“Sure.” I made my way to the front door and opened it, a ready smile painted on my face.
“Hi, darling.” It was Zoe and Duck.
My smile froze. “Zoe,” my voice strangled. “Duck.”
“Hey, Audrey,” said Duck. “It’s good to see you.” He looked like he had lost a lot of weight, and there were dark circles under his eyes. I felt a stab of guilt when I thought of how quickly I had moved on with Rad.
Zoe pulled me into a quick embrace. Duck stuck out his hand as I leaned in for a hug, my nose bumping awkwardly against his ear. It was on the tip of my tongue to ask what they were doing here, when the realization struck me. This was my mother’s doing. She had invited them here. A sick feeling gripped my stomach.
“I didn’t know you were back from your trip.”
“We just got back a few days ago. Didn’t your mother tell you?” Zoe gave me a curious look.
I opened my mouth to respond when I heard Mum come up behind me. “Zoe, Duck!” she beamed, kissing Zoe on the cheek and cupping her hands affectionately around Duck’s face. “Look how tanned you are! You’re such a handsome boy.” She linked her arm through his. “Come inside; lunch is almost ready.”
Dad was coming down the stairs, just as we got to the dining room. “Perfect timing! What would you like to drink? Beer? Champagne? I just opened a bottle.”
“Champagne sounds wonderful,” said Zoe.
Dad disappeared into the kitchen and came back a few moments later with champagne glasses and a bottle of Moët.
“Mum, can I talk to you for a minute?” I asked.
“Sure,” she replied.
I headed to the kitchen, with Mum in tow.
“What the hell, Mum?” I hissed, when I pulled the kitchen door shut behind us.
She looked nonplussed. “What’s the problem, Audrey?”
I wanted to scream. “What’s the problem?” I said incredulously. “Mum, why is Duck here at Christmas lunch? Have you gone insane?”
“They just got back from their trip to Europe, so I thought it would be nice to catch up,” she said.
“And you didn’t consider how I would feel about this?”
“I didn’t think you’d mind. It’s just lunch, Audrey. You know Zoe and Duck are like family to us.”
“This isn’t just lunch,” I tried to keep my voice level. “It’s a fucking ambush.”
She blinked. “I would have told you they were coming, but I didn’t get a chance this morning.”
“Don’t give me that bullshit, Mum. You did it on purpose. Why would you do this? Why?” I could feel hot tears pushing their way out from behind my eyes. “Why, why, why?”
She sighed. “Audrey, I’m not trying to push you back into Duck’s arms; honestly, I’m not. You and Duck have so much history. He was here long before Rad came into the picture. There’s no reason why you can’t be friends. That’s all I’m saying.”
“Mum—you can’t do this. I’m with Rad now. You can’t invite my ex to lunch without checking with me first. A normal person doesn’t do that; don’t you see? It’s a nasty thing to do. Not just to me but to Duck as well.”
“I think you’re being overly dramatic.”
I took a deep breath. I felt like I was ready to explode.
“Listen to me, Mum.” She opened her mouth to interrupt me. “Listen to me!” I screamed, my fists banging at the sides of my head in frustration.
“Audrey, calm down—they can hear you out there.”
“Don’t you dare tell me to calm down!” I was breathing hard now. I knew Zoe and Duck could probably hear every word I was saying, but I was beyond caring.
“I’m your mother, Audrey. I know what’s best for you even if you can’t see it yourself.”
A cold rage filled my body. I grabbed the nearest plate from the kitchen counter and hurled it at the floor. It smashed into pieces.
My mother looked stunned. “Audrey, what are you doing?”
I picked up another plate and threw it at her feet. She jumped, startled. The door swung open, and Dad came in. “What’s going on?” He looked from me to my mother to the broken plates on the floor. My breath was ragged. I had the crook of my forefinger coiled around my rubber band.
“Come on, Audrey.” Dad took my arm and walked me toward the back door. He turned and glared at my mother, shaking his head.
When we got outside, he peered at me with an expression of concern on his face. “What happened?”
“It’s Mum,” I said. My breathing was a little less patchy, but I was sobbing. I gulped, wiping the tears that were now streaming down my face. “I didn’t know she invited Duck and Zoe.”
“You didn’t?” My dad looked genuinely surprised. “Your mother said it was your idea.”
“Well, she’s a liar,” I spat. I couldn’t contain my bitterness.
A look of realization dawned on his face. He sighed. “Audrey, I’ll speak to her tonight about this. I don’t agree with what she did, but I think she meant well.”
“How can you say that? Seriously, Dad.”
“I know she has a funny way of showing it, but your mother does love you, Audrey. You have to believe that.”
I shook my head. “I don’t want anything to do with her anymore. She drives me insane.”
“I know things have always been rocky between the two of you, but it’s Christmas Day. Can you at least stay for lunch? Please?” He gave me a pleading look. “Later you’re free to do anything you want.”
I looked at his tired, lined face and felt a pang of sadness—he had spent far too many years caught in the crossfire between Mum and me.
I felt fresh new tears well up in my eyes. “Okay, Dad, I’ll stay for lunch.”
Rad came by to pick me up later that afternoon. I breathed a sigh of relief when I slipped into the passenger seat of his car. “Everything okay?” he asked.
“Yeah, it’s just my mum being a complete asshole as usual.”
“What happened?”
“Just the regular stuff. Let’s not talk about it, okay?”
He started the engine. “Okay.”
I didn’t want to tell him about the setup Mum had orchestrated. It seemed unnecessary and would only hurt his feelings. He already sensed that Mum was less than thrilled about our relationship.
“So where to?” I asked as we pulled away from the curb. I was starting to feel a lot better.
He smiled at me. “I have a surprise for you.”
“I hate surprises.”
“You always like mine, though.”
Rad wouldn’t tell me where we were going, but I figured it out by the time we were a few streets away from his place. When we got to his apartment, he put one hand over my eyes. “Don’t peek,” he warned. I heard the key turn in the lock, and he guided me in with a hand on my waist. After a few steps, he said, “Okay, you can open your eyes now.”
“Wow!” We were standing in his apartment with the shades pulled down. Strung up around the room were multicolored fairy lights and tinsel. There was a mini Christmas tree draped in candy canes on his writing desk in the far corner of the room. Above his bed hung a foil banner that read, “BY GOLLY, BE JOLLY.”
“What do you think?” Rad asked.
“Very festive!” I replied.
My eyes adjusted to the dark, and I caught sight of a small gift-wrapped box under the Christmas tree. “I thought we weren’t doing gifts.”
“We’re not. It’s for me too.”
“You wrapped up a gift for yourself?” I teased.
“Just open it, Audrey,” he said dryly, handing it to me. I took the box and tore through the wrapping. Inside were a box of chocolates and two DVDs—Cat People and its sequel, The Curse of the Cat People.
“I thought we could spend Christmas in bed watching them instead of the Christmas shit they have on TV.”