by C. L. Stone
“It’s no trouble for my only son’s seventeenth birthday,” Jasmine said with a lighter tone, the southern sweet she used for guests she didn’t know very well but wanted to leave a good impression. She went around to the far side of the table to sit with the older women. “I felt like this would be a much better way to get to know each other today.”
The way she said it made him completely uncomfortable. He was sure this was some farfetched plan to get him an approved set of friends, maybe play matchmaker. Victor pretended to suddenly remember something and patted at his pockets as if looking for his phone. “Oh, by the way. Silas is here. I’d… hate to exclude… I should let him know we’re out here.”
“I invited him, but he had to go,” his mother said, assuming a calm tone and speaking more to her companions at her side of the table, as if to reassure them, more than Victor, that everything was fine. “He had to get going. Someone needed a ride or something. You know how teenagers are these days, always on the go.”
Victor’s mouth hung open for a second. That didn’t seem like him to just run off. Did she send him away for this luncheon? There was no way Silas would just abandon him like that. Or was the car done and they were getting it in place hopefully without her noticing? Maybe that’s why his phone was buzzing, trying to let him know. “I see,” he said, forcing out the disappointment in his voice to sound more surprised.
Only Brie seemed to pick up on it, snapping out of her dazed expression to look at him.
Without another excuse to get out of this or to call in for help, Victor sat down. As he did, servants emerged from the kitchen with trays. Watercress sandwiches, tiny couscous salads in mushroom caps, cucumber rolls, and more were served in tiered platters in the middle of the table.
A glass of lemonade and a second glass of water was poured for him quickly. Silently a server made their way around the table.
Jasmine ignored their presence completely to focus on the older women around her. “I am very glad for the chance to get to know all of you.”
The other women made similar statements. Every time Jasmine said anything, they agreed with her, and whenever someone in the group made a new comment, the others nodded and agreed in turn.
Brie leaned in during the flutter of activity. “I wasn’t told what this was, either,” she said quietly. Her voice was a little scratchy. Her lips were thin, but she’d filled them in a little with lipstick. Her eyes were outlined with dark lashes and with a lot of eyeliner. Other than that, she kept her makeup light. Her dark hair was simple, shoulder-length.
There was a look she shared, too. She didn’t want to be here. Wordlessly, she was pleading with him to make this easy on them both. Let’s just get through this.
At least he had a co-conspirator at the table.
Piper next to him leaned in. “Please tell me we aren’t going to have to sing happy birthday and pin the tail on the donkey.”
Stella giggled. The two blond girls angled toward each other to talk, taking their phones out and sharing photos.
His mother said something else to the table in general, but Victor tuned it out, pretending to be distracted by general activity in the yard as people were still going by to do more setting up. He set himself up to daze off into the distance, like Brie was doing, for the rest of his birthday luncheon. If he had been interested at all in this, these girls were not ones that would be totally impressed with his fame or wealth. They were wealthy. They went to school with celebrities or children of celebrities. Many became famous themselves on Instagram or YouTube as they displayed their lavish lives for others to follow. They attended functions like this when their parents made them, and they got rewarded for it later with praise and some sort of financial benefit. Play the game with society and you get what you want.
Either way, Victor was the nerd of this upper-crust collection of women compared to who else they knew in the world.
“Victor,” Jasmine’s voice floated to him as some of them started to collect some of the delicacies from the tiered trays. “Why don’t you tell everyone about your last ski trip in Switzerland?”
It was a brief trip his parents had paid for, and he’d had Kota go with him. They’d tried to follow a ski instructor down the bunny trail, fell way too many times to count, and spent the rest of the weekend in the lodge drinking way too much hot chocolate from a fountain and complaining about how cold it was.
It was the lie he’d told his parents because he hadn’t gone at all. It was a ruse for a weekend while he stayed in Charleston. He was fairly sure it had been for Gabriel because he was having trouble with Pam. Or possibly Nathan’s father was in town that weekend. It was hard to remember.
But he told the story anyway. The lie, not the truth.
Piper and Stella seemed unimpressed. Piper held the side of her face with her hand as if to whisper to him. “So you didn’t meet anyone cool there?”
“No,” Victor said. “I didn’t recognize anyone.”
“I ran into Paloma Picasso at an airport lounge in the south of France recently,” Stella said.
That took Piper’s interest and she listened to Stella talk about meeting the French-Spanish fashion designer.
Victor was glad the attention was off of him… at least for the moment. Sorting out truth from lies, especially one so old, was draining. His mother had reached pretty far for a story to impress them with, and it was severely lacking.
He sensed Brie leaning sideways in his direction. “If we pretend to have a good conversation, do you think they’ll ignore us?”
She could be on to something. Trying to phase them out completely seemed to spark Jasmine into trying to get him to talk. Victor tilted his head, still gazing out into the distance. “Maybe. Worth a shot.”
Brie’s face instantly brightened, but he could tell it was a bit more put on and fake. “Your concerts are totally amazing. I so love going, at least from what I remember when I was younger.”
