Page 14 of Not Mine To Love

“Well now you have it. What do you want?”

Yikes, she hated him.

“This is Rebecca,” he said tightly. “Rebecca, this is Claire Doogan. Annie’s mom.”

“Ana, her name is Ana. Annie sounds so juvenile.”

Yikes, again.

“So, Rebecca, is it?”

I shrugged and decided to go with it. It would be better if he didn’t really know my name.

“So, Rebecca, you’re the what exactly?”

“Photographer I hired.”

“Well since Julius hired you, I’m hoping you’re at least somewhat competent.”

Ouch. I hoped she didn’t mean that. Hopefully, she was just really trying to sell the role.

Julius’ voice was tight and controlled as he said carefully, “I can assure you that Ms. Rebecca is very good at her job. One of the best. And I’m sure you have plenty of photo ideas to discuss with her, so I’ll leave you guys to it.”

He walked away without another word, and Claire stared at him as he made his way across the lawn and disappeared into the building.

I could see in her eyes that if he suddenly died right then and there she would throw an even bigger party in celebration.

She turned to me. “Sorry for being such a bitch.” I was surprised she was so self-aware.

“He brings out the worst in me. I hate his guts. But don’t worry. The feeling’s mutual. I’ve disliked him since the moment I met him.”

“How long have they known each other?” I asked, trying to stick to a safer subject.

She shrugged. “I don’t know. They met through a mutual friend. Some guy named Sam. Why couldn’t she just meet someone in college like every other girl? A future engineer or a doctor would have been nice. Is that really too much to ask? Not that she went to a good college anyway. I tried my best to get her to go to an Ivy League. Brown at the very least, but she insisted on going to a state school. I think she did it to spite me. Who does that?”

She would be absolutely horrified if I told her that not only had I gone to a public university, but I had also gone to a community college before that.

I didn’t answer her question because I figured it was rhetorical, but she was still talking anyway.

“And then, she wanted to be a music major. A music major? That’s not a real major unless you want to live the rest of your life in poverty.” Claire shuddered as if the mere thought of poverty made her ill. “She has terrible judgement. And no matter how hard I try she just doesn’t listen to me. Why of all the men in the world would she want to marry him? Him?!”

Okay, now we were back to talking about Julius. I shrugged. I still wasn’t sure what was so bad about Julius.

“If you don’t mind me asking, why do you dislike him so much?”

She laughed humorless and said, “Becca, I could make you a list that stretches around the whole block; instead, how about just the highlights? I hate that he doesn’t have a job.”

“He doesn’t?”

“He does something on social media. Sits around on his computer all day. That’s not a job. That’s a hobby.”

I didn’t dare tell her that plenty of people made their income through social media. Good incomes at that. But I was sure she didn’t want to hear that, so I just listened.

“He always shows me little respect. I know he calls me Dragon Lady behind my back.”

I kept my mouth closed. I wasn’t going to confirm or deny that.

“And he’s just not right for my daughter. She doesn’t look happy with him. I mean, look at her. Is that the face of a happy bride-to-be?”