Page 8 of The Snowball Effect
Sorry for calling so early. I know you're probably getting ready for work at OLLY!!!
Hurricane Kimberly – 7:29 AM
I was just trying to nail you down for a dinner confirmation sometime in the next few weeks before your schedule fills up again.
Hurricane Kimberly – 7:31 AM
I’d just like really REALLY like to see you, soon. I miss you. And so do Everly and Eva!!
Hurricane Kimberly – 7:48 AM
But I know you're busy. I'll try again in a bit!
Mixed in with those messages, unsurprisingly, was one from her grandmother.
Gram – 8:18 AM
She’s really trying, honey.
Emma rubbed intently at her temples upon reading her mother’s texts. Miraculously, Kimberly always managed to give Emma the beginnings of a headache. It was like she was conditioned for it at this point. Pavlov’s Migraine.
As if summoned by Emma’s thoughts, her phone started buzzing in her hand – apparently, waiting for less than two hours was the “bit” of time Kimberly had meant.
She pursed her lips as she stood in line for her coffee, automatically hovering her thumb over the decline option.
One of the last things she wanted this morning was to talk to her mother, especially because upon the sight of her name, her stomach cramped with anxiety.
More than anything, Emma hated uncertainty and unfamiliarity, and Kimberly brought those feelings on in spades.
But the last thing she wanted to do in life was upset her grandmother. Whose latest text of encouragement was only the most recent in her attempts to help bridge the gap between Emma and her mother.
With that in mind, she sighed, pressing a hand to her stomach where that anxious flutter was, and hovered her thumb over the answer icon. When she reasoned that Kimberly wouldn’t give her texting/calling a rest until Emma answered her, she finally did so.
“Um. Hi,” she greeted, feeling uncomfortable, as she always did, when interacting with Kimberly.
Like, whatwasthe proper greeting to your unreliable and unpredictable mom that had sporadically been around throughout your childhood before moving to Florida and starting a second family when she finally reached adult maturity levels, who was now – having moved back to New York – desperately trying to bond with you?
Emma would give anything for there to be a book about how to manage this situation. She’d yet to find one.
“Emma!” Her mother’s voice shouted in her ear with both obvious delight and surprise. “Oh, wow! I finally got a hold of you! I’m so glad you’re awake.”
Emma gave the barista a flash of a polite smile and placed her coffee order before she stepped to the side to wait. “Yeah, well, you did call on a work morning.”
“Oh, I know. And I know you’re very busy and all. I just can’t wait until you finally have some free time to come over for dinner and tell me all about your glamorous job?” There was an undeniable edge of hope in her mom’s voice that tied Emma’s stomach into knots for the second time before ten AM.
A few months ago, she'd agreed to have dinner with her mom, when Kimberly had reached out and said that she’d “be in town.” Emma was used to having an uncomfortable meal with her mom once every year or two when she was in the city to visit.
When she’d made that agreement, she hadn't realized that her mom wasgoing to be in townbecause she was literally moving here.
As soon as Emma had learned the whole picture, the anxiety was quick on its heels. Kimberly beinghere, attempting to try to actually be in Emma’s life… that wasnotthe same thing as a dinner every other year.
“It’s not really glamorous,” she said, side-stepping any comments about dinner, before she looked over her shoulder to make sure Allegra hadn’t appeared in the café that she rarely ever stepped foot into. But, just in case.
When she confirmed the coast was clear, she continued, “I’m only an assistant. So. There’s not much to tell.”
That was a slight lie; Emma’s days were incredibly busy, and something was always going on. Kimberly didn’t need to know that, though.
“I’d love to hear the boring details, then,” Kimberly readily responded as if anticipating Emma’s not-so-subtle shut-down. “I figure things have been settling down enough for you to book a dinner, now that you’ve been there for almost a month?”