FOURTEEN
The days were monotonous. Every day, Mellie woke, went to work, came home, and tried to talk herself out of stalking her ex-boyfriend on social media. The first few weeks she’d hardly left the apartment except to finish her exams, go to work, or to pick up a few groceries. The locked room reproached her, the houses no longer filling her with joy, and after a while, she no longer paused by the door.
The women in the houses mocked her. No matter that they were alone in their homes; they were happy. Why couldn’t she find the same happiness?
Her friends had been supportive. Amy had come over several times and spent several nights hanging out to keep her company. Even Claire had come over a couple of times after she’d lost yet another boyfriend.
What was wrong with the three of them? Why couldn’t they seem to keep a guy? Or was it the men? Were they the ones that had the problem, the grass always being greener in the world of swiping left then moving on to the next person without even trying to see if a relationship would work?
Tired of thinking about why she was a failure in love, she looked at her phone again, letting a sigh escape. Tonight she had to face her parents and brothers for a family get-together. It was the preplanning session for the big family reunion.
That was the one time each year Aunt Jilly made an appearance, although after she left, everyone talked about her until the next reunion.
Mellie took a shower and brushed her teeth, which felt scummy enough that she wondered when was the last time she had brushed them.
She had to admit, after getting dressed and putting on a little makeup, she felt better. Even at work nowadays, she barely made an effort, scraping her wet hair back into a ponytail, letting the curls dry and frizz up, and she rarely wore makeup. Simply brushing her teeth, taking a shower, and getting dressed took everything out of Mellie.
If she didn’t find the energy to make an effort, her mother would fuss, so she drank three cups of green tea while she applied her makeup. Then she dried her hair and fluffed the curls so they weren’t springing out all over her head like a demented Medusa. Her hair had grown longer and her pants barely buttoned. When she stepped on the scale, she wanted to pitch it out the window. Mellie had gained ten pounds since that day. The cabinets were full of junk food, processed food, and all kinds of goodies, but they did nothing to make her feel better.
Everyone knew sugar was an addiction. The substance never made anyone feel better except for the few moments while they consumed it, she knew she felt horrible afterward, and yet she couldn’t seem to stop buying the crap and inhaling it.
While she knew junk food didn’t fill the hole Greg had left, right now it helped numb the pain, though Mellie didn’t want it to become her go-to way of coping, and it was headed that way if she didn’t do something about her eating soon. She’d seen those TV shows, the ones where women gave up, closing themselves off from the world, hiding in their homes, never leaving. Eating, eating, and eating until they blew up into a huge balloon, and then the firemen had to come and cut a wall out of the side of the house and carry them away, to the shock and dismay of the neighbors.
Okay, so maybe she was being a little dramatic, but as Mellie looked around, noting the state of her apartment, she made a decision. Tomorrow she was cleaning up. She couldn’t stand looking at the pigsty one more day.
At dinner that night, she walked in to Maggiano’s, where the maître d’ greeted her, taking both her hands in his and kissing her on the cheek.
“Bella, how lovely to see you. You’re looking fabulous as always.”
He led her to the table where her family was already seated. As she sat down, her mom reached over and hugged her.
“Oh, honey, we’re so sorry to hear about Greg. How are you holding up?”
Her oldest brother, Cal, leaned across the table and squinted at her. “Lost another one, huh, sis? Looks like you’ve been eating to make up for it. You better watch out—you won’t catch a man if your butt gets any bigger.”
She threw a dinner roll at him, hitting him in the shoulder and then regretting tossing the delicious bread. Cal just laughed and ate the roll in two bites.
Her youngest brother, Heath, opened his mouth, but before he could add his delightful commentary, his wife clapped a hand over his mouth.
“Ignore him. They’re both jerks. How are you, Mellie? It’s so hard to be single nowadays. The difficulties you girls have to go through. I’m so glad Heath and I got married right out of school, don’t you agree, honey?”
Her younger brother kissed Sue on the cheek as their demon boys played under the table, running toy cars up and down Mellie’s legs. She was glad she had jeans on, because she hated to think what a forest they would’ve found on her unshaven legs.
“Thanks for the concern, y’all but I’m fine. In fact, I’m better than fine.”
Her dad stopped in the middle of twirling a forkful of pasta and looked up. “Why is that, honey? Did you find a new job?”
“I told you, Dad, I’m at the museum through the summer. I’m looking for accounting jobs now, so when I graduate next year I’ll be set.”
“Don’t you think you should intern somewhere this summer?” Karen said.
“You know you could work at the firm,” her dad said. “I’ll make a call on Monday.”
She knew as CEO her father could get her hired with the snap of his fingers, but the last thing she wanted to do was work at his company. He’d constantly be checking on her, and then it would all come out that she didn’t have an accounting degree. Mellie would have an art degree, and what on earth was she going to do with an art degree? The job market was tough, she hadn’t had any luck finding anything yet, and she wanted to create art full-time, as unrealistic as it might be, so for now, she was staying put at the museum, working in the gift shop. The hours were good, and it gave her plenty of time to focus on her art.
She was just barely making ends meet, but Mellie knew if she kept working at it, soon she would be ready to show her houses to the gallery. They would take her on and everything would change. Then her life would start and she could show her parents she was an accomplished artist. Not a failure, not crazy like Aunt Jilly.
“I appreciate it, Dad, but you know I’d prefer to find something on my own instead of having you do it for me. You’re always telling us we need to do things on our own.”
Her dad beamed at her from the end of the table. “That’s our Mellie, always taking care of herself.”
Yeah, she did, but once in a while it would be nice to have someone else take care of her.
Cal was not to be dissuaded: he kicked her under the table, and she jumped, her fork clattering onto the plate. A spot of marinara sauce splashed the front of her white shirt.
“What exactly do you mean you’re doing great? You don’t have a good job, you got dumped by your boyfriend, the reunion is in a month, and everyone will be talking about you being single, so what’s the big news, little sis?”
She stomped on his foot, gratified to hear him grunt and then grunt again as his wife must’ve elbowed him in the ribs. Karen winked at Mellie across the table.
“Leave her alone, Cal. You know how hard it is to date today. You’ve heard my friends talk about the absence of good men. You’re lucky I said yes.”
Cal put a hand over his heart. “And I thank my lucky stars every day that you snatched me up. I was a goner as soon as I laid eyes on you, my dear.”
Karen laughed and Mellie thought she was off the hook, until Heath pushed his plate away and leaned his elbows on the table, carefully watching her.
“Don’t keep us in suspense. What’s the big news?”