Face Time – Chapter 13

Laura

I ignore my mother all Saturday morning and then she leaves to go back to Connecticut by herself without even saying goodbye to me. Fine. I get that she’s angry and disappointed in me because I’m dating Lee. I’m not sure why except for the fact that our relationship is long distance, but I don’t want to discuss it today. She’ll give me some excuse like, “He’s too old,” or “He’s not old enough,” or “He’s Korean,” or “He’s a lawyer,” or any other one of her “concerns” about the men I date. Rene wasn’t good enough for our family either because he was a foreigner. “All French men are pigs,” she said. This discussion can sit for a while and cool down. “Well, at least he has good taste.” Ugh. She’s ridiculous.

I’ve never been to India, but the country is on my must-travel-to list, right after “All of East Asia.” I’m not sure why I was drawn to East Asia first, but when I traveled in Thailand, Japan, and Singapore, I was the most at home I have ever been. I felt a very significant connection to the people and food of the places I visited, and they kept me from completely drowning in my grief.

Having never been to India, I wasn’t aware that Mumbai is nine and a half hours ahead of New York, and it didn’t occur to me just how much this would impact my online relationship with Lee until his texts on Saturday morning.

—-

Lee Park

I’m here and I forgot about the time change.

—-

Laura Merchant

You would think this would be second nature to you by now.

—-

Lee Park

Well, things are different now. I never used to correspond with family or Sandra when I traveled.

—-

Laura Merchant

Really? They didn’t want to talk to you? What if you were away for a whole month?

—-

Lee Park

Most of Asia is easy because it’s the same time zone, but India is another story altogether.

—-

Laura Merchant

I see. Are you ok? How was the flight?

—-

Lee Park

Over 15 hours and I had to connect in Kuala Lumpur.

Better than connecting in both Shanghai and Delhi which happens a lot.

—-

Laura Merchant

You must be so tired. Go to bed.

I’m heading out to the gym in a few.

—-

Lee Park

Wait. I want to talk to you soon. Plans, let’s make them.

—-

Laura Merchant

Ok, let me think.

…

Shit, 9.5 hours difference is a real pain.

—-

Lee Park

I know. I’m sorry. Let me look at my itinerary.

…

It would probably be easier if I got up early and you called in your evening. On a day when I don’t have to be in till 8.

What about my Thursday morning, your Wednesday night?

—-

Laura Merchant

I can do that. Though Wednesday feels like ages from now :(

My first Korean class is on Tuesday night.

—-

Lee Park

It does feel like ages from now, but they have me working early mornings and late nights when I’m here.

Get the most bang for their buck.

Yay Korean! I expect a full report.

You know, there are days I wish you didn’t have to go to work.

—-

Laura Merchant

I would love to stay home all day and talk to you, but then there’d be no money for clothes and shoes and bags and…

—-

Lee Park

If you ever want me to be your sugar daddy, just let me know.

—-

Laura Merchant

You have no idea how tempting that is.

—-

Lee Park

The position is up for grabs.

—-

Laura Merchant

I will consider your proposal seriously, sir.

—-

Lee Park

Oh, I like ’sir.’ Hmmm.

—-

Laura Merchant

Lol. We can play master and servant someday, if you like.

—-

Lee Park

You’re an evil woman to do this to me pretty much every time we talk.

—-

Laura Merchant

You love it and you know it.

—-

Lee Park

I should go before someone at the hotel bar notices my hard-on.

—-

Laura Merchant

Think of me when you take care of that later. Xo.

—-

Lee Park

I always do. Xo.

—-

I show up at Theresa’s apartment on Sunday loaded down with two heavy bags of groceries.

“I think I got everything on the list for you,” I say while flipping my shoes off at the door. “I’m sorry if I missed anything.”

“If you remembered the ice cream, we’re all set.” Theresa peeks into the bag and smiles at the pint of chocolate ice cream I picked out for her. “Thanks.” She squeezes me around my shoulders.

“Not a problem.” I hoist the bags onto her kitchen island and start unloading. The warm spring sun is shining down on the dark stone countertop and bouncing back to blind me, but I stand in the glare happily. I must have been a cat in a previous life. “It’s not like Mike is around to do these things for you.”

