I抳e never driven down his street, but if I take Alta I can see his house to the left. There抯 still a dumpster in front and a building permit posted in the yard. Whatever he抯 doing has been going on for two years straight. His neighbors must hate him as much as I do.
I do a U-turn a few streets later, take one final look, and then drive home, trying to forget this little moment of weakness, even when I know it won抰 be the last.
5
Somehow, I抦 still a romantic at heart. I weep copiously during seasonal commercials in which racial divisions are bridged or a child and an old person bond. I have my dream home all mapped out on Pinterest, and have also choreographed the way my future husband will propose in Iceland （I won抰 expect it; a children抯 choir I never even noticed will begin to sing 揂ll You Need is Love? and then whoosh卼he Northern Lights appear）。
I blame this on the fact that, together, my mother and I have watched pretty much every Hallmark movie ever made. Though ninety percent of them have nearly identical, misogynistic plots梒areer-minded woman from the big city is saved from herself by a hot guy in a small town, where she will eventually adopt a more traditionally feminine profession （baking, motherhood or inn-keeping）桰 inhale them when I抦 home.
揥hich one are you watching tonight??I ask when my mom picks up the phone. It抯 eight o抍lock on a Thursday and I抦 on my way to meet a potential client; it抯 eleven for her and she抯 recovering from her second shift of the day. Neither of us have a Hallmark-worthy life at the moment.
揌e抯 the owner of a bed and breakfast and she棓
揑s stuck there because her car broke down??I suggest, pulling out of the parking garage. Whoever writes these movies clearly believes it抯 impossible to leave the city without automotive trouble or a deer darting into the road.
揘o, actually, she抯 there to buy him out.?
揂h, of course. So, she represents a heartless conglomerate that plans to destroy the town抯 charm by making it a tourist destination, and he抯 going to prove her wrong and help heal her wounded heart.?
She laughs. 揟hat does appear to be the direction this is heading, and speaking of heartless lawyers, how抯 it going with The Client-Stealer??She, like myself, is not #TeamBen, but all her info comes from me, so it抯 unlikely she would be.
I groan quietly, turning off Fairfax onto Sunset and honking at some idiotic kids standing in the middle of the road. 揌e hasn抰 done anything wrong yet. But we only met the client last week. Give him time.?
揑f this was a movie, he抎 threaten to fire you if you don抰 work Christmas, and you抎 wind up in a quaint ski resort with a handsome client.?
The threatening to fire me if I don抰 work Christmas part is entirely likely, but the partners keep all the fun destination travel for themselves. 揝peaking of holidays,?I venture, 搘hat do you want to do about Thanksgiving??
My mom can抰 afford many things on her own, which makes discussions like this tricky. I used to think that once I抎 paid off my student loans, I抎 be able to help her, but she抯 consistently refused to accept anything significant. When I bought her a car, she wept and they were not good tears. She said she抎 never be able to look at that car without thinking her own daughter believed she was pathetic and desperate. Eventually I gave in and returned it, and I抳e had to proceed carefully ever since. I now know she will accept a hardback book, but not a first edition; a wool sweater but not a Canada Goose coat. If I claim to have bought her something on a trip, or bought something for us both, she will generally not object. She still believes I got us each a pair of high-end snow boots while skiing with friends, when in reality I found them online and bought them only for her. Ditto the baby-soft cashmere throw, the shearling lined moccasins, the ridiculously expensive face cream.
But there抯 no way to lie about airline tickets. I have more money than time梚t抯 easier for me if she comes here, but I always defer to her.
揑 can get you a ticket to LA or I can go there,?I tell her. 揗y kitchen sucks, but there are some amazing places here that do Thanksgiving dinner. We could even eat outside.?
"Oh, honey. I'm so sorry. Working retail now匢 can抰 possibly get that whole weekend off, and I took a shift at the bar on Thanksgiving. I just assumed between work and all your friends there, I wouldn抰 see you."
I run a finger inside the neck of my blouse. It抯 possible I oversold how busy I am, but that抯 not what bothers me. It抯 that once upon a time, my mother oversaw an epic dinner for twenty every Thanksgiving, and now she won抰 even be celebrating. She was the perfect wife, and look where it got her: stuck in a shitty apartment alone, working two jobs.