“And there you go acting like I’m the bad guy because I didn’t, what? Get your father to invest in a degree that I thought was completely irrelevant. You’re proving just how nonsensical it was for you to get that degree now,” Alice retorted, staring down her nose as her lips plunged into a disapproving scowl.
“Are you kidding me right now?” Marg threw her hands out and flared her nostrils as a tangled web of angry feelings tore through her. She lowered her head, closed her eyes, and took a few short, shallow breaths as she tried to calm her racing heart and temper the words that were about to come out of her mouth. She slowly opened her eyes, and when she did, she saw her mother staring back at her with a completely unreadable face.
“I wish you wouldn’t take out whatever it is that’s going on between you and that gentleman on me.”
Marg’s eyes became saucers at her mother’s words.
“What, you thought I didn’t realize that you haven’t spoken to him or about him this past week? Whatever you’ve done, you need to apologize before you end up alone.”
Marg’s eyes narrowed into slits as her heart beat erratically in her chest, and her ears rang.
“You are a fool throwing away the one chance you have at happiness.”
Marg had heard enough, and by the time she opened her mouth, she was seeing red.
“I won’t do whatever it takes just to trap someone in marriage, Mother. I am not you,” she shot in a saccharine voice.
At this, Alice’s eyes widened before they lowered with shame and hurt. Marg felt a twinge of guilt but couldn’t bring herself to apologize for her mean words.
"I'm going to go." She turned and walked out of the kitchen without uttering another word before heading upstairs to get ready for work. When she finally made it back downstairs, she was met with the aroma of bacon wafting through the air. She grabbed her keys off the hook that was located by the front door, and then she exited the house without uttering a word.
She allowed the tears to run down her cheeks freely and splatter on her dark slacks while she sat in her car for a few minutes with her head resting on the steering wheel as her hands gripped the sides. It felt as if her life was imploding, and there was nothing that she could do to prevent it from happening. For the third time since she woke up that morning, she questioned her choices.
As soon as the tears stopped falling, she lifted her head to check herself out in the rearview mirror. She cringed at the sight before her. Her mascara had been smeared all over her face, giving the impression that she had streaky lashes and her cheeks looked puffy. Pulling down the glove compartment, she reached for the pack of wet wipes there and then did the best job she could to clean the discolored areas. When she was satisfied with her appearance, she exited the driveway in reverse and continued on her way to the inn.
As soon as Marg pulled into the driveway of the property, she immediately got to work. She was wound up so tightly that she couldn't sit still and so she decided not to wait for the temporary assistant who was supposed to arrive later that afternoon to do the housekeeping. She found herself in the laundry room, feeding the washer with the linens removed from the rooms the day before.
She distanced herself from the machine and watched as it rotated the linen in a whirling motion while producing a constant humming sound. The behavior, in some mysterious way, had a calming effect on her inner turmoil, and it caused her to forget about everything else.
“There you are. I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”
Cora’s voice jarred Marg out of her daze. She shook her head and blinked a few times before turning to her friend. “What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Nothing’s wrong.” Cora waved off the concern. “I came to ask if you had plans for later.”
“Ah,” Marg gave out in surprise. “Um, no. I don’t have any plans for later,” she replied with her lips folded in on each other.
“Great. That means you can come to our girls’ night out. We’re headed to The Anchor later,” Cora spoke with excitement, her lips turned up in a bright smile as her blue-gray eyes beamed.
“I don’t know,” Marg hesitated.
“Oh come on, Marg. It’ll be fun. Remember the last time? We had so much fun, and we’re due for a night out, especially after everything that’s happened so far.” Cora’s gaze wandered to her feet, and Marg knew at that moment that she was thinking about her mother.
“A girls’ night out sounds fun,” Marg gave in.
“Great.” Cora clapped in satisfaction. “Why are you doing the laundry, by the way? I thought that was one of the items we tasked to the new temp,” Cora observed.
“Yes, but I needed something to do,” Marg replied.
Cora gave a slight nod while maintaining a focused gaze on Marg. “Is everything okay?”
“Yes. Everything’s fine,” Marg replied in a light tone, a sliver of a grin on her lips. “Why?”
"I can't say for sure. It's just that you haven't seemed like yourself over the past few days, which is really strange." Cora's eyebrows drooped as she pulled her upper lip down and tucked it under her lower lip.
In response to Cora's keen observation, Marg experienced a quickening in the rate of her heartbeat. She wasn't ready to tell anyone that she and Ben had ended their relationship because she wasn't ready for the questions that would follow after making such a revelation. But she was well aware that it was only a matter of time before everyone noticed that something was amiss and started asking questions, particularly given the fact that Ben hadn't paid her a single visit in the past week.
“Everything’s fine. I promise.” She mustered a smile that she hoped was convincing enough.
