Page 16 of Miss Humbug
She texted back immediately.
Anna:Can I call you? I have news!
News? I sure had news too with this wacky house caper and a fake boyfriend to boot.
I responded:Okay, call now.
My phone vibrated in my hand. I hit answer and laid down on the bed in my old bedroom. “I hope your news isn’t mouse related. I swear I patched the gap in the wall by the dryer hose—”
“Marlowe, I’m engaged! He proposed on Thanksgiving. With his whole family there!”
Not a mouse. A ring. An engagement ring. “Wow. Anna, that’s amazing.” Obvious shock came across in my voice. But thiswasgreat news. Her boyfriend, Zach, was funny, energetic, and he treated Anna like a queen. “Congratulations!”
She gave me the play-by-play, how Zach had planned with her family and his own to surprise her. The ring had been baked into some family favorite bakery’s cinnamon rolls, which they ate every year on Thanksgiving morning while watching the Macy’s parade on TV.
A holiday-related engagement. It almost sounded tolerable.
“That’s so sweet.” I hoped she understood my excitement wasn’t clouded by my typical holiday grouchiness.
Anna and I met in graduate school and had been roommates for three years. She was my closest friend and the only person in my post-Crystal Cove life who knew much about my family. She and Zach started dating around this time last year. Often, the three of us hung out together for movie nights or to explore new restaurants. I’d learned to give them space in recent months. To fill my time, I’d signed up for personal training sessions at the gym and stayed late at work. I’d dated a little, but never got anywhere close to what Anna and Zach had together.
“Which leads me to something we need to figure out,” Anna continued.
“Like which shade of mauve you’ll pick for bridesmaid dresses?”
She snickered. She hated mauve. The word and the color. “Um, actually it’s a little more important.” She hesitated. “It’s about our lease. It’s up for renewal in February, but for changes, they require two months’ notice.”
“Oh, right. Sure.” Suddenly, her hesitance made sense. “Two months’ notice—you don’t want to renew.”
“Zach’s family were like,grillingus with questions after I said yes to the proposal. His brother pointed out the cost of breaking a lease if we signed another year. We want a summer wedding—it’s going to be at Zach’s grandparents’ farm! Then his sister offered for me to stay with her because she’s looking for a roommate anyway. We can live together until the wedding.”
Reality sank in. Anna needed to move out to get the next phase of her life going. If we ended our lease, I’d need to find a new place solo. An affordable place. Or a new roommate.
Along with a new job. And renewed purpose.
No job, no roommate, and the crushing sensation my quest to reinvent myself in California was about to become harder than ever.
The push to win a reality show-worthy competition for the prize of a Victorian house in the wilds of (nearly) rural Illinois became a bit more urgent. It appeared Really Big Choices had their own timeline and that time to decide was now.
“I’m sorry to spring this on you,” Anna went on.
I shook my head, though she clearly couldn’t see me. “No, this is fine. I mean, great. Anna, I’m so happy for you. Don’t worry about me. I’ll figure out what to do.”
“It sounds like you have some extra time with your family. Maybe being around them will help?”
She’d been at a loss how to console me after the layoff. It seemed logical: simply apply for a new job and move on. Companies cut staff all the time; you couldn’t take it personally.
I’d taken it personally. Going from a high-achieving college student to a high-achieving grad student, with no excess sad deceased parent narrative to weigh me down, I’d been unstoppable. A dependable employee since I was willing to work the holidays everyone else requested off. Nobody asked too many questions when you worked those holidays without complaint.
Anna and I chatted a few more minutes before she had to leave for another family function.
We ended the call and I faced the silence and fading wallpaper. This beloved house held so many conflicting memories. Despite what the town projected onto me, I’d had a happy childhood. I just loathed how my family name defined me above everything else.
If I won the house, I’d have an earned place to live. Well, sort of. I’d always known I could come back and live with Grans if needed. But coming home, to me, spelled failure. That I couldn’t hack it on my own. That I couldn’t survive without my family.
If I won the house, I could set my own terms. The property would be mine with no guilt of taking up space in someone else’s domain.
But then I’d be in Crystal Cove, the town I’d been so desperate to escape. Still with no job and no larger purpose.