A little obvious with her sarcasm that she didn’t like them, but okay. He tried to lighten up a bit and flashed a smile at her. “I’m awfully glad you liked them.”
Brie tilted her head and crossed her eyes in his direction before fixing them and continuing, “What do you think about the weather? Isn’t it just charming?”
Victor chuckled. “Chilly is charming, absolutely.”
“Did you hear about the murder in south Hanahan yesterday?” she said in the same exact tone.
Victor bit his lip not to laugh but it kind of came out in a burst. He glanced around the table. His mother seemed pleased. The other women had their heads tucked in, too busy talking to each other to notice. “Nope,” he said. “That’s a shame to hear though. Also, I didn’t mean to laugh at that. I don’t know why…”
Brie relaxed a little. “I don’t know about any murder, honestly. Just making things up as I go.”
“You’re so morbid,” Piper said. She was sitting back now, her phone in her lap as she scrolled Instagram. Stella held her phone up and was taking a couple selfies, one right after the other.
Victor checked on Jasmine and the other women, who were plating food but barely touching any of it. It was mostly for show.
There was another buzz of his cell phone. Victor inched his own phone out of his pocket. Before he could unlock it, Jasmine’s voice sharply cut through.
“And how have you been, Brie?” she asked. “Your mother was just telling me about the ski trip last month.”
“Oh, yes,” Brie said, her voice falling flat, trying to mask sarcasm. “Skiing is a wonderful activity. Very athletic. The views from the mountaintops are wonderful, aren’t they?”
Mrs. Turner quickly chimed in. “Oh yes, the poor thing. Her hearing is just a little off after flying back for today. Those pressurized cabins… First class shouldn’t have that done to them, don’t you think? There should be some way to take the pressure off.”
“First class is wonderful, isn’t it?” The corner
of Brie’s thin lips lifted, presenting just a little teeth and a blank stare to the women at the other end of the table.
Jasmine gave her a polite smile. “You both like skiing. What a coincidence.” She returned to talking to the others.
Victor had a feeling every time he’d check his phone, she’d pipe in to subtly tell him not to. He side-whispered to Brie, “Good thinking, coming up with the deaf thing after flying.”
“It really happens to me,” she said in a quieter tone. “But it goes away after a few hours. I just like to pretend it lasts a week.”
Victor sat back, his phone in his hand but face down and not looking at it. “Could you do me a favor? I think Silas keeps texting. Can you distract them for a second somehow?”
“I’ve one better for you,” she said and inched to stand up then said in a louder voice, “Thanks. I feel like I’d get a little lost…” She waved at Jasmine for a second. “He’s such a gentleman, personally showing me to the powder room.”
Jasmine nodded approvingly.
Victor’s cheeks warmed, but he got up quickly and escorted Brie through the kitchen.
When they were out of view, Brie blew out a long breath and put a hand on her chest. “It was bad enough they told me all I had to do was sit and listen to you play music. Suddenly your mom calls…”
They were in the hallway, and when Brie stopped walking, he supposed she didn’t really need a restroom at all and waited with her. For the moment, there wasn’t anyone walking around. Everyone must be on break before the big event started. “When was this? When did she call?”
“A couple of hours ago,” she said. “My mom was really excited.”
He bit his lower lip, looking away, angry. It was a purposeful luncheon with not enough chairs at the table if Nathan and the others had come along. To shove them out… What would she have done if they’d come along? He could imagine her apologizing and offering them… the kitchen? A made table elsewhere? And Silas had been right here moments ago.
It just made him angry. The level of snobbery… and clearly wanting him to take an interest in her friends’ daughters, anyone other than Sang.
Brie grimaced. “You know, you look like complete shit hell when you’re angry. Like you could kill.”
Victor relaxed his shoulders. “I’m sorry. There’s nothing wrong with this in general. My mother just loves meddling…”
“I get it. My mother does, too.” She put a gentle hand on his bicep and leaned in. “I help you, you help me. The day ends. We’ll get back to normal after, right?”
He nodded slowly, grateful for the encouragement. “I thought it’d be easier with friends here. She sent them off, I think.” He pulled his phone out, checking the message.
Silas: Security problem.
That was it. Where? Was it here?
Sang sent a message too, checking in, babysitting for a few hours. Gabriel sent a text, they might take a while, traffic was bad. North was having problems with Luke and called in Dr. Green. That meant Nathan probably couldn’t get back just yet either if he was going with them to help.
From the sound of it, no one was coming for a while. He groaned. Bad timing, all of it.
“Bad news?” Brie asked.
“It looks like my friends that were supposed to be here for me today… there’s a bit of a delay. Might not be here for a while.” He tried not to sound completely disappointed in them. Of course, he understood. There must be important things going on, and traffic wasn’t their fault either.
Why did it sting right now? Because he felt alone? Because he felt like he had no protection against his mother and what was happening without them here? Over the years, they’d always been there for every concert, even if it was just one or two of them.
And today… nothing. He felt abandoned. And he couldn’t even complain because none of it was their fault.
