"I still can't believe you're doing this," my mother muttered as she sat on the edge of my bed and I zipped up my suitcase.
"Mom, I'll be gone for a few months. I'm not officially accepting the internship, I'm going to be living in New York for a few months to see how I like it, and then if I'm really that interested, I'll apply again. They already said I could come in and work when I want to work for the first few weeks. They're being very flexible with me and I couldn't be more grateful," I sighed as I pulled my suitcase towards the door.
"You're engaged, Rachel!" My mother exclaimed. I could tell she was really disappointed in me. I rolled my eyes and turned towards her.
"What's that supposed to mean, mom? Yes, I am engaged. But just because I'm engaged doesn't mean I can stop my career and my life for Ryan. Ryan is fully aware of what I want to do with my life and he's fully supportive. He's coming to visit me next month in New York. Plus, I think this will be good for us. It gives us a little break away from each other to sort through things," I shrugged and pulled my luggage down the stairs.
"I don't understand you," my mother's words were dripping with hurt and anger. She was so frustrated with me. At this point, I didn't care. My mom was the kind of person that was never satisfied. She always found something that I had done that was wrong or irresponsible in her eyes.
"Well, there are a lot of confusing things about me," I replied sarcastically as I headed to the living room. Ryan smiled at me from the couch and stood up, his hands in his pockets.
"You ready?" He asked me. I nodded and smiled back.
"Mom, Ryan's going to be dropping me off at the airport this morning. I'll call you when I get to New York and we'll keep in touch from there," I smiled and kissed her cheek. "I love you mom, no matter how mad you are right now."
"You're a good man, Ryan. Standing by my daughter even though she's being awfully stupid at the moment," my mom commented with her arms folded firmly across her chest. I tried to stifle a laugh as I helped Ryan take some of my bags out to his car.
"Bye, dad," I smiled at my dad and wrapped my arms around his neck. I kissed his cheek as we pulled apart.
"If you need anything, Rachel, you just call, okay? And don't worry about your mom. She'll get over things quickly," my dad whispered in my ear. I could only hope and pray that he was right. I kissed his cheek one last time and walked towards Ryan's Durango. "I love you, Rachel."
"Love you too, dad," I smiled back at him and loaded my things into the car. I climbed up onto the seat and watched out the window. What a sight that would be. My stubborn mother with her arms crossed over her chest. Then my sympathetic father with a small smirk over his lips. I smiled and waved once more to the happy couple and waited as Ryan started the car. "I'm sorry about my mom." I sighed as we had started our journey to the airport. "She's just like this."
"It's okay. I mean, I understand why you want to do this and everything, but I also see her point of view," he added in nonchalantly. Maybe it was me overreacting, but I took offense to his comment. Was he really defending my mother?
"What do you mean, you can see her point of view?" I frowned. His head spun quickly to catch my gaze. He knew that I was being defensive by my tone of voice.
"Oh, no, honey! I mean, I can understand both viewpoints, that's all. It's not like I'm taking sides or anything," he tried to fix his words, but in my eyes, he only made the situation worse.
"Well gee, thanks for taking my side. It's not like we're engaged or anything," I swear the words flew from my mouth much quicker than I had hoped. I really should have thought that one over.
"Sweetie," Ryan sighed. I could tell he was partly hurt that I was getting this worked up about it and partly annoyed that we were actually arguing about this. "You know how much I love you. Where is all of this coming from?"
"I don't know, Ryan! I mean, maybe this is good. Maybe I need to get this off my chest and vice versa. Maybe I need to go to New York and sort through things," I rambled.
“Honey, you can’t be serious,” disgust dripped off every word. He didn’t think I was serious? Why didn’t he try to understand what I was saying?
“Oh, but I am,” I laughed sarcastically. He was really beginning to frustrate me. For the rest of the ride we were both silent, waiting for the other to say something more. As we approached the airport, I decided to give my last line. “I’ll call you when I get there.” And with that, I got out and grabbed my luggage and he didn’t dare follow.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Please review! I won't know if you want me to continue if you don't review!
