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“Yes, yes,” she said impatiently, and I saw myself out.
As I descended the stairs, I marveled at the kind of life she led to want to go through so many extra steps. Personally, I’d prefer to be in some far-flung room of wherever we were going for this gala and twiddle my thumbs waiting for her to show up. Instead, she wanted me to dress up and pretend to be…well, someone I wasn’t.
I froze when I entered the kitchen and found Shane sitting on the edge of the counter. He hadn’t changed his clothes, and I was unnerved to discover I was almost at eye level with his crotch. Sadly, it seemed Sheila had already headed home, so I was alone with him until the chef showed up to make Sophia’s dinner.
“So,” he said, kicking his feet lightly and grinning. “She’s going to dress you up and make you dance around like her pet monkey, eh?”
“Why ask when you know the answer?” I asked, moving to the closet to grab my things so I could officially record the measurements.
“I had a little bet going as to whether or not you’d accept her proposal,” he informed me.
“And just who were you betting with?” I asked, sliding my laptop onto the table.
“Me, myself, and I.”
“Is this like the conversations you have with yourself trying to solve your ‘mysteries’ about me?”
“Oh, I’m fairly sure I’ve already solved them.”
“Fascinating.”
I sat down and let the laptop power up, intensely aware of his presence and trying to pretend I wasn’t. It was increasingly difficult to ignore him, and I was hoping he’d find something else to occupy his time or someone else. What he wanted from me was still a mystery, and I was reluctant to try and solve it anytime soon.
“So, why did you agree to it?” he asked.
I typed in my password with a sigh. “Why do you care?”
“I was betting on you arguing with her, or at least finding a different way of going about it. Not just immediately bending to her wishes.”
I wasn’t quite sure where the insult in his statement lay, but I could sense there was one. “Well, I apologize for disappointing you. In case you haven’t noticed, your mother is a sick woman, and giving her something she wants doesn’t hurt anyone.”
“Oh please, my mother always gets what she wants.”
“I’ll be sure to tell her cancer that she wants it to go away.”
“I’m quite sure she’s already done that for you. I expect she’ll have chased it off by the end of November. Just in time for her to grouse about how bright and cheery everything is.”
I grew quiet as I wondered just how serious he realized his mother’s condition was. It wasn’t exactly her in bed on her last breath, but the increase in treatment was a sign things were not improving. Even if she somehow managed to beat it by the end of the next month, she would suffer from its toll for quite a while. I couldn’t help but wonder if perhaps Shane wasn’t being irreverent but was firmly in denial.
I froze when I realized he had hopped off the counter and approached me. He wasn’t close enough to be in my personal space but close enough to make me uncomfortable. And once again, I found myself at eye level with his groin, which I most certainly was not going to let him know I’d noticed.
“Can I help you?” I asked, my eyes locked on the screen.
“So why did you accept?” he asked again, this time softly.
“Because giving your mother peace of mind along with treatment is the least I can do,” I told him.
“Have you ever been to anything like that before?”
“No, in case you haven’t noticed, I don’t exactly come from a rich or prestigious background.”
“So, it’s just a case of wanting to do something nice for my mother. There is no curiosity about seeing how the other side lives?”
“That had not factored into my decision-making process,” I told him truthfully. Though now he mentioned it, I was a little curious.
After all, this would be an event where they would serve food and drink that probably rivaled my car payments for one dish. That wasn’t even counting the other snacks and drinks they would have. There was a small place downtown I’d gone to with an ex that had cost an arm and a leg, but we’d been celebrating my graduation, and we thought we could splurge for some high-quality food.
“And now you’re thinking about it,” he said with a soft chuckle.
