Fallible by Nicole Whitfield

Author:Nicole Whitfield [Whitfield, Nicole]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-02-23T00:00:00+00:00

TWELVE

“What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?”

IT’S BEEN a week since our meeting with his family, and although we talk in-depth about most things, we haven’t dug into that one. When he came home last night, we fell into our routine of drinking tea as we talked.

It’s these times I relish the most, peeling back the layers of his psyche to explore why he chose this over that, even for something as mundane as his day-to-day tasks at work. I’m a sucker for all things psychology and never get tired of how the mind works.

I still don’t have a job, but I’m hopeful it’s coming soon. For the time being, I’m submitting applications everywhere I can. My phone rings, and I pick it up without looking.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Autumn,” Mom says, and I smile, sinking deeper into the couch.

“Hey, how are you?”

“Oh, we’re good. Staci came up last week. I do miss us all being together.”

I swallow and close my eyes, but the memories play out like a recording. I clear my throat. “Yeah, right. How’s dad’s back?”

I change the subject, knowing she could go on and on for days about how stubborn my dad is when it comes to his stretches. He pulled a muscle a few years ago, and it still gives him trouble, but his unwillingness to be consistent makes it a longer process. He’ll never be back to one hundred percent, but he could mitigate some relief with a consistent stretch routine.

“You know your father, putting off for tomorrow what should be done today. I guess he likes walking with a limp.” She laughs, and I join in.

“Oh, he never changes.”

“He really doesn’t. How’s Gregory?”

I freeze at the question and scan the time frame in my mind. When was the last time we talked?

“Wow, has it been that long since we last spoke? We broke up about a month ago.”

“What? You still live together?”

I brace myself for the inevitable film of worry at explaining the last month of my life to my mom. I was already moving too fast in her eyes with Gregory, as she called him. For some reason, even though he prefers Greg, she never stopped saying his full name, and we gave up on getting a different outcome.

“No, we don’t live together. I’m at a new place.”

“A new place that fast?”

I lay down on the couch with my head dangling off and my feet propped to hang over the back. The rush of blood calms my nerves before I start talking. I go into the dreaded breakup and how I met Jack, became friends, and moved in while working on my job search and a permanent residence.

“Autumn! What in the world? Do we need to call an intervention with Dr. James?”

I whisper the movie lines floating in my mind— “The bad things always remind me. Why can’t we talk about the good stuff?”

My ability to find lines that fit the mood is probably too potent. I exhale and close my eyes. I haven’t heard that name in a while, and even though we never go into the details, a rush of memories floods me.

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