Page 151 of Dr. Aster
My Grandmother Eloise was a wretched bitch if I was being honest. There were so many times when we stayed at her house that I wondered if she hated my parents because they forced her to become a grandma. I even overheard her tell my mother never to expect her to babysit or raise her kids because it wasn’t her job.
“Grandma Eloise never seemed to like us, but Dad would never make my mom feel like she wasn’t a good enough wife because she wasn’t like his mom.”
“It’s all in the name of impressing, darling,” Aunt Bev said. “And if you don’t live your life for yourself, how could you ever call it your own?”
“I think my mom did,” I said honestly. “Maybe she was a little uptight and too strict with us, but she loves my dad and has never seemed miserable.”
“True,” Aunt Bev nodded, “but the woman will never cut loose.”
“Well, I have to say that she was on her best behavior at my little surprise birthday party with my friends,” I answered her. “Maybe a little uncomfortable with the foul language, but I was surprised.”
Aunt Bev chuckled, “Don’t kid yourself, honey. I know all about the conversations at that party, and that’s because your mother chose to gossip about it.”
“You both are too much.” I licked the wine off my lips. “However, I won’t lose myself to anyone.”
“Could it be that your ex-boyfriend, who chose his parents and family over the woman he professed he loved, helped encourage you to remain true to yourself?”
I felt my heart hammering against my chest.
“That’s exactly what it took,” I answered her. “I wanted to hate him, but I couldn’t. I had to thank him instead.”
“Thank him?” she frowned in question. “How could you ever thank a foolish man who broke your heart with his immaturity?”
“It’s just that. I fell hard and fast for his big words and goofiness, and I didn’t look at all the red flags beating me over the head. When I think back, it was all just fun, games, and flirting. There was nothing serious about the guy. He thought he wanted a relationship, but his mother and father determined it was the wrong one. So, being the complete asshole he was, he decided to treat me with as much respect as a one-night stand and just disappear and change his number with no reason or explanation.”
“The wretched fool,” she narrowed her eyes into her glass. “You know my soap character, Vivian? Well, she knew how to punish her many ill-fated husbands.”
“Oh, yeah?” I loved it when my aunt went on a roll about her characters.
“I’m certain if she weren’t restricted by TV rules and regulations, she’d have cut off a dick or two. The penis is the cause of most women’s heartaches, you know.”
“That’s a bit harsh,” I laughed.
“What man would want to go on living without his member?”
“I just prefer to move on and find someone who won’t treat me like shit,” I answered her. “Let him suffer if he did love me like he said.”
“Well, that works, too,” she said, “but I find it a tad bit boring.”
“You find it a tad bit boring, or Vivian Winthrope finds it boring?”
“Oh, honey,” she smiled. “I didn’t play that character for so many decades because I couldn’t relate to her.” She had a look that said she had answers to all the secrets in the world. “However, unlike Vivian, I’m not sleeping with everyone in the judicial system, and my plots for revenge aren’t quite so elaborate.”
“Aunt Bev, you’re too much sometimes,” I laughed and stood.
“I’m only too much for those who take life too seriously. Like your mother,” she smiled. “Now, come here and hug me goodbye. Promise me you’ll visit me often?”
“Of course, I promise you that.”
“And if this boy wants another chance?”
“It’s going nowhere beyond the work that we’re forced to do together.”
“Well, I would advise that if he wants another chance, this time, he must work for what he has previously attained from you so easily.”
“I’m not in the business of hiring anyone to work for my heart.”
“Yes, you are,” she said. “You love him even still. I see it in your eyes and hear it when you act like it is no big deal. This man shattered you, my girl. He broke your heart, and if he wants back in, you make him work for it.” She tucked my hair behind my ear and rested her hand lovingly on my cheek. “No man will love you more than the man who works for you when he knows he doesn’t deserve you. You’ll know what I’m talking about if this boy pursues you, and you make him walk his talk, honey. Big words are one thing, but big actions are quite another.”