Imperfections

by Shaniel Watson

  I shake my head and cradle the phone against my shoulder and search through my bag for a piece of gum. I don't know why I bother, I can't even find it. I have to clean this bag out tonight. "What does your inner Veronica Mars think she found out?"

  "Did you notice that Nick and Kate hardly talked to each other all night and they were not affectionate toward each other at all?"

  "I did. But lots of couples don't like to show PDA—"

  "Please, Cat, do you really believe that?" She scoffs. The one time I saw your sister with her ex she was draped all over him like a cheap leopard cat suit from the eighties and you're telling me she doesn't like to show PDA? Something is not right and we're definitely going to crack this case wide open, you just leave it to me."

  She sounds so sincere I have to laugh. "I did notice the lack of conversation between them."

  "Just the lack of conversation! How about the lack of emotion? My God, I would hate to be in that bedroom, it's probably colder than a Frigidaire."

  I burst out laughing seeing it in my head. "You're right; something wasn't right. Jay and Vanessa were showing more affection toward each other and they're separated."

  "It's not like my cousin to be with his friends or family and not show any type of emotion to the woman he's engaged to."

  I don't want to talk about this anymore; she's like a dog with a bone, she's just going to keep digging. I'm going to have to accept this, whatever it is they have going on. If only I can get Ava to see it that way too. I guess that's what makes her so successful with her boutique.

  "As much as I would like to sit here and analyze every little thing that happened the other night I can't."

  "And why not, you have something better to do?"

  "As a matter of fact, yes. I'm starving, I need food and I need it now."

  "Nice try changing the subject on me, I'm going to have mercy on you and let you go."

  "How kind of you." In my best French accent I say thank you. "Merci."

  "De rien mon amie," she replies in perfect French.

  "It's amazing to me how you can lose your southern accent at the drop of a hat and speak fluent French. I love the language but I totally sucked at it in school."

  She promptly loses both French and southern accents. "I have to mix things up, you know what they say about variety, and men do like variety. You know, Nick is fluent in French maybe you can ask him to give you some lessons in the language of love."

  This girl. "Goodbye, Ava."

  "Wait! My schedule is busy this week but let's do lunch, call me."

  "On one condition."

  "What?"

  "You stop with all the Nick and Kate stuff. No talk of Nick." She lets out a breath of air almost like a deflated balloon.

  "Fine, I won't mention his name. Call me."

  "I will, bye."

  "Later."

  I put my phone in my bag and head upstairs to change before I find something to eat.

  After my shower I change into my gray yoga pants and a pink top and go down to the kitchen. When I get there I see Sophie in the kitchen cooking something that smells really good. I stand in the door and watch as she stops dicing up a tomato, walks over to the pots, lifts the lids off and smells what's inside. Stirring with her wooden spoon, she brings it to her mouth for a taste and shakes her head; she likes what she's tasted. When I was small, I would watch her cook. She would let me help her and I felt so important she would call me her little chef's assistant. She would talk to me about my day and we would sing songs. Sometimes she would let me comb her long brown hair and I would say, "Sophie, when I grow up I want to have hair just like yours, it's beautiful."

  "Whatever you're cooking smells wonderful and I'm starving, please tell me it's almost finished." I walk into the kitchen and kiss her on the cheek, my arms around her shoulders before I hop onto a stool around the island.

  "I have to get used to you walking into a room again. It'll be ready in five minutes, do you want me to get you something to drink?"

  "No, I can get it myself. What're you cooking? It really smells good." She stops cutting up the vegetables for the salad and looks up at me.

  "Honey, you look nice but tired, did you have a rough day?"

  "Kind of, I was job hunting and ran a few errands and I didn't have time for lunch."

  "You must always make time to eat, you're not going to do yourself any good if you're passing out all over the place because you're starving yourself."

  "I wasn't starving myself. I was so busy I forgot and by the time I remembered I figured I might as well wait till I get home." She looks at me and starts talking with one hand.

