This is the twenty-fifth part in a series, so if you have not already done so, you might want to read Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI, Part VII, Part VIII, Part IX, Part X, Part XI, Part XII, Part XIII, Part XIV, Part XV, Part XVI, Part XVII, Part XVIII, Part XIX, Part XX, Part XXI, Part XXII, Part XXIII, and Part XXIV before continuing.
It turned out Owen’s family has a bunch of birthdays in spring and early summer. Just a few weeks after his dad’s birthday was Glenda’s birthday, with Chad’s birthday barely a week after that. So a few weeks later Owen was telling me when he would pick me up to go to dinner with his family to celebrate Glenda’s birthday.
Considering Glenda had been the least welcoming of Owen’s family members, I can’t say I was looking forward to this dinner, especially if it was going to be all about celebrating Glenda.
On the other hand, I like free food, and Owen’s parents apparently weren’t afraid to spend my monthly grocery budget on one meal out.
Just to be on the safe side, I said, “Are you sure Glenda wants me at her birthday dinner?”
Owen sighed, and for a moment, I was afraid he was mad at me. “Did I do something wrong?”
“Not you, no. Glenda didn’t want to invite you, but my parents made her after she invited Chad’s girlfriend.”
“Oh,” was all I could manage to say while I processed this. Then I remembered to play the victim and dropped my head towards the ground as though under the weight of all my hurt feelings.
“She just needs to get to know you,” said Owen.
I nodded, but I wasn’t convinced. I decided to let Owen see that I wasn’t convinced, hoping he would take it for low self-esteem instead of the victory lap I was silently taking inside my head. The bitch was doing my job for me!
“Will you show me which fork to use?”
He smiled. “Of course. It’s not that hard once you get used to it.”
I smiled at the thought that I would become the sort of person who gets used to eating at restaurants with a different fork for each course. I tried to make gooey eyes at Owen so he would think the smile was out of gratitude to him and he ate it up with a spoon. It was too easy!
To be continued…