Page 85 of Latte Girl
I watch as a shadow passes overherface.
“But I’m here now,” I add quickly. “How are you? Do you like it here? Are they helping you getbetter?”
She shakes her head and looks towards thenurse.
“Try it a bit slower,” the nurse tells me in a soft voice. “Take things one question atatime.”
I turn back to my mom. “How are youfeeling?”
“Good,” she answers, starting to smile again. “A goodplace.”
“It seems like a good place. The people here care a lot about you. Do you know Emma? I think she came and spoke to youtoday.”
Momnods.
“She helped me get in touch with you. I know her daughter. Her name is Hailey. I’m...We’re sort of...involved.”
I laugh at how it can still feel awkward to talk to my mother about something as normal as a girl I’m seeing. Compared to everything else there is to say, it should be easy tobringup.
“A...girl?” asks my mom, the tremor in her voice making my heartlurch.
“Yes, I’ve found a girl. She’s an amazing girl, Mom. I hope you can meet her soon. I know you’lllikeher.”
“Jordan.” She leans forwards, grasping the top of my arm as she mouths silently for a few moments before more sounds come out. “Miss you,” she says, then sighs and sits back in herchair.
My eyes start tosting.
“Mom, I am so, so sorry,” I tell her, fixing my eyes on hers. “I didn’t mean to disappoint you. I just needed to do what felt right, to give myself a chance to see if there was something else out there. I should have explained things better. I wanted to find you sooner than this, but Dad...Dad didn’t think it was a good idea, and maybe he was right, but I needed to speak to you again, to tell you everythingmyself.”
Tears slide down her cheeks as her mouth quivers and her hands start to shake. Her lips form the beginning of a word but the end stays trapped inside. She makes a fist and smacks it down on the arm of her chair, letting out a grunt offrustration.
The nurse rushes over and puts a hand on her shoulder. “Rosalind, it’s alright. Takeyourtime.”
My mom’s entire body isshakingnow.
“Remember your breathing. Focusonthat.”
The nurse starts trying to lead her in some sort of breathing exercise, but she keeps hitting her fist against the chair, her face starting togrowred.
“Why don’t you take a step back for a minute, Jordan?” the nurse suggests, her eyes still focused onmymom.
I get up and move to the other side of the room. My phone buzzes in my pocket but I ignore it, unable to rip my eyes away from my mother. Tears are pouring down her cheeks and she’s rocking back and forth, the anger in her face twisting her features so much that she looks like she’sinpain.
This is exactly what I was afraid wouldhappen.
My phone buzzes again, and then a third time right after that. The vibrations keep going. Someone must be texting menon-stop.
“What the hell?” I mutter, distracted enough to pull the phone out and look at thescreen.
All the texts are from Hailey. I open up theconversation.
Yourdad’shere.
He found out you’re withyourmom.
He’s yelling at the receptionist. He gets some kind of alerts about your mom. That’s how he knew she added you to thevisitorslist.
Jordan, he’s reallypissed.
