Page 60 of Feel It All

“It was a good birthday…” I start, but our waiter comes up to take our drink order.

“Two waters with lemon for us,” Graham orders for us.

“And two sweet teas, please.” Ms. Taylor tells the waiter.

“Are you super thirsty? Why the extra drink?” Graham asks her.

“Oh, I invited someone to join us.” She goes back to her menu, like she doesn’t need to say anything else. I look over at Graham, who seems to be getting annoyed.

He reaches over and taps on her menu to draw her attention back to him. “Who did you invite, Mom?”

She looks irritated that he is even asking. Unease settles in my stomach; I don’t have a good feeling about this.

Her face softens as she looks past Graham. “Oh, there she is,” she stands and waves someone over.

Graham and I turn to see who it is, and fuck me, it’s Claire. Why did she invite her? And damn it, why does she look so cute and put together? She is wearing a pink babydoll sundress that is modest and revealing at the same time. Her blonde hair is perfectly curled, and her makeup puts mine to shame.

Claire comes up to the table and looks just as blindsided as we do. Her eyes dart between me and Graham. “Um, Alice, I thought it was just going to be us.”

“Mom, what is going on?” Graham clenches his jaw, and Claire and I just make awkward eye contact. She looks uncomfortable; I know Graham talked to her yesterday, but he said they got closure. Why is she here now?

“What? I ran into her yesterday after I saw you two and invited her to brunch. I didn’t think you would care. You two are still friends, and Winry doesn’t mind, do you Winry?” Ms. Taylor turns to me. Her tone indicates a challenge.

“We are leaving,” Graham grabs my hand and goes to stand.

“No, Graham, I’ll leave,” Claire offers instead.

“No, no one is leaving, quit being dramatic, Graham. Honestly, now Winry, do you mind if Claire joins us?” She asks again in that challenging tone. Daring me to say no.

I look between him, his mom, and Claire. Well, if this isn’t a lose-lose situation I don’t know what is.

Deep breath. In. Out.

“Come on, Win. Let’s go.” Graham takes my hand to pull me away, but I stop him.

“No, Graham, it’s fine. It’s just brunch, right?” I give Claire a lopsided smile. I feel a little bad for her too, being pulled into another scheme. I don’t know if saying no would have been better for both of us, but we shall see.

“Yes, just brunch,” Claire says, sitting down across from me and next to Ms. Taylor.

Graham is still standing, studying me to make sure I am good. I completely avoid his gaze and stare down at the table. If I look at him, he will immediately know that I am indeed not good.

“Graham, sit down, she said she’s fine,” Ms. Taylor snaps.

He takes his seat begrudgingly. The waiter comes back with our drinks, and I know even he can feel the tension.

“I think we are ready to order,” Ms. Taylor tells him.

I wasn’t ready, and I’m sure she knows that. They all order and I pick the first thing I see, yet again. My appetite is completely lost anyway.

“So, Claire was telling me about her new promotion. Tell me again, what is it you will be doing?” Ms. Taylor asks. She is absolutely beaming at Claire right now.

Claire looks a little uneasy but tells us about her new promotion and how she will be able to do all of her job at home, make more money, do her own schedule, and blah, blah, blah. I try to remind myself that she was manipulated too, but it’s hard to hold it together when the mother of your boyfriend is actively trying to get him back with the girl across from you.

“That sounds really great, Claire, congratulations.” I say trying to sound like I have been listening.

“Thank you, Winry. How is your store doing?” She seems genuine in her question, so I relax a bit, thankful things have turned to me for a bit. I want Graham’s mom to get to know me.

“It’s doing great, we actually are coming up on our first anniversary. The first weekend in September we are doing an open house anniversary party.” I say, feeling good with how the conversation has shifted. “We are going to have a bunch of samples and door prizes to give away.”

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