by Morgan Utley
“Mom, don’t go there,” Peyton said coolly.
“I won’t, but you can’t deny that he’s a cutie,” her mom said.
“Well, I didn’t. He is cute, but he’s…” Peyton glanced over at the sandwich line and realized he was gone. Quickly scanning the food court, she searched for him until she realized he was walking in the direction of their table, only a few yards away.
“Oh crap. Oh crap, Mom. He’s coming!” Peyton hissed. “Do you think we can make a quick escape?”
“No, but you do need to compose yourself!” her mother said quickly and started wiping her mouth with a napkin and smoothing her hair.
Peyton did the same and looked to see where Noah was at now, and sure enough, he was walking towards them. She knew there was a panicked look in her eyes when she looked at her mom, and her mom motioned for her to inhale and exhale. She took a deep breath and picked up her fork, looking down at her plate of food to try and act as normal as she could.
While she was looking down, she heard a male voice say, “Hi. You’re Peyton, right?”
Peyton looked up and could feel her face blushing, “Yeah, that’s right, and you’re Noah.”
“Yeah, we met at my uncle’s office. I’m the temporary receptionist,” Noah clarified.
“That’s right. This is my mom,” she pointed across the table, thankful to get the attention off her for a second.
“Hi,” her mom said and held out her hand. “Nice to meet you.”
Noah took her hand and shook it, “Nice to meet you too.”
“Are you here with anyone or would you like to sit down?” her mom asked. Peyton looked at her mom, and her mom smiled at her. But it wasn’t a nice smile. It was the kind of smile that told her she was up to no good.
“I can sit down for a minute.” He sat down and put his sandwich on the table.
“So, you work as a receptionist? Temporarily?” her mom asked nosily.
“Yes, I’m actually just wrapping up my last few weeks of dental school, and my uncle called in dire need of help while his receptionist was on maternity leave,” Noah informed her.
“That’s so exciting. Congratulations! A dentist is a great job.” Her mom sounded excited, and Peyton knew she was over the moon elated that this happened.
“I think so, and I’m definitely excited to be done with school and move forward in my life,” Noah admitted to the ladies.
“I bet you are. Peyton never liked going to the dentist. At one point, she was convinced they liked to watch her squirm in pain when they would scrape her teeth. Once, she got so upset, that she bit the dentist's finger!” Her mom chuckled to herself, and Peyton was less than amused she had mentioned that fact.
“Thanks, Mom,” Peyton said sarcastically.
“No, it's all good. I know a lot of people aren’t fans of the dentist, but I hope to change some people’s minds about going to the dentist.” Noah turned to her and smiled.
“Well, if you can clean my teeth without putting me in pain, then I will definitely change my opinion about going to the dentist,” she said back to him.
“Deal,” he said and smiled.
“Fine. Deal,” she said and smiled back at him and felt her face blush even more.
“Well, I had better get going. I promised my uncle I would run some errands, including delivering this sandwich,” he teased and held it up.
“That’s okay,” her mom said. “Peyton and I are on the hunt for running shoes next.”
“Oh, cool. You ladies like to run?” Noah inquired.
“No, not me. But Peyton runs every day.” She motioned toward her daughter.
“You run every day? That’s awesome. I run a lot too. I used to run track in high school actually, and now, I try to run a few times a week. Maybe we should run together sometime,” Noah mentioned quickly.
Peyton didn’t actually believe her ears. She felt as if her mind had completely drawn a blank until she quickly realized that she wasn’t speaking or doing anything. “Yeah, we could definitely do that. Just let me know when.”
“What about Monday?” he asked.
Peyton was taken aback at how soon he wanted to get together. “Um, yeah. I think that should work.”
“What time do you usually like to run?” he asked her.
“I like to run at about seven in the morning,” she informed him.
“Cool. That would be perfect. I have to be at work at nine, so I should have plenty of time. Where do you run?”
