Then she turns to me with that smile still firmly in place.
“Mia. Hello darling,” she says kissing me on the cheek as well.
“Hi mother,” I murmur.
She takes a step back and eyes my outfit. I’m dressed in my usual jeans and a cardigan sweater. I can feel her judging my outfit.
“Didn’t Mya tell you I was having a party for you?” she asks.
Yes, but why didn’t you call me yourself to tell me? The words are on the tip of my tongue, but I refrain from letting them slip out. She’s making an effort by throwing this party, I can do the same.
“Yes, but I didn’t know until we got to the pizzeria or else, I would have worn something else.”
“She looks great,” Mya says grabbing my hand and squeezing it.
Mom’s eyes do another sweep of my outfit before she pastes another smile on her face.
“It’ll have to do. Come. Everybody’s waiting.”
My hand tightens instinctually around Mya’s as I once again fight to bite my tongue.
Think positive. Think positive. Think positive.
I repeat the mantra to myself over and over again as we follow my mother down the long hallway to the dining room where I can hear a lot of voices.
I’ve almost convinced myself that this will be a good thing. Until we get to the entrance way of the living room and I see who’s in the living room.
Men. Lots and lots of men.
They all stop talking and turn to stare at us as we enter the room. My palms start to sweat as I pull my hand from Mya’s
“Uh…” I say at a loss for words.
“Mom, what’s going on?” Mya asks
“Gentlemen, this is my daughter Mia. Mia, these are some gentlemen I thought you’d like to get to know.”
All at once it hits me. This isn’t a party to celebrate my accomplishment. This is my mother’s own twisted way of trying to get me to settle down and get married.
“What?” Mya gasps and I can tell by her tone that she had nothing to do with this.
I can’t take my eyes away from the group of men standing there. There has to be at least twenty-five to thirty men in this room. They stand around in small groups sipping drinks and eating bite-sized food that is circulating around the room. I see Mya’s fiancée talking to a few men to our right.
Shock is swiftly followed by anger. I cannot fucking believe this. How could see do this to me?
I turn to my mother ready to unleash every pent-up feelings and emotions inside of me when another voice stops me.
“Excuse me, Mia, right?”
I turn to see a man in a tan suit standing behind me. He is handsome and has a nice smile, yet when I shake his hand, I don’t feel even a tenth of a spark of attraction. I quickly pull my hand out of his.
“Yes.”
“My name is Caden. I was wondering if you wanted to go talk?” he asks.
Everything in me wants to say no, but manners suggest I be polite.
“Okay,” I murmur.
I shoot Mya a look before I walk a good distance away with Caden.
“So your mother tells me you write novels.”
“Yes, I write romantic suspense novels.”
He frowns and the light goes out of his eyes.
“Romantic Suspense? Ah, I didn’t realize one could make a career out of that.”
And that’s how it goes for the next hour. Man after man comes up to me trying to start a conversation and once they realize what I do for a living they offer some back handed compliment about it.
After guy number seven comes and goes, I figure I’ve had enough. My blood is boiling as I make my way out of the room and down the hallway.
I don’t care that Mya drove; I’ll call a cab. Hell, at this point I’ll walk back to my apartment. I just want out.
“Young lady, where do you think you’re going?” I hear my mother say from behind me.
“Leaving,” I say not even bothering to turn around.
“Now just wait a minute,” she says grabbing my arm. I spin around meeting her furious gaze.
“I went through the trouble of setting this entire party up for you and thi-“
“You didn’t do this for me. You did this for yourself,” I say cutting her off.
I see Mya approaching us from the corner of my eye, but I don’t give her a second glance. Not right now.
Mom let’s out a short laugh, but there’s nothing humorous about it.
“Well how else am I supposed to get you married off? All you do is sit in your apartment writing those godforsaken romance novels. How are you supposed to meet a man doing that, huh?” she says.
My face flushes. My heart which was already pounding, seems to pick up the pace.
“Here we go with my career choices again. Those godforsaken romance novels you seem to hate so much pay my bills. They make the people that read them happy. Not that you give a damn.” At this point I’m yelling, and I don’t care.
Mom gasp. “Don’t you take that tone with me, young lady. Your father and I didn’t raise you and sacrifice like we did for you to throw away your life like this!”
“Throw away my life? Are you serious right? How exactly is doing something I love throwing away my life?” I yell
“You are such an embarrassment.”
Her eyes widen when the words leave her mouth. I hear a gasp to my left that could have only come from Mya.
I just stare at her in shocked silence. I’ve always thought she thought of me as an embarrassment, but I never thought
