Oregon winters were cold, but outside of maybe one or two days of snow, Portland didn’t get much snow. Lots of rain, sure, we were used to that. But cold like this? Even the worst of our winters couldn’t touch this.
When Mom walked in, she was shivering.
“I’d kill for a nice Oregon mist right now,” she said as she slid into the booth across from me.
“This cold goes right through your bones!” I exclaimed, pouring her a glass of wine.
“I can’t believe people leave their homes in this mess,” she said, laughing.
“I know, right? The entire city of Portland shuts down with half an inch of snow. Can you imagine how they’d react to this much and for this long?”
“Seriously, it’s been snowing since we arrived. I hope you’ve been bundling up.”
“I have,” I replied. “You know what a wimp I can be about the cold.”
“Well, if you need to go shopping for warmer clothes, just let me know and I’ll give you my credit card.”
“I’m good,” I said, feeling a flash of guilt for not telling her about Bear. She was being so nice. “I have some savings and I brought a bunch of warm things with me, too.”
“Is that a new dress?” she asked, eyeing the red frock I’d bought the other day.
“It is, do you like it?” I asked, neglecting to mention that I’d bought it with Bear’s credit card.
“I do,” she said. “It’s very East Coast.”
“Thanks,” I replied, smiling at her.
“It’s good to see you, Chloe,” she said. “Sorry I’ve been so busy. I knew things would be crazy at first.”
“It’s okay, I’ve been busy too.”
“So, what have you been up to?”
Ugh, I thought, the dreaded inquisition.
I’d been preparing for this. At least now I had an actual job to report, outside of all the ‘dick-tation’ I’d been taking from Bear.
“Well, I saw my office and met my assistant,” I said, lifting my chin proudly.
“Excellent!” she said, “I haven’t had a chance to talk to Bear in a few days. He went upstate to his cabin. Tell me about the job.”
“He’s put me in charge of designing the interior of his new hotel.”
She froze, her glass raised midway to her lips. She stared at me across the top of the glass, her eyes wide.
“You’re kidding!” she said, shaking her head. “That’s a three million dollar job. I just saw the budgets for next year yesterday.”
“I know, he told me.”
“But Chloe—that’s absurd. You have no experience with something like that. You don’t have a clue what you’re doing. Surely, you told him that.”
I stared open mouthed across the table at her. I mean, yeah, I had thought the same things, but she didn’t have to be so fucking harsh about it. Tiny twinges of anger surged through me and I fought to take a breath. The last thing I wanted to do was make a scene in this tiny restaurant.
“Sure I did,” I said, flippantly. “But apparently he believes I can do it.”
“I’ll talk to him,” she said, with a wave.
“No!” I yelled, my voice bursting through the room. A hot blush crept up my neck and I took another deep breath. “There’s nothing to talk about,” I said, lowering my voice. “I can handle this, Mom. It’s not really any of your business anyway.”
“None of my business?” she asked. “I beg to differ, Chloe.”
“You know what I mean!” I said. “I can take care of this. I can do this job. I don’t need you meddling in this opportunity before I even get started.”
“Why haven’t you gotten started?” she asked.
“What?”
“What have you been doing the last few days?” she asked. “You said you saw your office and met your assistant, but that takes about five minutes. I haven’t heard from you in days.”
“I’ve been studying,” I said, nodding firmly. I had that response ready ahead of time. “I went to the library and checked out some books on interior design just to get some ideas.” Another lie, but I did plan on doing that right away.
“Well,” she said, taking another sip of wine. “I suppose it’s worth a shot. But that’s a huge budget, so don’t fuck it up, Chloe.”
The anger that was trickling through me earlier had now broken free and was raging through my veins. She didn’t believe in me. It was clear as day. And that fact hurt, but I was used to it. I guess I just wasn’t used to it on this scale.
Yeah, three million dollars was a lot and this was a huge job, but I had plenty of time to plan and learn what I needed to know. The building wasn’t even finished yet. It wouldn’t be finished for another year. And if Mom knew the budget for it, then she knew that, too.
But still. It was me we were talking about.
I couldn’t help but notice the stark difference between what Bear believed I could do and what she believed I could do.
A slow, fake smile spread across her face and she reached over, putting her hand on mine.
“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” she said. “I didn’t mean to come off so harsh.”
“It’s fine,” I said, pulling my hand away, just as the waiter came up.
We ordered quickly—fettucine for me and manicotti for her—and she launched into a big long recap of the board of directors meeting she’d attended. I only half-listened and she kept topping off her wine glass until the story began to repeat itself. I shook my head, suppressing a laugh. Neither of us could handle our liquor, I guess.
I tried to shake off my anger at her through the rest of dinner. We ate in silence, the soft Italian opera flowing through the speakers and the low din of voices filling in for conversation.
It was after the tiramisu that she brought up the job again. At this point, I was done with her. I couldn’t wait to get home to my warm bed and snuggle up with a movie and the chocolate bar that was waiting for me on my kitchen counter.
“So what is he paying you?” she asked.
I blinked slowly, trying to choose my words carefully. Bear and I hadn’t talked salary at all, really.
“I’m not sure yet,” I said, recalling Bear’s words exactly. “He said I would have a handsome salary and full benefits.”
“He used those words?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. “What is this, the fifties?”
“Well, if you’re the CFO then maybe you should know already,” I said, trying to get in a little jab. She’d certainly gotten in enough of her own.
“I looked, actually. And there was no record of a job for you or a salary,” she said, her voice steely.
“Oh,” I shrugged. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Well, I’m sure if Bear told you he was going to take care of you then he will.”
“Right,” I said, unsure how to respond. Bear was certainly taking care of me, but not in the way that she meant.
I’d never been more grateful to see the check brought to the table. I grabbed it quickly and threw my credit card in the folder.
“My treat,” I said, trying to force a smile. “Since I’m employed now and all.”
“How nice,” she said, nodding. “Thank you.”
“My pleasure, Mom,” I said, already eyeing the door before I’d even put my coat back on.
* * *
Max was still waiting for me, much to my pleasure. It was even colder now and the warmth of the backseat of the limo was like heaven to my shivering body. I’d said the quickest goodbye to Mom ever. She only had half a block to walk home and I was happy to have the isolation of the car now.