By now Peyton was shaking, she could feel her armpits sweating, and she knew her face was absolutely red. She could hardly believe that this boy was interested in running with her or doing anything with her. It was obvious he knew she was going to a grievance counselor and wondered why on earth he would want to date someone in therapy. It was completely embarrassing. The funny thing was that he was completely calm and asked these questions as if they were no big deal. Not to mention, Peyton thought he looked gorgeous today. His hair was a little messy but still looked good like it had been tousled in the wind. He had a strong jawline and rosy cheeks that were most likely caused by the cold outside. It also looked as if his eyes were a little stormy today, yet alert and playful.
“Peyton usually runs around our house,” her mom interrupted. She must have noticed Peyton had become tongue-tied and answered the question for her. “She runs around a couple of trails we have around our property, or she runs up and down our driveway.”
“That sounds cool. I like trail running. It’s a lot of fun. I don’t do it often enough. If you want, we can always run there if you like.” He looked over at Peyton and waited for an answer.
“Uh, sure. Yeah.”
“Sweet. Well, I guess I’ll see you on Monday,” Noah said and smiled crookedly at her. It made her heart skip a beat.
Of course, this caused Peyton to forget that she could speak and, her mom had to talk for her, again.
“Here, let me write down our address, so you know where we are.” Her mom dug into her purse and pulled out a pen and paper to write down our address. Then she handed him the piece of paper with the very valuable information and smiled.
“There you go,” she said.
“Okay. Thank you, Mrs...” Noah trailed off..
“Sheffield. Mrs. Sheffield,” her mom clarified.
“Great. Well, Mrs. Sheffield, it was good to meet you, and Peyton, do you mind if we exchange numbers too? Just in case I get lost or something?” he asked shyly
“Oh yea, no problem!” she sputtered.
“Great, here’s my phone if you don’t mind,” he offered.
“Here, you can input yours into mine while I use yours,” I handed over my phone and he smiled.
“Okay sweet!” After a couple seconds, we gave each other’s phone back. “Alright, well I guess I’ll see you Monday. Bye,” he waved and started backing away.
“See you then,” she said and smiled.
He smiled back a crooked smile, stood up, and walked away from the table.
As Peyton was watching him walk away, her mom spoke. “That was the best thing that has happened in months!” she exclaimed.
“Or the worst thing,” Peyton mumbled. “I cannot believe you practically invited him over to the house. And what was up with telling him I hated the dentist? That’s a great thing to tell him as he’s just finishing up dental school,” she said sarcastically and realized her voice was becoming louder and louder with every word she said.
“Honey, I was just trying to help the conversation. You kept wandering off into space and not answering the poor man's questions, so I had to give a little nudge,” she said innocently.
“That was more than a little nudge, Mom. That was humiliating. Not only for me, because I acted like a complete idiot once again, but also because of you. And now he has our address. What if he’s a stalker? What if he’s just taking some bet, and he’s out to mess with me?” Peyton questioned.
“Peyton. You and I both know that he did not seem like
that at all. He was a very sweet guy, especially since he came out of his way to talk to you. He was the one that spotted you out of the crowd and decided to talk to you. All I was doing was trying to help. I didn’t mean to embarrass you or do anything that made you uncomfortable. And for Pete's sake, it's not my fault the man asked you to go running with him. It’s not my fault that a guy other than Derek”—Peyton flinched again at her husband’s name—wants to spend time with you. I only have your best interests at heart. Now, before I get too upset to shop anymore, let's get you some new shoes. You are definitely not running in those old things at home when he comes.” Her mother stood up, grabbed the trays, and dumped the leftover food in the garbage can, then waited for Peyton to stand up.
At this point, Peyton was fuming. She had no desire to go and look for new shoes for this upcoming running date she had not planned. Quite frankly, she had half a mind to walk away from her mother and call a taxi to drive her home. However, she figured enough damage had been done and decided to finish the shopping trip she agreed to be on with her mom.
