Page 26 of Doctor Bossy

Ah, so it’s going to be that kind of day, is it?

I refused to play into it, picking up the menu instead. “Do you wanna order something first, or should we just get right into it?”

“Don’t give me that sass, young lady,” she snapped, narrowing her eyes at me. “You know I have every right to be mad at you. You haven’t answered any of my calls for nearly three weeks.”

“I’ve been busy,” I said offhandedly. “You know I work a lot.”

“Yes, but you could take a minute to at least pick up one of my calls. You have no idea what I’ve been going through, although I’m sure you’ve been doing well, getting cozy with that rich boyfriend of yours, such that you’ve forgotten all about your poor mother.”

“That’s not it at all, Mom, and you know it,” I said, refusing to let the guilt eat me. She was right in a way. I was avoiding her calls, but only because I knew she was going to ask me to bail her out of some trouble that she found herself in. Half of my college debt was incurred by bailing my mom out of one problem or another, and I knew that our codependent relationship could not be healthy. But it was hard to know when to cut it off, so for now, I would go long periods without speaking to her before the guilt finally compelled me to call her back.

“Besides,” I added. “James and I broke up anyway. Turns out he was just another jerk.”

If I thought that would be enough to appease her, I was wrong. Instead, her eyes widened so much that they nearly bugged out of her head.

“What?!”

Several heads turned at her exclamation.

“Mom, a little quieter, please,” I pleaded.

“He broke up with you?” she asked.

“No, actually, I broke up with him.”

Disbelief and confusion colored her expression. “Why?”

I sighed, not wanting to get into it. “He cheated on me.”

“That’s it?” My mother laughed, a tinkling, cruel sound. “Honey, that is something very common with a man of his status. With men in general, actually. Would you rather be cheated on by a broke fella who has not a dime to his name?”

“I’d rather not be cheated on at all, actually,” I said, but she wasn’t listening.

She was shaking her head. “You have no idea what you had. A guy like that doesn’t just ask you out every day, you know? He was rich, handsome, and smart. So what if he made a mistake here and there?”

“A mistake?” I raised an eyebrow. “What, did he slip and fall into the other woman’s vagina?”

“You’re not listening to me. We had it in with that guy, and you’re just going to throw it away like that.”

“We had a what?” I said, suddenly reminded why I never let James and my mother meet. The only reason she knew about him in the first place was that he tagged me in our engagement picture on social media, and it showed up on my profile. “I don’t care about his money if that’s what you’re getting at. I never cared about it. You’re the one who’s always going on about how much money he has, but that has never been important to me. I…” I tried to find the words to explain it. “I loved him, and he broke my heart.”

My mother attempted to look sympathetic, but it only came off as patronizing instead. “I’m sure it must have been painful at the time, but that’s life. It was childish to let go of him just because of that.”

I told myself not to let my mother’s callous words hurt me. I was already used to such comments from the woman, so I didn’t want to break my own heart now.

“What do you want, Mom?” I asked insolently, ready for this meeting to be over. “Why did you call me so many times?”

If she was offended by my tone, she didn’t show it. But rather than answer my question, she continued to look thoughtful.

“I think you should go and tell him you’re sorry and take him back,” she was saying. “You don’t let prime beef get away just like that. Oh, and maybe while you’re at it, you can introduce me to his hunk of a father.”

“No.” The answer was far harsher than I intended, torn from the depths of my soul. My mother gave me a startled look, but I didn’t back down. Just the idea of Griffin anywhere near my mother made me sick. I wasn’t going to entertain the thought. Not even a little bit.

“Tell me why I’m here, Mom,” I said again.

She sighed. “As you can expect, I called because I need your help.”

I was expecting it, but my stomach still tightened. “What kind of help?”

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