Where We Begin

Chapter 46 - Skiing Away From All My Problems

Dec 9th-14th, 2002 - Taylor

Being a successful real estate agent, my dad has made a lot friends from his client pool. One such couple was the Nguyen's. They were extremely wealthy, had no kids and collected properties like they were Beanie Babies. My father had been their agent for over ten years and whenever they closed a sale, the Nguyen's would always find a generous way to thank him, on top of his commission. This time, it was inviting us to spend a ski weekend with them in Vancouver. We got to fly on a private plane and we had our own suite at one of the fanciest luxury ski hotels, all on the Nguyen's dime. 

The first day out on the slopes, I got a surprise. No one had mentioned that Mr Nguyen's sister would be joining us, along with her family, all the way from New York City. The Moreaus. I knew exactly what was going on as my mom gleefully introduced me to their only son.

Grant Moreau was about to turn 18, a senior and already accepted into NYU, looking to double major in finance and global business. Since his mother is Vietnamese and his father is French, he spoke both languages, along with Spanish and German. He was also working on Mandarin. He had jet black hair and exotic features (thanks to his mom) and was built like a linebacker (thanks to his dad, who stood at about six feet tall like his son). 

He was tall, dark, handsome and intellectually advanced. He was also single, something my mom brought up the second he was out of earshot. Suddenly her enthusiasm about this vacation made sense. I was furious.

"Mom, are you trying to whore me out to Mr Nguyen's nephew? Was this the point of this trip?" I snapped.

"Taylor! Honestly, the mouth on you lately..."

"Stop it. Just admit it, you are doing everything you can to break me and Busta up," I accused.

She frowned. "Grant is a nice young man who has spent his whole life in New York. I thought you might want to make a friend or two since you are thinking about schools there. Someone who could give you some knowledge, someone who knows the right people."

"I don't need anyone else's help. I can get through college my own way."

"Honey, I know," mom sighed through a forced smile. "I'm not worried about your work ethic and your vision for success, but I think you are all about the big picture and not thinking about the little things. I would be so relieved to know you have someone like Grant looking out for you in the big city."

"I don't need a bodyguard, especially if Busta moves to New York with me," I hastily replied. I hadn't planned on sharing that idea with her anytime soon, but the look on her face was pretty priceless.

"You need to get serious about this, Taylor. You don't want to be babysitting Busta for four years." 

"Oh, right, because I need to be available to be babysat, by Grant." I waved both my gloved hands in defeat. "If you are going to speak to me like a child, I'm done. Stop meddling." Then I stormed... or skied, rather... away from her to get in line with Kristen for the lifts.

I spent the next few days making sure I wasn't ever alone with my mom or Grant or anyone really, except my sister. Whether it was on the mountain, in the spa or in our suite, I didn't let Kristen out of my sight. She was like my little shield, happy to be by my side whether we were on the cross country trails or the pedicure chairs.

We had dinner as a group every night with the Nguyen's and the Moreau's, which was always my least favorite part of the day. My mom was trying to talk me up, just like Grant's mom about him, making me feel like I was just another piece of real estate they were negotiating on. I kept my answers to questions polite, but short and sweet. I also kept inserting the information that I had a boyfriend at every chance I could, mostly to watch my mom squirm. I never stuck around for dessert, always excusing myself to go study and call Busta. That was always my favorite part of the day.