I glance at my watch, noting that I’m actually two minutes early, but I bite back the retort. Instead, I slide into the booth across from them, the worn leather seat creaking slightly under my weight. I force a smile. “Hi, Mom, Dad. Merry Christmas.”
My mother reaches across the table, patting my hand in a gesture that feels more perfunctory than affectionate. “You look thin.”
I refrain from rolling my eyes. “So do you.” I give her a cheeky grin. She giggles and smacks my hand as if I’ve given her the compliment of a lifetime.
“Welcome to Casa Ramirez.” I look up to see Kylie, the owner’s daughter, beaming at us. Her warm smile falters slightly as she takes in my parents’ stiff demeanor, but she rallies admirably. “Can I start you off with some drinks?”
My father waves her off dismissively. “Just water for the table,” he says, not even bothering to look at her.
I wince at his rudeness. “Actually,” I interject, “I’ll have a soda, please. And maybe some chips and salsa to start?”
Kylie’s smile returns full force. “Coming right up,” she says, bouncing away.
As soon as she’s out of earshot, my mother leans forward, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. “We need to talk about this... situation with that Paige girl.”
I feel my defenses immediately rise. “What about Paige?” I ask, trying to keep my voice level. There’s no way they could know how much Paige means to me. A lion of protection rises up inside of me. They will not touch her, none of her. I don’t care what the cost is. I’ll take the scrapes, cuts, and bruises of a fight with my parents if it means keeping Paige safe.
My father jumps in, his tone is patronizing. “This girl seems to have you wrapped around her finger. Organizing parades as if you’re some socialite... it’s not like you.”
“That’s the point,” I say.
They barrel on as if I hadn’t spoken. “And now we hear she’s planning some sort of... influencer trip?” My mother says the word ‘influencer’ like it's something distasteful.
“How do you know about that?” I ask.
“Really, Noah. Do you think I wouldn’t look her up?” She lifted one perfectly arched brow at me. I am an artist, and I don’t think I could draw my eyebrows as well as she does.
“What kind of future can you have with someone so... flighty?” Her tone, as she says the wordflighty, is the same one she used all those years to describe me.
They’re trying to protect me. I know it. Although, knowing that doesn’t take the sting out of their words, nor does it make my lion retreat.
Kylie chooses that moment to return with our drinks and appetizers. The interruption gives me a moment to collect my thoughts, to push down the anger bubbling up inside me. I want to respond to them in a kind way, without giving up any ground. Doing so is a new skill I need to learn, and I’m grasping inside of myself to find the right words.
The chips and salsa arrive in colorful, hand-painted bowls. The salsa is vibrant red, flecked with bits of cilantro and diced onion. The aroma of fresh tomatoes and spicy jalapeños wafts up, making my mouth water despite my agitation.
As Kylie bustles away again, my father leans forward, his voice low and intense. “Noah, you need to think about this logically. You and this girl... you’re from different worlds. She’s always chasing the next big thing, while you... well, you’ve always been more of a homebody.”
“Maybe that’s why we work so well together,” I say finally. “We balance each other out.”
My mother makes a noise that’s somewhere between a scoff and a sigh. “Oh, honey,” she says, reaching across the table to pat my hand again. “That’s not balance. That’s a recipe for disaster. You remember what happened with Sarah in college, don’t you?”
The mention of my college girlfriend brushed over my skin like seaweed. I wasn’t in love with her, but my parents seem to think she broke my heart. Sarah wasn’t right for me. I think I dated her because I knew they would like her. She felt the lack of connection and broke things off. I wasn’t even sad about it.
“Paige isn’t Sarah,” I say firmly.
“No, she’s not,” he agrees. “She’s worse. At least Sarah had a real career. This Paige... running around with a camera, calling herself an ‘influencer’... it’s not a stable future, Noah. And when she realizes that, who do you think she’ll leave behind?”
I clamp my lips together to stop myself from telling them she invited me on the trip. I’m still not sure I’ll go. Spring is the time that I pack up the rental trailer. If I’m not here to do the work, the city will revoke my license the following year. It’s part of the contract I signed with them when I started the business. Until now, there was no reason to think I wouldn’t be around. I’ve been considering asking for an extension or closing early. The thing is, I’d need the money to make the trip, and closing early would mean I wouldn’t have enough to make it through the rest of the year. There are a whole lot of unknowns that I’m working through.
My dad would smell those like blood in the water.
“You’re jumping to conclusions,” I say, though I don’t think I sound as convincing as I want to be. “Paige is not unstable. She’s one of the most steady people I know.” Especially emotionally. She’s so level in that area that she manages to level me out.
My mother lets out a delicate snort. “Oh, Noah,” she says, her voice dripping with condescension. “Don’t be naïve. If she really cared about you, she’d be here, building a life with you. Face it, dear. You’re just a placeholder until something better comes along.”
I feel as if all the air has been sucked out of the restaurant, leaving only the echo of my mother’s cruel words.
Part of me wants to stand up, to shout at them, to defend Paige and our relationship.
