It’s Only Temporary by Iona Rose

Bianca

Iforked the overcooked pasta and ignored the undercooked meatballs. I took after my mother in the culinary department though I think I was a slightly better cook. Every few minutes, I glanced at my phone hoping to see a message from Connor.

He had texted me earlier in the day to say that he had been to see Eva and she was well. I couldn’t wait to see him in person to grill him properly but I had to take his word for it.

“It’s nice and hot.”

I jerked back to the present with a start and realized that my mother had been speaking.

“You shouldn’t have interrupted your vacation to come mom. A phone call would have been just fine.”

She waved a hand in the air. “I wanted to see for myself how my baby was faring. Besides, I also needed a breather. Henry is a pain in the behind. So much for a vacation when all we’re doing is quarrelling.”

I knew that tone and my heart shrunk on hearing it. I didn’t even know my mother’s third husband well. I’d only met him once at the wedding but he’d seemed like a pretty chilled guy. You had to be to get along with my mother. She was high energy and always on the move.

The tone she was using was a sign that she was getting tired of him or the marriage or both. He had had two boys, both in their teens and my heart went out to them for the latest drama.

“How is he a pain?” I asked her against my better judgment.

“He’s argumentative,” she said simply, as if that was a sufficient explanation.

“Don’t married people generally argue at one point or another?” I pointed out. I pushed my plate away. I couldn’t stomach another bite of dinner. I was a step away from expelling what I’d eaten from my stomach.

“I don’t know what other married people do, I just know I’m tired and sick of it. Life is short. No one should have to endure a bad marriage.”

I looked at her in astonishment, stunned at the speed with which she had moved from Henry being argumentative to describing their union as a bad marriage.

“Let’s not spoil a perfectly nice evening discussing my marriage woes,” she said, adopting a breezy tone. “I met up with your father last week.” Her eyes gleamed as she spoke. “He and Fiona are getting a divorce.”

I felt as if I’d been punched in the gut. I liked Fiona and she and my dad had two girls, twins like Eva and me. They were only five years old, too young to have their parents divorcing.

“Why, what happened?” I said.

She shrugged. “They probably just grew apart.”

I shouldn’t have been shocked but I was and disappointed. Fiona had seemed like one of my dad’s string of wives who would actually last and grow old with him.

“We went out to lunch together,” she said sounding like a teenage girl talking abut her first date.

Warning bells went off in my brain. “Why?”

Confusion came over her features. “Why not? We’re family and your father and I have always been great friends.”

“I think that he’s aged very well,” she said, using the same teenage girl with a crush voice she had used earlier.

My phone vibrated with a message and I jumped after it, eager to have something else to focus on. I smiled when I saw Connor’s message.

Connor: Hey beautiful.

Me: Hey.

Connor: What are you up to?

Me: Chatting with my mom.

Connor: Good for you.

“Is that your young man?” my mom asked.

“Connor is not my young man. We’re not serious,” I said.

“I worry about you. When are you ever serious about anyone Bianca? Love is sweet. You should give him a chance. I could tell that he wants more than casual with you,” she said.

I suddenly felt tired with the conversation. I hated the way my mother took the high moral ground when it came to love matters. “And when did you figure all this out? In the five minutes you met him this morning?”

“Bianca! You know I’m good at reading people,” she said, indignation in her voice.

“Except when it comes to the men you marry,” I mumbled.

“What did you say?”

“I said except for the men you marry. You’re telling me to settle down when you can’t settle down yourself. You never try and work things out on your marriages mom.”

She looked as if I’d slapped her. I felt no remorse. Eva and I had always tiptoed around her and played along when she acted the victim. Well, I was tired of it especially when I remembered how it felt to have a functional family like Connor.

“If you and dad had tried to work out your issues, maybe you would not have divorced and we’d still be a family.”

I expected fire and curses. Instead, she stared at me with sad eyes. “I know I made a mistake when I filed for divorce from your father. But it’s never too late. We can be a family again.”

A stab of fear went through me. “No, we can’t. That’s passed now. What you can do instead is go back to Long Island and work things out with Henry. Leave dad alone and don’t fool yourself into thinking that you two can make marriage work.”

“I don’t know if Henry and I can patch up our differences. We’ve grown so apart,” she said, hesitantly.

“You’ve always run away from your problems mom. Don’t do it again. Go and see a therapist. Anything, just don’t jump from the pot into the fire. It won’t solve anything.”

She nodded and then smiled at me. “I’ll give it my best shot.”

My mother left early the next morning and I had a feeling it was just as much as a relief for her as it was for me. Our relationship had always been stiff and almost forced, unlike her and Eva.

