Girls in White Dresses - JENNIFER CLOSE [95]
“The baby is really cute,” Isabella said to Mary at the hospital. “Any closer to a name?”
“No,” Mary said. She squinted at the baby. “I really thought I would go with Ava, but look at her. She’s too big to be an Ava, don’t you think?”
“Um, I think whatever you think,” Isabella said.
“What I think, is that I never thought I would have a nine-pound baby, and it’s throwing me off. I pictured Ava being a tiny baby, and now it just doesn’t fit. If I don’t think of a name soon, I think Ken is going to kill me. He still likes Ava.”
“Henry and Ava do sound good together,” Isabella said. “Also, I think that Harrison is being transferred to Boston.”
“No!” Mary said. “I don’t believe it.” She immediately started crying.
“Mary? Are you okay?” Isabella asked.
“Yeah,” Mary said. “It’s just the hormones. Start at the beginning.”
“Do you want to concentrate on naming the baby before Ken gets back?”
Mary sighed. “That could take days. Why don’t you go first?”
“That sucks,” Lauren said.
“I know,” Isabella said.
“I was wondering why you wanted to meet me in a bar in the afternoon,” Lauren said. “Not that I mind.”
“It seemed like the only place to be,” Isabella said. She took a sip of her grapefruit and vodka. “Plus, this has juice in it, so it’s completely appropriate to drink it during the day.”
“Totally,” Lauren said. “So, do you know what you’re going to do?”
“I have no idea.” Isabella started crying. “Except apparently, I’m going to cry about it every day.”
“Good,” Lauren said. “You should cry about it every day. It’s a good release. Crying helps you live longer.”
“Really?” Isabella asked. “I’ve never heard that before.”
“Well, I sort of made it up. It’s a theory that I have. But it makes sense, doesn’t it?”
“Maybe,” Isabella said.
“Listen, whatever you decide to do will be the right thing,” Lauren said.
“How do you know?”
“Because if it wasn’t the right thing, then you wouldn’t choose to do it.”
“That doesn’t make any sense,” Isabella said.
“Or does it make perfect sense?” Lauren asked.
“Are you drunk?”
“Yeah, I think I am.”
“Good,” Isabella said. “Me too. Let’s order grilled cheese.”
“Did you think any more about it?” Harrison asked.
“Yeah,” Isabella said.
“I really want you to come with me. I don’t want to be there alone.” He took her hand and waited for her to talk. “Don’t you want to be with me?”
“You’re the one that’s leaving in the first place,” Isabella said.
“Isabella, I don’t think you should move to Boston with Harrison unless you two are engaged,” her sister, Molly, said. She’d called Isabella just to tell her this. “Mom thinks it too.”
“You know what else Mom thinks?” Isabella asked. “She thinks your haircut was a mistake. I do too. I don’t think you should get a lesbian haircut unless you are really ready to make the leap into that lifestyle.”
“I’m trying to help you,” her sister said.
“I’m really trying to help you too,” Isabella said. “Do not cut your hair again. I know it will take years to get it to an acceptable length, but you need to do it. In the meantime, clip a bow in it or something.”
Mary was trying to tell Isabella a story, but she kept crying. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”
“It’s okay,” Isabella said.
“This didn’t happen with Henry,” Mary said. “I think my hormones are permanently damaged. I can’t stop crying.”
“I’m sure you’ll be back to normal soon,” Isabella said. “Now, what happened next?”
“Okay.” Mary took a deep breath. “So I’m at Target, and I’m trying to return the bottles, and the woman at the counter told me that they had a policy that you could only return three things in a month. And so I couldn’t return the baby bottles even though someone gave them to me as a gift and I didn’t need them.” Mary stopped here to blow her nose.
“Okay,” Isabella said. “Okay. Try not to get too upset.”
“I know, I know. I just told that bitch that we got duplicate presents and she acted like I was trying to shoplift. She kept saying, ‘Ma’am, you need to calm down.’ Like it was my fault.”
“She sounds awful,” Isabella said.
“She really was,” Mary said.