"Okay," I said. "But could you…not surprise me next time? It was a little weird."
"I'm sorry," he said. "Do you not like surprises?"
"Well, normally I don't mind." I fiddled with my ring. "But usually they're more like - 'oh, hey, I brought you this coffee from across the street because I happened to be there anyway.' Not like, 'oh, hey, here's a new car.'"
He sighed. "Maddy, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. I really am sorry. I just wanted to do something nice. I know this isn't an easy transition for you."
"It's okay," I said. "It's…it's a nice car."
"I'm glad you like it." There was a rustling noise, like he was switching his phone to the other side. "I did want to talk to you about something, if you have a minute."
"Sure."
"Next weekend, a few of my family are going to be coming into town. I let them know about you. I would have told you sooner, but I didn't think my sister and her husband were going to be able to get off work so soon."
"Oh," I said. I wasn't quite sure how I felt about that.
"They'll want to meet you, of course," he said. "But we don't have to overdo it. I'll tell them that you're very busy trying to get your affairs in order and plan for the wedding."
"It's all right," I said. And strangely, it was. The idea of meeting his sister's family wasn't nearly as terrifying to me as it ought to have been. Maybe I'd just maxed out on the amount of stress I was able to process, but I felt very calm. "I'd love to get to know them."
There was a moment of silence. "That's good," he said, sounding a little suspicious. "Well, I'll try to limit it to a lunch and maybe a shopping trip or two. I don't know exactly how long they'll stay."
"Don't worry about it," I said. "Really. I'm serious. It's not a big deal."
"All right, well." He exhaled. "I'll see you tomorrow for lunch, then."
"Okay. Bye."
"I love you," he said.
Did he really think someone might be tapping his phone? I shook my head.
"I love you too," I said, and hung up quickly.
Well, this was an interesting development. Meeting someone's family was always the best way to get to know the things about themselves that they weren't always forthcoming about. I was actually looking forward to talking to his sister. Maybe I'd actually learn something about the man I was going to marry.
I arrived at work the next morning in strangely good spirits. You might even say I was…glowing. Thankfully, that fit right in with my story.
"Oh my GOD!" Florence jumped up out of her chair and enveloped me in a fierce hug as soon as I walked into our cubicle. "Congratulations! I can't believe it!"
"Yeah, me neither!" I squealed back, extricating myself from her grip with some difficulty. "We were keeping things quiet for a while, obviously, but…"
"So you won't be working here for much longer, probably. Right?"
I'd actually forgotten about that part. "Yeah, I mean…we haven't talked about it in a while, but I'll probably try to wrap up all my projects in the next few weeks so I can focus on planning the big day." Ugh. Big day? Had I really just said that?
"I'm so happy for you!" Annie settled back down in her chair, thank God. "Is somebody throwing you a bachelorette party? Because my cousin is part-owner of that male strip club down on the ave, I could probably hook her up with a discount group rate."
"Oh, I don't…" What was my excuse going to be? I don't have any friends? That sounded hideous - plus, she might actually offer to throw it for me. That was obviously unacceptable. "…I don't really go in for that kind of thing." I fidgeted a little, trying to look as much like a prude as I possibly could. I wasn't, really, but the idea of a bunch of meatheads gyrating their sweaty pelvises in my face while I sucked down fifteen dollar drinks wasn't exactly appealing.
Annie looked at me, her eyes narrowed. I needed a better excuse.
I leaned forward, lowering my voice a little. "I just…I don't really think Daniel would be too happy about it."
Understanding dawned on her face. "Ohhh," she said. "Okay. I get it. Little bit of a jealous type, huh?"
I shrugged, smiling a little. "I dunno if I'd say that."
"Hey, there's nothing wrong with that! Personally, I think jealousy can be pretty hot."
Ugh.
Thankfully, the chatter stopped once she fell into that interminable vortex that was her inbox. Florence's habit of signing up for everything and never remembering to check the "do not email me" box was the inspiration for most of her workday complaints, but for once, her chronically overstuffed email was working in my favor.
I managed to make it until lunchtime with only three more attack-hugs and awkward conversations, and I was able to avoid eye contact on my way to meet Daniel for lunch.
We ordered Chinese food - from the only four-star Chinese restaurant in town, of course. To be fair, it was pretty damn good. And at least it still came in those nice familiar cartons.
"How's your day going?" Daniel wanted to know.
"Well, Florence tried to offer me a discount on male strippers, so…pretty decent?" I broke an egg roll in half.
"Fantastic," said Daniel. I thought I saw a brief shadow pass over his face in response to something I'd said - but no - I must have imagined it. "No one's talked to me yet. I'm not sure why."
