Page 29 of We Met Like This
Audrey nodded, approving my plans. “Remember when you talk to him to lead with your head, not with your feelings. Cool and collected. Show him you have the upper hand.”
“But I don’t,” I said. “He has all the hands.”
“The key is to make it seem like you have more options than just him.”
I stared at the water droplets on the outside of my glass. “I really don’t. All my real options outside of the agency I’m at are in New York.”
“So make him think you’d go there. He needs you, not the other way around.” She pointed to her chest. “You have to believe it in here. That you have a lot to offer.” She’d donned her “on-camera” voice. The one she reserved for her podcasts and her YouTube channel, where she gave this very advice to thousands of people. “Because you do have a lot to offer.” I could see why her viewers liked her. She was good at pep talks.
“I do.”
“Head first,” she reiterated. “You tend to lead with emotions, then actions, then get your brain involved.”
If only she knew how true that was when it came to Rob. “What?” I asked in faux shock. “I do?”
She shook her head but had a smile on her face. “It’s backwards.”
“I’ll work on it.” This was my constant mantra when talking to my sister.
“Practice what you’re going to say the day before with Sloane, I’m sure she’ll help you. She’s a fighter.”
Was that her way of saying I wasn’t? I didn’t want to know. “Enough about me. How are you?”
“I’m pregnant.” She said it as if she was showing me an example of how to lead without her emotions.
“What?” My eyes shot to her water glass. “Oh! Wow! Congrats, Audrey.”
“I waited as long as I could, but the gap between the boys and her was getting too big. I want them to be close.”
“Her? You already know it’s a girl?”
“Yes,” she said.
“That’s exciting. I’m so happy for you.”
She nodded slowly, her eyes not leaving mine, like she expected me to say more. I wasn’t sure what else there was to say.
I decided on: “I’ll plan a shower. It will be fun. Just get me a list of who you want to invite.”
“Oh, no, you don’t have to. I have a vision. And my friend Janine is going to help me. It has to be a certain vibe for the socials. You know.”
I did know. “Right, of course. I can help, at least. Just give me a job. I’m sure Mom will help too. Wait, do Mom and Dad know yet?”
“Yes,” she said. “I’m twenty weeks.”
“Twenty… weeks? That’s like halfway.” My eyes traveled down, but the table was covering her stomach. I tried to picture her earlier at the T-ball game as we walked with the ice chest, but my mind did not remember a baby bump. Twenty weeks? I couldn’t believe she’d waited this long to tell me. A wave of hurt washed over me.
“Don’t be mad,” she said. “I wasn’t sure how to tell you. I know you wanted our kids to grow up together.”
My eyes went wide. “You waited to get pregnant because ofme? Audrey, you… shouldn’t… you… Why would you do that?”
“Because it was part of the five-year plan I helped you put together years ago,” she said. “Career advancement, marriage, then baby. But…”
“Not everything happens on a schedule,” I said, taking a swig of my mimosa. “I know you married young, but I’m only twenty-seven. I have time.”
“It’s not that. It’s just you don’t know exactly what you want. You’re a bit directionless, unfocused.” She held up her hand, perhaps reacting to my shocked expression. “And that’s not terrible. You’ve always been that way. Like you said, you’re young. You have time to progress in your career. You have time to search for this perfect guy that you’ll meet in the perfect way. Or time to realize that perfect only exists in books and to stop being so picky.”
“Wow,” I said.
