Lucky Charm (9 page)

Her mother sat quietly, waiting for her to start talking
. T
hat was the thing Annabel loved most about her mom
. S
he never pushed or prodded or tried to impart her point of view; she was a great listener.

“Do you want to tell me what happened?” Mrs. Green nudged her daughter lightly after Annabel had been sobbing uncontrollably for ten minutes.

Of course
,
she wanted to talk about it
,
if only she could get the words out of her mouth without bursting into tears each time!

“He cheated on me,” Annabel wailed, “with his agent!”

“With that woman, Athena, you’ve been telling me about?”

“Yeeees.” Annabel reached for another batch of Kleenex.

“Are you sure?”

“I saw them with each other’s tongues down their throats, drinking champagne!” Normally
,
Annabel would not use such a graphic descriptio
n with her mother, but something inside her snapped, and
she abandoned her control. “And all those seminars he’s been frequenting lately - those were all lies so that he could sneak around with her.”

The kettle whistled, and Mrs. Green got up to make tea
. S
he chose lemon chamomile for both of them.

“Have you talked to Jeremy yet?” she asked, placing the tea mugs on the table.

“Yeeees,” Annabel unleashed another wave of sobs. “Yesterday
,
right after I saw them together, I told him to get out.” Annabel proceeded to tell the details of her conversation with Jeremy.

“Well, it sounds to me like you
’ve
made up your mind about it.”

“I thought I
ha
d, but this morning it finally sank in
,
and it felt terrible to realize that it was over. I loved him so much,
M
om
.
I thought he was the one
.
I still love him! And to think that he cheated on me with Athena
. H
e admitted to it too, didn’t even try to deny it! He said he did it for us because she promised to get him a movie deal! Can you believe it? What kind of a man would do something like that? And what’s wrong with me that I failed to see his true nature all this time? I mea
n,
he was probably with me all this time only because I agreed to pay the rent and now, voila, he’s off to something better. And I’m left all alone, with nothing!” Annabel concluded her tirade with another torrent of sobs.

“Do you want him back?”

“Noooo! I don’t want that cheating bastard back!”

“So why are you crying?”

“Because it still feels terrible! Because my life is ruined
,
and I don’t know how am I ever going to get it back together.” And it was true – she did not.

“Oh, baby, I’m so sorry.” Mrs. Green placed her arm around her daughter, rocking her back and forth, just like when she was a little girl. “I know it feels this way right now, but you will meet someone again, someone who will appreciate and love you.”

“I’m not so sure about that.” Annabel shook her head
. A
t the moment
,
such a possibility seemed next to impossible.

“O
f
course you will
.
I know it. You’ll meet a great guy who’ll love you more than anything, just like I met your father.”

“I hope you’re right, Mom.” But as much as Annabel wanted to believe it, she was not so sure. After all, her mother had been married to the same man for over thirty years
. S
he
had
met Annabel’s dad in high school
,
and the two married right after college
. They had
lived their peaceful, quiet life happily together ever since. Theirs was a marriage of implicit understanding and appreciation
. T
hey were each other’s best friends and partners in this business called life. It was the kind of relationship Annabel had yearned for and had failed to find. Perhaps that was because she did not know how to go about finding it
,
or maybe there was just something plain wrong with her.

“Of course
,
I’m right
. Y
ou are beautiful, smart
,
and talented – and I’m not just saying that because you are my daughter, you know. You’ve accomplished a lot in your career
. Yo
u can do anything you set your heart on.”

“I don’t have a career, Mom
.
I write advertising copy, and I hate it. I was only doing it so that I could pay the bills while Jeremy wrote his book. And guess what
. H
e did write it, but now he no longer wants me.”

“Well maybe now is the time to think about what it is that you want to accomplish in life. Forget about being single and about men in general
. I
nstead, focus on your career. You know, you can’t just put your life on hold for someone
,
no matter how much you love him or her
. S
omeone who truly loves you would never let you do that either. So in a way
,
it is a blessing
. A
t least you found out in time instead of making the mistake of marrying him.”

“You do have a point there
. T
hat would have been even more mortifying.” Annabel took a sip of her now lukewarm chamomile tea.

“Do you want something to eat? You probably didn’t have breakfast.” Mrs. Green offered. “You look awfully thin. How about a grilled cheese sandwich?”

“Ok
ay
.” Annabel nodded, knowing that it was impossible to stop her mother when she was
on a feeding mission. “Where’s D
ad?”

“
He's out sailing. He won't be back until about eight or so.
”

“
Sailing? Since when does
D
ad sail?
”

“
We became friends with the
Harrisons
from next door
. T
hey took us out on their sail boat a couple of times
,
and your dad
really
got into it.
”

“
The Harrisons who moved into the house where Lilly used to live?
”
Annabel interrupted curiously.