“I miss him when he works so much.” Theresa pouts, one hand on her large belly and the other picking at her red curls. “But I think he’ll only be working this week and next.”

“That’s good! You needed to build up your fund, so the time apart was worth the sacrifice. Sit down, Theresa.” I gesture to the couch in the other room. “I’ll bring you lunch.”

“How’s your escape fund looking nowadays?”

My “escape fund” is my savings, what I’m putting away to break free from my mother. I’ve been saving since she moved in. “I haven’t checked it. I’m afraid to. What if I look in there and I’ve spent all my money without realizing it? There will be no trips to Asia for me.”

“You’re ridiculous, Laura. I demand you go home and check later today.”

“Yes, Mom.”

Theresa laughs and rolls her eyes, but I mean it. She’s a better mother to me than my own mother who’s still off with her boyfriend. I haven’t seen her since she walked out of the apartment Friday night. She was home twice but we didn’t talk.

I offered to pick up Mexican for lunch today so I pull two plates from her kitchen cabinets and unwrap the barbecue tofu burrito she specifically asked for. I ordered two chicken soft tacos for myself and orange soda for us both. In the living room, I deliver the plate of massive burrito straight to Theresa’s belly.

“Built-in breakfast tray,” she says, laughing. “I often wonder if I’ll miss the belly once it’s gone.”

“Maybe. But you’ll still be eating over the baby anyway. He’ll fall asleep on you or in your lap, and you’ll be hungry. There’s not much you can do about that.” I smile at her as she takes a bite of her burrito and chews silently.

“You amaze me.” Theresa’s green eyes are concentrating on the puzzled look on my face.

“What do you mean? Here’s a napkin.” I put the napkin next to the plate on her belly. “It’s not like I do anything special. I have the time because it’s not as if I have a boyfriend… Wait, Lee called me his girlfriend in our chat the other night.” I cover my face since I’m grinning like a lunatic. “I had no idea hearing that would feel so good.”

“He likes you, for sure.” She sighs. “Why does he have to live in Seoul? It’s not fair to you.”

“Tell me about it.” I want to see Lee in the flesh so badly, I cried in the bathroom by myself this morning. I got it all out, went for a run, had a hot shower, shopped, and came here to Theresa’s. I’ve been up since dawn. “Anyway, how do I amaze thee?”

“I mean…” She sighs, and I stop chewing. “You stay strong as you watch all your friends get married, have babies, and leave…”

“Are you leaving?” I ask, my voice rising. This would be the nail in the coffin of New York for me.

“No, no.” She lays her hand on my arm. “Mike’s family is here and mine’s in Italy. I can’t imagine being anywhere else but here.”

“Okay because you scared me for a second.” I shrug my shoulders. “What else can I do, Theresa? I care about you all, and it’s hard to watch everyone go, but you’re my friends.”

I have only a few friends left in the city. At thirty-two, all of my older friends are married and settled down in the suburbs or moved across the country. My younger friends have cliques of their own, and most of them I only know through work. We don’t socialize outside of the office.

“Do you ever think of Rene or run into any of his friends?” Theresa asks, not making eye contact. She’s walking out onto the ice of a thawing pond. We haven’t talked about Rene in months.

“I haven’t run into any of his friends, thank god. And unfortunately I think about Rene all the time, especially now that Lee and I are dating. I think of him and the time I spent abroad…”

Whenever I date someone new, my mind wanders to my early twenties. I wasn’t faithful or sane then. When I traveled in Asia, I found other expats from the States or other countries (Aussies were particularly prevalent) to stay with or travel with, and I was so broken up over David’s death that I didn’t give a shit who I slept with or who I hurt. I came back to the States completely fucked up.

I should come clean to Lee soon about how promiscuous I was and how it changed my life. But I’ve been good since I moved to New York. I haven’t felt the compulsive need to screw around like I did back then. I take my birth control pill every day to help regulate my cycle and my moods, and I still talk to my therapist when I need to. I want to leave the past in the past, but I also want to share everything about me with Lee. I want to give him my whole trust. I want to, but I’m scared. Rene found out the hard way, and it completely ruined our relationship. I trusted him and he took my love and ground it down to a whimper, a silent cry on a bench in Central Park while two kids ate lunch across the path from me.

