Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 95295 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 476(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95295 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 476(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
“I’m coming, I’m coming,” I say and feel movement behind me to see Zoey has followed me.
“I can’t pretend I’m not here. This is my house,” she whisper-hisses at me, throwing in a glare for good measure.
I unlock the door and open it to see my mother and my Aunt Zara both standing there, looking like they literally left the house in their pj’s. “Did you go out like that?” Zoey asks, trying to lighten the mood from both their scowling faces.
“You, zip it.” My Aunt Zara points at Zoey.
“I didn’t even do anything wrong!” she shrieks. “Literally nothing wrong.”
“You didn’t?” they ask mockingly, and we both know it’s a trap.
“So she didn’t come here last night and you didn’t call us?” my mother asks, walking into the apartment.
“Okay, I did that,” she admits, “but nothing else.” She looks over at me. “Cry,” she whispers out of the side of her mouth.
Both of them rip off their jackets and walk into the house. “Who else is here?”
“No one,” we both say at the same time. My mother looks over at Zara, who walks down the hall.
“Mom,” Zoey shouts, “Nash is in there naked!” I open my mouth at her and hold one hand up, shaking my head. “It was the only thing I could think of.”
“Why would he be naked if I’m in the house?” I gasp.
“He has needs.” Zoey throws up her hands.
“I’m not naked!” Nash yells from the bedroom. “I’m also not coming out there, and there have been no needs met this entire weekend.”
“Well, that’s a lie,” Zoey mumbles.
“Okay, let’s calm down,” I soothe her. I can’t believe I’m saying this since I’m the one whose life is in tatters. “Come to the living room, and I’ll explain everything.”
My aunt stops in her tracks and returns, going to the living room as my mother follows her. At the same time, the phone rings in her hand. “It’s your father,” she says, answering it. “Hey.” She looks at the phone. “I’m here with her.”
“Zara,” my father says from the phone. My mother turns it around to face me, and I see he’s sitting in the kitchen, and my uncles are all there behind him.
“Okay,” I snap, “I am going to talk, and no one is going to say anything until I finish because I’m going through a lot right now, and I need my family’s support.”
“Oh, good call.” Zoey cheers from beside me.
“What the fuck happened?” my Uncle Evan asks.
“I don’t know,” I lie. “It was all, like, too much. I felt suffocated, and then I went home, and I looked around, and I was like, is this it? Do I love him enough for it to be forever?” My mother now sits down. “I don’t know, it was like a snowball effect, trying on the dress and then it’s like forever.”
“What did you tell him?” my father asks me.
“I told him that I didn’t think I could marry him and—”
“Wait a second,” my Uncle Matthew says, holding up his hand. “You told him you didn’t think you could marry him and he let you leave?” He shakes his head. “What a tool.”
“Of course, he let me leave,” I gasp, not surprised by this question.
“If you were the one for him, he would never have let you walk out the door,” my father explains, looking at Matthew. “He would have begged and pleaded with you to stay. He would have calmed you down and brushed away all your fears.”
“Yeah, that.” Matthew points at my father. “Did he show up at Zoey’s?”
“No.” I shake my head. “He said he would give me time and space.”
“Yeah, fuck his time and space.” Matthew pffts out. “I’ll give him time and space.”
“Okay, you guys, that’s enough,” my mother jumps in. “I’m going to let you go now and talk to your daughter.”
“Our daughter,” my father reminds her. “I’ll call you later, Zara,” he says and hangs up.
“Okay, what kind of shit are you serving us?” my aunt asks me.
“It’s not shit.” I sit on the couch. “Honestly, it’s the truth.”
“I mean, if you felt like that, maybe it’s a good thing that you are taking space,” my mother states.
“Better now than at the altar,” Zoey adds, sitting down.
“What is going to happen now?” my mother asks, and I look at her.
“I’m going to go and get a couple of things today.” At least this is the truth. “Then I think I’m going to go away for a bit.” Both of them are shocked by this. “I need to regroup and, I don’t know, find myself.”
“That ‘eat, pray, love’ shit,” my aunt says. “Listen, you are your own eat, pray, love.” She points at me, and there is a knock on the door.
Nash comes out of the hallway wearing shorts and a T-shirt. “That’s for me,” he says, opening the door and grabbing two brown bags, setting them on the table by the door before grabbing two coffee trays. “Thank you,” he tells the deliveryman before shutting the door. “I got you all some coffee,” he says, coming in and putting one tray down. “Something for my favorite mother-in-law.” He hands her a coffee before turning. “And your matcha is there.” He looks at Zoey, who leans her head back and waits for him to kiss her. “I’ll just go.” He walks to the hallway with the other tray of coffee.