In This Wondrous Place

I woke up shaking, chilled all the way down to the bone. It was a rough way to wake up from a nightmare, cold and sweaty all at the same time. The first week after my father’s death I woke up every night just like this. I could barely collect my thoughts well enough to move from my bed and at least try to start my day. It was too difficult and the motivation simply wasn’t there.

Grace was no longer beside me in the bed. It was hard to tell if I had woken her up with my quivering or if she had gotten up on her own, but I was glad she wasn’t here to see this. I didn’t need her to worry any more than she already was.

I reached over to my nightstand drawer and gently pulled it out. Inside it held a particular bottle of medicine that I kept in case of emergency; an anxiety medication that my doctor prescribed in the days following the accident. I had hoped I wouldn’t have to use it but, after yesterday and last night, I knew it was time.

A bottle of water rested on top of my dresser in the far corner of my bedroom. I reluctantly slid the bed sheets off of me and quietly padded over, popping the pills into my mouth and crushing them with my teeth. I let the powder settle under my tongue for a minute before washing it away with the small amount of water left in the bottle. With a loud gulp, I exhaled a large breath and began ruffling through my drawers for something comfortable. It took me only a moment to decide on some flowy cream-colored pants and a sleeveless white top.

I gave myself a once over in the mirror before heading downstairs to join the rest of the group. Before I even hit the bottom step I could hear the sound of my mother’s voice echoing through the kitchen.

“Tom, I can’t come in right now…..no, I understand this is important, but….I asked you for the entire week, you can’t just….fine,” She angrily slapped her phone down on the counter as I entered the kitchen.

“Where is everyone?” I looked around and saw them happily munching on bagels outside on the back porch, thus answering my own question.

“James bought some bagels early this morning. He got you some extra cream cheese for yours.” She placed a toasted bagel on a napkin in front of me and dropped several small cups of cream cheese beside it.

“Is everything alright at work?” I asked the question as I spread some of the cream on one half of my bagel.

“I have to leave this afternoon to go back. Honey, I’m so sorry…I wish I could stay longer.”

I waved my hand casually.

“Don’t worry about it, I understand how demanding your work is.”
She smiled and kissed my forehead. Honestly, I wasn’t okay with any of it. I knew it wasn’t her fault that her work pulled her away, but I couldn’t help but feel a pang of frustration. The one person I needed most this week has had her time with me cut in half and I have no choice in the matter.

We joined the group outside shortly thereafter and began planning the rest of the morning. It was eventually decided that the girls would receive pedicures in town while the boys would go off and do their own thing. I thought it was very appropriate, given my now much more limited time that I had with my mother.

I drove the four of us into town in my small, magnetic grey Prius. Lucas, Mason and James were all on their own for transportation, but I suspected that they would end up at the open-gym sports complex down the street from the beach house. They promised to meet up with us in the early afternoon for lunch.

We walked inside the spa and began picking out the colors for our toenails. Each of us held up various colors and asked for opinions, eventually settling on the ones we wanted. I picked a soft blue polish that sparkled when held in the light.

The women that handled our pedicure stayed mostly silent, save for a few questions about water temperature and whether we wanted our nails filed or cut. We used the opportunity to talk amongst ourselves and catch up.

“Isabelle,” I craned my head to look at her on the other side of my mother, “when are you due again?”

“In a few weeks, actually. Mason didn’t want me to drive down, but I really wanted to be here for you, Emery. Plus, Charlie missed his Auntie.” She patted tenderly at her baby bump.

I smiled and leaned back into my seat as the woman attending to my feet began massaging my calves. It felt amazing to be pampered like this for the first time in a while.

I looked over at Grace as she giggled and jerked her foot away from her attendant. Her feet were incredibly ticklish and I was surprised that it took this long for her to fight the poor pedicurist. We made fun of her as she repeated her little dance throughout the foot massage. The woman gave her annoyed looks the entire time, which made it even more comical to me.

“Alright, ladies,” my mother took her credit card back from the cashier after kindly paying for all of the pedicures, “Someone text James and the boys to meet us at The Vine Garden.”

I took on the task of informing the other half of our group via a group text.

Meet at The Vine Garden in 15!

I received a response back from Mason after a moment.

DON’T TELL US WHAT TO DO

I laughed and showed Isabelle her husband’s handiwork.

“That man is so ridiculous sometimes…” she smiled and shook her head, “hopefully Charlie gets my sense of humor.”

Despite Mason’s response, they met us at the restaurant in a little under the fifteen-minute mark. The men were dressed casually and I noticed how worn out they seemed to be.

“Have fun, boys?” Grace raised her eyebrows questioningly.

Mason and James nodded enthusiastically, immediately diving into a story about how they met some guys in the locker room at the gym and ended up playing a game of flag football all morning. I observed how quiet Lucas was throughout the conversation, but I didn’t want to broach the topic until later when I could get him alone.

By the end of the meal, we were all filled to the brim with Greek cuisine. It was a hidden gem in the city, but every local dined here at least once a week. It was too good not to enjoy often.

As soon as we came back to the house, James jogged upstairs and started bringing down his and my mother’s luggage. I was already getting teary-eyed at the thought of her leaving early. I wasn’t ready to say goodbye just yet.

“Are you sure you have to leave?” I mumbled into my mother’s shoulder as I hugged her.

“I’m so sorry, baby. Will you come visit us for Thanksgiving this year? Take a week or two away from work and come to California?”

Work. God, I haven’t thought about it at all this week. I’m a researcher for a news organization and I’m mainly used for compiling information for documentaries, but occasionally I get brought in to write articles. It was a steady job and I was luckily able to do it from wherever I wanted, given that I had a reliable internet connection. They gave me a few weeks off to take care of things after my father’s passing, but I would have to go back to researching for their new project soon enough.

I nodded and agreed that I would visit.

They pulled out of the driveway only 10 minutes later, waving through their rolled down windows. Mason threw his arm around me and poked at my side.

“Lighten up, Em, you still have us!” He motioned towards Isabelle, Lucas, and Grace.
“Plus,” Grace interjected, “I heard from a little birdy that there is a Latin cantina in town…”

“Is this little birdy part of Chris’ group?” I raised an eyebrow at my friend.

“His name may or may not rhyme with Shmee-um. And he may or may not have told me that they would be going tonight, since they ditched on it last night…”

Lucas groaned beside me.

“Can we please not stalk those guys tonight? There are so many other fun places in town that we could choose from. Like…um…” he struggled to name a place.

“I don’t know,” I shrugged my shoulders, “I could use some dancing.”

“Perfect!” Grace practically shrieked, “Mason? Isabelle?”

The couple nodded happily, making Grace clap in delight and turn to Lucas.

“Come on, you know you want to go!” She shimmied in front of him and pulled on his hand so that she could attempt to salsa dance with him. He didn’t exactly play along, but he agreed nonetheless.

We sauntered to the bedrooms and began to get ready for an evening of dancing.