“Mom, I sent you the itinerary. It’s on your phone,” Matt chided “Did you forget how to look up attachments again,” he teased his mother. She flushed and handed over her phone. Matt leaned over to show her how to open it at the same time as I felt my phone vibrate. I looked at it discreetly, he had just sent me the itinerary too. Holy crap this really was going to be an eventful day. We had lunch reserved for five people, at one. Coffee was to be taken just after eleven in the Leeds Building where most of Matt’s classes were.
The driver pulled us up to the library where the exhibition was being held. I scrambled out of the car and then watched in quiet envy as Mary Ellen exited the car with the grace of a queen. Matt stood at the car door to give his mom his arm. I watched him with her. I smiled softly as I saw how much he doted on her and she him. I felt a twinge in my chest and looked away. An arm around my shoulders made me look up and I felt my anger at Matt fade as he pulled me into a side hug.
The exhibition was fascinating. Mary Ellen and I chatted comfortably as we walked around it. I was quite sad it was over when we got to the end, I wanted to go back round again, but the schedule said we had to go for coffee. I am quite sure Matt had been in hell for the past hour and a bit so I did feel slightly bad for him.
As his mom excused herself to use the restroom, I was finally alone with him. I swatted his arm. He grinned at me.
“You couldn’t give me a heads up before you arrivedoutside my apartmentthis morning? I look like I’m homeless next to the both of you,” I whispered.
“Relax, you look amazing. I wasn’t giving you the chance to come up with an excuse not to come,” he shrugged. He wasn’t even apologetic.
“I wouldn’t have done that, you know that. The truth is I forgot all about it. I could at least have known what to wear and had my hair brushed and not in a nest on top of my head!”
Matt shook his head. “I didn’t know that, we left things pretty rough.”
I looked at my feet.
Oh my God.
I was wearing two different shoes. I had thought I’d put on my black flats and I had, but only on one foot. The other was the exact same shoe only in navy. I looked at Matt. He frowned at my expression.
“What is it?”
“Look at myfeet!”I whispered at him furiously. He looked down and burst out laughing. This wasn’t funny. Oh my God his mother would have known. I was going to die.
“I need to change,” I fretted. Just then Mary Ellen walked towards us.
Matt was still laughing. She smiled at seeing her son so gleeful. She didn’t have one hair out of place. She was immaculate. I felt like a drub.
“Mary Ellen. I um…I need to go home,” I said reluctantly. The smile turned to a frown. “I um…wasn’t ready this morning and I just realised…”
“Do not ‘um’ Arielle, it’s not becoming,” she interrupted me. “Did you just realise you were wearing odd shoes? I am so pleased that you are mentioning it, I really was not sure if it was a fashion statement, a terribly bad one mind you. Come let’s have coffee. Amy Louise is sending clothing, it should be here whilst we have our refreshments.”
Matt hugged his mom and told her she was the best.
“How?” I wondered aloud, as we took our seats and were handed a coffee morning menu, Mary Ellen smiled at me.
“My dear, I have known you for a few years. Your fashion sense has always been conservative and appropriate. When you got in the car this morning in a sundress and odd shoes, I knew you had no idea you were being picked up. I realised Matthew and yourself must be at odds. I do not get involved unless invited, I opted to let you sort out your differences.” She smiled as a waiter approached the table.
I looked at her and then took in the room. It was obviously a canteen of some sorts, but they had spaced out tables with white tablecloths and put fancy chair covers over normal canteen plastic chairs. It was nice.
“Mom, if you weren’t going to interfere, how were you going to approach Ari with the clothes?” Matt questioned. His mother shushed him as she ordered a coffee and pastry. Matt ordered the same. I opted for a black coffee and a scone.
“Well?” he persisted when the waiter had gone. Mary Ellen rolled her eyes. How very unladylike I noted.
“I don’t interfere unless invited. However, I do have some standards and I was not meeting any of your professors Matthew with Arielle in mismatched shoes.” She turned to me as if explaining herself. “I mean, Arielle, a mother can only abide so much.” I couldn’t help it, I started to laugh. Matt threw his head back and laughed too. His mother smiled widely.
“It is good to see you are not out of sorts anymore,” she commented and I noticed she was looking incredibly pleased with herself. I couldn’t help it, I smiled at her and then because it was kind of funny, I started giggling again and so did Matt.
When our order arrived, I sat back and listened to Matt and his mom catch up. She briefed him on his two older sisters, who were apparently fighting again. They were a couple of years older than Matt and were still happily living at home, but not happy that this meant they were still living together. Margaret May was being courted. I grinned inwardly as Mary Ellen saidcourtedshe was so properly Southern. However, it seemed that Matt’s other sister may be a little too interested in Margaret May’s suitor and it appeared world war three was threatening to start in the Landers household.
Matt suggested his mother kick both of them out. His observation being that they were in their early twenties, Margaret May was almost twenty-five. They needed jobs and homes of their own. I did shuffle in my seat uncomfortably when Mary Ellen reminded her son that this is why her daughters were trying to make good matches, so their husbands could supply them with a home that they could then manage.
Despite my own appearance this morning, and the fact his mom was bailing me out of a terrible wardrobe mishap, I did have an overwhelming desire to burn my bra in protest to the nineteen-fifties attitude his mother was displaying.
“You cannot be serious mom, look at Ari for goodness sake, she has her own apartment, she manages her own school fees, she’s eighteen. My sisters should be trying to set a good example for Amy, instead Amy looks at Ari as a role model. Waiting for a husband? You cannot support that, not in this day and age. Half of marriages end in divorce. Is that what you want for them? To be married to losers and then divorced, with children no doubt, and no skills?”
Mary Ellen frowned at her only son. I wasn’t looking forward to this. This was not the first time they had this ‘friendly’ debate over Mary Ellen’s aspirations for her daughters. Matt was gearing up for battle. I saw the equal determination in his mother’s eyes, she was about to hunker down for a siege. Oh lord, this was going to be messy.