  "Well try not to do it again. I don't want you looking like a skeleton, that's not attractive for anyone. Take my advice, men like a woman with a little something on them and I think I might have a man for you."

  Not Sophie too. "Sophie, I do not need a man right now. What I need is food."

  "Everyone needs a man whether you want one or not. What's life without a little romance?"

  "Simple and uncomplicated. Now, what's in the pot?" With an easy smile she opens the pot with a flourish.

  "My grandma's world famous shrimp French creole gumbo with long grain rice, my three cheese macaroni and cheese and glazed honey barbecue chicken breast."

  Oh my God. As she's talking I can feel my stomach churning and my mouth watering, I'm so hungry. "You're killing me. Please tell me it's done. I don't even care if it's half-done. I'm going to eat like right this minute, I'll help myself you don't even have to take it out for me!"

  "You didn't even let me finish telling you what we're having for dessert."

  "What is it?" I say eagerly. I think I have an idea what dessert it is. "If it's what I think it is, you're going to have to roll me out of this kitchen with a forklift when I'm done eating." With another grand flourish she waltzes over to the fridge opens the door and pulls out my all-time favorite dessert.

  "Yes, it is, my strawberry cheese cake made just for you."

  "I love you."

  "I know you do. You sit down and I'll make you a plate. I won't have you serving yourself for the first dinner I make for you since you've come home."

  "Thanks, Sophie."

  "It's my job to take care of you."

  "No, it's not, when I was little it was. You're not my servant. I don't want you to wait on me hand and foot." She walks over to me places both her hands on mine and looks into my face.

  "Nonsense. I will take care of you not because I have to but because I want to. I've watched you grow from a little girl to the young woman you are now. You're a good girl and I would like to think I had a hand in that. I will always take care of you."

  I put my arms around her and squeeze her tight and she does the same. "Thank you. You're going to have me crying in here like a big baby." I fan my eyes with my hands so I don't cry. I hear the kitchen door open, when I turn around I see Kate walking in. She looks at Sophie then at me.

  "What's going on? Why do you look like you've been crying?"

  "I wasn't." I shake my head and smile at Sophie then Kate.

  "Your sister and I were just catching up on old times having a little heart to heart. Making sure she knows how much we all care about her and we're happy she's home."

  Kate turns and walks over to the fridge frowning, and pulls out a can of ginger ale. "Yes, we are." She looks down at the can and makes a weird face almost like she's offended by something. She's not happy about something, I wonder what it is.

  "It's good to have you girls back together in this room with me, like when you were little girls. Kate would you like something to eat?"

  "No, thank you, Sophie, my stomach's a little upset."

  "Can I get you something? Maybe some tea?" Sophie offers.

  "That's okay, I'll just have a glass of ginger ale. I'll be fine." She pours the ginger ale into the glass and asks me, "Where's Mom and Dad?"

  "They went to a fundraiser one of Mom's friends is hosting. They won
't be back till late tonight." She does look like she's not feeling well. She sits down at the kitchen table and I spin my chair around to face her while Sophie finishes cleaning up and fixes my plate. Kate pulls out her phone and swipes her hands across the screen; her fingers are sliding across the glass screen fast and effortlessly. She's so much like my mother; always well put together, not a hair out of place, head held high, perfect posture in her YSL pumps, with matching black bag and black and cream pantsuit.

  "I didn't know you were coming over. I haven't seen you since we had dinner at Blue, two nights ago."

  "Yeah, well I've been busy with work and all. I was going to call you but I had so many other things to do. I'm decorating for a major event coming up in two weeks, it all has to be perfect as these clients expect perfection and I will give nothing less than absolute perfection."

  "Absolute Perfection, huh." Sophie places the plate of food in front of me and I can't get the fork to my mouth fast enough, this food is so good. I close my eyes and savor every single bite. I stop eating and see Kate watching me.

