Lunch and laying it on the line
Mallory was relieved to see that Jared and Mackenzie’s ability to get along went a long way toward smoothing things over with her father…at least as far as Jared was concerned. Simon remained quiet and passively aggressive during tense moments, but he had confided to Mallory that he hoped things worked out for Susan and Mackenzie with Richard. He’d told her that maybe living with a new family would make him see what he’d thrown away six years ago, and Richard could begin mending the fences he’d torn down when he’d left his other kids.
Mallory simply rolled her eyes every time her father tried to convince her that Mackenzie was really excited to have a ‘new big sister’ to look up to. Mackenzie was a strong willed kid who hid her insecurities behind a crappy attitude when things weren’t going her way. It was a defense mechanism Mallory knew well, and she sort of admired the girl for her grit. Neither of them sought out the other’s company, but didn’t feel the need to avoid each other, either. Mackenzie seemed to prefer the company of her brothers, who were closer to her own age.
Susan, on the other hand, sought out Mallory at every opportunity, wanting to take her shopping, or to the spa, or to lunch at some trendy place she’d heard about. She always wore a bright smile and seemed to have an enthusiastic attitude about every minute of every day and intense interest in the most banal of comments. It was getting on Mallory’s nerves.
After a four hour shopping trip, where Susan had used Richard’s credit card indiscriminately to buy Mallory designer clothes, shoes and accessories from the best shops they could find, Mallory knew she had to say something. Every item Mallory had tried on had been ‘darling!’ or ‘exquisite!’ or ‘absolutely stunning!’ and every comment Mallory had made had been ‘so clever!’ or ‘True! Very true!’ and Mallory’s dedication to her fencing and her education was ‘inspiring!’ and Mallory was nearly ready to pull her hair out.
It was two days before the wedding and the two women had stopped for lunch. Mallory decided that enough was enough when she ordered pasta, and Susan had declared how lucky Mallory was to have such a svelte figure, and how she was fortunate to be able to eat such foods without having it go straight to her thighs!
“I’d have to do three hours of Pilates after eating anything with alfredo sauce on it!”
“I run five miles every morning, and do yoga three times a week.” Mallory said it bluntly, not believing for a minute that the well built woman envied her for her figure. She might have paid a lot of personal trainer and spent a lot more time in a gym than Mallory, but Susan’s figure was every bit as lean and fit as hers.
“Oh, and it shows! I thought Richard was exaggerating when he told me how beautiful you’d grown up to be, and how…”
Mallory interrupted what was shaping up to be another long string of compliments and cheerful claims of envy. “You don’t have to do that.”
Susan’s smile slipped a little, and she adopted a confused expression. “Do what?”
“You don’t have to tell me how great you think I am, or act cheerful and energetic and happy if you don’t feel like it. You don’t have to buy me a lot of stuff and entertain me like you’ve been doing. I know you’re trying to make me feel welcome and be friends, but….nobody acts like this all the time.”
Susan looked at Mallory appraisingly before giving her a genuine smile. “You’ve just been humoring me the past two days, haven’t you?”
“Pretty much,” Mallory admitted with a slight shrug. “I’ve been trying to be polite and not rock the boat. You don’t have to worry about my not liking you, or trying to be my best friend…Not that I’m complaining about all of the new stuff, because it’s fabulous, but it’s not necessary.”
“Richard was just so afraid that you’d be so upset about Mackenzie, you’d decide to write him off for good.”
Mallory found Susan’s honestly refreshing, and nodded. “I figured as much. I won’t lie; the fact that you have a daughter that’s around the same age I was when he left us was like a punch in the gut or a slap in the face. The truth is, it hurts to see him picking up with your daughter, kind of where he left off with me. It hurt more to find out he didn’t trust me enough to know that he could talk to me about it and had you work on me, instead. None of that is your fault, and certainly not your daughter’s.”
“I can understand that, and appreciate it, too. Mac’s father left me before she was even born; as soon as he found out I was pregnant. She knows this, and is all right with it, but there’s been a learning curve with her and Richard. It’s been just her and me for so long that she’s still kind of in the ‘freaking out’ stage of things. She likes him, but at the same time, she knows that he had kids that he left behind before, and she’s afraid he’ll do the same to her if she gets too attached.”
“Ouch.” Mallory could identify with that feeling. “Plus, she’s being uprooted from her home and school, and being tossed into unfamiliar surroundings. That’s hard. It was the same for us, when we moved to Connecticut.”
Susan nodded, and Mallory was glad to see that the other woman was being much more natural, and relating to her on a more realistic level. “We’re working on it. Richard isn’t always such an idiot as he’s been acting since you kids arrived. He’s out of his depth and he knows he’s screwed things up and doesn’t know how to fix it. He’s been acting like a coward, and I had to give him a boot in the rear. I guess I needed one too.”
Mallory just smiled and shook her head. “You’ve just been trying harder than you need to. You can’t fix his mistakes, and he can’t repair six years worth of problems in a few days. It will take time. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that he’s been taking the boys and Mackenzie out and spoiling them every bit as much as you’ve been spoiling me the past couple of days.”
Susan nodded, and gave an embarrassed smile. “Mac’s always been a bit spoiled. I’ve tended to over compensate for the lack of a father figure in her life and my demanding career by indulging her whims for material things.”
“She knows you love her, and that’s the most important thing. But, just so she doesn’t get it into her head that I’m somehow going to replace her on this trip, why don’t you take her out for a mother-daughter day tomorrow, or something?”
“You know what, Mallory? You’re a lot more mature than I expected. You’re well grounded and know how to speak your mind. I think I actually like you, instead of just acting like it, because I wanted things to be perfect.”
“I think I like you, too. Nothing’s perfect, but we don’t have to make things worse than they need to be.”
