Yesterday was one of the strangest days I've had in a while. I was doing my long shift -- 6.5 hours at the office downtown to be followed by five hours at the clinic. I got the day off to a great start by tripping on my way up the escalator coming out of the bus tunnel. It didn't have to happen at all! It's an escalator! I could have just stood there and made it to the top eventually. Instead, though, I opted to rush. I caught my boot heel on a step, fell, and dropped my purse and lunch. I have bruises on both knees and on my right hand. It was so freaking embarrassing. I smiled and waved at everyone behind me, then took off again so I could get way ahead of them and blend into the crowd on the street level.
After I got to work, I received numerous phone calls from family and friends. Perhaps the most alarming was a joint call from my mom and stepdad who were both high, high, HIIIIIGH after a long weekend away at a, um, (non-religious) seminar thingy. The call with my mom started like this:
Me: Hello?
Mom: HI!!!!!!!!!!!! And how are yooooou doing today?
Me: Um, fine. You?
Mom: Fab-U-lous. I am fabulous, thank you for asking!!!!!!!!!
Me: ...
Shortly thereafter, my usually-non-talkative stepdad said he wants to pay for all of us kids to have life coaching because it will change our lives! Because we deserve it! Because it's just so great and he can't even explain it!
After getting off the phone, I tried to guess whether they'd drunk the Kool-Aid or had joined the Blue Ribbons and donned letterman's jackets. It kind of freaked me out.
Then I decided I might want to do it anyway. It will be especially wacky fun if Lindsey, Linda, Robby, and I carpool to the event together. I do love me some family therapy.
Later, my best friend called and tried to use her attorney ways to convince me to give her permission to do something crazy. I spent my lunch doing my best therapist impersonation by asking questions and using empathy and everything--in addition to flat-out telling her that I'm never going to say it's okay. She pretended to listen, but I know she's going to do it anyway and it will go badly.
After that, my sister called to tell me something crazy that our other sister plans to do. I couldn't get too worked up over it. Especially since I was hearing it second hand.
Meanwhile, there was snow conditions that went on for hours and were like, Oh, hello blizzard! followed five to ten minutes later with clear, sunny skies. There was panic (from everyone except me) over whether we'd hold classes that night. (We did.)
And, well, yeah. I think that's all I have. It was a lot at the time, though. Now I just need to get back to my revisions.
“I wish things could be how they were before,” she said, tugging on her pigtails. “I mean, you and I have known each other our whole lives. I’m over at your house all the time, so we’re still going to see each other. It doesn’t even make sense that we can’t get past everything.”
By “everything,” I assumed she was also including the drama she’d caused for all of us with the Isaac/Daniel thing—and, of course, the sex that we never should have had.
“It isn’t like you’ve given me much of a chance,” I said. “It’s only been a week since my show and you keep turning up and being all ‘Lover’ this and ‘Lover’ that. Maybe what happened was no big deal for you, but it’s weird for me, okay? I feel like a complete dick.”
She dabbed at her eyes with her fingertips and wiped the black splotches from her makeup onto her skirt. “You do? How come?”
There was no way to say the whole truth without pissing her off, so I admitted only part of it, “Because of Isaac.”
“Oh.” She seemed to consider for a few seconds. “Okay, well, stop it. Because wherever Isaac is right now, I think he wants you to move on with your life. Isaac wants you to get some and be happy.”
“Not with you, he doesn’t.”
.