For this month’s fiction, I am choosing a scene I wrote as part of a writing class. The assignment was to have a mother and daughter talking after the daughter went on a blind date the mother set up. This is what came out. Enjoy.
Mother and Daughter Scene
“So how did it go?” Mom said. She grinned ear to ear, bouncing like a puppy waiting for a treat.
I took my earrings off and set them on the table. “Ok I guess.” I shrugged.
“Ok? It must have been better than OK,” Mom said. The puppy became a growling dog. “He’s working on a PHD in physics, and plays violin, and he’s handsome.”
All of which I had heard before. Firsthand. My mom was just as good at picking up my boredom. I had failed to taste my food with the stench of male cologne in my nostrils. I still had the fir and cedar taste in my mouth.
“He’s nice,” I said. Time for diplomacy, which I suck at. “I just wasn’t excited.”
“Not excited?” Mom said.
I cringed. Here it was.
“How can you not be excited to meet this handsome man?” she said, looking at me as if the earth had opened to swallow me whole.
“I don’t think he’s my type,” I said. Meaning, he was cisgender male. “I mean, he looks great on paper but we just didn’t have a spark.”
“What is your type?” Mom said, putting her hands on her hips. “You’ve rejected all those wonderful bachelors. The musician, the producer—don’t you think about the future?”
Maryanne told me to let my eyes glaze over and think of my happy place when Mom went off on how I needed to find a man. My happy place was kissing my girlfriend, but I didn’t want to risk the flirty grin I knew would break across my face.
“After all I have done for you,” Mom blathered on. “Do you know how hard that was to set up?”
“Yeah, church lady gossip mill, I know,” I could hear the click of knitting needles keeping time with their conversation. “Surprised you left out how many times he’s gone to mass.”
“Which you haven’t been going to,” Mom said. “If you were going to mass-“
“I’d be miserable,” I snapped. “I’m sick of being told about my impending damnation.”
Her face changed, suddenly remorseful. “Oh honey, don’t listen to that. This is just a phase you’re going through. You just need a good man to sort yourself out-“
“I don’t think I want to be sorted out, Mom.”