Chapter Thirty-one
“Severine!” Her mom shouted. “Severine, can you see me?”
Severine cringed. “Yes, I can. You don’t have to shout, Mom. Is this your first Skype call ever?”
Severine watched her mom nod and smile. “Actually, it is. Your Aunt Rachel helped me download it.”
Rachel shoved her face close to the screen. “Your mom knows nothing about technology. It’s scary.”
“You’re preaching to the choir. I’ve tried to get her to Skype with me forever.”
“Well, now she has it. There’s no excuse.” Rachel moved away from the screen and dragged a chair up next to her mom.
“Severine!” her mom shouted. “I’ll be back. My casserole is almost done.”
“Okay.”
“Rachel will keep you company.”
Aunt Rachel winked at the screen as her mom moved out of the computer chair and out of the room. “Soo,” Rachel drew out, “your mom mentioned a boy…
The wound was healing, but it still hurt to think about. “Ah. That didn’t go too well. We broke up a few weeks ago.”
“I heard about that. But I’m not talking about that scum, Severine. I want to know about this other guy.”
“The other guy,” Severine pronounced slowly.
“Severine!” she hissed out. “Are you with his brother already?”
Her eyes bulged wide. “What the hell? No, no.” Severine shook her head wildly. “No, I’m not with him.”
Even with miles and miles separating them, she could sense her aunt’s interest. She was watching Severine’s every move, every fidget, and blink, and it was all taken in account. Sometimes she read into everything Severine didn’t want people to see.
“Okay...you’re not with this dude-”
“Thayer,” Severine interrupted.
Rachel raised her eyebrows. “Sorry. You’re not with Thayer, but I’ve seen that look. Hell, I remember having that look. He must be something to have you squirming like that.”
Severine groaned and placed her forehead against her keyboard. “If I say anything, you’re just gonna judge.”
“I can hardly judge. Last week I went out with a guy name Ceecee. I thought I could get over the name. But clearly, we can see that didn’t go anywhere.”
Severine glanced up at the screen and smiled. “Ceecee?”
“It was a nickname, okay! I’m not judging, you don’t judge. That’s the deal here.”
Severine nodded. “What are you asking? Am I attracted to him?”
“Yes. But remember, I’m your aunt. I want to give you advice, but give me the clean version.”
Severine batted her eyelashes playfully at the screen. “Why yes, I’m attracted to him. Just last week we were at the gym, and I wanted to jump his bones.”
“TMI!”
“I’m just kidding.” Not really.
“So how badly do you want to jump his bones?” Rachel asked with narrowed eyes.
Severine held both of her hands in front of her, palms up. “Macsen and I,” she lifted her right hand slightly. “Visions of Thayer and me,” the left hand pushed itself high in the air.
A grin played on her aunt’s lips. “A little attracted then, are you?”
“Oh, just a little,” Severine said back dryly.
“You really wanna know what I think?”
Severine stalled for time and crossed her legs. “Depends,” she finally uttered.
“I think that you need to stay away. Sounds like you have a major spark with this one. And if I were betting, I’d say the feeling is mutual. But he’s Scumbag’s brother, Severine. Imagine if you dated or were together for a night. It would change many things. And you’re bouncing back from a breakup, which let’s admit, is not the best feeling in the world.”
Severine knew that. Those reasons had popped up in her head more than once. Every time she’d agree with those thoughts, they’d quickly start to fade away. Every time she talked to Thayer on the phone, at the gym, or walking across campus, those warnings faded until there was absolutely nothing holding her back.
With her head pressed close to her screen, Severine whispered, “I don’t think I can stay away. It’s messed up.”
Rachel nodded and whispered back, “Then go for it.”
“Okay,” her mom announced breezily, “I’m back.”
Rachel gave a subtle nod of her head. Severine knew their conversation would be between the two of them. “So, Severine,” her aunt called out conversationally, “before we got on here, I was trying to talk your mom into taking a trip with me.”
Severine raised her eyebrows. “A trip, eh?”
Clacy scoffed, and Severine smiled at her mom’s discomfort. She wasn’t a traveler. In fact, you never wanted to travel with her mom. By the end of the vacation, you’d lose the will to live.
“Rachel, we all can’t have your...free spiritedness. I can’t just take time off from work.”
“Sure you can! This will be amazing!” Rachel chirped out.
“When is this trip?” Severine asked.
“Well, that’s the thing,” Rachel paused uncomfortably. “It’s during your break.”
“And you want me to go, or you don’t want me to go?”
“No!” Rachel rushed out. “We want you to go. The two of us just doubted whether you’d want to spend time with two middle-aged women while they ogled the cabana boys.”
Severine laughed at the thought. “No, it’s not exactly on my to-do list.”
“Severine, I won’t go if you want to spend Christmas with me. I know you’re still hurting from Grandma’s loss. If you want me to be home, I will be.”
“You need to go,” Severine said instantly. The mention of her grandma urged her to encourage her mom to go. She’d miss her grandma forever, but knew her mom and aunt suffered from the loss even worse. If this trip with her sister would cheer them up, they should do it.
“But-”
“So,” Severine interrupted her mom quickly, “where do you want to kidnap her ?”
Rachel answered instantly, “Scotland.”
Severine’s jaw dropped. “There’ll be no cabana boys there. You know that, right?”
“Okay, so guys in kilts. Same thing.”
Not even close. Severine let it slide. “Mom, do you even own a passport?”
“Yes. I just don’t see the need to travel all over the Earth.”
Severine frowned, and Rachel supplied an answer to Severine’s confusion. “Since your mom was a teenager, she has refused to travel overseas. I think she thinks the ocean will swallow her whole or something.”
“No! That’s not it. I will remain in the good ol’ US of A!”
“Come on, Clacy! I’ve seen the grandmas on those Norman Rockwell pictures live more wildly than you! Severine, tell your mom she should go.”
“You should really go.” Her mom gawked at her, and Severine explained her answer in greater detail. “I think we’ve gone on two vacations my whole life, and the entire time you whined.”
Rachel squealed and hugged her sister. “You see? You need an adventure. It’s only for a week! It will be amazing!”
Severine saw the indecision on her mom’s face but knew she was cracking slowly. “And you’re okay spending all of your Christmas break alone?”
“I’m okay staying by myself. It will be great, actually. I was planning on a crazy party this weekend. Now I won’t have to worry about you getting in the way.”
“Cute, Severine,” her mom said, giving her the eye.
Severine laughed. “I think you guys will have an amazing time. When are you leaving?”
“In a few days. I figure we can arrive in time for Christmas and celebrate New Year’s!”
Her mom groaned loudly, “A trip with you? What am I thinking? I think I need to stock up on some Percocet.”
When her mom left the room, Rachel watched her walk away and anxiously moved toward the screen. “What are you really gonna do during your break?”
Severine shrugged. “I don’t know. I just found out I’ll be alone. I’ll figure something out.
“Don’t meet up with that Thayer guy,” Rachel sharply demanded.
“You mean it’s probably a bad idea to have his love child?” Severine joked.
“Use sarcasm all you want. I think you’re biting off more than you can chew.” She shifted in her seat and looked closer at Severine. “He’s a male version of you. You sure it’s a good idea to involve yourself with him?”
Severine didn’t want to talk about the truth. She didn’t want to talk about what she wanted anymore. What she wanted was off limits. “I don’t know anything anymore, Aunt Rachel.”
“That’s what scares me, sweetie.”
Severine looked at her earnestly, making sure to keep her answer vague. “You don’t need to worry about it, though. I’ll be fine.”
Rachel didn’t respond back.