best counter
Search
Report & Feedback

Chapter no 19

Kiss the Sky

ROSE CALLOWAY

I canโ€™t come. Iโ€™m so, so, so sorry! Just make sure no lilies, okay? And remember that I like your taste better than momโ€™s. THANK YOU!ย โ€“ Lily

I receive the text as soon as I arrive at the florist to pick out arrangements for the wedding.

Four months and two daysย โ€“ Mom

Itโ€™s like the countdown to the Apocalypse.

I text my sister back, telling her itโ€™s fine. At least she didnโ€™t make up a stupid excuse this time. Her โ€œstomachachesโ€ for the past month have been more about her fear to come face to face with our judgmental mother.

Lily went from being ignored by our mom to being told to close her legs. To wear a lighter pink lip gloss (on the rare day she does wear makeup). To comb her hair so it doesnโ€™t look tangled in a post-sex haze.

She ridicules. And we both know itโ€™s not out of love, but her obligation to protect the reputation of the family.

I look around the flower shop quickly. Brett follows me today with his steadicam, nimbly keeping out of customersโ€™ way as he films me. I arrived twenty minutes early so I could pick out what I liked and so my mother would have a harder time bulldozing my opinion.

First, I choose pink and cream roses for the centerpieces. I wait impatiently while the florist demonstrates an arrangement. She has tinsel sticking out from flowers. โ€œSimpler,โ€ I urge. โ€œJust the flowers. Weโ€™ll put them in one long row down the table. No separate vases, so it will look like one extended centerpiece.โ€ I look around and spot the table of white roses.

โ€œThese for the bouquet. And we can wrap the stems in pearls.โ€ Iโ€™m not sure if Lily will approve, but at this point itโ€™s clear she doesnโ€™t care.

The only request for the past two months has beenย no lilies. Otherwise, Iโ€™m walking around blind.

While I wait for my mother, I click onto Twitter and type in #PoPhilly. A list of tweets pops up.

@RaderBull595:ย The Calloway girls are hot, but that tall one is such a bitch. Iโ€™d bang Lils though.

@TVDFan70008:ย Have you seen the way Lo looks at Lily? *swoon*ย @thefieryheart:ย Brb building a shrine for Ryke and Daisy!ย @RealityXbites4:ย I loooove this show!! #TeamScottย @SlightlySpoiled:ย Canโ€™t wait for Rose to dump Connor. Fry his dick!

#please

Lovely.

The reviews for the show have been much better than any of us could ever expect. Even though weโ€™re labeled โ€œfoul mouthed, rich, and conceitedโ€ most of the articles congratulate us for being real. For not trying to put on

fake faces in front of the cameras. Daisy burps, Lily says sexual comments on accident, and I threaten to castrate men. Some people like us for our flaws. Others still see us as caricatures. But I try not to let those comments bother me.

You canโ€™t please everyone.

@Fashion4Goddesses:ย Just received my Calloway Couture dress!

Gorgeous!

My heart swells at that tweet. Soon after the first episode aired, my sales skyrocketed. And they have continued to grow exponentially with each new episode. Fizzle has even seen a spike in its stock. Hopefully the success will last.

The bells on the door clink together, and I quickly pocket my phone in my purse. My mother struts through like she suddenly bought the entire store. Her nose upturns at a vase of half-wilted daisies.

โ€œYouโ€™re early,โ€ I tell her. Ten minutes to be exact. โ€œSo are you,โ€ she replies. โ€œWhereโ€™s your sister?โ€

โ€œSheโ€™s not coming.โ€ I donโ€™t use the stomachache excuse since Iโ€™ve

overdone it already. Instead I try the truth. โ€œShe doesnโ€™t like how you talk to her.โ€

โ€œLily has a voice of her own,โ€ my mother snaps. โ€œIf she doesnโ€™t like how I speak then she should tell me herself.โ€

I donโ€™t say anything. I donโ€™t tell her that sheโ€™s not the easiest woman to talk to, and it takes practice and skillโ€”that even I come away feeling more neurotic and unspun.

โ€œI already picked out the flowers,โ€ I tell her.

She doesnโ€™t seem surprised. โ€œThen we have to choose between mine and yours because I already called in arrangements this morning.โ€ย Of course.

She walks haughtily to a cabinet where white and orange lilies are gathered together with teal ribbon.

โ€œShe specifically saidย noย lilies,โ€ I say angrily. โ€œIโ€™ve already told you this ten million times.โ€ Not only that butย orangeย andย teal. Really? Maybe for Daisy but Lily is moreโ€ฆsubdued.

My mother huffs and fingers the string of pearls on her neck. Her greatest tell. When sheโ€™s particularly stressed or annoyed she touches them as though theyโ€™re rosary beads, praying to the Holy Father for her

argumentative daughter to be docile and content.

โ€œWhatโ€™s wrong with lilies?โ€ my mother asks. โ€œOlivia Barnesโ€™ daughter had them at her wedding and they were just gorgeous.โ€

โ€œHer name is Lily,โ€ I say. โ€œShe doesnโ€™t find the pun as amusing as you do. And when she sees lilies everywhere, sheโ€™ll be upset.โ€ Not to mention that we receive unsolicited bouquets of lilies along with fan mail almost every week. From men that fantasize about my sex addicted sister. Those flowers are tainted in her mind.