She stood up and followed her mom in the direction of the running store. Her mom was walking at a faster pace than usual, but Peyton knew that was because she was upset. They stepped into the store, and her mom started looking at outfits while Peyton looked at and tried on running shoes. It didn’t take her long to find a new pair because she liked to keep to the same brand and type of shoe. When she found the shoes, she showed her mom, and her mom took the shoebox and started matching the shoes to different outfits that she had put together. Apparently, her mother was buying her a brand new outfit as well. The only questions she asked were what size she preferred. Other than that, she picked everything out and bought it without consulting with Peyton or asking if she liked it. Peyton didn’t even see what her mother had gotten because she picked it out so fast and stalked off to the cashier to buy everything.
Once the new outfit with matching shoes was paid for, her mom walked out of the store and into the direction of the car. Evidently, they were going home now, and she wasn’t going to speak to Peyton at all.
Chapter 5
The ride home was quiet. Her mother didn’t say a word to her the whole time. When they arrived home, she took the bags out of the car and walked into the house, not bothering to wait for Peyton. Once Peyton entered the house, she was nowhere to be seen. She assumed that her mom went straight up to her room and locked herself in.
Peyton knew she had some apologizing to do. She felt sorry for telling her mom that she had embarrassed her, and that she was out of line. No matter how bad she felt, she knew all her mom wanted was to see her happy again, and that she was just excited that some guy came up to Peyton and asked her on a running date. Not only that, but she was there to witness it, and even if she got ahead of herself, she was over the moon and eager to get whatever ball rolling she could.
Before Peyton could go and face her mom, she went into her room to drop off her purse and take off her shoes. In her room, she found a shopping bag on her bed. The one her mom carried out of the running store in the mall. She took the clothes out of the bag and pulled out a new pair of dark grey running capris with a hot pink sports bra and a lightweight black zip-up jacket with pink accents on it to match her black shoes that happened to have pink laces on them. She had even gotten pink socks to complete the look. After seeing what her mom had bought, she felt really bad and started getting a stomachache. She had been completely unfair to her mom, and she had, in fact, saved Peyton’s carcass out there. Her mom was the perfect wingman, and Peyton had thrown her under the bus and told her that she did a horrible job.
Peyton pulled the tags off all her clothes and put the complete outfit on that her mom had thoughtfully picked for her. She even put the new shoes on and walked out of her room towards her mom’s.
She knocked on the door, but no one answered.
“Mom?” Peyton called.
Again, no one answered.
“Mom, it's me, Peyton. Can I talk to you?” she asked.
No sound came from behind the door.
“Please, Mom! I’m sorry. I was out of line. Please, open the door,” Peyton pleaded.
She waited there for a minute, and when she still heard no sound coming from behind the door, she gave up and started walking back toward her room.
Halfway across the hall, she heard the sound of a lock clicking and the door open. She turned around and saw her mom standing in the doorway, with tears running down her face.
Peyton walked toward her mom and hugged her.
They stood in the doorway hugging for a couple of minutes, and then her mom pulled away to look at her.
“What do you think?” she asked.
“I really like it a lot. I like the subtle hints of pink, and the pants are easy to move around in and not too tight. My shoes are super comfortable too. I’m going to need to walk around in these today to break them in,” Peyton told her.
“I’m glad. I think you look cute and ready to run!”
“I feel like I should go run now, but I just don’t have the energy,” Peyton told her mom. “I didn’t know you were going to buy me an entire outfit too. Thank you so much for getting me all this.” She gestured to the outfit.
“Well, I wanted to make sure you were all set and ready to go on Monday, with Noah…” Her voice became quieter at the end, and she started staring at the floor.
“Mom,” Peyton began, “I shouldn’t have said you humiliated me. I did that all on my own. You were the perfect wingman, and I was too overwhelmed and upset to see that. And I’m truly sorry I hurt you and embarrassed you.”
