Page 34 of When We Are Old

“Shouldn’t you be all happy and full of beans? You have a boyfriend now.”

“Not just any boyfriend,” I mumbled. “The boyfriend.”

“Ah, yes. The lanky boy who used to smoke cigarettes down the end of the road.”

Gah, unintentionally she painted one of my favourite mental images. Matthew, tall and slim resting against the wall of the house on the corner, blowing smoke into the air.

God, I'd idolised him.

With a start I remembered that he was mine now.

Funny that I didn’t know when he'd stopped smoking.

I hadn’t thought about it the last few days. I made a mental note to ask him.

“Well he’s not a lanky boy anymore.” I hesitated. This pained me. “And he wants to meet you.”

She stilled from rolling a length of stretchy material into a tiny rectangle. Which brought me to my other questions.

“Ma, what are you doing? And what are you wearing?”

“This.” She smoothed her hands down her cotton and Lycra clad torso. “Is my yoga kit.”

I snorted and then wiped at my nose making her frown. “Yoga? Since when?”

“It’s one of the classes in the Eden zone at Sunrise.”

My questions spawned even more questions. How was one woman supposed to survive this level of curiosity?

“Okay, you’re going to have to start at the beginning.”

“No time, Veronica. I have places to be.”

I began to see I must have woken up in an alternate reality. It was the only explanation. “You never have places to be.”

“Had, darling. It’s past tense.” She picked up a backpack that coordinated with the black and purple of her stretchy outfit. “Now, listen, I didn’t want to rush this conversation, but I’ve arranged for some estate agents to come and view the house tomorrow. Now I’m not saying you have to sell. This is part of your inheritance from your father, but we do need to work out the best way to proceed.”

I shook my head. I needed a lie down, or a vodka; either would do. “Proceed with what?”

“With what to do when I move out. Obviously, we both have a mutual investment in the property, and I want to try to keep as much of Daddy’s money for you as I can...” I zoned out. Mutual investment? Ma has never said words like that in her life. Well not her life post having me.

She spoke again when I continued to stare at her with my mouth flapping like a carp. “Okay, darling, I don’t know what time I will be home. Don’t wait up.”

“Ma, I really think we should talk.”

“We will, don’t worry. Listen, try not to make a mess. I’ve cleaned up especially for the valuations.”

I glanced around the kitchen. It looked exactly the same as always. Immaculate.

“I’ll try very hard.”

“Perfect. Have you made up with Angela yet?” She paused by the door.

I scrubbed at my face, my skin sagging beneath my fingertips. “Yeah, sorry I meant to apologise for leaving her here the other night. She was drunk, and I had to go and...”

“Chase down the sexy boy who used to smoke at the end of the road?”

That was it. Check out. I was done.