Mrs. Green nodded.
“
That house has the highest turnover in the neighborhood. We never really got to know the people who bought the place after the Claytons left
.”
Mrs. Green paused awkwardly
,
not wanting to rehash the circumstances of the Clayton's divorce.
“
Susan and Joe Harrison moved in a year ago
,
and we hit it off from the start. It started with random barbecue invitations
,
and now we see them at least once a week. Ever since the busy season ended, your dad has been hanging out with Joe at the sail club
,
learning the ropes,
as
he calls it. Who would have ever thought that a man so averse to travel could take so to the ocean? And that's not the end of it
. H
e wants us to go on a cruise to
Greece
for our anniversary
. H
e has this crazy plan of renting a sail boat to travel between all the islands there, and you know how much your dad hates to travel. I can't i
magine what's gotten into him -
probably the mid-life crisis. The next thing you know, he'll be buying a sports car.
”

“
I think you should go on the cruise, Mom
. I
t's nice that D
ad wants to do something special for your anniversary.
”
Annabel was well aware of her father's abhorrence of travel
. H
is idea of an exotic vacation was going to
Lake Placid
. Up until a year ago
,
he did not even have a passport, claiming that he did not need one since he had no intention of going beyond
the
U
.
S
.
border, and she was touched by the fact t
hat after thirty-
five years of marriage
,
her dad still wanted to do something special for her mom. And unlike her mother
,
she did not think it had anything to do with
a
mid-life crisis, but more with the fact that in their younger years her parents were not able to afford such an exotic trip
. T
here were simply too many things to worry about: getting their accounting business off the ground, making the mortgage payments, saving for Annabel's college tuition, saving away for their own retirement
,
and helping out with the medical bills of their own elderly parents. But now the house mortgage was finally paid off
,
and their accounting practice had grown to the point where they had to hire two employees
. F
inally, for the first time in their lives, her parents were able to relax and enjoy themselves a bit.

“
Oh, I don't know
. I
t sounds so far away. Why go all the way there when we've got perfectly good beaches right here
? W
e could always sail along
the
Jersey
s
hore.
And I don't even want to think about how much it's going to cost
. W
e've been saving for the wedding...
”
Mrs. Green covered her mouth with her hand, but it was too late.
“
Oh, Annabel, I'm so sorry
.
I don't know what I was thinking. For a moment
,
it completely slipped from my mind. I'm so sorry,
h
oney
.
I feel like a real idiot.”

To Annabel's surprise
,
her mom's lapse did not bring on another wave of tears
. C
ould it be that she would actually manage to get through this somehow without falling apart every five minutes?
“
It's
okay
, Mom. I know exactly what you mean
. I
t doesn't feel real to me either. I mean
,
yesterday morning I was still engaged to Jeremy, planning the wedding
,
and today the whole thing is history. It's surreal
. E
very now and then
,
I catch myself thinking that I am in a dream and I'm going to wake up any second, but unfortunately
,
that's not going to happen.
”

“
It will get better, Ann. I promise.
”
Mrs. Green got up to retrieve the grilled cheese sandwiches from the skillet and placed two plates on the table.

Annabel took a bite to appease her mother and was surprised to find the taste of food welcome.

“
In a way
,
it's a good thing that you brought it up
. W
e might as well talk about all the cancellations that will have to be made. Good thing that we never did get around to sending out those invitations,
”
she added bitterly.

“
Don't worry about that now. I'll take care of all of that. And we don't have to tell the family right away
. W
e can wait as long as you want. You know that you don't owe anyone any explanations, right?
”

“
Thanks, Mom.
”
But despite her mother's brave front, Annabel knew full well that she was as apprehensive about this gruesome ordeal as she was. Annabel shuddered as she imagined the pitiful glances and sorrowful remarks the announcement would elicit.
Thank God
,
I don't have that many relatives
, she thought. Still, even having to make the announcement to her aunts and uncles would be a painful task
.
Aunt Edwina, her mom's sister and Meredith's mother, was bound to be the worst. For as long as Annabel could remember, Aunt Edwina was forever comparing the fortunes of the two households: Aunt Edwina's husband, Uncle Roby, made more money than Annabel's dad,
and
their house was twice as big as that of Annabel's parents
. B
ut Aunt Edwina’s biggest triumph that she never failed to rub in was that
Meredith got married at twenty-
two and already had two kids by the time she was Annabel's current age. Of course
,
it did not matter that both Aunt Edwina's and Meredith's marriages were fraught with philandering husbands while Annabel's parents were happily married
.
Aunt Edwina always chose to omit this important detail. Annabel could already visualize the knowing, pitying glance Aunt Edwina would bestow on her during family functions going forward. For years Aunt Edwina had been prodding her about when Jeremy was going to pop the question, and when he finally did, she seemed somewhat leery of the announcement
,
as though she had expected Annabel and Jeremy to break up instead of getting engaged. Well, now Aunt Edwina would
have
her misgivings confirmed and no doubt would gloat on the news.