, and then, I remember it’s just a great place to visit.
The magazine I work for is stationed out here. I thought about checking in with Rhonda to see how she’s doing, but I don’t know that I want to work. She will probably have some random job for me, and I want to take a couple of days to just unwind and enjoy the city.
So far, Arlo and I have spent most of our time in Central Park, walking around and just enjoying nature. I bought myself a book to read, but every time I try, my mind can never focus on it long enough. I’ve done a good job at avoiding thinking about the whole Drew situation, but I guess picking up a book makes the walls in my mind fall, and he’s all I can seem to think about.
Instead, I guess we will just continue to hang out, take walks, shop, and people watch. I managed to find a decent hotel that would accept dogs, so we’ve also ordered a ton of room service and watched some pay-per-view movies.
It’s not my most glamorous trip to New York, but this time, I have the cutest travel buddy I could imagine, so I think it may be the best trip yet.
I have no idea when I’m going to go home. When I bought my ticket, it was only one-way, so I am just playing it by ear. I still don’t think I’m ready to go home and deal with shit.
I can just hear my mother now. “Veronica Lawson, what the hell is wrong with you?”
As Arlo and I finish up our snack, I get ready to throw away our trash and continue on with our walk, I hear my mother’s voice again. But this time, it doesn’t sound like it’s in my head.
No, this time, it sounds much closer.
Just as I turn around, I see my short, blonde mother standing in front of me.
“Mom?” I cry. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“Oh, I just thought I’d come take in a show. What the fuck do you think I’m doing here, Veronica?” She’s practically spitting nails.
“Mom, why are you in New York?” I ask, hoping for a different answer. “How did you find me?”
“Dylan told me that you two share locations on your phone, and that’s how he knows where you are all the time. Remind me to bitch at you for that later.”
Before she says anything else to me, she kneels down to give Arlo a little bit of love. Of course, to him, she’s being nice. To me, she’s about to read me the riot act.
When she stands back up, she asks, “What is wrong with you? You just jump on a plane without telling anyone where you’re going…or even that you’re going at all!”
“I just needed to get away.”
Realizing we are causing a bit of a scene, she leads me over to an empty bench a little off the path, and we sit down.
“Veronica, this isn’t how you go about this. You’re a fucking adult.”
“Exactly! So, why are you chasing after me like I’m still a kid?”
“Because you’re acting like a kid!”
