My mother shook her head. “Elena, it’s unbecoming of you to talk about these things.”
“Oh my god! You’re the fucking worst!”
“Don’t be a silly child, and don’t blame me for your relationship failures. Are we done with the tantrum?”
“Tell me what you wanted when you summoned me here,” I said, as I was still standing in the middle of her office, my arms crossed in an almost defensive stance.
“I wanted to warn you that your reporter may be about to get arrested. You see, I do love and care about my daughter even if she feels like I’m the worst mother on earth.”
“Not the worst. Just not as great as you used to be.”
“Before I became a politician and had to put some of my needs before yours, you mean?” She was better at this game than I was. “Can we leave your mommy issues aside? I just told you the reporter is going to get arrested. Who’s being selfish now?”
Touché.
“Does Dad know about the arrest?” I pretended I hadn’t heard that last part.
“I’ll brief him on the subject when we finish our meeting.” The woman felt absolutely no embarrassment for using the verbbriefwhen referring to a chat with her husband or the nounmeetingwhile talking about seeing her older daughter. I wondered if sheconferredwith Marta.
“Why are the cops arresting David?” I finally managed to say. “He didn’t kill Henry.”
“They’re not charging him with murder at the moment,” my mother said. “But your whole dramatic gesture of coming clean about Henry’s attempt with you has them thinking David had even more motive than they initially thought to get rid of Henry. They’re now thinking it may have been a crime of passion to avenge your virtue.”
Rage caught in my throat. “That’s ridiculous!”
“Ridiculous or not, that’s why you should have stayed quiet. Nothing good ever comes from stirring up trouble,” my mother said, and I hated when she was right. “They also have CCTV that seems to prove he broke into Henry’s car.”
“Seriously? If they have him on CCTV, they have me as well. And you don’t look even mildly surprised that I’m telling you this.”
“They’re only interested in him—at this point,” she said. “But Elena, stop doing silly things. There’s only so much I can do to keep you out of this.”
I wasn’t sure whether to thank her for putting pressure on the LAPD so that they would leave me alone, get mad because she hadn’t done the same for David, be grateful because at least she’d warned me about David being arrested and I could warn him...
“I’ll do my best not to disappoint you,” I said. When in doubt, I always opted for irreverence.
“Your efforts are always appreciated,” she said. She wasn’t being sarcastic. “And, Elena, perhaps you should talk to that reporter of yours.”
“His name is David, as you know perfectly well since you forced me to have him over at your house several times when we were together.”
“Weretogether? Are you not together now then?”
“Never mind,” I said, rolling my eyes. “What should me and David talk about, according to you?”
“His job offer,” my mother said.
I blinked, clearly not knowing what she was talking about.
One good thing about Aurora Valls: She didn’t beat you when you were down—unless you were her political opponent—or when you were doubting whether your lover was hiding something from you. So she didn’t say anything else about the subject. But my mother was now the second person at city hall to warn me about a job offer that had apparently been extended to David that I knew nothing about.
“Will that be all?” I changed subjects.
“You can be dismissed, but your dad asked me to remind you that you promised to join us for brunch on Sunday.” I probably uttered my chagrin too vocally because she added, “We’re going to the Four Seasons.”
That changed things. Brunch at the five-star hotel features a buffet stuffed with unlimited heirloom tomato salad, avocado toast, squash blossom pizza, and—my favorite—matcha-based margaritas. And I wasn’t going to pick up the check.
“Yeah, I’ll be there,” I said. There was nothing I liked more than being drunk on antioxidant green powder and tequila on a sunny Sunday afternoon.
…