  "Cat, can I talk to you in the other room when you're done eating?"

  "Sure, but we can talk now while I'm eating. I can eat and talk at the same time."

  Sophie, sensing Kate wants to speak with me alone says, "I have a few things to do upstairs before I leave. Kate, if I don't see you before I leave, goodnight."

  "Goodnight, Sophie."

  Sophie leaves and I'm curious to know what is so important that Sophie can't be in the same room to hear. Not a second before she's out of sight Kate starts in on me.

  "What was that all about at the restaurant the other night?"

  "What are you talking about?"

  "Why didn't you tell me Ava was going to show up uninvited?"

  "I didn't know it was going to be such a big deal if she came. She is one of my closest friends; she's like family to me."

  "Like family. She's not family! It was supposed to be a pleasant family dinner."

  "And it was." Why is she getting so worked up? I know Ava and her don't get along but come on.

  "You know she doesn't like me. She can't stand it that I'm engaged to her cousin. She was rude to me, that girl hates me."

  "Kate, you're exaggerating, Ava does not hate you. And when was she rude to you? I don't remember one time during the night she said something rude or offensive to you."

  "All you had to do was read between the lines, I'm not stupid. 'Where's your ring, Kate? I had breakfast with him and he didn't mention your name once.' With her fake-ass southern accent carrying on about how much she knows her cousin and he would have told her this and that. Well, obviously she doesn't know her cousin as well as she thinks she does!"

  "You need to calm down—"

  "I don't need to do anything; the problem here is you're too calm. Why didn't you say something to your friend when she was insulting me, your real sister?"

  "You don't need me to defend you against Ava, you can hold your own with her. I've seen you do it plenty of times. Why are you so upset about what you think she was implying. It's not the truth, is it? So why are you letting her get underneath your skin?"

  "Forget it. I just thought that my sister would have my back while her friend was attacking me and my relationship with my fiancé. Nick is your friend, right?"

  "Yes."

  "He cares about you and you care about him, right?"

  I bite my lower lip and shake my head in agreement. I don't know what to say to that question.

  "So why would you let her insult me and our relationship like that? Didn't you see how happy we were the night we announced our engagement? How happy everyone was for us, especially Mom and Dad?"

  Again, I have nothing to say. I can only nod my head in agreement with her because I was the only one that wasn't happy.

  "Good. Please put your friend in her place and let her know Nick and I are very happy along with our families. We are going to be together whether she likes it or not. Our relationship might not have been very long and not a lot of people even knew about us because we wanted it that way, but it's real so she needs to get the hell over it. He's mine now whether she likes it or not."

  If I didn't know better, I would have thought she was talking to me, sending me a message to stay away from her man or she would shoot to kill. "I will definitely tell her. I will make sure she gets the message loud and clear."

  "Good. I'm going home and I'm taking my ginger ale with me."

  She gets up from her chair, comes over and hugs and kisses me on the cheek. "I'm exhausted, I'm going home to sleep but first I'm going to call Nick before I go to bed."

  "Goodnight, I hope you feel better."

  "I do now that we've had this talk. I'm feeling better already."

  "Bye." I'm glad she's feeling better. This day sucks and now I'm going to eat this whole pot of macaroni and cheese and pay for it tomorrow with a ninety-minute workout.

  "We really did an intensive work out, Ava."

  "I know. I wanted to try Bikram yoga and I thought what better time than now with my girls."

  I haven't seen Ava in two weeks but we text each other. Yesterday she called me and told me to clear my schedule for the day because I and two of our friends were going to try a Bikram yoga class with her. Chloe is a fashion designer but until her designs take off she's a personal shopper for a major department store. Isabelle is a stay-at-home mom, her son Conner is nine months old and her husband Kevin graduated from an Ivy League college, he's a financial planner.

  "I haven't seen you guys in such a long time, I missed you."

