Lauren's Story - Appendix C
Only girl at Aristippus married with a kid tells her story.
As I walked into the kitchen, I could smell fresh waffles. It wasn't Saturday, I hoped, as I had already dressed for school and had my backpack over one shoulder. Waffles have always been my favorite breakfast ever since I can remember, but generally, my mom only prepared them for me on Saturdays or some other special event, never on a school day.
"Good morning Sweetie," my mom chirped as I stepped into the kitchen. "Would you like a fresh hot waffle?"
A little surprised and momentarily speechless, I dropped my backpack on the kitchen bar and swung up onto my usual stool. She had her back to me as she was busy fixing my plate, but simply from her cheerful disposition, I knew something was up. As she spun around and placed the plate in front of me, I asked, "So Mom, what's up? It isn't Saturday - is it?"
As I started spreading the still hot waffle with Nutella, she pulled a bowl of sliced strawberries from the fridge and placed those next to my plate. This was a double treat for me and one I don't normally receive. Now I really knew something was up. "Okay Mom, what gives? Why are you being so nice to me?"
"Can't a mother do something nice for her beautiful daughter?" she said, with a nervous tone to her voice.
I really knew something was brewing now, and it certainly wasn't anything I had done to deserve this royal treatment. It was now apparent; that there was something Mom wanted from me. Standing opposite me, across the kitchen island, she started to explain. "Well Sweetie (she rarely calls me Sweetie), Eric is going to Mexico - Cabo that is, next week, and he wanted to know if you'd like to go with him?"
Eric is mom's boyfriend. They had probably been together seven or eight years, but for some reason, he had never actually moved in with us. He usually only
slept over
on weekends and holidays. I never did understand why. My dad left more than ten years ago and moved to Phoenix with his new girlfriend. They're still together, and I go out to Arizona several times a year to see them. And when I do, Mom and Eric usually take off for some sort of vacation together.
It should be noted that I have never been invited on one of these vacations, so why now? And the way Mom phrased the question, did it mean that she wasn't included in this little getaway to Mexico? Was it just to be Eric and me?
"What do you mean,
with him
?" I asked. "Aren't you going too?"
Mom stuttered for a moment and then clarified, "Oh, I have to work. I just can't take any more time off. I'm afraid they'll fire me." She then paused for a second to see if it looked like I was buying any of it - which I wasn't. Mom had worked at the same Hollywood talent agency for over twenty years, and though she was still a secretary, she had been there so long, I'm sure her job was safe. Besides, she didn't really take that much time off. And in fact, I'm pretty sure that's where she met Eric.
Eric is what I call a Hollywood wannabe. He has about a half dozen acting credits, but there are all small parts, and normally, he just works as an extra or on the set as an Assistant Grip. I think he started as a camera loader, but now that all the cameras are digital, he just works any gig job he can get. At least, as long as it's on the set. And I assumed this trip to Mexico was probably for a movie.
I put my fork down and waited until she looked me directly in the eye. "What gives, Mom? The two of you have never taken me anywhere, and suddenly he wants to take me to Mexico and leave you at home. That just doesn't make sense."
"It's a movie gig. A really good break for him," Mom tries to explain. "He has about eight lines of dialogue, and he's really excited."
"Well, I get that he's excited; I would be too. But that doesn't explain why he's taking me and not you."
There was another long pause as Mom stumbled to find a plausible excuse. "Well, Lauren, it's all expenses paid, and I was planning on going with him. But now I have all this work. Things are super busy at the agency, and I can't take the time off. So, he asked if I thought you might like to go in my place."
"Mom, I have school," I argued. "What am I supposed to do about that?"
"I can write you a note," she quickly replied. "You haven't missed hardly anything this year, so four days out of school shouldn't be that big of a deal."
Now that did sound intriguing. And I would have loved to have gone with friends or even with my mom and Eric. But with Eric alone - it was just creepy. "What am I going to do all day? I mean, he's going to be working - right?"
"Well, Sweetie," there was the