โ€œI already ordered them, so what do you want me to do?โ€ she says. โ€œI canโ€™t very well cancel, can I?โ€

โ€œYes, you can.โ€

โ€œI donโ€™t understand why youโ€™re so bent out of shape over the flowers.โ€

I stand my ground. โ€œI know Lily better than you,โ€ I remind her. โ€œWeโ€™re going to accommodate her one and only request.โ€

My mother mumbles something that sounds likeย but sheโ€™s not even here to voice it herself.ย Her eyes flit around the room before she huffs again. โ€œWhat alternatives do you have in mind?โ€

I show her the white and pink roses I picked out.

She gives me a look. โ€œDonโ€™t make this about you, Rose.โ€

My lips press into a thin line and Iโ€™m sure my nose flares. โ€œMy name and the flower are not synonymous, Mother.โ€

Poppy, my older sister, has never had trouble talking to her. Most of the time she just agrees willingly so that arguments donโ€™t begin. Same with Daisy.

I canโ€™t be agreeable with someone I know is wrong, regardless of her being my mother or not. Iโ€™m not sure when I had the courage to say no. But she still doesnโ€™t understand that my opinion isnโ€™t less because Iโ€™m her child. Iโ€™m twenty-three years old. She may see me as a little girl who stands behind her at dance recitals, who tugs on her arm for advice about other

girls in school, but Iโ€™m an adult now.

I appreciate her advice, I do, but I also have the right to disagree with it. And yet, this direction only causes arguments and fights. Neither of us can win if weโ€™re in the same room.

My mother stares at the roses with narrowed eyes. I remember Daisyโ€™s advice when I couldnโ€™t get my mother to stop arguing with me. โ€œTell her you love her,โ€ she said. โ€œThat always works for me when I want something.โ€

I give it a shot. โ€œI love you, Motherโ€”โ€

โ€œOh, donโ€™t even start, Rose. I havenโ€™t heard you say that in five years.โ€

I suppose sheโ€™s right. Since I rarely show affection to my mother, it makes sense that Daisyโ€™sย I love yousย seem like blinding rainbows in comparison.

She spins on her heels and her eyes hit mine. They havenโ€™t softened. โ€œYou can cancel the order,โ€ she says. โ€œBut Iโ€™m not done discussing the

flowers or the centerpieces. God knows we both can find something better than an ice swan.โ€

I try to smile. โ€œThat sounds good.โ€ โ€œHow is Daisy doing?โ€ she asks.

โ€œGood.โ€ I donโ€™t elaborate. She talks to Daisy enough. Whenever my sister is on the phone, itโ€™s usually with her. And I have no right to keep Daisy with me after the reality show wraps. Thereโ€™s nothing I can do but wait until Daisyโ€™s olderโ€”to see if sheโ€™d like to live with us and distance herself from our mother a little more. To finally breathe the way I know she wants to. Itโ€™s going to be a long wait, but Iโ€™m willing to suffer through it.

โ€œGood.โ€ She nods.

I pause for the rest of her question, but it never comes. โ€œYouโ€™re forgetting your other daughter.โ€

โ€œLily is twenty-one,โ€ she refutes. โ€œSheโ€™s lying in the bed she made for herself.โ€

I shouldnโ€™t have said anything.

โ€œHow can you plan her wedding if youโ€™re still bitter over the scandal?โ€ I ask in detest.

โ€œBecause this wedding is the only thing that will return her reputation, and itโ€™ll wipe the stain sheโ€™s set to the Calloway name. Itโ€™s more important than my bitterness. It has to be perfect.โ€

She looks me over, as if reminding me that theย perfectย element of the wedding is my job. โ€œWe need to schedule a venue by the weekend. Iโ€™ll send you my top choices. Keep your phone on.โ€ She gives me a tight, rigid hug before leaving the store. And leaving me feeling more overwhelmed than before.

So much shit to do. Like planning a bachelorette party. I would have hired male strippersโ€”but for a recovering sex addict, thatโ€™s not the smartest theme. I think Lily and Lo want to have a joint bachelor and bachelorette party anyway.

As I head out the door and find my Escalade on the curb, my mind

reverts back to everything thatโ€™s been happening with Connor. His thumb. The shower. Love.

Loren may believe that Connor wonโ€™t be there for me at the end of the line, but that night at the screening party made me realize how much I do trust him. How much I do know him. Lo was wrong on so many accounts, and thatโ€™s only because Connor has let me see more than a couple sides of his life.

Whether Connor says it or not, he loves me enough to let me in more than halfway. And I know itโ€™s time for me to do the same on a different kind of level.

I pull out my phone and send a quick text to Connor.

Bring wine tonight.

Since Lo is sober, we try to keep alcohol out of sight, so I have a trunk in our bedroom that Iโ€™ll store our stash in. I pause to think about my choice of alcohol. Wine? Iโ€™m probably going to need something stronger.

And tequila.

I take a breath and wait for the text.

Is there a reason weโ€™ll be drinking tonight?ย โ€“ Connor

Surprise. I reply back.

Canโ€™t wait ๐Ÿ˜‰ย โ€“ Connor

You'll Also Like