I just want to look him in the eye and know he won’t do that to me, too.

“Are you going to tell him?” Theresa asks, sipping on the orange soda straight from the glass bottle.

“Which part?” I laugh. “There’s so fucking much to tell.”

“Maybe you should start with the hardest part and then the rest will seem easy.” She drinks again, hiccups, and the plate on her belly starts bouncing around. “Oh! Look. Here.” She moves the plate and grabs my hand placing it along the side of her belly.

This is the first time I’ve ever been given the opportunity to feel the baby moving, any baby. I’m amazed as I watch my hand bump up and down with each kick. Theresa drinks again and the baby moves so much I pull my hand away in horror for a moment before laughing and trying again. We each lay our heads back against the couch and sit with our eyes closed, enjoying this little moment. A life grows inside my best friend.

“He likes the sugar in the soda. Funny because it’s been happening a lot more lately. Mike has missed most of these gymnastics sessions.” She smiles sadly and turns her head to me. “Do you ever regret terminating the pregnancy?”

A cold wash of tingles travels down my spine. My biggest mistake. I pull my hand away from her belly and concentrate on my taco. “All the time, but then I don’t. I don’t think having the baby would have made things easier. Just different.”

Theresa sits up and adjusts herself so her belly is propped up on a pillow on her lap.

“Lee seems like a good guy. He likes you. He’s still calling and texting even after learning your mom lives with you. He already sent you a gift…” She waves at my purple leather bag on the chair across from us. “What do you think he’s going to say when you tell him?”

My upper lip starts to sweat and my stomach closes up, so I set the food aside. “I don’t know. I really don’t. He seems liberal but he’s from this traditional Korean family. And even if he is okay with my past and the abortion, he’s got parents and a brother and sister who may give him grief over me. Maybe he’ll think I’m not worth the trouble, you know? If I gauge this on past experience, he’s gonna break up with me.”

“But, Laura…”

“We all thought Rene was the one,” I interrupt her. “He was sweet, kind, funny… and look what happened. It’s hard to know who to trust.” I barely trust my own mother. How can I trust a new boyfriend who knows so little about me?

“Sweetheart,” Theresa whispers, reaching across and holding my hand, “we all have to keep trusting. Keep hoping.”

“I just wonder sometimes when enough is enough. Do I keep going? Or do I cut my losses now?”

I instinctively search for my phone and find it behind me in the crook of the couch cushions. I want to text Lee and get reassurance I’m just being paranoid. But it’s past eleven in the evening in Mumbai, and he was going to bed early tonight so he could be ready for his first day of work tomorrow. I won’t wake him with my worries.

—-

The sun rises earlier and earlier now, and I love it. All the extra light is one of my favorite parts of spring. Now I wake and the sun is streaming in my one window, slanting at an acute angle across my floor, my pile of laundry casting harsh shadows behind it. My alarm starts beeping at 7:15am, and I don’t budge. Today is one of those Mondays when I don’t want to do anything. I have two whole more days before I can FaceTime with Lee, and the date feels ages away from now.

A soft knock on my door makes me bolt upright.

“Laura, can I come in?” My mother opens my door without waiting for an invitation. For some reason, she’s been more bold these past few weeks. The scene with Lee and the bag he sent wasn’t like her at all. For the past ten years, she’s been quiet and withdrawn, but now she’s someone entirely new.

“Yes, Mom. What’s up?” I keep my face passive but easy. We haven’t spoken in days.

“I have news.” She sits down on the edge of my bed, smoothing out her dress slacks and pink, henley shirt. She’s been up for hours already, and I’m still in bed with wild bed head. Her left hand rests in from of me and a new gigantic ring is perched on her third finger. Oh shit. “Richard proposed this weekend, and we’re getting married.”

Normally when someone tells me they’re getting married, the announcement is accompanied by plenty of smiles or squeals of delight. My mother is business-like and calm.

“Mom… uh, I’m speechless. I thought you never wanted to be married again?”

“I changed my mind. We’re leaving in a week for a wedding trip to the Bahamas. It’ll be a private ceremony. Just the two of us.”

