Page 103 of Female Fantasy
“Nonsense,” Nico’s mom says, turning around to scowl at her offspring. “I can barely get you to visit me once in a blue moon, and now that I’ve got a special visitor, you’re trying to scare her away?” She walks over to the kitchenette and opens a cabinet, pulling out mugs. “Come, Joonie. Stay for a cup of tea. Fill me in on the last decade and a half of your life. Of course Nico keeps me updated on the basics, but I want all the juicy details.”
I walk over to the love seat and allow myself to sink into the cushions. “He does?”
She laughs. “Are you kidding? I practically know your schedule by heart. I swear, you should hire him to write your newsletter. It’s alwaysJoonie said this the other dayorYou won’t believe what Joonie did this time.I’ve never seen someone burrow their way under Nico’s skin quite the way you have.”
“Mom!” Nico yells, his cheeks flushing in a manner I’m all too familiar with.
“Oh hush, honey. It’s just a little bit of girl talk. Don’t beso sensitive. Honestly, the way you go on and on about her, I never know whether you want to kill her or kiss her. But since blood has always made you a little queasy…”
“Isn’t that the truth,” I mutter.
Nico looks up at the ceiling. “Okay, I’m ready for the apocalypse to start anytime now.”
His mother looks between us and frowns. “Why are you two sitting so far apart? And avoiding eye contact? You’re acting strange.”
She squints at us, and I squirm in my seat.
Nico takes a sip of tea.
His mom’s hand flies to her mouth. “Oh my God, you’ve had sex!”
“What? No!” I shout.
“How could you possibly know that?” Nico groans.
“Mother’s intuition.” She beams. “So it’s true? Oh, this is so wonderful! I’ve always thought you two would make the cutest couple. Joonie, you had the most adorable crush on Nico when you were little. You were always coming up with silly excuses to follow him around, to play with him, to ask him questions.”
I feel all the blood rush to my head.
“Now, now. That’s nothing to be embarrassed about. You two were kids. It was so sweet. I remember one time when he was in the bath, you—”
“I would really, really like to stop having this conversation,” I interrupt rather rudely.
“Finally, we agree on something,” Nico mumbles.
“Never thought I’d see the day,” I retort.
His mother just giggles, her voice like the ringing of a bell. “Oh, you two are too much. What banter! Finally, someone who can keep up with his witticisms and call him on his bullshit. I mean, bull crap.”
“Mom, I’m almost thirty,” Nico says. “You can curse in front of me.”
“Hush,” she says again, pulling him to her chest and planting a big wet kiss on his forehead. “You’ll always be my baby. My boy. So strong, even when you didn’t have to be.”
Her lower lip quivers.
Those gray-blue skies darken.
Oh God—the waterworks are about to start.
“The truth is, I’m relieved,” she says, turning to face me once again. “Nico hasn’t brought a girl home to meet me…well, ever. He hasn’t talked about anyone but you for the last decade. I was starting to worry that he’d never let anybody in. You were so young, you probably don’t remember, but my divorce from his father was messy. It really did a number on all of us, Nico most of all. It wasn’t fair.”
Nico shakes his head, sucking in his cheeks. “No, Mom. What wasn’t fair was Dad cheating on you. Over and over again. And with yoursister. You always say we can choose love. Well, he had a choice. And his decision was to walk away from us. His son and hissoul mate.”
He spits the last word as if it’s a curse.
“Honey, I won’t pretend your father’s actions didn’t hurt me. They wrecked me. But we didn’t have a perfect marriage.Not even close. We saw the world differently—he was always worried about the things he couldn’t change, and I was so caught up in the small changes I could make. We bickered to avoid talking about the big stuff. It’s one thing when someone who doesn’t really know you tries to hurt you. It’s whole different situation when the person who knows you best in the world takes a shot. We both knew where to aim our cruelest comments. How to dig the knife in and really make each other bleed.”
Nico rubs his hand down his face like he can’t believe what he’s hearing.
