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M
Two weeks later.
"Okay, so.." I heard Olympia trail off as she flicked through a floral magazine. "Which flowers do you want again for around the entrance? Do you prefer the orchids or the calla lilies?" I lifted my head up to see Olympia holding up the magazine to show me.
"Oh um the lilies for sure.." My response was anything but enthusiastic as my mind seemed to drift elsewhere during our meet up at the manor to plan for the engagement party.
"Mina..." she sighed, her expression morphing to one of concern.
"I'm sorry, Olympia." I gave her a weak half smile. "I know I'm out of it. I'm just overthinking. It's nothing." I tried to reassure her when she closed the flower magazine, setting it back on the island table before moving closer towards me.
"You've been saying that for the past week now Mina.." She said, reaching out to gently rest a reassuring hand on top of my ring adorned one.
"I know, I know." I huffed. "But it's nothing.."
"It's not nothing.." She pressed on, "What's on your mind that's got you overthinking?" She asked. "Last week when we came back from the trip you were more lively and excited to start planning for the engagement party but this week you're a little less that."
"I'm fine Olympia-"
"Don't give me that, Mina." She said firmly, shooting me both a deadpan yet concerned look. "You can talk to me. Come on. What's wrong?" Olympia coaxed me to tell her what was bothering me.
I nibbled down on my lip nervously before parting my lips to speak. "It's just that planning this engagement party and starting the plans for the wedding has made me think a lot more about my family or lack thereof.." I sighed. "I mean, you have so many family and friends who are coming to the engagement party and I haven't even contacted my parents about it yet. Saying it out loud, it sounds so silly but I really do want them to be there even though it's been God knows how long since I've spoken to either of them."
Olympia flashed me a sympathetic look while squeezing my hand. "Mina.." she softly said, "It's not silly. They're your parents, of course it's understandable for you to want them to be there. I mean you're their only child—"
"I'm my mother's only child," I found myself bitterly correcting her, "My father has two sons with my step-mom.." I explained. "They're probably around ten and eleven now.."
A saddened pout fell onto my lips as I thought about my half-siblings that I hadn't met yet and my overall family situation. After my parents' messy divorce, my mother took sole custody of me. I barely got to see my father or his new family because he moved back home to Maryland while my mother remained in Pennsylvania.
He stopped making the effort to drive down to visit me after the first year of their divorce and my mother was too much of a workaholic to make the trip to Baltimore. I had to settle with weekly phone calls that soon turned to monthly check ups over the second year of their divorce before I heard less and less from him.
