Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 91182 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91182 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
“Well, someone is paying it.”
Olivia’s mouth opens then closes as she carefully considers how she’s going to word whatever she’s about to say, but I don’t give her a chance to speak first.
“Either you’re paying for my spot, or you’re giving me a plate for free, which is it?”
“I paid for your plate.” I open my mouth to argue, but she holds up her hand. “It’s for a good cause, and really, if I’m honest, I did it with selfish intentions. I need my best friend there. Nick will be busy with everyone, and I was hoping you would be there to keep me company.” Her eyes are pleading, and I let out a defeated sigh. It’s not like I’m going to say no to anything she asks of me, even if it’s a reminder of how one-sided our friendship is.
“Okay, I’ll be there.” I force a smile on my face, mentally reminding myself to seriously look into putting my mom’s house up for sale. It was one thing to live with Olivia in college. I was able to somewhat pay my way with the loans I took out. And when we moved here, she thought she would be raising Reed alone, so I justified living with her so I could help out. But now that Nick is in the picture and they’re going to get married and start a life together soon, I need to get myself together. It’s not fair to our friendship to continue to take advantage of my best friend’s generosity.
“Thank you.” Olivia grins as she feeds Reed a bite of sweet peas.
The waiter comes over and sets our food down in front of us. We eat our lunch, and when we’re done, we go our separate ways. Me, back to Fresh Designs for a new client consultation, and Olivia, to drop Reed off with her stepmom, Corrinne, so she can watch Reed for a few hours while Olivia goes to the Children’s Museum.
* * *
“Mom, Dedra?” I call out when I walk into my mom’s house and don’t see anyone in the living room.
“In here, Giselle,” Dedra, my mom’s nurse, calls out from down the hall.
I throw my purse onto the counter and check the time on my cell phone before stuffing it into my back pocket. It’s already a quarter after four and I have a date I need to be ready for by seven. I should’ve been here hours ago, but the consultation with Lydia and the new client ran way over the scheduled time. He’s a wealthy commercial developer, which means he’s very opinionated. Normally that quality would be great because opinionated people tend to know exactly what they want. However, this man isn’t one of those people. He’s hired Fresh Designs to decorate his new eight thousand square foot skyrise that he’s had completely renovated. And while he had tons of opinions throughout our meeting, he couldn’t make up his mind on a single thing.
Then, of course, the subway I take to my mom’s house had mechanical issues and everyone was forced to take a detour route, which meant an additional forty-five minutes on the subway.
“Hey, sorry I’m late,” I tell her as I walk into my mom’s room. She’s lying in bed in a fetal position with tears flowing down her face. “How’s she doing?” I ask Dedra, who frowns at my question.
“Why don’t we talk in the other room?” she suggests. I come around to the side of the bed and give my mom a kiss on her forehead.
“Giselle, you’re here,” she cries. “I’ve missed you so much.” My mom snakes her arms around my neck and pulls me into a hug. “Please don’t leave me,” she begs, and my heart fissures.
“I’m just going right outside to talk to Dedra. I’ll be right back. I promise.” I press my lips to her forehead once more before removing her arms from around me and stepping into the hallway.
“These meds seem to keep her anger subsided, but now she’s sunken into a deep depression.” Dedra sighs. “I’m afraid to leave her here alone, Giselle.”
“Okay.” I try to do the math in my head of what it will cost to hire another nurse for the hours Dedra won’t be here. I’ve been getting more hours, but paying Adrianna’s tuition severely depleted my funds. And I still need to pay her sorority dues and meal ticket, which will set me back a good amount.
“I have a friend of mine who’s a retired nurse like me,” Dedra says. “She can use the extra money to supplement her social security. I can speak to her about spending a few days a week here.”
“That would be great. Thank you.” I give Dedra a hug. “I’ve actually been thinking about putting the house up for sale. If I can make enough on it, I can use the money to get my own place in the city, so she can live with me.” Of course, that will mean having to find my father so he can sign off on the sale.