“Wait. I’m not invited?” My mouth falls open as she shakes her head. Who gets married and doesn’t invite her own daughter, her own daughter who lives with her? Throwing off the cover, I turn from her and press my hand to my chest. I’m not even sure if my heart is still beating.

“No. Aunt Sally will not be there either.”

“Mom…” I rub my face with a huff, raising my eyes briefly to the ceiling for heavenly guidance. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“Laura, language.”

“Don’t ‘language’ me. I’m thirty-two. What the hell is going on with you?”

“I don’t expect you to understand, and I would be grateful if you didn’t give me a hard time over this.”

“What does Aunt Sally think?”

“She’s supportive and happy for me. I thought you would be, too.”

“Mom, I came home five years ago to help you get over a nervous breakdown, your second one. Then Dad dies and you become this completely other person I don’t even recognize anymore. Are you still seeing your therapist?”

My chest tightens. Has Richard been taking advantage of my mom? I shake my head. No. If anything, my mom has been taking advantage of him, and he’s probably grateful for all the attention. I’ve only met Richard twice. He’s a nice guy, handsome and rich, but he’s socially awkward. His wife died ten years ago, and they never had kids. During dinners and outings, he keeps quiet, and my mother does most of the talking. The exact opposite of Dad.

Her mouth pinches together. “I don’t like the way you’re speaking to me right now. I am not your child.”

“Are you still seeing your therapist, Mom?”

“No, I haven’t gone back to Dr. Sommers in over a year. I found my freedom once your father was gone. I don’t need to sit in a chair and wonder what happened to my life now.”

As fucked up as it is, she’s right. All of her breakdowns revolved around my father, the way he ignored her, the way he cheated on her for over fifteen years, the way he became angry and unhappy once David was dead. With him gone, she’s been happier, but she’s also been more distant and critical of me than ever, even embarrassed by me. Is she trying to pretend I don’t exist?

When I don’t respond for several seconds, Mom nods her head and stands up. No hugs. No smiles.

“This summer I’ll be selling this apartment. You will have to find your own place to live.”

My heart does stop this time, and I have to catch my breath to get it beating again.

“Wait…” I reach out to her to get her to face me. “I can’t live in this city on my salary. Why would you sell the place? Richard has more than enough money, and you still have all the money you made on the house and the insurance.”

She folds her arms across her dress shirt. “I’m cutting the apron strings, Laura. You’ll have to figure out your own life, by yourself.”

“You’re cutting me off? This is bullshit! I left my life in New Orleans to come back here, be berated and put down by Dad, and help take care of you. I haven’t dated in two years because you’ve been living with me. And you want to throw me out now?”

“Richard and I spoke about this. You’re far too dependent on me. I’m sure you’ll land on your feet.” She opens the door to leave. “You always do.”

“Wait!” I call out, and my mouth works to talk but nothing comes out. I stare hard into her eyes, and they’re cold and hard, determined. I don’t know this person, at all.

“You’re joking, right?” I’m waiting for her to say she’s kidding. It’s a ruse. It’s all a bad joke.

She places her hand on the doorjamb. “You haven’t told Lee about your past yet?”

Tears burn the backs of my eyes, but I press my lips together for a moment to control them. “No. Of course not.”

“Once you do, it’ll be over. You had better think about where you’d like to move to.”

She walks away, and I hear her slip on her shoes before the door to the apartment opens and closes behind her.

What the fuck just happened? Did my own mother, the one I’ve been taking care of for the past five years, just cut me out of her life? My own father left me to die in New Orleans, broke with no food or shelter, and when I survived, he took advantage of my love for my mom to invite me home to this life that was a hundred times better than what I was living. Now, my mother has turned on me as well.

All because David died and I lost my mind with grief.

“Fine!” I yell at the door as hot tears flow down my cheeks. I jump up and start shuffling through the dirty clothes on my floor, flinging them around, looking for I don’t know what. Fine. I don’t think I can change her mind. I have a month, maybe, to figure things out. This is Chelsea and my beautiful apartment will sell in a New York minute once it’s on the market. Remembering her dig at Lee, though, halts me, and my belly clenches so I climb back in bed and curl into a ball. I need to talk to him sooner rather than later, confess about my past, and see what he says. I should figure out if we have something real before packing my bags.

