Valentine’s Day Gone Wrong

My textbook was lying open on the desk, and I leaned forward to rest my elbows on either side of the pages. I cradled my head in my palms and forced myself to read the terms scrawled across the page, knowing full well nothing would be retained. I shifted my gaze to look at my phone that was sitting near the edge of my desk; the screen was glowing, and I tilted it to see who it was. Seeing his name triggered a burst of excitement and I sprang up from my chair.
“Hello?” I said, trying to stifle a nervous squeal.
“Hey Lora, it’s me.”
“Hey Joshua! How are you?” I began pacing around my room, and then silently scolded myself for getting riled up this early into the conversation.
“I’m good, I had a really great time on our date two nights ago, so I wanted to see how you’re doing.” 
I was elated by his words. “I’m good, thanks, and I had fun too. I’ve never been on a blind date before so I’m really glad it went so well.”
“That was my first time too. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous,” he laughed. “And since it’s Valentine’s Day, would you like to meet up again? I was thinking we could go to Olive Garden or something.”
 “I’d love to, but how will we get there?”
“Don’t worry about that, my roommate can drive us,” he offered.
“You’re sure he’ll be ok with that?”
“Definitely. She wants to join us for dinner too, if that’s ok.”
My eyes widened. “Oh, what’s her name?” I asked, failing to hide the surprise in my tone.
 “Martha.”
I pursed my lips and didn’t respond. The strain of silence coiled around us until Joshua cleared his throat. “There’s more I should tell you,” he said. “About Martha.”
“What?” I pressed. “Is she your ex-girlfriend or something?” I was surprised to hear him laugh from the other end of the phone.
“No, not my ex. She’s actually…Well, she isn’t my roommate… I mean she is technically, but…Martha is my mother. I live at home with her, not in an apartment like I originally told you.”
I almost dropped the phone.
 “But Martha is dying to meet you so that’s why I invited her along. I told her all about our first date and she thinks you’re a great girl.”
“And you’re ok with your mom hanging out with us on our second date? On Valentine’s Day?”
“Yeah, why not?”
“You’re joking,” I reasoned.
“No.” Joshua’s tone hardened, and sounded defensive. “You don’t seem excited.”
“Well, my plans changed. I actually can’t hang out tonight, I have a lot of work to—“ I was cut off by the dial tone; he hung up before I could say anything else. Appalled, I wrenched the phone from my ear to stare at the screen in disgust.
“The audacity of that guy,” I grumbled, sinking into my bed. It would be yet another Valentine’s Day spent alone.
 

• valentines day 2013