“Agreed. Let’s enjoy lunch, and I’ll get out of your hair for a while and see what kind of trouble Mac’s getting into.”
Mallory enjoyed the last hour of that day with Susan more than she had the previous two days. Things were looking up.
Mallory simply rolled her eyes every time her father tried to convince her that Mackenzie was really excited to have a ‘new big sister’ to look up to. Mackenzie was a strong willed kid who hid her insecurities behind a crappy attitude when things weren’t going her way. It was a defense mechanism Mallory knew well, and she sort of admired the girl for her grit. Neither of them sought out the other’s company, but didn’t feel the need to avoid each other, either. Mackenzie seemed to prefer the company of her brothers, who were closer to her own age.
Susan, on the other hand, sought out Mallory at every opportunity, wanting to take her shopping, or to the spa, or to lunch at some trendy place she’d heard about. She always wore a bright smile and seemed to have an enthusiastic attitude about every minute of every day and intense interest in the most banal of comments. It was getting on Mallory’s nerves.
After a four hour shopping trip, where Susan had used Richard’s credit card indiscriminately to buy Mallory designer clothes, shoes and accessories from the best shops they could find, Mallory knew she had to say something. Every item Mallory had tried on had been ‘darling!’ or ‘exquisite!’ or ‘absolutely stunning!’ and every comment Mallory had made had been ‘so clever!’ or ‘True! Very true!’ and Mallory’s dedication to her fencing and her education was ‘inspiring!’ and Mallory was nearly ready to pull her hair out.
It was two days before the wedding and the two women had stopped for lunch. Mallory decided that enough was enough when she ordered pasta, and Susan had declared how lucky Mallory was to have such a svelte figure, and how she was fortunate to be able to eat such foods without having it go straight to her thighs!
“I’d have to do three hours of Pilates after eating anything with alfredo sauce on it!”
“I run five miles every morning, and do yoga three times a week.” Mallory said it bluntly, not believing for a minute that the well built woman envied her for her figure. She might have paid a lot of personal trainer and spent a lot more time in a gym than Mallory, but Susan’s figure was every bit as lean and fit as hers.
“Oh, and it shows! I thought Richard was exaggerating when he told me how beautiful you’d grown up to be, and how…”
Mallory interrupted what was shaping up to be another long string of compliments and cheerful claims of envy. “You don’t have to do that.”
Susan’s smile slipped a little, and she adopted a confused expression. “Do what?”
“You don’t have to tell me how great you think I am, or act cheerful and energetic and happy if you don’t feel like it. You don’t have to buy me a lot of stuff and entertain me like you’ve been doing. I know you’re trying to make me feel welcome and be friends, but….nobody acts like this all the time.”
Susan looked at Mallory appraisingly before giving her a genuine smile. “You’ve just been humoring me the past two days, haven’t you?”
“Pretty much,” Mallory admitted with a slight shrug. “I’ve been trying to be polite and not rock the boat. You don’t have to worry about my not liking you, or trying to be my best friend…Not that I’m complaining about all of the new stuff, because it’s fabulous, but it’s not necessary.”
“Richard was just so afraid that you’d be so upset about Mackenzie, you’d decide to write him off for good.”
Mallory found Susan’s honestly refreshing, and nodded. “I figured as much. I won’t lie; the fact that you have a daughter that’s around the same age I was when he left us was like a punch in the gut or a slap in the face. The truth is, it hurts to see him picking up with your daughter, kind of where he left off with me. It hurt more to find out he didn’t trust me enough to know that he could talk to me about it and had you work on me, instead. None of that is your fault, and certainly not your daughter’s.”
“I can understand that, and appreciate it, too. Mac’s father left me before she was even born; as soon as he found out I was pregnant. She knows this, and is all right with it, but there’s been a learning curve with her and Richard. It’s been just her and me for so long that she’s still kind of in the ‘freaking out’ stage of things. She likes him, but at the same time, she knows that he had kids that he left behind before, and she’s afraid he’ll do the same to her if she gets too attached.”
“Ouch.” Mallory could identify with that feeling. “Plus, she’s being uprooted from her home and school, and being tossed into unfamiliar surroundings. That’s hard. It was the same for us, when we moved to Connecticut.”
Susan nodded, and Mallory was glad to see that the other woman was being much more natural, and relating to her on a more realistic level. “We’re working on it. Richard isn’t always such an idiot as he’s been acting since you kids arrived. He’s out of his depth and he knows he’s screwed things up and doesn’t know how to fix it. He’s been acting like a coward, and I had to give him a boot in the rear. I guess I needed one too.”
Mallory just smiled and shook her head. “You’ve just been trying harder than you need to. You can’t fix his mistakes, and he can’t repair six years worth of problems in a few days. It will take time. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that he’s been taking the boys and Mackenzie out and spoiling them every bit as much as you’ve been spoiling me the past couple of days.”
Susan nodded, and gave an embarrassed smile. “Mac’s always been a bit spoiled. I’ve tended to over compensate for the lack of a father figure in her life and my demanding career by indulging her whims for material things.”
“She knows you love her, and that’s the most important thing. But, just so she doesn’t get it into her head that I’m somehow going to replace her on this trip, why don’t you take her out for a mother-daughter day tomorrow, or something?”
“You know what, Mallory? You’re a lot more mature than I expected. You’re well grounded and know how to speak your mind. I think I actually like you, instead of just acting like it, because I wanted things to be perfect.”
“I think I like you, too. Nothing’s perfect, but we don’t have to make things worse than they need to be.”
“Agreed. Let’s enjoy lunch, and I’ll get out of your hair for a while and see what kind of trouble Mac’s getting into.”
Mallory enjoyed the last hour of that day with Susan more than she had the previous two days. Things were looking up.