  "Why didn't you call us sooner, chick, to let us know you were back in town for good?" Chloe says, leaning back in her chair drinking her bottle of water.

  "It was sort of a snap decision on my part deciding to come back. I only told my family but I was going to call when I was settled in. I know how busy you guys are, you with your fashion designs and work, and Isabelle with Conner, a husband and a new home. How's Conner?"

  "He's doing great. I think I have the most well-behaved baby in the world, he's so cute I could just eat him up and I know a lot of mothers say this but I think he's going to be a genius."

  Chloe stops chewing and rolls her eyes. "Are you serious, Isabelle? You sound like every other woman that's given birth and they all sound freaking ridiculous."

  My eyes shift between Chloe and Isabelle as they speak. I always thought Chloe was pretty or exotic as most guys say when they see a girl and they don't know exactly what race she is. Exotic with her slanted eyes and glossy pin straight hair, it's a good mix with her brown skin. Isabelle is fair-skinned with curly blond hair. She used to live in L.A. and came east to go to college. They're total opposites but somehow they're friends. Isabelle is an optimist and Chloe…isn't. That's the only way I can describe Chloe.

  "I do not. I know my child, he's doing things most babies his age can't do yet."

  "What is he doing, pooping and sucking his toes at the same time?"

  "When you have kids, Chloe, you'll understand." Isabelle brushes her curly blond hair out of her face.

  "That's why I'm not going to have kids for a long time. They turn your brains to mush. Your whole life has to revolve around them. I don't have time for that. I have to keep my manicure, pedicure, hair, and the most important one, my body, tight. Can't do that with a kid hanging off your breast. Laws of gravity you know."

  Ava raises her hand in agreement with Chloe and Isabelle narrows her eyes at them. "Girl, I agree with you on some of what you said."

  Isabelle and I give her the really-you're-agreeing-with-Chloe look.

  "Let me clarify, I do not want to have kids until after I'm married because I don't care what people say, your body does change. I need the body I have right now to be stretch mark free and perky. Don't give me that look, Isabelle, you know your body has changed since you've had your baby genius."

  "My body has changed a little but it's still the same and Kevin loves my post-ba
by body because he loves me and that's all that matters. If a guy is really into you, he won't care about what's on the outside, he'll want to get to know what's on the inside first."

  We all look at each other and laugh and speak at the same time.

  "Right!"

  "We all know most guys are visual. If they like what they see, they'll eventually find out what you have going on upstairs if you keep your legs closed long enough for them to find out," Isabelle says.

  Chloe looks at Isabelle, combing her fingers through her short, black hair with a streak of blue framing her face. "That's not what you told me when you hooked up with Kevin at a frat party the first time you met. In the biblical sense he really got to know your insides first, while you were bent over the bathroom sink."

  Isabelle's face turns beet red. "Chloe, I told you that in secret, big mouth."

  "Who here hasn't hooked up and had a one-nighter in college. At least you married yours and you're happy," Chloe says, looking around the table at us.

  Everyone here except for me. Couldn't bring myself to do a one-night stand, that's just not me. I came close with one or two guys but I couldn't.

  Tapping her fingers on the table Chloe whispers, "Omg, don't look, there is a hottie looking over here."

  "Where?" Isabelle says, looking in the direction of the guy by the door.

  "I said don't look."

  "I think he's walking over here to our table. If I wasn't in love with my husband—"

  "Well I sure as hell don't have a husband. I'm willing and able to fulfill all his fantasies, he is smoking hot!"

  "You're acting like you've never seen a man before." I turn to see the smoking hot man and I can't believe my eyes. Ava. I know she has something to do with him showing up here. She picks up her glass of water to take a sip and I mouth to her, "I'm going to kill you." My back is turned to him and I feel him walk up behind my chair. I can see Isabelle and Chloe practically drinking him in from head to toe. I hear his deep rich voice roll over me and my body tenses with nervous energy.