"Abject fear?" I twirled some noodles onto my fork. "Well, I sincerely hope someone offers you a discount on female strippers before the day is out. I wouldn't want you to miss out on that experience."
He chewed silently for a moment. "I did talk to my sister earlier. She wants to take us all out to dinner with her husband when they get in."
"Great," I said, with a smile that wasn't even a little bit forced. "I can't wait to meet her."
"Really?" He was giving me a look.
"Really," I said, lightly. "I think it'll be fun."
I wasn't sure why he was unnerved by the idea, but for some reason, that just made me more excited to meet her.
-
I'd hovered over the "relationship status" bar for way, way too long. It was time to make the change.
Then again, I hadn't told my parents yet.
Then again, was I going to?
I'd been going around in circles like this for ages. I had to make a decision already. As much as I wanted to simply change my status and move on, I knew I needed to tell them first.
It took me five tries to dial the number all the way.
Once it started ringing, I almost lost my nerve and hung up, but instead, I waited.
"Hello?"
"Hi, dad," I said.
"Oh," he said, sounding vaguely stunned. "Maddy. Hi. How are you?"
"I'm…I'm good." I took a deep breath. "Is mom around?"
"Yeah, want me to get her?"
"Could you both get on the phone? I want to tell you something."
"All right." He sounded suspicious, but he did what I asked nonetheless. I heard my mom's voice in another few moments.
"Hi, honey," she said. "How has everything been?"
"Pretty good," I said. "I just got engaged."
Silence reigned for a few seconds. Then, they both started talking at once.
"Who are you-"
"You didn’t tell us-"
"It happened really fast," I said, quickly. "It's my boss. His name is Daniel."
"At that…office supply place?"
"No, mom. That was years ago. I'm at a consumer electronics place now."
They digested this for a moment.
"Well, at least he'll be able to support you, then," was my dad's contribution.
"Yes," my mom pitched in. "I always hoped you'd find someone who would be able to provide for you so that you could pursue your…art."
I squeezed my eyes shut. "Thanks, mom. Listen, I have to go. I have a lot to do. But I'll send you guys an invitation to the wedding, if you want to come. It's not going to be a big deal, nothing too fancy, but Daniel can take care of your travel costs." I knew there wasn't a chance of them coming if they had to pay for it themselves.
"Oh…" said my dad, clearly searching for the right words. "No, honey, I don't think I'll be able to get away from work. And your mother's not supposed to travel, you know, with her hip."
"Yeah," I said. "I just thought maybe…well, I'll send you some pictures."
"That'll be very nice," said my mom.
After I'd hung up, I was left with the distinct feeling I shouldn't have bothered.
The next week went by in a blur. I was trying to tie up as many loose ends as I could, finishing projects, or at least getting them to the point where my replacement wouldn't want to kill me. The H.R. department was taking interviews. I was trying not to think about leaving. As frustrating as my job could be sometimes, it was still going to be strange, not coming in here every day.
On Friday, my desk phone started ringing. Which was…odd. I picked it up.
"Hello?"
"Maddy, hi." Daniel cleared his throat. "Could you, uh, step into my office, please?"
I could have sworn I heard someone talking in the background. I frowned slightly. "Is something wrong?"
"No, no, nothing's wrong, just…can you come over here?"
"All right, fine."
When I reached his office, the door was closed. This time I was sure I could hear voices in there.
"Go on in," said Alice, from her desk in the hall. "They're waiting for you."
They?
I pushed the door open and walked inside.
Daniel was sitting behind his desk as usual, but there was a couple sitting in the chairs opposite him. They were surrounded by baggage on the floor around them. The woman had no sooner looked up than she jumped to her feet and ran over to me.
"Maddy!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around me. I hugged her back, realizing this must be Daniel's sister, but why on earth hadn't he at least given me some advance notice before calling me in here to be ambushed?
She was laughing.
"I'm Lindsey," she said. "Daniel's sister. This is my husband, Ray."
Ray waved, smiling politely. He looked like he wasn't too terribly thrilled about the ambush, either.
"I'm sorry," Lindsey said, not looking all that apologetic. "Our flight got in early and we couldn't check into our hotel yet, so I decided we should come surprise Daniel. I wouldn't let him warn you."
"That love of surprising people runs in the family, huh?" I grinned at Daniel, who actually looked…embarrassed? Oh, this was going to be fun.
"What's this?" Lindsey's eyes darted between us, a conspiratorial smile on her face.
"Well, the other day…I thought I was going to pick up my car from the mechanic's, and he'd bought me a completely new one," I said.
Lindsey burst out laughing. "Seriously? Danny never was one for surprising people when we were growing up, I'm glad to hear he's starting to see the fun."