On The Way Out

Chapter 4

I knock a few times before my mom finally opens the door. She has her hair in rollers and a full face of makeup, so it looks like she's going out somewhere. "Molly!" She says, sounding surprised, and then hugs me. 

"Are you surprised I'm here? I told you last night when I called you that I was coming here." I say.

She looks confused for a minute before saying, "Oh that's right! I didn't know you were going to be here so soon though. I was thinking maybe you'd be here next week." She starts to walk back into the apartment as she takes the rollers out of her hair. 

I look inside. "Did I catch you in the middle of something? You seem a little distracted." I say, looking past the doorway.

She shakes her hair out as she takes out the rest of the curlers. "I'm just going out on a date." She says, as she slips on a tight black dress that's usually just reserved for her 5th or 6th date.

"Well it must be serious then. You're wearing your serious date night dress." I say, leaning on the doorway frame.

"My what?" She scoffs. "No, it's not that. I'm just meeting his son tonight and I want to look nice for them."

"His son? How long have you been with this guy?" I was confused, mostly because I thought that Cassie said she had just started dating this guy.

"It's been about a year." She says, as my jaw drops.

"Wait, you've been dating this guy a year and I'm just finding out about it now? Cassie made it sound like you just started going out. Why didn't you tell me?" I question her.

She sighs. "Well considering the last time I was in a long-term relationship and it ended badly you didn't talk to me for months, I figured we don't have the best track record." I don't say anything else in response.

"But Molly, I really like this guy though. He's kind, he's caring, and he makes a pretty penny too." She says, winking at the last bit.

"But is he married?" I say, knowing that is probably the bit she would leave out.

"He's getting divorced." She says, to which I scoff. I suddenly feel like I'm 16 again when my mom would come home crying and say the guy she was seeing had decided to go back to their wife.

"Mom!! Haven't you learned anything? This guy is just going to back to his wife, and we're going to be back to where we started all those years ago!" I say, in utter disbelief.

She looks at me sadly. "His wife had an affair with the pool boy. He filed for divorce a year and a half ago, but she's been so difficult about it that it's been drawn out much longer than it needs to be. I know what I'm doing Molly, he's not going to go back to her."

I squint my eyes and shake my head. "I just don't want to see you get hurt Mom. I don't. I've seen it happen so many times, just be careful." I say.

Suddenly, my mom stands up and says out of the blue. "I have an idea. You should come with me tonight!"

Of all of the things I thought she would say, I have to say, that would probably be the last thing I ever expected her to say. 

"Scott's son is around the same age as you. And I know you haven't gotten much action lately after everything what's-his-name put you through." She nudges me, to which I don't budge.

"Mom, I can't go. I'm not going to double date with you. That sounds like the plot of some creepy Lifetime movie." I say.

"Oh stop, Molly. I even have the perfect dress for you to wear." She says, going into her closet, and pulling out a red dress that looks like it could quite honestly suffocate me.

"Mom, I can't wear that." I say, as I'm not even sure I would even get it on my body.

"Nonsense, you're going to wear this dress. And you're going to look amazing. Don't you want to get over this guy? If you wear this, I can guarantee you'll get over him a little faster." 

Even though I don't really want to, eventually I give in and take the dress from her and go into the bathroom as she squeals. 

It takes a little bit of effort, but eventually, I'm able to get the dress on my body, and I have to say, my mom is right. I look amazing. It accentuates every curve on my body and even though I'm not a size 0, this dress makes me look much slimmer than I am when I thought it would have the opposite effect. My mom gasps when I come out of the bathroom, and tells me I look like a beauty queen which I think is a bit of an exaggeration, but I'll take the compliment. I'm usually the first one to criticize myself but I look damn good. And this probably is the best way to get my mind off of Bryan for the time being.

When the taxi drops us off, I notice that we're at one of the nicest (and most expensive) restaurants in NYC. Geez, this guy must be loaded, I think to myself as we walk in. As I look around, I notice that everyone around us is dressed like they're going to meet the President. I feel like a cheap stripper compared to them in this dress. We go up the elevator to a secluded floor, where a man who looks oddly familiar is sitting in the table in the corner waves to us. The young man sitting next to him has his head turned to us so I can't see his face, but when my mom spots them, she basically runs over as she grabs my arm.

"Molly, this is Scott. Scott, this is my daughter Molly. " She says, as he holds out his hand. "Pleasure to meet you Molly." he says, with a dazzling smile. Not to sound creepy, but he really is an attractive man, even though he looks like he's in his 50s. He motions to the man next to him and says. "Christina, Molly, this is my son Andrew." When he turns around and I see his face for the first time, I feel like all of the air has been sucked out of me. As we lock eyes, he starts choking on his drink. "Molly?" He says, once he regains the ability to breathe.

I feel like I could black out at any minute. "Wait, you two know each other?" my mother says, sounding confused.

Oh we knew each other that was for sure.