“Good,” Brie said. Her half-smile faltered as she realized what she said. “Oh, I mean bad, of course… it’s just if you’re willing, I was hoping we could just muddle through this together and then my mom would leave me alone for a couple of weeks if she thinks some guy is interested in me.”
Victor stilled for a moment, blinking, thinking. He double-checked they were alone. “I have a girlfriend,” he said quietly.
She was quiet for a moment and seemed to shake a bit before saying, “Me, too.”
Oh. Was she just not out yet? Or maybe her mother didn’t approve… “Right. Okay.”
“I’m just trying to make it through until I’m eighteen,” she said. “It’s a few more months for me and I go to college next fall. I think then, when I’m not under the same roof… I might tell her.”
Given her mother seemed excited to match them, it was likely her mother knew and wanted her to date someone else… It was the same for him.
She had a good idea though. His mother might stop surprise luncheons like this if he pretended to date someone other than Sang… at least to her face. “Just for today?” he asked. He wasn’t sure he was totally into the idea, but Brie seemed nice and those big brown eyes pleaded with him. He wanted to help, and if she thought this might do it…
She nodded with her lips pursed. She reached for her pocket, pulling out a prescription bottle. “Might be time for some help.”
He squinted at the small pill in her hand. “What’s that for? Anxiety?”
She nodded. “If you take it right.” She popped it into her mouth and swallowed it back before talking again. “I was trying to wait. This one was slow-release and I took one last night. I’m just not feeling it now… Doc said I could take another if it’s after twelve hours.”
He rechecked his phone for the time, wondering if they should get back. Jasmine might come looking for them or send someone to find them. Victor bit his lower lip. He hated the idea of going back. “Maybe I should have one.” He chuckled a little.
She blinked at him. “It should be okay. If you want…”
Before he could say anything, she had another pill out. A small, little green triangle pill.
“I swear it’s just plain anti-anxiety medication,” she said. “Doctor prescribed. Nothing crazy. It should calm the nerves for a few hours.”
Almost tempting. “How do you feel when you take it?” he asked.
She shrugged. “Less like I’m alone in the world. And I don’t feel like strangling my mother as often. I mean it’s all there, just in the back of my mind, not at the front of it.”
That was all he really needed. For years, he’d held a ball of anxiety at every time his mother tried to push him more into her world. Tonight, without the guys around, the deep sensation of being alone and having to face it… Maybe a small bit of help could be all he needed. There would be times… places today even Brie couldn’t go. To feel less anxious and upset would probably be better.
He gingerly held his hand out.
She dropped two into his palm. “One for another day if you need it.”
It couldn’t be worse than acetaminophen for a headache. The burning sensation in his lungs, the uncomfortableness, maybe it’d go away for a bit. He wasn’t allergic to anything, and any side effects… well, if he got sick… going to the hospital was tempting honestly.
He pocketed one and then dry swallowed the first. “It’s slow release?” he asked.
“Yeah,” she said. “It should work all night.” She smiled a bit. “Just don’t drink.”
“I don’t really,” he said. He reflected inward, trying to get a sense of how he felt and then waiting for the pill to start working. How soon did it start?
Maybe he shouldn’t have. He knew taking prescriptions meant for other people without a doctor was dangerous. Not to mention illegal.
It couldn’t be that bad though, right? It was doctor-prescribed medication, even if it wasn’t meant for him particularly, which meant it was safe, especially if it was low-dose and mild. He could probably check with Dr. Green about it later and s
ee if he needed to get some of his own. He hated that he was second-guessing taking it after he’d taken it.
They waited together in the hallway long enough for Victor to send Sang a message.
Victor: Hang in there. Try to get here when you can. If you need me, call.
What was he going to do if she did? Just leave in the middle of a luncheon?
He wanted to talk with Sang about Brie, about his mother, to talk to her about what was going on. But he wanted to tell her to her face to explain the situation.
Would she understand if Brie gave the impression they were interested, at least for a short time? It would get his own mother off his back as well. He also considered maybe his mother would be nicer to Sang if this were the case. For the last year while he was there, he’d love to just once involve Sang in his life without his mother trying to manipulate the situation, leaving Sang out.
He wanted to promise Sang that once it was over, it was the last time he’d let his mother manipulate him and try to pressure him to be around someone else.
But would it be the last time? One night was one thing. What about the rest of the year? One last year before he could get away from them. Then he wouldn’t have to worry what his mother thought of him and Sang together. Maybe then his mother would see Sang would always be a part of his life.
When they couldn’t linger in the hallway any longer, they returned together. Victor made a grand attempt to laugh as they approached as if Brie said something very funny, even though she hadn’t said anything. He even held her chair out for her.
Brie brightened up a bit. “I am a funny girl, aren’t I?” she said in her very obviously fake but plucky tone.
Despite how Brie sounded, Jasmine seemed very happy with this. She smiled at the two of them. She didn’t even ask where they had been.
Victor’s lemonade had been removed and his plate was cleared for a clean one. Victor hadn’t even touched the food. Desserts were displayed in front of them, chocolate tarts and candied strawberries on sticks.
