Page 22 of Never Forever
I’d auditioned recently for three different parts. Two were for commercials, another was for a TV pilot. Only one would make my mom freak out like this.
“Chrissy?” I whispered. The little sister in a big family drama based on a book by a NYT-bestselling author. It was exciting. And scary.
“Your manager just called,” she pointed at her phone like it was proof. Behind her the old grandfather clock chimed the hour. The sun was shifting across the room and I was going to have to leave soon if I wanted to meet Matt at the bandshell. “They want you on set in three weeks to start filming. Honey! Can you believe this?” My mom was so excited. Like the part was hers. Her perfect hair was in danger of getting messy.
“Three weeks?” I asked, still not believing it. “But Mom, I start school next week.”
“Oh forget that, you’ll have a tutor while you’re filming. Carrie, I don’t think you understand. This is big. This is huge! Your first part and it’s a television pilot. You’ll be working with Glenn Close! Glenn Close!”
My mother was a huge Glenn Close fan from back in the day.
“Oh, I loved her in that movie,” Gran said. “Where she boiled that bunny?”
“So I don’t go to school?” I asked.
“No, honey. You’ll be filming in Vancouver. I said there will be tutors on set who make sure you keep up with schoolwork. That’s how this is done.”
I wasn’t worried about keeping up with my grades. I was thinking about Matt.
What would happen when I was gone? He would probably get a girlfriend. One that kissed him. One that his dad liked better.
Would he still text me? If I was in Vancouver?
“I don’t understand, Carrie. Why aren’t you more excited? This is your dream job! You said so,” Mom sat down on the arm of the old couch and Gran sat up. Annie was looking at me like she knew what I was thinking.
It wasn’t my dream job.
It was Mom’s.
“Cecelia,” Gran snapped. “Give her a second to process. You’ve just told her you’re about to send her halfway around the world to be with strangers.”
“Is that true?” Annie said, finally putting her book down. “We don’t go with her?”
“No, honey,” Mom answered. “We’ll stay here, and Evelyn, Carrie’s manager, will go with her. You’re okay with that right, Carrie? You like Evelyn.”
I did like Evelyn. But leaving Annie alone here without me? Who would protect her?
Matt, I thought. Matt would make sure to watch over her.
“What if…what if I don’t want to go?”
“Don’t want to…” My mother couldn’t even finish the thought. She stood up, her face statue still. I could feel the disapproval rolling off her like a wind off the ocean.
My mother was the definition ofput together. Her make-up was always flawless. Her hair always done. Today she wore a crisp short sleeved navy polo paired with cropped gray khakis.
But in that moment, I could see behind the make-up to the stress lines around her mouth and eyes. I could see that her elbows were bony from the weight she’d lost after my dad left. The way her pants were just a bit too loose.
She crossed her arms over her chest.
“Carrie Piedmont, you know how important this job is. Not just for your career, but for the family-”
“Mom,” I said, cutting her off. “You don’t have to tell me.”
“Clearly, I do!” she yelled. “Your father-”
“Cecelia,” Gran snapped. “Don’t.”
The tension between Mom and Gran was so tight it hurt. I looked between them, waiting for one of the women in my life to tell me what the hell was going on.