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Pearl swipes her tongue over her lips. "I've never actually been to a baseball game here before. The closest I got was the baseball diamond at King Taylor high school."
"Seriously?" I slide my arm around her waist and hug her closer. "Then today's really going to be a treat for you."
We are ushered into the huge box. The large picture window on the wall straight ahead shows the quickly filling stadium seats just beyond it. Below us lies the court.
To our right is the classy bar, with a bartender fulfilling orders. Next to that are tables laden with pre-game snacks, and Atlanta Kings themed desserts. Near the window, there are a few rows of stadium seats. Most of my family is already here, talking excitedly amongst themselves. There are a few older couples that are probably my parents’ friends seated with them.
As soon as my mom sees me, she squeals with delight. She’s dressed in head-to-toe Atlanta Kings merch and makes a beeline straight to us. "River! And you brought Pearl!" She hugs my fake fiancée, hard. It goes on for a second too long. I have to put an arm around mom and gently wrest her away.
"Someone's in good spirits," I say, once I separate the two women.
My mom is a little flushed. I can tell she's been drinking, and she doesn't have much of a tolerance. I'm sure that we'll see her napping before the game is over.
"I'm so pleased that you are both here. Really." My mom gestures to the bar and the food. "Can I offer you anything? They have these cupcakes that have Rex's face on them."
"Thanks, but I am not really thirsty or hungry just now," Pearl says. She beams at my mom. "It's so nice to see you again, though."
My mom takes Pearl's elbow and points to Savannah. "Let me introduce you to my daughter-in-law."
"Savannah and I are old friends," Pearl says. Her eyes are wide, I imagine because she hasn’t told Savannah that we have supposedly been secretly dating. Whoops. Pearl continues, "We went to Agnes Glen College together."
My mom is completely electrified by her response. "You went to Agnes Glen?"
Pearl gives her a funny look. "I was Lucy's college big sister."
My mom gapes at her. "You know Lucy? How have we not socialized before now?" She turns to me. "You should have brought Pearl to meet me right away."
I raise my hands. "Guilty."
Mom gently tugs on Pearl's elbow. "Let's go talk to Savannah."
Pearl shoots me a look over my mom's head, but I can't quite read what it is supposed to mean. I head over to find Sam, Brooks, and several of Sam's golf buddies standing together.
"And I said, ‘that's not investing the way I do it!’" Sam howls. The whole circle around him breaks into laughter.
Brooks is the first of the group to spot me and he raises his pint of beer in celebration. "Look who's here?"
I slide into the circle, saying hi to everyone. Sam looks around and sees my mom with Pearl. His expression tightens.
He's so suspicious of me. He's always been that way. Granted, this time I'm actually trying to pull the wool over his eyes.
But what about all the other times he hasn't trusted me?
Scenes flash through my head at lightning speed. Sam accusing me of stealing a candy bar from a gas station. The time a whole bunch of students in my high school biology class got caught cheating on a test and Sam just automatically grounded me with ever hearing my side. My senior year, Sam once thought I smoked pot because I avoided the living room full of my family members. But I actually just had a stomach ache and didn’t want to tell everyone my business. Several times in college and right after, I went to Sam with a hot tip about what the stock market would do. He ignored every single one, where he could have made millions if he’d just listened.
I could go on and on.
"You brought Pearl," Sam says. "I was wondering if you’d drop her or if she’d make another appearance."
I give him a tight smile. "She's still here. Not going anywhere."
Sam's blue eyes burn into my face. "Mhm."
"Let's grab a beer," Brooks jumps in, throwing me a life preserver. "The game is about to start."
He's right. When we make our way over to the bar and order pints, the organ’s opening chords play. One of the game's announcers says that some new country songstress will sing the national anthem.
Brooks leans over to me during the warbly singing and whispers, "You brought the waitress from the diner?"
