Page 76 of Imperfections Seduced
“Are you sure? He could be a nice guy. He could be a modern-day sheik who believes in women’s rights.”
“The novelty with a woman like me wears off pretty fast with men like that. I like the freedom to do and say what I want to. If he takes me back to his country, I know what I’m in for. No, thank you! I’ve seenDateline. I don’t want my mother to have to smuggle me back out of a foreign country.”
She’s right; with her mouth, I know what she’s in for too.
“You know what my plans are for the rest of the day. What’re yours?”
“I’m headed home. I’m on babysitting duty, remember?”
She stands and slings her bag over her shoulder. “You should have chosen door number two, the cocktail partywith all the men.” She wags her eyebrows up and down at me.
I smile at the face she’s making. “I’ll talk to you later.”
She kisses me on the cheek before she leaves. “Later.”
I look out the window of the café after Chloe leaves. I try not to do it, but I can’t help it; I find myself thinking about Nick. I haven’t seen or talked to him since the morning I left his house in a hurry to get away from him. The day after Ava went to see him, she called me. She didn’t have much to say, which is not like Ava. She didn’t even try to force the issue of the two of us getting together. The only thing she said was he wasn’t as upset as she thought he was going to be. She hasn’t said anything else about him since then. He hasn’t texted or tried to call me. Maybe he’s really upset with me for leaving the way I did. I know I should call him and at least give him an explanation for the way I left.
Truth be told, I miss hearing from him. I’m disappointed he didn’t call me. I thought he would.
I changeinto my sweats and make myself a sandwich, then shuffle into the living room look for the remote. I flip through all the channels twice, like something I want to watch is magically going to appear. It’s like looking in the fridge over and over again when you’re hungry. Nothing new is going to be there, but for some reason you keep on doing it.
My daddy walks into the living room dressed in his tux.
“Hey, kit Cat!” He comes over and gives me a hug.
“Hey, Dad, you look good.”
“Thank you, thank you. I had to pull it together tonight for a good cause—Sickle Cell Anemia. I don’t go totoo many of these things, but your mother really wanted me to go to this one.”
“Where is your other half?” I brush a piece of lint off his shoulder.
“She’ll be down in a minute. I didn’t know you were here.”
“I was in my room.”
“I haven’t seen much of you lately. I thought I would see more of you now that you’re back.”
Since Kate’s moved back, I find any excuse possible not to be here.
“I have both my girls under the same roof again and I hardly get to see the both of you in the same room.”
Thank God. “Well, Dad, we’re not little girls anymore; our schedules don’t always coincide.”
“No matter how busy you are, you should make time for family. I was thinking maybe we should start doing every other week Sunday dinners again, since you’re home.”
“We haven’t had one of those since Chris and Jay went off to college.” I brush an imaginary piece of lint off his jacket this time.
“Now would be the perfect time. Our family is growing. Jay would probably bring Vanessa, it seems like they’re working things out. Kate could bring Nick, it’ll be great.”
“Oh great, sounds like fun times,” I say enthusiastically. He hugs me again, and I fake a smile for him. That is the last dinner on earth I want to be at. Talk about uncomfortable.
“What sounds like fun times?” My mother walks into the room dressed in a black-and-white, above-the-knee strapless dress with the matching short sleeve shrug jacket. Her hair is pulled up off her face. She looks sophisticated. She’s fifty-seven but looks ten years younger.
“I was telling Cat we should do Sunday night dinners again.”
My mother walks over, air-kissing me on the cheek so she doesn’t ruin her makeup.
“I think that’s a good idea, darling. Don’t you, Cat?”
