Page 52 of Let's Call a Truce
Ben:See you then, baby.
Juliana:I’m never speaking to you again.
Ben:Sure, you’re not. Talk to you later.
I read through the conversation again, gifting myself one smile before swiping to delete the evidence.
I told myself it was done, but it didn’t stop me from dreaming about him again.
I was up at 6A.M.on a Saturday, cursing myself for deciding to host three other families for a barbecue with only a half day’s notice.
With a Clorox spray in one hand and a rag in the other, I obsessively checked and rechecked each surface of my house before wrestling the mop out of the closet. With so little free time, my house was never as clean as I wanted it to be. We were used to the mess, but I would be damned if I’d let other families see it that way.
The vacuum started at seven, and both girls came stumbling out of their room, groaning about it being too early.
I called to them over the roar. “If you’re so upset, you shouldn’t invite people over to the house at the last minute. Or you could, you know, help your mother keep the place clean?”
They rolled their eyes simultaneously, like little carbon copies of each other, before heading back into their room.
House cleaned, kids dressed, and grocery shopping list made, our little trio loaded up in the car to head to Clara’s soccer game. I was unpacking the car when I spotted Asia and Dani crossing the parking lot.
My eyes filled with tears when they stopped in front of me. “You showed up.”
Asia blinked her own tears back. “Of course, I did. Clara expects us, and I’ll always show up for her.”
“And me,” I said.
“Yeah, when you’re not being a jackass.”
I let out a teary laugh. I’d missed her so much this week. “I’m so sorry, Asia. I’ve wanted to call you but chickened out every time. You were right. I was a total ass, and you didn’t deserve to deal with any of that.”
“I don’t want to be in the middle of it,” she said.
“I know.”
“I’m not choosing. Y’all need to figure this out on your own.”
“I know,” I said again. “I’m sorry.”
She smiled that beautiful smile of hers, and my folding chairand cooler clattered on the ground as I dropped them to wrap my arms around her.
“This is lovely and all,” Dani said beside us, “but if we don’t get moving, we’re going to get one of the shit spots.”
Asia and I laughed into each other’s necks before letting go. We had just settled into our folding chairs next to the field when I saw Olivia’s and Autumn’s moms making their way over to us. Both dressed in their classic lululemon gear, their matching long brown hair up in high ponytails, and their makeup more well done for a Saturday morning kids’ soccer game than mine was for work.
I suppressed a sigh. They were nice, but they were so disconnected from my life now, and it felt like work to talk to them. I questioned for the hundredth time this morning why I invited them today instead of putting up with Ben by myself. Katie, Olivia’s mom, squealed as she threw her arms around my shoulders.
“Juliana, we are so excited to come over today! It’s been too long since you hosted one of your little barbecues.”
I glanced at Asia and Dani and saw raised eyebrows.Where’s our invitation?
“Hi Katie, Morgan. It’s great to see you. Yeah, it’s going to be fun today. You remember my friends, Dani and Asia?”
“Oh, of course. It’s great to see you two. How is…” She trailed off, clearly trying to think of a topic of conversation that didn’t revolve around kids and coming up short. “… work? How’s work?”
Asia tried to hide her laughter. Dani gave her best fake smile.
“Work is good.”
