Taken By Surprise
Page 11
***
We stay a long time, reminiscing over old times, until the clouds really set in and the sky begins to turn dark. I haven’t laughed so hard in a long time. We leave the park, heading home, and I feel myself relaxing. There is no surprise party and no need to worry about anything. Today, I’m not going to die at a party in front of Dana, Mom and a bunch of other people I hadn’t been able to see properly.
Dana pulls up into my empty street and turns into my driveway. We both immediately notice Mom’s car is not there.
“That’s typical. She promised she would be home so we could have dinner together,” I complain.
“She is probably just getting something. She’ll be back.” Dana sounds sure of her words.
I have a feeling she is at the office. She has been busy all this week, on the phone non-stop and distracted whenever we spoke. If it’s even possible, I would swear she spent more time working than usual.
“Yeah, maybe.” I’m disappointed in her. How can she miss dinner with her only daughter, on her twenty-first birthday? A meal that is quite possibly going to be the only chance she’ll ever have to spend with me? In her defense, I suppose she isn’t aware of that fact, but still.
“I’ll come in and wait with you until she gets back.”
“Don’t you have plans with Drew?” I ask, feeling deflated. I unbuckle my seatbelt and open the door, letting the chilly air into the car.
“Just the usual ones, he can wait.” Dana shrugs easily.
“He might be waiting a while,” I warn.
“Come on.” Dana gets out of the car.
“Maybe we should all just go out to dinner since my Mom is obviously not going to remember our plans.”
“Don’t be silly. She’s probably cooking you your favorite meal and forgot some ingredient. Just think how upset she’ll be if you bail on her.”
How can Dana not know my mother by now?
“Come on, I’ll wait with you and she’ll be back before you know it, I promise.”
“Fine.” I walk over to the door and struggle to find my keys in my bag. Considering it’s one of the last things I used, it’s hiding right at the bottom, underneath a scarf, a beanie and other pointless clothes I carry around, hidden amongst enough coins to give someone a concussion if I used the bag to hit them over the head. I really need to go through it properly.
I open the front door, letting Dana move past me first. The house is empty. The kitchen is quiet. There is nothing cooking in the oven and the table isn’t set. It’s bare, as if it doesn’t expect anything important to be happening tonight.
“Dana, you might as well just—”
“SURPRISE!”
I nearly jump out of my skin in fear and shock. My eyes race around the room and there are at least fifteen people cheering and clapping around me who have jumped out of nowhere. I hear more voices from outside in the backyard. I feel cold and shaky all over. How can this be happening? How soon until I die?
“Look at her; she’s as white as a ghost. We definitely scared the crap out of her!” Jeff Lindly, my boss's boss, calls from the hallway where he’s leaning against the wall. Jeff is here?
“She’s just surprised is all, that’s the whole point, right?” Mom walks towards me and puts her arm around my shoulders. “Happy birthday, sweetie.” She kisses me lightly on my forehead and walks back into the kitchen. She pulls out platters of food and starts giving them to people who are also waiting in the kitchen.
“What? How?” I’m still shocked. Why is this happening to me? Why didn’t I just go away on a holiday or something to avoid this? I look down at my clothes and wonder again if they are the same as what I had been wearing in my dream. Would going up and changing them now mean my dream will change, too? Can it be that simple?
“Ruth and I talked and we decided that you were so insistent on not having a party that we should just throw you one. I knew it was most likely because you wouldn’t know who to invite, but look at all these people here, Zee, they’re all here for you.” Dana squeezes my hand.
I do look around then, noticing family I haven’t seen in years and I assume that is now probably why Mom has been so busy all week. She’s been trying to find everybody. There are also a lot of people from my work here; lawyers I hardly know and most likely partners that I definitely don’t know.
“Why are people from my work here?” I whisper to Dana, my mind already racing ahead to Joel.
She ignores me, already moving away as Drew calls out to her while waving a bag in her direction.
“Dana!” I try to grab her, but she disappears into the crowd and I get stuck talking to a cousin that’s twice removed or something; all I know is that I’ve never even heard of her and she is a hugger. Four hugs later, I’m able to move away from her. I look around suspiciously, realizing my murderer is most likely already in my house.