Her mom looked up from the floor with tears in her eyes and tried to speak but was getting choked up. Once she composed herself a little bit, she told Peyton, “I was just trying to help you. That’s all I wanted, and I was so excited to see this sweet, handsome guy have the guts to come up to you with me there and ask you on a date.”
Peyton wasn’t sure if going on a run around her parent’s property would qualify as a date, but she decided to not argue about it.
Her mom continued, “I know I may have embarrassed you a little bit, and maybe I did encourage it, but I only had your best interests at heart. And if I do say so myself, I think he still liked you even though you couldn’t form a sentence to save your life.” She teased and started laughing.
Peyton began laughing too. “Yeah, I felt like a little school girl today. You saved me. I’d be surprised if he even showed up on Monday.”
“Oh, I think he will.” Her mom sounded all too confident.
“Well, even if he does, it won’t mean anything. He’s probably just trying to be nice. Besides that, I don’t think I’m ready to think of another man like that,” Peyton stated to her mom.
“You might be surprised,” her mom replied to Peyton’s comment.
Peyton looked at her mom and smiled, “I know you want what’s best for me and for me to move past this grief, but I don’t think it's time for me to move on yet. I miss Derek so much.” Peyton’s voice cracked as tears began to form in her eyes. “I already feel like I got my happily ever after. I got my prince charming. My ending just came a lot sooner than I ever wanted it to come. I know it could never happen, but sometimes I just wish he could come back. I wish I could go back in time and change what happened. And in those moments, the worst part is realizing that I can’t. I’m stuck with a consequence from somebody else’s actions. If it weren’t for that stupid drunk driver, my life would be completely different. I just have had a hard time moving past that aspect.” Peyton had never admitted this to anyone. Not even her parents or her therapist. She had been doing her mourning in silence and struggled to admit her true feelings to anyone.
“Peyton. His life ended, but yours didn’t!” her mom said. “You are a strong, independent, amazing woman who deserves to have the best life possible. You deserve to wake up every morning and be excited to be alive. I know you think you don’t get a second chance. I know
you miss him. I’m sure he misses you. But please take advantage of the life you have. Take advantage of the opportunities that you will have and don’t let them pass by. You know what, honey? Moving on doesn’t mean forgetting, it means you chose happiness over hurt. It’s time to stop hurting, my darling. And honey, it's also time to start forgiving. Forgiving yourself, forgiving that drunk driver, and forgiving God.”
“It’s so hard, Mom! All of it! I’m having this mental battle with myself about getting out there, hanging with friends. Meeting new people, but it makes me sick. But as I told Dad, I will try my best to make the most with what I have. I’m trying, and I will work on my forgiveness. Although that one may take time.”
“And you have time to do it! As long as you're working on it, take all the time you need. Just do your best. Be your best you, and find her again. Find my happy Peyton.” Peyton thought it sounded as if her mom was pleading.
“I will, Mom. You know, I’ve been thinking, and I think it's about time I started going back to church,” Peyton informed her mom.
“Peyton, that’s great. I’m so happy about this.” Tears started forming in her mom’s eyes, and she gave Peyton a big hug.
“Mom,” Peyton said sheepishly, “just take it easy tomorrow. I know everyone is going to have questions, and I really don’t want to get bombarded. So, can you please do your best to shield me just a little bit? If I have to recount these last few months over and over again, I’ll break down.”
“Yes, I’ll make sure people are aware and sensitive to anything they may ask you and answer them myself if that will help you. We will take things one step at a time.” She looked at her and smiled.
“Thanks, Mom. I’m going to take these clothes off now and put them away, so they’re ready to go on Monday.” Peyton turned and started walking toward her room.
“Oh yes, I’m so excited about that!” her mom shrieked.
Peyton turned her head back towards her mom, “Remember, one step at a time—baby steps.”
Her mom gave Peyton two thumbs up with a cheesy smile, “That’s right, sweetheart, baby steps.”