I had some good news at least. Eva was out of the hospital and at home. She was to be on bed rest for the next week after which, the doctor would take a look at her again. That was a relief.

I spent the rest of the morning packing two custom orders which were due to be shipped. After that was done, I logged into Eva’s computer.

She was super organized and all it took was a few minutes to check where we were at. There were several orders due to be shipped the following week and looking at our inventory, the last collection was almost finished. It had gone faster than the previous one, though we had pieces of necklaces and earrings that we never ran out of.

I’d taught Eva to make those as well and we had plenty of them. They were good for keeping the bills paid but it was the big custom pieces that gave us financial stability.

Admin work took a couple of hours and then I turned my attention to the piece I was currently working on. I lost track of time until the sound of a key wafted into my consciousness.

“Anyone home?”

I smiled at Connor’s voice. I swiveled my chair around and waited for him.

He peered into the studio a second later.

“Did you make an order for Chinese food?” he said, lifting a takeaway bag.

“You’re a lifesaver,” I said as my stomach let out growling noises. “And a mind reader.”

I grabbed my crutches and stood up. I hobbled out after Connor, to the kitchen. All my muscles ached but I felt proud of myself for the amount of work I’d put in.

“When you didn’t reply to my message, I figured you were in the studio,” Connor said as he grabbed some plates and placed them on the island.

“Sorry, I never saw it,” I said, guilt flooding me.

“It’s fine. It was for a good cause,” Connor said easily.

We didn’t speak for the next few minutes as we ate, satiating the sharp hunger pangs. I slowed down after I’d had a few mouthfuls in.

“Tell me about your visit with Eva,” I said.

A thoughtful look came over his handsome features and as I stared at him, a low pleasant hum warmed my blood. He was an easy man to fall in love with.

“It was good. I got a chance to encourage her and I hope that helped,” Connor said.

“I think you did more than that. She said that after speaking to you she knew what she wanted now.” Eva had refused to explain more than that. It didn’t matter though. I was just glad that they were getting along better.

“I’m glad I could help,” Connor said. “Which reminds me, do you need me to ship anything for you this week?”

“You’re already doing enough for me. I only have two packages to ship. I’ll figure out a way.”

“It’s not a big deal to make a run to the post office during my lunch break. I’d be happy to. It makes me feel useful.” He flashed me a smile that made my heart take off at a gallop.

After that late lunch, Connor and I left the apartment to go for a walk. I was lucky to live near the park and our walks had quickly become the highlight of my day. He matched his pace to mine and I never felt rushed as I did in the one time I’d gone for a walk with Eva.

“How’s work going?” I asked him as we strolled through the park.

It felt so good to be among other human beings. Cooped up in my apartment all day, it sometimes felt as if I’d been left alone in the world.

He hesitated before answering. “We were told that there were a few changes that will happen in the next couple of weeks.”

I sensed a hint of worry in his words. “What kind of changes?”

“The company has been sold and we haven’t met the new owners and we don’t know what plans they have,” he said.

“That must be frightening,” I said and tried to imagine myself in that situation. “Still, you’re good at your job. They’re bound to want you to stay, right?”

He smiled at me. “I hope I’m good at my job. I’m probably worried because my boss looks worried too. She’s as hard as steel nails and if she’s worried, then we’re in trouble.”

“Have you spoken to her? Asked her whether you should be worried?” I asked him.

“No, I thought about it. She’s terrifying to be honest.”

I was intrigued. “You don’t look as if anything terrifies you.” It was true. Connor had one of those steady, sure of himself personalities. He came across as someone who could handle anything that was thrown at him.

He laughed. “Thanks for that. She’s not easily approachable and she doesn’t encourage intimacy or friendship. That makes it hard to share my fears with her.”

“People wear masks to cover up their weaknesses. I’ll bet she’d appreciate having someone to share her worries with. Plus she obviously has more information about the people who’ve bought out the company.”

He inhaled deeply. “You have just convinced me to do something I never thought I’d do. I’ll speak to her tomorrow and if she kills me and hides my body, go straight to the police.”

I laughed.

Connor took my hand and squeezed it. “Thanks. I needed someone to talk to and Mathew and Tony have been busy with their own stuff.”

“How are they?”

The conversation shifted to his friends and Connor entertained me with tales of what they had been up to. I’d never had any close girlfriends. I never wanted to explain to anyone that the man we lived with was my stepfather and the woman who came to school functions was my second stepmother.

It was just easier to keep friends at bay and the habit had followed me into adulthood.