She throws her head back, rolls her eyes. “It was awful. I had to flirt with him, tell him how sexy he is. Thankfully, Nicole was doing most of the work… I pretty much just had to agree with her.”
“Did you have to kiss him?” I ask, disgusted at the thought. “Please tell me you didn’t."
She shakes her head. “No… thank God. All I did was take off my dress, and popped out one tit out of my bra.” She says this like it’s no big deal, like she does this sort of thing every day.
Yep, just popped out my tit.
“What? Really?” I say, still not quite believing her. She must be joking.
“No seriously,” she goes on. “I took off the dress to turn him on, to show him we were serious. Then he said, ‘Show me those little itty-bitty tits of yours.’”
I burst out laughing and she shoots me a deadly scowl. “It wasn’t funny,” she scoffs. “You know I’m self-conscious about my A cups.”
“Your A cups are beautiful,” I tell her. “You’re a sexy bitch and you know it.”
“Well, I like where this conversation is going,” Oscar jokes and we all break out laughing. I slap a hand to my mouth. Why am I laughing when my mother is crying upstairs? I’m a horrible daughter.
Matt comes back, a little flustered. He’s loosened his collar, and his dirty blond hair is completely disheveled. “I talked to my dad. He’s staying at a friend’s nearby, and he’s asked me to gather some of his things from his room. Do you mind coming up with me, Kayla?”
“Sure, I better. You wouldn’t want to run into my mom alone. She’s not exactly in a good mood.”
“Understandably,” he says and we head upstairs.
“I’m sorry we’ve barely had a chance to talk tonight,” he tells me. “Too many people.”
“Yeah, it was crazy. That’s all right.”
He smiles playfully as we reach the landing. “You still owe me a date, gorgeous.”
I smile awkwardly. For the first time, I see a hint of Mark in Matt; the overly confidant and cocky smirk, and those intense blue eyes. I wonder if Matt is secretly like his dad. And then there’s Oscar —something’s definitely changed between us.
Thankfully, Mom is still in the bath as we gather Mark’s things: clothing, papers and wallet, and a bottle of gin.
“I need his toiletries,” Matt tells me. “His toothbrush and mouth guard and stuff.”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
I knock gently on the bathroom door. “Mom?”
I hear her voice and I open the door slowly. She’s still crying, staring at the wall. An empty wine glass sits by the bath.
“How are you?” I ask.
“Never been happier,” she says sarcastically. “What do you think?”
“Well, tomorrow’s another day, sweetie,” I say, echoing her own words, words she used to tell me all the time when I had a bad day.
She smiles at me. “That’s true. Life goes on.”
I sit on the edge of the tub, careful not to look at her because she’s naked and I don’t particularly like to see my mother naked. She looks great, but still… “I’ll stay with you tonight, if that’s okay. You shouldn’t be alone.”
She nods quietly.
“And tomorrow, we’ll do something nice. There’s no reason we should let this whole thing ruin our trip to Paris.”
She feigns a smile. “I agree.”
“Okay, I just need to get Mark’s toiletries. He’s apparently staying at a friend’s, and he promised to stay out of your hair tonight.”
