Twenty-Seven Days of Deceit
ven days, this had been my world. For twenty-seven days, I had sat by my mother' s bedside, watchin
the world, it was simple. She just wanted to see me settled do
per, her voice thin as paper.
or the last six yea
up at her office with coffee. Each time, th
just so swamped wi
andon' s father is a key investor, and
not a good ti
sonable hurdle. I was a designer, I unders
ifted. Maybe it was the exhaustion in m
er voice softening. "Okay. Tomorrow. Let'
intensely I almost buckle
promised. "I' ll
e out the door. I stood outside the courthouse, clutching the two simple gold bands
ock came
ten-t
es. I called her phone. It went straight to voice
in my best suit, when my phone buzzed with a
mbled as I t
ding up a marriage certificate. Standing beside her, his arm wrapp
eerful. "The start of our forever! So
urring. The date was printed in stark, black
admitted to the hospital. Th
in my ears. He had posted it today, the very day she was suppose
ted again. A t
ng came up with Brandon, he' s not feeling well. We ca
w, after the public announcement, she was still tr
vast, hollow emptiness. I typed back a
kay
m the courthouse, leaving th
et me at the door, her face grim. Mom had pa
wish, unf
I spent the rest of the day in a fog, making ar
t apartment, staring at the urn that now
as O
d for her contact grating on my raw nerves. I
Finally, I answered, holdin
was so worried!" Her voice w
d not
o one of placating sweetness. "Brandon was just being so dramatic, you know how he
ied him. My mind replayed the image of the
thing was wrong. "We' ll go next we
ped my lips. It was
ia," I said, my voice flat and dea
ceit, a promise she never intended to keep. It was a weapon she
ved me unconditionally was gone, and her
livia," I said
let myself break. I would not forgi