It's Never Just Goodbye // Ed Sheeran

Dreams Aren't Forever

Alice

I had spent four days already with a family that passive aggressively loathed me. I had always thought Oscar was abnormally unpleasant, but I have learned that it is possible for someone to be even worse. In fact, his mother makes Oscar look like an angel.

I have spent almost a week of my time at their house while his mother had no shame in the things she said to me. She would beam at me from across the table while the problematic statements poured from her coral colored lips.

She hated my haircut much like Oscar does. She didn't understand my parenting and called it atrocious. She commented on the lack of style I have despite her love for vintage business suits. And when she forced me to bond with her and bake the men cupcakes as she enforced the gender stereotypes even more, she spat my cupcake out instantly, and declared I needed to get as far away from the kitchen as possible.

I thought his parents were bizarrely callous. After all, I had just met them days before, but they're comfortable enough making distasteful remarks about everything I did while Oscar sat idly by.

The cruelness did stop after Oscar was born obviously because his younger sister was sweet to me. I hadn't figured out if she was only nice to my face, but even if she was actually two faced, it was nice to have someone be polite to me.

Her name was Cassie, a twenty-year-old med student who accidentally got pregnant when she was a teenager by her at-the-time married, adult boyfriend. Margaret made sure to add in that, thanks to her wonderful parents and the money they have saved away, Cassie was able to attend college.

Cassie rolled her eyes at dinner, "Oh, yes, thank you."

"Alice, I heard that you were pregnant at sixteen." Margaret interjects, taking a sip from her wine glass. It was only three in the afternoon, but she insisted us girls have a glass of red wine while the men played golf outside on their mini-acre.

I take a sip from my own glass now. The two girls stared me down as Finley cooed beside me and Cassie's daughter screamed for attention from where she played on the floor.

Wiping my mouth on the back of my hand, I nod, "I was pregnant." And with her eyes, Cassie questions me across the white tablecloth. "I lost the baby, though."

Without thinking much about it, I must have drunken all my wine because Margaret leans across the table and refills it. The drinks start to make my head fuzzy because of my new soberness. Since I had my son, I had rarely touched alcohol. My cheeks grow warm and a dark crimson color, and my body heats up. I slip out of my jacket and let it rest over my lap as my hand grabs for the wine glass once more. I figured if I'm going to get through a lunch alone with Margaret, I should at least be buzzed.

"Was the father the same as Finley's? My son tells me you don't let Finley's dad see him." Margaret retorts, her voice condescending, and similar to a lion's growl.

I sigh, "No. He's very busy in his life, you know? The responsibility of a child would just throw him overboard."

"And your life wasn't busy?" Cassie asks spitefully. "I wouldn't have given a damn. He needs to take responsibility for his child."

I couldn't help myself when a laugh fell from my lips. "My life isn't half as busy as his. Trust me."

Margaret squints her eyes at me, "What does he do for a living?"

I blame the wine when, without hesitation, I spat out, "He's a famous musician. Mr. Ed Sheeran." Both ladies looked at me with wide eyes and shock. "I'm not sure if you've heard of him. When we were together, he wasn't super famous, but I guess he's well known now."