“Of course she does, she loves you the best, you know that.”
“How’s the whole space thing going, any word yet on if they’ve approved it?” Madeline was dying to know.
“Not yet, but I’m headed back there in a few days - I’ve got a meeting on Monday, so I’m going up on Sunday night.”
“Wow, you sure do have to jump through a lot of hoops on this project, I hope it’s all worth it,” said Angela.
“So, how is school for you both?” Both girls assured Bella things were good, and nothing to worry about.
“Bella, are you ever going to date again?” asked Angela.
Aha. This was the point of the call.“Yeah Bella, when are you going to date, or at least think about it? I mean, you're a total snack,” Madeline interjected.
“I’m a what?”
“It means you're still hot, mom. You’re in your 'Hot Girl' era, and you’re wasting it on Netflix.” she replied.
"You have main character energy, but you're living like a side character. Let's get you on the apps.” added Angela.
“I’m fine but thank you. Actually, I think I may have had a date - I’m not sure - the whole thing is kind of weird and complicated” Bella replied.
Both girls started talking at the same time: “Spill.” “Give us the deets, you need to tell us.” “Who is he? Where did you meet?”
“We met at NASA, he works there.”
“Oh, is he a scientist?”
“Um, no, he’s an astronaut.”
The silence that followed made Bella laugh inside,Well, that shut them up!
“Okay, we need a name.”
“Why, so you can Google him?”
“Of course, now give up the name.”
“His name is Jack Calloway.”
“Hold please,” both girls said in unison. Bella could see them each furiously typing on their phones.
“Mom, that’s not an ‘astronaut’ - he’s like the commander of the mission. That’s huge,” said Angela.
“Bella always goes big or goes home. And he’s really cute, like totally adorable” weighed in Madeline.
“He is, Mom - from rock star to astronaut - at least you don’t have a type,” Angela said with a laugh.
“Don’t get ahead of yourself, I’m not even sure what we had could be called a date, and I don’t know if I want to date him. I don’t even know if he wants to date me!”
"You are mothering so hard right now, he’d be a certified fumbler to pass on a chance to date you,” said Angela.
"I’m the daughter of a baddie; I need you to start acting like one." laughed Madeline.
“I have zero idea what any of that means, but okay, I’ll consider it. He is kinda cute, isn’t he?”
After assuring the girls she’d update the moment anything happened, they exchanged I love yous and ended the call.Mothering. A snack. Hot Girl Era.Where did they come up with this stuff? But she smiled.I guess I still got it.
The next day at lunch was a repeat of last night’s conversation with the girls, only this time with Carrie.
