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“Can’t she quit her job and do something else?” Petra asks, tilting her head to the side.
I laugh to hide the ugly truth. “I don’t think so. She’s a proud business owner.”
“That sounds like a good thing. What kind of business?”
Annoyed that I can’t explain without revealing Roxanne’s actual occupation, I growl, “I can’t tell you that. It’s just…so fucking humiliating. But trust me when I say it’s not good.”
I can see the gears turning in Petra’s head as she puts everything together. She’s a smart, quick-witted woman, but if she’s figured it out, she doesn’t tell me. “Um, alright.” She twists a lock of her hair around her finger as she talks. “Look, since I managed to find someone for my best friend, and God knows how high her standards are, maybe I can try and find someone else for you?”
I think immediately of Tatiana, all florals, bright white smiles, and perfume that smells like daisies. If I could fall for another woman, it’d have already been her. The kind, innocent, heartbreakingly honest Tatiana.
“I appreciate it, Petra, but I’m not interested in meeting anyone else.”
She nods, seemingly having expected that answer from me anyway. “I understand. Don’t tell your mother, but I promise not to force someone on you. I’ve been where you are,” she confides.
We are both silent for some time. I can see on Petra’s face that she’s now distant, most likely thinking about her own love life; and all the things she and Alex went through in order to come out the other side. It’s hard for me to believe this slightwoman could not only weather that storm but also stand up against my own mother and grandmother.
If she can do what she had to do for love, so can you.
Petra stretches eventually, arms above her head. “Well, I’m going back inside. Don’t be a stranger, Andries.”
“I won’t,” I tell her as she pats me in the back in a comforting gesture. She and my uncle are the type of family I needed to be closer to, and I plan on making it happen. “Thank you for the chat.”
“You’re welcome,” she says, smiling sweetly before disappearing back into the ballroom.
I stay outside longer than I should. Even with the heaters, my fingertips are beginning to tingle, but I just can’t bring myself to go back into the party. Out here, I can miss Roxanne… heck, even love her from afar… in peace.
18
V.D.B. estate, February 20, 2022
Andries
Just when Ifeel like the universe is doing everything it possibly can to make my life more difficult, it throws me a chance to escape and really think about things in a different perspective.
As a writer, being able to see things from every angle is imperative. I guess that’s what makes it so odd that in my own world, my outlook is so stubborn and locked into place. Right now, I can’t bear the thought of emerging from my room and facing the consequences of my escalating animosity with my dad. Our arguments and heated exchanges taint everything in the home, and I feel hopeless in wanting to escape it all.
Pacing the length of my room, I consider the best time to make my escape. I have to be able to get out without involving myself in any sort of conversation, which in this house, seems almost impossible. There is someone around every corner that wants to have a word or two with me.
I make the decision to leave once the sun sets, but then my phone rings. I figure it must be Dan, or Elise calling to screamat me from the other side of the house without debasing herself by walking to my room, but to my surprise it’s an unknown American number.
Out of curiosity, and a touch of boredom, I answer.
“Hello?”
“Hey, this is Uncle Alex. Are you busy today, nephew?”
I blink a few times, slightly taken aback by this strange turn of events. “I’m not. Why?”
“I’d like you to join my family and I on a trip to the Van Gogh Museum. I hardly ever see you anymore and I've honestly felt pretty low seeing how you’ve turned into a man since the last time I saw you. I should be in your life more, kid.” Alex coughs, maybe feeling that he had said too much. “Anyway, I’m taking my family since Petra is a painter and is dying to go. Would you do us the honor of coming along?”
I ponder for a moment. Alex and I barely know each other after so many years apart. But… It’d be a good way to pass the time until I’m ready to go to my new apartment.
“Uh, sure. I’d love to go.”
“Good man. We’ll be arriving around eleven a.m. The twins should be calm and well rested by then.”
I chuckle. “Twins… I keep forgetting that you two have twins! How do you ever sleep?”
