30 Days to Love

Day 8: Enough

A little after midnight, Margaret arrives home from a long day with her family. She carries a bag of leftover food and a half-finished bottle of wine.

Shauna waits up for her, like a lion ready to pounce on its prey. As soon as Margaret gets in the door, she asks, "Hey, can we talk?"

"Sure, let me just get these leftovers in the fridge. Do you want some wine? My parents gave me the rest of the last bottle we had and it's way more than we could ever afford."

"Sounds good. How's your family doing?"

"Oh you know, loud. I never understood how nine people can sound like fifty." Margaret packs away the leftovers in the refrigerator. "Do you want any of these leftovers? My mom made a ton of potato salad and there's some barbeque chicken if you want."

"I'm good. I'll just have a glass of wine, thanks."

Margaret pulls out two glasses. She fills both halfway and hands one to Shauna.

"Thanks. So what did you do all day with your family?"

"We sat around and ate and watched TV. What else do you do at family gatherings?"

"Nothing new going on?"

"Amy's getting married."

"She is? That's great. Tell her congrats for me. I like her boyfriend. The attorney, right?"

"He's already calling my parents Mom and Dad. Gag."

"I think that's sweet."

"He's just sucking up to my dad, hoping he'll hire him into his firm."

"You don't think that's a good idea?"

"It's a little too perfect."

"What's wrong with striving for perfection?"

"None of us is perfect so how can we expect the perfect life?"

"What about a good life? With a good guy?"

"Sounds like the dream."

"That dream could be a reality for you."

"Yeah right." Margaret scoffs.

"I saw Jeremy today."

Shauna takes a sip of her wine as she watches Margaret's expression, which suddenly appears tense.

"Oh yeah? Where did you see him?" Margaret asks and then takes a big gulp of her wine.

"I went to the diner today to study. He was working. We chatted for a while."

Margaret stares at her wine. "That's nice. How is he?"

"He seems ... stressed out. He asked me about you."

"Oh."

"Don't you want to know what he asked me about?"

"Not really."

"Why not?"

"Because he's moved on. And I'm trying to as well."

"Actually, I heard quite the opposite. He told me he wants to take your relationship to the next level and that you're not interested."

Margaret gets up and pulls out the leftovers from the fridge. She cuts herself a piece of peach pie.

"I'll have some too if you're cutting," Shauna says, waiting for a response from Margaret.

Margaret puts a piece of pie down in front of Shauna and then one for herself.

"You know what else he told me?" Shauna states, breaking the silence.