“Don’t remind me!” I hung up before she could hear the panic creep into my voice. I had my mother, my father, my evil sister, Sienna, and her insufferably perfect fiancé, Tim… not to mention our extended family and friends.
And then there was Dean Smith. I still couldn’t believe Sienna had invited my high-school ex-boyfriend to her wedding. I hadn’t seen him in years except on social media with his beautiful wife and their adorable cherub-cheeked children.
Did I mention that his beautiful wife was my cousin? They started dating right after I broke up with him our senior year. They’d been together ever since, married right out of college. I vividly recalled the fit my mother had pitched about that.
“That should have been you walking down that aisle, young lady!”
I tried to tune her out as she railed against the injustice of my cousin marrying perfect Dean Smith.
“He went to Duke…”
“…massive trust fund…”
“…house on Nantucket…”
“…going to get pregnant…”
“…of course Wellesley has the best schools…”
Blah, blah, blah. I didn’t care about stupid Dean Smith, my pretty cousin, their gorgeous home in Wellesley, or the injustice of it all. He’d bored me in high school. His wedding had been boring too. All I’d wanted to do was get back to the city and get back to work, but I’d had to listen to my mother as she’d rambled on about her sister, Aunt Evie, and how Aunt Evie got everything she wanted because her daughter was a good girl, putting family first, and her daughter had managed to get a degree and still get married and, and…
Blah, blah, blah. Did I already say that? Sorry, but it’s sort of a theme with me and my mom. If she wasn’t annoying me, she was making me cry. She was a very complicated woman, one who had too much time and energy on her hands. All my mother wanted was for Sienna and me to get married, have babies, and attend charity luncheons in skirt suits so that we could be in the society pages, too.
Game face, ladies! That was what she always said to us. What was going on inside, removed from our exteriors, didn’t matter to her. As long as we slapped on nubby Chanel and a smile, we were good to go.
As for my mother’s interior, it was a hot mess. She claimed it was because she was a Gemini, the sign of the twins, but I wasn’t convinced.
My sister was excellent at game face. I didn’t begrudge her that, but my black-sheep status was going to be confirmed shortly, especially if I didn’t have a date for her godforsaken wedding. I tapped my forehead against my desk. Ugh, ugh, ugh.
Marc knocked and stuck his handsome face inside my office. “You okay?”
I stopped smacking my forehead for a second. “Do I look okay?”
He scowled at me. “No. How can I help?”
“Do you have any straight friends?”
His shoulders slumped beneath his jacket, which was fitted and showed off his muscular frame. “You know I don’t. But hey, I have a cousin in Philly. Maybe I could give him a ring.”
“Thanks, but that’s okay. I’ll be fine.” I freaking hope.
He came in, closing the door behind him. “I’d offer to go with you, but I’ve met your mother. She knows I’m married. To a guy.”
“I know.” I sighed. “I appreciate the offer about your cousin, but I should meet my date first. I need to…you know.”
Marc chuckled. “Inspect the merchandise? I get it.”
I put my face in my hands. “I don’t know what I’m going to do.”
“Have you thought about hiring someone?”
I gaped at him. “You mean a prostitute?”
He shrugged, looking a little sheepish, but not enough for my liking.
“You’re serious.”
He shrugged again. “You don’t have to you know. He could just be hired arm candy.”