“Mom, how could you say that?” Mya asks.
Mom’s face blanks before my very eyes. “I-I-,” she stutters.
“She said what she meant, Mya.” I laugh but it gets stuck in my throat as pain claws at my chest. Despite how fractured our relationship has always been there was a part of me deep down inside that hoped we could fix it. That part just died a fiery death. “I am so out of here.”
Without another word I turn on my heel and head for the door.
My emotions are at their boiling point. I can barely breathe as I storm down the steps. Taking out my phone I quickly pull up the uber app to get one to come as fast as possible.
“Mia! Wait!” I hear Mya saying behind me.
I turn on her.
“Now do you see? Do you get it now? Huh?” I say and I hate that my voice cracks.
Mya draws up short, her eyes glimmering with tears. “S-she didn’t mean it Mia.”
A short laugh burst out of me. “That’s bullshit and you know it. My relationship with her has never been good, you may have had blinders on to it, but it can’t get any clearer than what you just saw. There were almost thirty men in their, Mya. Thirty! Not only am I an embarrassment to her, but I’m so pathetic, I can’t even get a date without her doing it for me.”
“I’m sorry.” Mya whispers and I hope that she’s finally seeing this for what it is.
“It’s alright. But I- I need to go.”
“Okay, yeah, Peter and I will take you home.”
“That’s okay. I already have an Uber coming.”
“Are you sure, because I can-“
“Just go, Mya. I’m fine.”
We both know that’s a lie. But I’m sure she can sense that I need my space right now because she relents. “Okay, call me later.”
I watch her go back into the house before I turn my back on it.
You’re such an embarrassment. Embarrassment. The words reverberate over and over in my head. I can feel the unshed tears building up in my eyes, but I refuse to let them fall. Thankfully the Uber pulls up a few seconds later. I give the man the address to where I need to go.
There’s only one person I want to see right now, the only man who can calm me down.
***
Twenty minutes later I’m standing outside the building where Levi’s photoshoot is taking place. He got back in town two days ago, but I haven’t seen him because he’s been working so much. He texted me and told me he had to do a couple of reshoots today. We were supposed to get together tomorrow, but I can’t wait.
I need to see him.
He’s the only person who seems to understand the relationship my mother and I have. I make my way inside of the building and follow the sounds of voices and a clicking camera.
I turn the corner and see Levi sitting in a chair talking and laughing with Jayce. The mere sight of him with has my heart settling into place.
He’s dressed in a blue turtleneck that molds to his broad shoulders and jeans. His hair is artfully messy, the black strands falling over his forehead.
“Ma’am, I’m sorry but you can’t be back here” A man with the word security scrawled across the front steps in front of me.
I take a step back.
“I-I-“
“She’s with me.” Levi says stepping up beside the guy. The security guy steps aside.
“Hey baby girl,” he says.
“Hey.” I murmur looking up into his beautiful eyes.
The smile that was pulling at the corners of his lips vanishes when he gets a good look at me, I don’t know what I look like, but I know it’s probably not good.
“What’s wrong?” he demands, placing a hand on the small of my back.
“Hey Mia,” Jayce says coming to a stop next to us.
“Hey Jayce,” I say giving him a weak smile.
He frowns. “Is everything alright?”
“Um,” my eyes meet Levi’s worried ones. “Can we go somewhere and talk? I can come back another time if you’re busy.”
“I’m never too busy for you. Come on,” he says grabbing my hand and pulling me down the hall.
The feeling of his hand in mine has an electric current shooting up my arm. He leads me to a trailer, pulls me inside and closes the door behind him. There is a large black couch pressed up against the wall. A long wooden table sits in front of it. There’s a mirror and a chair we’re I’m assuming he gets ready for the shoots at. His scent, a mixture of clean linen and spice permeate the air, calming my nerves.
“What’s wrong?” he says focusing on me as he crosses his arms over his chest.
“I just had a big fight with my mom.”
Levi’s eyes soften immediately. He knows all too well about my history with my mom. He sits down on the couch next to me.
“She put a party together to try and find me a husband.”
“What?” Levi says glancing at me sharply.
A short laugh escapes me. And then I tell him the whole story ending with her calling me and embarrassment.
Once I’m finished his eyes are shining with anger and his jaw is clenched tight. “You know everything she said is bullshit right?” he says.
“Is it?” I mutter before I can stop myself.
I know what I do is meaningful, and I know I put everything I have into my books. But sometimes…those doubts do creep into my mind. Am I really an embarrassment?
My father saves people’s lives for a living. My sister helps children and teenagers on a daily basis, giving them a place to go when they can’t go home.
