I forgot how peaceful my house can be at times. My
sisters and their children have gone to their
respective houses and my father has shut himself away
in his study, so it’s just my brother Oz, my mother,
and I in the living room.
“So I hear you got a phone call today.”
I look up from my book to give Oz a vicious glare. He
is the only one who understands why I do what I do.
That doesn’t mean he’s not above giving me grief about
it.
“Yes.”
“From a man in DC.”
“Drop it, Oz.”
“Your boyfriend in DC.” He’s pissed that I didn’t tell
him about it. I can hardly blame him. If it had been
true I would’ve told him the moment I got home.
“Are you going somewhere with this?”
“No, I just want to torture you.”
“Why does that not surprise me?”
“Oswald, Donnatella, be quiet,” my mother orders, but
her usual mix of annoyance and superiority is absent.
She’s been like this since Josh called. I wonder
what’s up.
“Yes, Donnatella, stop your childish prattle,” Oz says
in a dead-on imitation of our great-aunt Elizabeth. I
laugh quietly and accept his subtle apology.
“Oswald, I wish to speak to your sister alone.” He
nods and sends me a comforting look as he leaves. We
both know what’s coming.
I’m about to be decapitated. The same thing happened
when I left Dr. Free Ride. She screamed and yelled and
guilted until I fled the house in tears. And- well,
you know what happened after that.
“So, you’re in love with a politician.”
“Yes.” To my surprise I realize that I’m not lying.
Well, hello Mr. Epiphany. How nice of you to come and
join us.
“This Josh Lyman person.”
“Yes.” Wow. It just gets easier every time I say it.
“Good,” she says curtly and goes back to her reading.
What? Huh? But...she...how?
“Huh?”
“I said good. And close your mouth, you look like a
cow.”
“Good? That’s it? No screaming? No guillotine?”
“No, though I could roll it out of the pantry if you
want it so badly.” My mother is making jokes? What the
hell is going on here?
“Mother-”
“You know my opinion of politicians, Donnatella, but
that doesn’t change the fact that you’ve finally found
the man you wanted. Neither of your sisters have found
that yet. I’m glad you have,” she says, as if this
something I should already know.
“But you hate Josh!”
“I hate that job of yours, but Mr. Lyman seems to be
reasonably respectable. I’ll have to meet him, of
course.” I take this as an empty threat, as neither of
my parents have left the state of Wisconsin in ten
years.
“But-”
“And since you seem to be so ignorant to my attitude
towards your life, I’ll tell you that despite my
dislike for anything political, I’m extremely proud of
you and the work that you do everyday.”
I sit there speechless. Literally without speech. All
speech ability gone. Sans speech.
Mother stands and lays her book down on the coffee
table. “I am going to retire now, as should you if
you’re going to pack to tomorrow. You know your
tendency to leave things like that until the last
minute. Good night, Donnatella.”
I finally manage to croak out a, “Good night, Mother”
but she has already left the room.
Wow. That was weird.
“Hey! You’re still here!” Oz pokes his head in the
door and gives me a grin. I return it, if a bit
dazedly.
“Yeah. Surprise surprise.”
“You still have your head and everything.”
He flops down on a nearby couch with the ease of
someone who belongs. The only place I've ever felt
that is the Operations bullpen. Josh's office, to be
exact.
“No thanks to you, you traitor.”
“I’m sorry about that,” he apologizes guiltily. He
could compete with Josh on the puppy dog look.
“You’re forgiven. You want to know why I didn’t tell
you?”
“Why?”
“Because it’s not true.”
“You’re not dating your boss?”
“No.”
“Then why’d you come up with such a crappy lie?”
“I don’t know. His name was the first one that came to
mind.”
“Because you have a thing for him.”
I look at him in surprise. “Yeah. How’d you know?”
“I called you after he was shot, remember?” he asks
seriously, eyes filled with concern.
“Yeah.”
“Are you going to do something about it?”
“It’s so complicated, Oz. He’s my boss and-”
“Since when do you shirk from complicated
relationships?”
“Shirk?”
“It’s a word.”
“I know. Just not one I’ve ever heard used in a
sentence before.”
“Stop trying to change the subject. What are you going
to do about Lyman?”
“Nothing, Oz. Absolutely nothing.”