I reach over to disconnect my iPhone from the charger and the screen comes to life with a series of texts that arrived while I was sleeping.

—-

Lee Park

To Laura. From Lee.

—-

I grab my glasses from my dresser and stare at the photos Lee sent me. He didn’t give me any descriptions except to preface them with that text, as if they are a gift from him to me.

The first photo is of a street food vendor in some sort of large, white marble plaza. The buildings surrounding the plaza are English colonial with a hint of Indian influence, and the cart is piled three tiers high with fried goods, breads, samosas, a plate of bright green chilies, and steam wafting from the back. The hawker — a young man in a button-down shirt, his sleeves rolled up — is serving a woman in a sari a bag full of food. My stomach starts to rumble.

The second photo is of two women in saris — one wearing pink and purple, the other brown with zigzag stripes — carrying a load of merchandise in a bag between them while men and women pass them on the sidewalk. The street is hot and dusty, and the storefronts behind them are piled on either side with empty boxes and signs in Sanskrit (or Hindi? I don’t know).

The third photo is especially interesting because it’s posed. Two Indian men — one much older and thin with a white beard and a younger man in his thirties — are standing in a fabric shop. I get the impression they’re tailors by the measuring tapes draped over their necks, and the younger man clutches chalk in his right hand. The fabric behind them is all dark wools and lighter cottons. Maybe this is where Lee goes to get suits made? A lot of executives get clothes made in India, and I bet he does this too.

And finally the fourth photo makes me laugh out loud. This is the India I hear a lot about: bustling traffic and two men walking three cattle down the middle of a street while everyone gives them a wide berth. I try to imagine this scene on Sixth Avenue with yellow taxi cabs veering around steers with huge horns. Yeah, that animal would be dead within three blocks.

—-

Laura Merchant

I hope I’m not bothering you at work, but I love the photos. Keep ‘em coming.

—-

I look at them all again with my heart breaking in my chest. Lee thinks he’s found the perfect girl, that I’m some fun and flirtatious woman who’s just had a string of bad luck to end up living with her mother. What is he going to say when I tell him the whole truth?

I select all the photos and save them to an album entitled “To Laura From Lee” before switching over to my texts with Justin.

—-

Laura Merchant

Are you up? I need to talk.

—-

Justin Taylor

I’m up. Leaving for work. What’s going on?

—-

Laura Merchant

My mother is marrying Richard and she wants to sell the apartment.

Told me to get ready to move out.

I’m not even invited to the wedding.

—-

Justin Taylor

What the fuck?

—-

Laura Merchant

That’s what I said.

She said that once I tell Lee about my past it’ll be over.

That she’s selling the apartment and “cutting the apron strings.”

—-

Justin Taylor

That’s bullshit!

—-

Laura Merchant

Right. That’s also what I said.

—-

Justin Taylor

Is she sane? I’m asking in all honesty.

—-

Laura Merchant

I don’t know. She’s been off the meds now for two years.

Hasn’t seen her therapist in a year.

She’s rational.

And I’m ok with her getting married, but the rest is crazy.

—-

Justin Taylor

I don’t know what to tell you.

I’m sorry.

—-

Laura Merchant

I’m sorry too. After all I’ve been through, after all the hard work I put in.

—-

Justin Taylor

She doesn’t deserve a daughter like you.

—-

Laura Merchant

Thanks.

—-

Justin Taylor

Meet me for drinks after work. Blue Bar.

—-

Laura Merchant

Ok.

—-

I stare at Justin’s texts and wish I could talk to Lee about this, but it’s late in the work day in Mumbai. I can’t drop something this heavy on him when he’s dealing with his clients. We’ve talked about so much over FaceTime and text. I know what kind of soy milk he likes and that he folds his clothes neatly before putting them away in his dresser at home. I can close my eyes and hear his voice, see his face. But we’ve never once spoken about my time in Asia and what happened to me when I came home. We’ve never once talked about sex, though we’ve flirted and the sexual tension has been high. We’re close but so far from each other.

I glance at the clock and wipe the tears from my face. I’m late for work.