“Olivia. How are you?” Her prim and proper voice is quiet over the phone.
“I’m well. And you?”
“Also well.” She clears her throat. “I was returning your call.”
“My call?”
“Yes, Olivia.” She gives an annoyed sigh. “You rang a few weeks ago.”
I try not to let my own annoyance with my mother takehold. I called weeks ago and never got a call back. Now somehow it’s my fault that she is just calling me back?
“Right. How are things at home?”
“Fine. Your father is good. I am good. All is good.”
“Right. Things are good here as well.”
It’s the most stilted call I’ve ever had with her.
“And your job? You are still working for the hockey team?” Her voice is dripping with disdain. When I told them where I would be working, they turned their noses up.
Working for a hockey team is not a suitable position for their daughter.
“I am. I’m enjoying it. Learning a lot.”
“Good. And any suitable men you’re dating?”
Suitable? I don’t know if I would describe Tag as suitable. At least in their eye. A divorced man from America working for the team? They would hate him.
“Not at the moment.”
The lie feels sour on my tongue.
“Well, you don’t want to wait too long.”
“Yes, Mum,” I agree, only because it’s the easiest thing to do.
“Well, then. We’ve been on the phone too long. Speak soon.”
She hangs up before I can get another word in.
One minute and ten seconds. That’s how long my phone tells me the call lasted. Too long for my own mum.
I try not to let my emotions take over as I stuff my phone in my coat pocket. I should consider it a positive that she even took the time to call me back, even if it was weeks later.
“Hey, baby.”
Tag is striding towards me, eating up the distance on the sidewalk. The sight of him soothes my frayed nerves.
“Hi.”
He greets me with a kiss. “You know, when you said you wanted to show me some hidden sights of London, I didn’t think it would be this hidden.”
“You don’t like parks?”
Tag shakes his head, draping his arm around my shoulder. “That’s not it at all. I’m just surprised, is all.”
It’s a brisk Thursday night. The park is all but empty as we walk through the entry gate. Burrowing closer to Tag, I steer him farther inside the garden. With fall here, not much is in bloom, but it’s still one of my favourite spots in London.
