“Fine. If you refuse to see reason, there isn’t any point in me talking to you about it.” Dad speaks to Mom in the background and mentions something about prepping for the guests to check in this afternoon.
He can’t stand it when he knows he isn’t going to get his way. He’s proud. Stubborn too. I probably did inherit that trait from him. I rub my temples. My older brother always did everything my parents asked of him. Raising him was probably a breeze for them. He could never do anything wrong. Then I came along and tested sanity. I never did anything by the book. I was a dancer, not a standout academic like Cam.
“Minnie?” Mom returns to the phone.
“Still here.”
“Excuse your father, he means well.”
“I know,” I breath out. “You both do.”
“You’re so much more independent than we give you credit for. Sometimes we forget that. If it is your dream to stay in London, we’ll support you, even if it’s an ocean away from us.”
“Nice try with the guilt-tripping, Mom, but it isn’t going to work.” Picking up the phone, I take it off speaker and flop onto the couch. “You and Dad moved an ocean away from your own families to follow your dreams.”
“It was worth a shot.”
“You know, you can visit or call me anytime.”
“I know.”
Mom asks me a few more questions about what I’vebeen doing since they were here in December for my graduation. My eyes travel over to the photo hanging next to the TV. I’m wearing a black cap and gown, sandwiched between them. The three of us are beaming with joy. It was the happiest I’ve been in a long time. They were so proud of me. I’m determined to make them proud of me again.
“I have a little more work to do on my portfolio to make it just right, then I’ll start applying for internships.”
“Good. Good. What about your friend Liz? How is she doing?”
Liz is my former roommate and one of my closest friends. We both attended LSOF together.
“She’s doing well. She just moved into her new place and started working on Savile Row, believe it or not.”
“That’s wonderful. Please give her a hearty congratulations from me and be sure to tell her I said hello to her parents.”
“I will,” I promise, relaxing against the back of the couch. “She’s coming over soon. We’re going out to the V and A museum.”
“Well, then, I won’t keep you. I just have one more question.”
“Sure. What is it?”
“I was wondering when you’re going to start dating again. You’re not getting any younger, you know. Your brother was already engaged by the time he was twenty-six.”
I groan. I should’ve known I wouldn’t be able to get off the phone without her saying something about my lack of a love life.
“Not yet.” I grit my teeth. “Once I get a job or an internship, I’ll look into it.”Or not,I silently add. I don’t have any designs on dating or falling in love. My plan is to start my career distraction free.
“Well, if there is one benefit to you being in London, it’s that such a large international city will be crawling with nice young men. I’ve done some research, and there are some wonderful apps that have high success rates of matching people like...”
I hold the phone away from my ear and tap my knuckles against the coffee table. “Hold on a moment.” I repeat the tapping. “Sorry, but I have to go. It sounds like Liz is here. And we have timed tickets to the Chanel exhibit we reserved a couple weeks ago. We don’t want to miss out,” I say quickly.
“Oh no. We can’t have that.”
“No, we can’t. So I’ll call you next Sunday at our normal time. Love you.”
“Love you too, Minnie.”
We say our goodbyes and hang up.
“That was close,” I mutter, standing up to stretch my tight limbs.
